Joseph Miles | University of Tennessee Knoxville (original) (raw)

Papers by Joseph Miles

Training and Education in Professional Psychology, Nov 1, 2014

in press). Effects of international student counselors' broaching statement about language and cu... more in press). Effects of international student counselors' broaching statement about language and cultural differences on client perceptions of the counselor. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. Undergraduates (N = 135) evaluated one of four simulated first counseling sessions. Two international counselors (Canadian and Korean) did vs. did not make broaching statements about their language and cultural differences. Significant main effects were found for counselor nationality and an interaction of nationality by broaching. The Canadian counselor was perceived more positively in the broaching condition, but the Korean counselor was perceived less positively. Subjects' cognitive flexibility was a significant covariate of their perceptions. Developing a comprehensive scale to assess college multicultural programming.

Critics of neoliberalism argue that so-called meritocratic and identity-neutral social policies a... more Critics of neoliberalism argue that so-called meritocratic and identity-neutral social policies and political positions actually reinforce and exacerbate intersecting inequalities , namely racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, and ethnocentrism/xeno-phobia. The purpose of these studies was to develop and initially validate a scale of neoliberal attitudes from a wide range of existing instruments that reflect anti-neoliberal theory. A series of three studies resulted in a 25-item instrument-the Anti-Neoliberal Attitudes Scale (ANAS)-that exhibits initial evidence of construct validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. Exploratory factor analysis with students from two universities revealed a four-factor structure of Racism and Sexism Awareness, Communitarian Values, Multicultural Ideology, and Inequality Consciousness. However, a confirmatory factor analysis with an independent sample of undergraduate students suggests a bifactor model in which the general factor explains most of the variance and that the instrument should be treated as a single scale, rather than independent subscales. Significant correlations with measures of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation suggest convergent validity. Temporal stability was established via a test-retest analysis in an independent sample of undergraduate students. Finally, responses from a sample of MTurk workers provided evidence of the ANAS's incremental validity when compared to an existing measure of neoliberal beliefs. Implications for future empirical work on the psychological dimensions of neoliberalism are discussed.

Psychotherapy Research, 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use and perceived effects of immediacy in 16 cas... more The purpose of this study was to investigate the use and perceived effects of immediacy in 16 cases of open-ended psychodynamic psychotherapy. Of 234 immediacy events, most were initiated by therapists and involved exploration of unexpressed or covert feelings. Immediacy occurred during approximately 5% of time in therapy. Clients indicated in post-therapy interviews that they remembered and profited from immediacy, with the most typical observed consequences being clients expressing feelings about the therapist/therapy and opening up/gaining insight. Amount of immediacy was associated with therapists' but not clients' ratings of session process and outcome. Therapists focused more on feelings and less on ruptures, and initiated immediacy more often with fearfully than with securely attached clients. Implications for practice, training, and research are offered.

Psychology and aging, 2010

Previous research has suggested that older readers may self-regulate input during reading differe... more Previous research has suggested that older readers may self-regulate input during reading differently from the way younger readers do, so as to accommodate age-graded change in processing capacity. For example, older adults may pause more frequently for conceptual integration. Presumably, such an allocation policy would enable older readers to manage the cognitive demands of constructing a semantic representation of the text by off-loading the products of intermediate computations to long-term memory, thus decreasing memory demands as conceptual load increases. This was explicitly tested in 2 experiments measuring word-by-word reading time for sentences in which boundary salience was manipulated but in which semantic content was controlled. With both a computer-based moving-window paradigm that permits only forward eye movements, and an eye-tracking paradigm that allows measurement of regressive eye movements, we found evidence for the proposed tradeoff between early and late wrap-u...

