Psychological Thought

1-18

Authors: Natasha Virmozelova Angelova

A pilot study was carried out as a part of a long-term psycho-pedagogical experiment for work with children at risk. This psycho-pedagogical experiment consisted of several stages. The first stage was a research of some psychological characteristics of a small group of children at risk, and of a control group of children at the same age. Second - a psycho-pedagogical experiment with the experimental group; the third step was the final study of the both groups with the same methods. The fourth step was to compare the results of both groups at the beginning and the final of the experiment. The aim of this psycho-pedagogical experiment was to probe an educational program for children at risk, enhancing their social and personal skills in conflict situations. Also this program was prepared to give awareness for their personal responsibilities and to encourage their confident decision-making, their emotion control when they overcome some traumas and losses. Situational anxiety was lower at the final study of the experimental group compared to the beginning. There were also some differences between the experimental and control groups in the use of cooperation like a behavioural style in a conflict situation. This strategy was preferred by the control group. This pilot study do not pretend to be definitive in terms of significance of education because of the small number of the respondents in the sample (14 subjects in the experimental and 20 subjects in the control group), but it has shown the importance and necessity of work with children at risk despite their low motivation to participate in extracurricular activities.

28-36

Authors: Alejandro Orgambídez-Ramos, Yolanda Borrego-Alés

With more organizations looking for employees who take the initiative and respond creatively to the challenges of the job, empowerment becomes important at both individual and organizational levels. Empowered employees are generally more satisfied with their work, committed and effective at work. According to Kanter's structural empowerment, this study examines the role of access to opportunity, resources, support and information, and two types of power, formal and informal, as antecedents of job satisfaction. A cross sectional study using questionnaires was conducted. The sample consisted of 226 Spanish university teachers. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses have revealed that intrinsic job satisfaction was significantly predicted by formal power and access to opportunity, and job satisfaction with supervisor was predicted by informal power, and access to resources, information, and support. Results support Kanter's theory of structural empowerment, and suggest strong relationships between job satisfaction and structural empowerment. It is a link between empowering work settings and organizational outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, effectiveness). On a practical level, Kanter's structural empowerment theory provides a framework for understanding empowering workplaces and empowered employees.

55-65

Authors: Pauline E. Ginsberg, Priscilla Wanjiru Kariuki, Charles Kimamo

Kenya has at least 42 tribes. Each of these tribes had a unique way of marking the boundary between childhood and adulthood. It is like once pubertal signs emerged, the adolescent was said to be ready for adulthood. Traditional conceptualization of adolescence is not clearly defined, because while puberty marks the beginning of adolescence today, this was not the case in the traditional society. In the traditional society, when a girl started getting her menstrual periods, she was considered mature and arrangements for marriage were started. Modern rites of passage tend to come closer to how modern text books define adolescence. Most boys undertake circumcision after completing primary school, as they wait to join high school. Upon realizing that the hospital ceremony, unlike the traditional one, is lacking in complementary teachings, some Churches have organized teachings prior to circumcision. For girls, after circumcision for them was banned, alternative rites of passage (ARPs) are being instituted, most often targeting urban girls, but these, too, raise questions: Do alternative rites of passage fulfill the same functions for modern society that traditional ceremonies once fulfilled? And, if they do so for girls, is there reason to believe that they ought to be developed for both genders? This paper examines self-reports of Kenyans spanning three generations regarding social roles and identity-seeking among those who did (primarily older men) and did not (primarily younger men and women of all ages) participate in traditional initiation ceremonies.

80-92

Authors: Oksana Jenenkova

Aggressive driving, being the most dangerous behavior on the roads, attracts special attention of the WHO and the UNO. The term of aggressive driving was introduced in the territory of Latvia in 2004 giving a definition of this violation on the legislative level. The issues connected with the drivers’ ideas on the present phenomenon were studied in the course of a multi-stage research. 2160 drivers representing all regions of Latvia were investigated. As a result of the study, a multi-component model was obtained. Driver’s personality is one of the most important components of the ideas on aggressive driving, evaluation of which was performed in the plane of three factors. Comparative analysis between the drivers and the inspectors of the road traffic regarding this component is performed and the results are presented in this article. Additionally, in the course of the study, a drivers’ typology was specified.

102-105

Authors: Irina Todorova

No abstract available.