This article examines the self-presentation goals that underlie attraction to organizations. Expanding on Lievens and Highhouse's (2003) instrumental vs. symbolic classification of corporate attributes, a theory of symbolic attraction is presented that posits social-identity consciousness as a moderator of the relation between symbolic inferences…

We assessed potential facilitation of congruent body posture on access to and retention of autobiographical memories in younger and older adults. Response times were shorter when body positions during prompted retrieval of autobiographical events were similar to the body positions in the original events than when body position was incongruent.…

One of the most pervasive issues facing educators and administrators in Adult Basic Education (ABE) is student persistence. The purposes of this qualitative study were 1) to identify the experiences that African American adult learners associated with their decisions to leave ABE programs; 2) to ascertain the impact of participants'…

Waldrip and Fisher (2000) proposed seven culturally relevant factors that are salient in the educational setting (gender equity, collaboration, competition, deference, modelling, teacher authority, congruence). In relation to these factors, the present study examined differences and congruencies in factor structure (i.e., differences of kind) and…

One can scarcely open the newspaper without finding examples of smart, well-educated people who have behaved in ethically challenged ways. What is frightening about ethical lapses is not that they happen to the ethically outrageous but that they can sneak up on just about everyone. An informal classroom "experiment" recently performed by this…

Emotional well-being depends in part on affect modulation. The present study extends research on emotion regulation by assessing the physiological and cognitive effects of a novel response-focused regulation strategy, termed "expressive dissonance." Expressive dissonance refers to the incongruence between an emotional state (e.g., sadness) and a…

Holland's hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between personality-environment congruence and satisfaction was examined using group importance as a mediator. Correlations between these measures of importance and congruence-satisfaction correlations were .68 and .77, respectively. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings…

This study examined the degree of similarity between scores on the Self-Directed Search and an online instrument measuring Holland types. A relatively high congruency score was found between the two measures. Implications for career counselors are discussed.

Eggerth and Andrew (2006 [this issue]) provide a valuable contribution to researchers and practitioners using the C index to measure congruence when person or environment codes contain fewer than three letters. However, the computational procedures outlined by Eggerth and Andrew may be more complex than they need be. A simpler alternative to…

What is it like to be a clinical educator? How do clinical educators experience and describe their continuing journey of becoming a clinical educator? Within the model developed in this research, dimensions of being a clinical educator were identified. These dimensions include (a) having a sense of self (and the impact of bringing self into the…

Much of the research on the relationship between job satisfaction and congruence has used measures of congruence derived from Holland's system. Most of these studies have been successful in obtaining a positive relationship between congruence and job satisfaction. This study measured congruence and satisfaction both globally and specifically…

Using interview and survey data from a quick-service restaurant chain and a robotics company, this paper examines the relationship between perceived departmental power and the extent to which departments might share important organizational values with top management. Preliminary results support the importance of perceived value congruity in…

Explored extent to which low or high self-discrepancy between perceived self and ideal self of stripteasers affected their emotional stability, examining possibility of low or high levels of emotional stability based on degree of discrepancy. Results indicated emotional stability variables and effect of different levels of self-discrepancy on…

Combinations of Holland codes were drawn randomly and used to compare three common measures of congruency (the Iachan Index, the Kwak and Pulvino Index, and the Zener-Schnuelle Index) between pairs of three-letter codes. Findings suggest that the choice of which index is most appropriate remains contingent on one's particular purpose. (Author/NB)

Holistic perspectives in career development have focused attention on complexity as important for counselors using assessment techniques. Increased emphasis on subjectivity has resulted in greater focus on qualitative measures versus traditional psychometric tests. These developments reflect issues such as the idiographic-nomothetic distinction…