Since the declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973, psychology has transform... more Since the declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973, psychology has transformed the way it approaches sexual orientation and gender identity issues in scientific research and clinical practice. The paradigmatic shift from psychopathology to identity has corresponded with the introduction of "LGBT affirmative therapy," which suggests that therapists should affirm clients' sexual orientations rather than reinforce sexual minorities' experiences of stigma and marginalization. This qualitative study used a subset of psychotherapy training videos about LGBT issues to explore the form of content of LGBT affirmative therapy in the context of increased attention to identity and multiculturalism in applied psychology. The videos suggest that multiculturally competent therapists should understand sexuality and gender issues in terms of what psychologists call "multiple" or "intersecting" identities, namely race and ethnicity. While the multicultural turn in psychotherapy may signal a transformation in mental health service provision, our analysis questions whether these videos may unintentionally reflect a neoliberal logic of inclusion that obscures the structural dimensions of social inequality. We suggest that the uptake of intersectionality-like identitarian discourse in psychotherapy in particular offers opportunities for challenging and reinforcing neoliberalism.

Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 2014

Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2014

A barrier to assessing effectiveness of multicultural programming is lack of a relatively brief i... more A barrier to assessing effectiveness of multicultural programming is lack of a relatively brief instrument to measure the wide range of intended outcomes. A frequent goal of programming is to increase cultural empathy, but this is rarely the only intended outcome. We conducted focus groups of campus administrators, student affairs staff, and undergraduate instructors who identified a full range of racial/ethnic multicultural competencies that undergraduates should possess. An 84-item pool generated from these focus groups was combined with the 31-item Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE; . These 115 items, together with instruments used to gauge concurrent validity, were administered to White undergraduate students in introductory psychology courses at the midpoint (n ϭ 602) and end (n ϭ 676) of fall semester. Exploratory factor analysis suggested 6 subscales for the Everyday Multicultural Competencies/Revised SEE (EMC/RSEE): (a) Cultural Openness and Desire to Learn; (b) Resentment and Cultural Dominance; (c) Anxiety and Lack of Multicultural Self-Efficacy; (d) Empathic Perspective-Taking; (e) Awareness of Contemporary Racism and Privilege; and (f) Empathic Feeling and Acting as an Ally. Item response theory principles guided final selection of subscale items. Analyses suggested good factor stability, reliability, and discriminant validity of the 48-item EMC/RSEE in these undergraduate samples. EMC/RSEE subscales were not strongly correlated with a measure of impression management and were significantly associated with measures of Openness to Diversity Challenge, and Universal-Diverse Orientation.

Previous research on heterosexuals’ beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) has been limited in tha... more Previous research on heterosexuals’ beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) has been limited in that it has generally examined heterosexuals’ beliefs from an essentialist perspective. The recently developed Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS; Arseneau, Grzanka, Miles, & Fassinger, 2013) assesses multifarious “lay beliefs” about SO from essentialist, social constructionist, and constructivist perspectives. This study used the SOBS to explore latent group-based patterns in endorsement of these beliefs in two samples of undergraduate students: a mixed-gender sample (n = 379) and an all-women sample (n = 266). While previous research has posited that essentialist beliefs about the innateness of SO predict positive attitudes toward sexual minorities, our research contributes to a growing body of scholarship that suggests that biological essentialism should be considered in the context of other beliefs. Using a person-centered analytic strategy, we found that that college students fell into distinct patterns of SO beliefs that are more different on beliefs about the homogeneity, discreteness, and informativeness of SO categories than on beliefs about the naturalness of SO. Individuals with higher levels of endorsement on all of four SOBS subscales (a group we named “Multidimensional Essentialism”) and those who were highest in discreteness, homogeneity, and informativeness beliefs (i.e., “High-DHI”) reported higher levels of homonegativity when compared with those who were high only in naturalness beliefs. We discuss the implications of these findings for counseling and psychotherapy about SO, as well educational and social interventions.

Journal of Counseling Psychology, May 2013

The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orient... more The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) that incorporates essentialist, social constructionist, and constructivist themes. The Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS) is offered as a multi-dimensional instrument with which to assess a broad range of beliefs about SO, which evidence suggests are highly correlated with positive and negative attitudes about sexual minorities. An initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in the general population with a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-identified (LGBT) sample (n = 323) and suggested a four-factor structure of naturalness (α = .86), discreetness (α = .82), entitativity (α = .75), and personal and social importance (α = .68); this four-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with an independent LGBT sample (n = 330) (“Form 1”). Additional EFA (n = 183) and CFA (n = 201) in a college student, mostly heterosexual-identified population suggest a slightly different factor structure, whereby group homogeneity (α = .84) and informativeness (α = .77) are salient themes (“Form 2”), and this structure was replicated across SO groups. Finally, a study of test-retest reliability in an undergraduate, mostly heterosexual-identified sample (n = 45) demonstrated strong temporal stability for the SOBS.

Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2013

The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orient... more The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) that incorporates essentialist, social constructionist, and constructivist themes. The Sexual Orien- tation Beliefs Scale (SOBS) is offered as a multidimensional instrument with which to assess a broad range of beliefs about SO, which evidence suggests are highly correlated with positive and negative attitudes about sexual minorities. An initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in the general population with a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-identified (LGBT) sample (n 􏰀 323) and suggested a 4-factor structure of naturalness (􏰑 􏰀 .86), discreetness (􏰑 􏰀 .82), entitativity (􏰑 􏰀 .75), and personal and social importance (􏰑 􏰀 .68); this 4-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with an independent LGBT sample (n 􏰀 330; “Form 1”). Additional EFA (n 􏰀 183) and CFA (n 􏰀 201) in a college student, mostly heterosexual-identified population suggest a slightly different factor structure, whereby group homogeneity (􏰑 􏰀 .84) and informativeness (􏰑 􏰀 .77) are salient themes (“Form 2”), and this structure was replicated across SO groups. Finally, a study of test–retest reliability in an undergraduate, mostly heterosexual-identified sample (n 􏰀 45) demonstrated strong temporal stability for the SOBS.

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2012

This study examined how individuals from social identity groups with differing levels of societal... more This study examined how individuals from social identity groups with differing levels of societal power and privilege perceived the group climate of five intergroup dialogue groups at a large university. Over the course of seven weeks, dialogue participants from social identity groups who are the targets of societal oppression (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people; people of color; women) perceived significant in- creases in engagement within the group climate, and significant decreases in conflict. However, dialogue participants from agent social identity groups (e.g., heterosexual people, White people, men) did not perceive any significant changes in engagement or conflict over the course of the groups. Neither those from the target social identity groups, nor those from agent social identity groups perceived significant changes in levels of avoidance over time. These findings are discussed in relation to a four-stage, critical-dialogic model of intergroup dialogue.

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2012

We examined the relationships between the numbers of group leaders and group members, and group c... more We examined the relationships between the numbers of group leaders and group members, and group climate and member satisfaction in 32 semistructured therapy groups for adolescents. Specifically, we compared group climate and group member satisfaction in 13 singly led and 19 co-led therapy groups ranging in size from 3 to 12 members. Group members completed the Group Climate Questionnaire after each of eight sessions, and the Youth Client Satisfaction Questionnaire at termination. Results indicated that group size was negatively related to group member ratings of engage- ment, and positively related to ratings of conflict. In individually led groups, group size was also positively related to ratings of avoidance, and negatively related to group members’ relationship with the group. In coled groups, however, group size was negatively related to ratings of avoidance, and positively related to group members’ relationship with the group. Group members who participated in coled groups reported greater benefit from treatment than those group members in individually led groups. These results suggest that coled groups have several advantages over individually led groups.

Journal of Career Development, 2011

The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) college students have been an i... more The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) college students have been an increasing area of interest in the realm of career development in recent years. Although career theorists have posited the importance of considering context when examining career development, the specific variables related to LGBT individuals’ experiences warrant further investigation. The aim of this study was to examine how the perception of discrimination and social support related to career development and college adjustment in an LGBT undergraduate student sample. Two multiple regression analyses demonstrated that perceived discrimination and social support contribute to vocational indecision and college adjustment. The implications for career counselors and other professionals working with this student group are discussed.

Small Group Research, 2011

A session-level analysis examines the relationship between intimate behav- iors of an individual ... more A session-level analysis examines the relationship between intimate behav- iors of an individual group member and of the other group members in a session, and individual group member attendance in the following session. Specifically, the model proposed by Kenny, Mannetti, Pierro, Livi, and Kashy (2002) for analyzing individual and group effects in small groups is used to examine session attendance in 575 group sessions for 30 group members in 5 interpersonal growth groups. Either being the member who enacted the most or least intimate behaviors in a session, or having a relatively lower level of intimate behaviors by the other group members in a session, de- creases the likelihood that a group member would attend the following group session. These findings are interpreted in terms of Yalom and Leszcz’s (2005) ideas about being a group outlier and the importance of group con- text. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2011

This study presents a new conceptualization of behavioral norms as consisting of two components: ... more This study presents a new conceptualization of behavioral norms as consisting of two components: the average amount of a target behavior exhibited in a group and the consistency of this behavior across group members. Using this conceptualization, we examined the relationship between group behavioral norms regarding intimate behav- iors and individual group members’ intimate behaviors in two types of groups: interpersonal growth groups and trauma recovery groups. Specifically, we used the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM; Kenny, Kashy, Manetti, Piero, & Livi, 2002) to examine the relationships between an individual group member’s amount of intimate behaviors (i.e., the actor effect), the amount (i.e., group mean) and consistency (i.e., SD) of intimate behaviors of the other group members in both the previous and current sessions (i.e., the partner effects), the interaction of the amount and consistency of the group’s previous and current intimate behaviors, and the amount of intimate behaviors exhibited by the individual group member in the current session. A hierar- chical linear modeling analysis revealed that an individual group member’s previous amount of intimate behaviors was positively related to her or his amount of intimate behaviors in the current session. Also, there was a significant interaction for the two components of the partner effect in the current session (i.e., group amount and consistency of intimate behaviors in the current session) such that when the consistency of intimate behaviors of the other group members was low, there was a significant, negative relationship between group amount of intimate behaviors and the individuals group member’s intimate behaviors in a session. When consistency was high, however, this relationship was not significant.

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2010

This study tested a coleadership, team cognition-team diversity model of coleader similarity and ... more This study tested a coleadership, team cognition-team diversity model of coleader similarity and dissimilarity and its effect on group processes. This model suggests that group coleaders will be most effective when coleaders share cognitions about the group but are dissimilar in terms of their skill sets and behavior within the group. Specifically, the current study examined whether coleader dissimilarity in behavior was related to the group climate in eight coled intergroup dialogue groups at a large university. Results gave partial support to the coleader, team cognition-team diversity model, as coleader dissimilarity was related to increased overall engagement and conflict within the group. Coleader dissimilarity was related to decreasing conflict and increasing avoiding, suggesting that the relationship between coleader similarity and group pro- cesses is more complex than implied by the coleadership, team cognition-team diversity model.

Group Dynamics-theory Research and Practice, 2008

The relation between the convergence in group coleaders’ mental models of their groups and group ... more The relation between the convergence in group coleaders’ mental models of their groups and group members’ perceptions of group climate was examined. Coleaders of 8 intergroup dialogue groups provided paired-comparison ratings of the similarity of their group members, and group members provided group climate ratings, following each of 7 sessions. The paired-comparison ratings were analyzed using pathfinder network analysis (Schvaneveldt, 1990) to examine the structure of each coleader’s mental model of her or his group, and to compare these mental models within coleader pairs to determine degree of similarity in coleaders’ mental models for each coleader pair for each week (i.e., how similarly coleaders of a group view their group). Growth curve analyses of the degree of similarity and group climate data showed an increase in similarity of coleaders’ mental models within groups across sessions, and that similarity in coleader mental models was related to increases in the engaged and decreases in the avoiding aspects of the group climate.

Training and Education in Professional Psychology, Nov 1, 2014

in press). Effects of international student counselors' broaching statement about language and cu... more in press). Effects of international student counselors' broaching statement about language and cultural differences on client perceptions of the counselor. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. Undergraduates (N = 135) evaluated one of four simulated first counseling sessions. Two international counselors (Canadian and Korean) did vs. did not make broaching statements about their language and cultural differences. Significant main effects were found for counselor nationality and an interaction of nationality by broaching. The Canadian counselor was perceived more positively in the broaching condition, but the Korean counselor was perceived less positively. Subjects' cognitive flexibility was a significant covariate of their perceptions. Developing a comprehensive scale to assess college multicultural programming.

Critics of neoliberalism argue that so-called meritocratic and identity-neutral social policies a... more Critics of neoliberalism argue that so-called meritocratic and identity-neutral social policies and political positions actually reinforce and exacerbate intersecting inequalities , namely racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, and ethnocentrism/xeno-phobia. The purpose of these studies was to develop and initially validate a scale of neoliberal attitudes from a wide range of existing instruments that reflect anti-neoliberal theory. A series of three studies resulted in a 25-item instrument-the Anti-Neoliberal Attitudes Scale (ANAS)-that exhibits initial evidence of construct validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. Exploratory factor analysis with students from two universities revealed a four-factor structure of Racism and Sexism Awareness, Communitarian Values, Multicultural Ideology, and Inequality Consciousness. However, a confirmatory factor analysis with an independent sample of undergraduate students suggests a bifactor model in which the general factor explains most of the variance and that the instrument should be treated as a single scale, rather than independent subscales. Significant correlations with measures of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation suggest convergent validity. Temporal stability was established via a test-retest analysis in an independent sample of undergraduate students. Finally, responses from a sample of MTurk workers provided evidence of the ANAS's incremental validity when compared to an existing measure of neoliberal beliefs. Implications for future empirical work on the psychological dimensions of neoliberalism are discussed.

Psychotherapy Research, 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use and perceived effects of immediacy in 16 cas... more The purpose of this study was to investigate the use and perceived effects of immediacy in 16 cases of open-ended psychodynamic psychotherapy. Of 234 immediacy events, most were initiated by therapists and involved exploration of unexpressed or covert feelings. Immediacy occurred during approximately 5% of time in therapy. Clients indicated in post-therapy interviews that they remembered and profited from immediacy, with the most typical observed consequences being clients expressing feelings about the therapist/therapy and opening up/gaining insight. Amount of immediacy was associated with therapists' but not clients' ratings of session process and outcome. Therapists focused more on feelings and less on ruptures, and initiated immediacy more often with fearfully than with securely attached clients. Implications for practice, training, and research are offered.

Psychology and aging, 2010

Previous research has suggested that older readers may self-regulate input during reading differe... more Previous research has suggested that older readers may self-regulate input during reading differently from the way younger readers do, so as to accommodate age-graded change in processing capacity. For example, older adults may pause more frequently for conceptual integration. Presumably, such an allocation policy would enable older readers to manage the cognitive demands of constructing a semantic representation of the text by off-loading the products of intermediate computations to long-term memory, thus decreasing memory demands as conceptual load increases. This was explicitly tested in 2 experiments measuring word-by-word reading time for sentences in which boundary salience was manipulated but in which semantic content was controlled. With both a computer-based moving-window paradigm that permits only forward eye movements, and an eye-tracking paradigm that allows measurement of regressive eye movements, we found evidence for the proposed tradeoff between early and late wrap-u...

Since the declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973, psychology has transform... more Since the declassification of homosexuality as a mental illness in 1973, psychology has transformed the way it approaches sexual orientation and gender identity issues in scientific research and clinical practice. The paradigmatic shift from psychopathology to identity has corresponded with the introduction of "LGBT affirmative therapy," which suggests that therapists should affirm clients' sexual orientations rather than reinforce sexual minorities' experiences of stigma and marginalization. This qualitative study used a subset of psychotherapy training videos about LGBT issues to explore the form of content of LGBT affirmative therapy in the context of increased attention to identity and multiculturalism in applied psychology. The videos suggest that multiculturally competent therapists should understand sexuality and gender issues in terms of what psychologists call "multiple" or "intersecting" identities, namely race and ethnicity. While the multicultural turn in psychotherapy may signal a transformation in mental health service provision, our analysis questions whether these videos may unintentionally reflect a neoliberal logic of inclusion that obscures the structural dimensions of social inequality. We suggest that the uptake of intersectionality-like identitarian discourse in psychotherapy in particular offers opportunities for challenging and reinforcing neoliberalism.

Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 2014

Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2014

A barrier to assessing effectiveness of multicultural programming is lack of a relatively brief i... more A barrier to assessing effectiveness of multicultural programming is lack of a relatively brief instrument to measure the wide range of intended outcomes. A frequent goal of programming is to increase cultural empathy, but this is rarely the only intended outcome. We conducted focus groups of campus administrators, student affairs staff, and undergraduate instructors who identified a full range of racial/ethnic multicultural competencies that undergraduates should possess. An 84-item pool generated from these focus groups was combined with the 31-item Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (SEE; . These 115 items, together with instruments used to gauge concurrent validity, were administered to White undergraduate students in introductory psychology courses at the midpoint (n ϭ 602) and end (n ϭ 676) of fall semester. Exploratory factor analysis suggested 6 subscales for the Everyday Multicultural Competencies/Revised SEE (EMC/RSEE): (a) Cultural Openness and Desire to Learn; (b) Resentment and Cultural Dominance; (c) Anxiety and Lack of Multicultural Self-Efficacy; (d) Empathic Perspective-Taking; (e) Awareness of Contemporary Racism and Privilege; and (f) Empathic Feeling and Acting as an Ally. Item response theory principles guided final selection of subscale items. Analyses suggested good factor stability, reliability, and discriminant validity of the 48-item EMC/RSEE in these undergraduate samples. EMC/RSEE subscales were not strongly correlated with a measure of impression management and were significantly associated with measures of Openness to Diversity Challenge, and Universal-Diverse Orientation.

Previous research on heterosexuals’ beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) has been limited in tha... more Previous research on heterosexuals’ beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) has been limited in that it has generally examined heterosexuals’ beliefs from an essentialist perspective. The recently developed Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS; Arseneau, Grzanka, Miles, & Fassinger, 2013) assesses multifarious “lay beliefs” about SO from essentialist, social constructionist, and constructivist perspectives. This study used the SOBS to explore latent group-based patterns in endorsement of these beliefs in two samples of undergraduate students: a mixed-gender sample (n = 379) and an all-women sample (n = 266). While previous research has posited that essentialist beliefs about the innateness of SO predict positive attitudes toward sexual minorities, our research contributes to a growing body of scholarship that suggests that biological essentialism should be considered in the context of other beliefs. Using a person-centered analytic strategy, we found that that college students fell into distinct patterns of SO beliefs that are more different on beliefs about the homogeneity, discreteness, and informativeness of SO categories than on beliefs about the naturalness of SO. Individuals with higher levels of endorsement on all of four SOBS subscales (a group we named “Multidimensional Essentialism”) and those who were highest in discreteness, homogeneity, and informativeness beliefs (i.e., “High-DHI”) reported higher levels of homonegativity when compared with those who were high only in naturalness beliefs. We discuss the implications of these findings for counseling and psychotherapy about SO, as well educational and social interventions.

Journal of Counseling Psychology, May 2013

The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orient... more The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) that incorporates essentialist, social constructionist, and constructivist themes. The Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS) is offered as a multi-dimensional instrument with which to assess a broad range of beliefs about SO, which evidence suggests are highly correlated with positive and negative attitudes about sexual minorities. An initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in the general population with a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-identified (LGBT) sample (n = 323) and suggested a four-factor structure of naturalness (α = .86), discreetness (α = .82), entitativity (α = .75), and personal and social importance (α = .68); this four-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with an independent LGBT sample (n = 330) (“Form 1”). Additional EFA (n = 183) and CFA (n = 201) in a college student, mostly heterosexual-identified population suggest a slightly different factor structure, whereby group homogeneity (α = .84) and informativeness (α = .77) are salient themes (“Form 2”), and this structure was replicated across SO groups. Finally, a study of test-retest reliability in an undergraduate, mostly heterosexual-identified sample (n = 45) demonstrated strong temporal stability for the SOBS.

Journal of Counseling Psychology, 2013

The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orient... more The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) that incorporates essentialist, social constructionist, and constructivist themes. The Sexual Orien- tation Beliefs Scale (SOBS) is offered as a multidimensional instrument with which to assess a broad range of beliefs about SO, which evidence suggests are highly correlated with positive and negative attitudes about sexual minorities. An initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in the general population with a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-identified (LGBT) sample (n 􏰀 323) and suggested a 4-factor structure of naturalness (􏰑 􏰀 .86), discreetness (􏰑 􏰀 .82), entitativity (􏰑 􏰀 .75), and personal and social importance (􏰑 􏰀 .68); this 4-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with an independent LGBT sample (n 􏰀 330; “Form 1”). Additional EFA (n 􏰀 183) and CFA (n 􏰀 201) in a college student, mostly heterosexual-identified population suggest a slightly different factor structure, whereby group homogeneity (􏰑 􏰀 .84) and informativeness (􏰑 􏰀 .77) are salient themes (“Form 2”), and this structure was replicated across SO groups. Finally, a study of test–retest reliability in an undergraduate, mostly heterosexual-identified sample (n 􏰀 45) demonstrated strong temporal stability for the SOBS.

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2012

This study examined how individuals from social identity groups with differing levels of societal... more This study examined how individuals from social identity groups with differing levels of societal power and privilege perceived the group climate of five intergroup dialogue groups at a large university. Over the course of seven weeks, dialogue participants from social identity groups who are the targets of societal oppression (e.g., lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people; people of color; women) perceived significant in- creases in engagement within the group climate, and significant decreases in conflict. However, dialogue participants from agent social identity groups (e.g., heterosexual people, White people, men) did not perceive any significant changes in engagement or conflict over the course of the groups. Neither those from the target social identity groups, nor those from agent social identity groups perceived significant changes in levels of avoidance over time. These findings are discussed in relation to a four-stage, critical-dialogic model of intergroup dialogue.

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2012

We examined the relationships between the numbers of group leaders and group members, and group c... more We examined the relationships between the numbers of group leaders and group members, and group climate and member satisfaction in 32 semistructured therapy groups for adolescents. Specifically, we compared group climate and group member satisfaction in 13 singly led and 19 co-led therapy groups ranging in size from 3 to 12 members. Group members completed the Group Climate Questionnaire after each of eight sessions, and the Youth Client Satisfaction Questionnaire at termination. Results indicated that group size was negatively related to group member ratings of engage- ment, and positively related to ratings of conflict. In individually led groups, group size was also positively related to ratings of avoidance, and negatively related to group members’ relationship with the group. In coled groups, however, group size was negatively related to ratings of avoidance, and positively related to group members’ relationship with the group. Group members who participated in coled groups reported greater benefit from treatment than those group members in individually led groups. These results suggest that coled groups have several advantages over individually led groups.

Journal of Career Development, 2011

The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) college students have been an i... more The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) college students have been an increasing area of interest in the realm of career development in recent years. Although career theorists have posited the importance of considering context when examining career development, the specific variables related to LGBT individuals’ experiences warrant further investigation. The aim of this study was to examine how the perception of discrimination and social support related to career development and college adjustment in an LGBT undergraduate student sample. Two multiple regression analyses demonstrated that perceived discrimination and social support contribute to vocational indecision and college adjustment. The implications for career counselors and other professionals working with this student group are discussed.

Small Group Research, 2011

A session-level analysis examines the relationship between intimate behav- iors of an individual ... more A session-level analysis examines the relationship between intimate behav- iors of an individual group member and of the other group members in a session, and individual group member attendance in the following session. Specifically, the model proposed by Kenny, Mannetti, Pierro, Livi, and Kashy (2002) for analyzing individual and group effects in small groups is used to examine session attendance in 575 group sessions for 30 group members in 5 interpersonal growth groups. Either being the member who enacted the most or least intimate behaviors in a session, or having a relatively lower level of intimate behaviors by the other group members in a session, de- creases the likelihood that a group member would attend the following group session. These findings are interpreted in terms of Yalom and Leszcz’s (2005) ideas about being a group outlier and the importance of group con- text. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2011

This study presents a new conceptualization of behavioral norms as consisting of two components: ... more This study presents a new conceptualization of behavioral norms as consisting of two components: the average amount of a target behavior exhibited in a group and the consistency of this behavior across group members. Using this conceptualization, we examined the relationship between group behavioral norms regarding intimate behav- iors and individual group members’ intimate behaviors in two types of groups: interpersonal growth groups and trauma recovery groups. Specifically, we used the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM; Kenny, Kashy, Manetti, Piero, & Livi, 2002) to examine the relationships between an individual group member’s amount of intimate behaviors (i.e., the actor effect), the amount (i.e., group mean) and consistency (i.e., SD) of intimate behaviors of the other group members in both the previous and current sessions (i.e., the partner effects), the interaction of the amount and consistency of the group’s previous and current intimate behaviors, and the amount of intimate behaviors exhibited by the individual group member in the current session. A hierar- chical linear modeling analysis revealed that an individual group member’s previous amount of intimate behaviors was positively related to her or his amount of intimate behaviors in the current session. Also, there was a significant interaction for the two components of the partner effect in the current session (i.e., group amount and consistency of intimate behaviors in the current session) such that when the consistency of intimate behaviors of the other group members was low, there was a significant, negative relationship between group amount of intimate behaviors and the individuals group member’s intimate behaviors in a session. When consistency was high, however, this relationship was not significant.

Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 2010

This study tested a coleadership, team cognition-team diversity model of coleader similarity and ... more This study tested a coleadership, team cognition-team diversity model of coleader similarity and dissimilarity and its effect on group processes. This model suggests that group coleaders will be most effective when coleaders share cognitions about the group but are dissimilar in terms of their skill sets and behavior within the group. Specifically, the current study examined whether coleader dissimilarity in behavior was related to the group climate in eight coled intergroup dialogue groups at a large university. Results gave partial support to the coleader, team cognition-team diversity model, as coleader dissimilarity was related to increased overall engagement and conflict within the group. Coleader dissimilarity was related to decreasing conflict and increasing avoiding, suggesting that the relationship between coleader similarity and group pro- cesses is more complex than implied by the coleadership, team cognition-team diversity model.

Group Dynamics-theory Research and Practice, 2008

The relation between the convergence in group coleaders’ mental models of their groups and group ... more The relation between the convergence in group coleaders’ mental models of their groups and group members’ perceptions of group climate was examined. Coleaders of 8 intergroup dialogue groups provided paired-comparison ratings of the similarity of their group members, and group members provided group climate ratings, following each of 7 sessions. The paired-comparison ratings were analyzed using pathfinder network analysis (Schvaneveldt, 1990) to examine the structure of each coleader’s mental model of her or his group, and to compare these mental models within coleader pairs to determine degree of similarity in coleaders’ mental models for each coleader pair for each week (i.e., how similarly coleaders of a group view their group). Growth curve analyses of the degree of similarity and group climate data showed an increase in similarity of coleaders’ mental models within groups across sessions, and that similarity in coleader mental models was related to increases in the engaged and decreases in the avoiding aspects of the group climate.