Use of the MMPI-2 and the Inwald personality inventory to identify the personality characteristics of dropouts from a state police academy

The MMPI-2 and the Inwald Personality Inventory were employed to investigate the personality characteristics of dropouts from a state police academy. A traditional model of training borrowed from military models was used at the academy rather than a police generated model. Sensitive and independent individuals, more compatible with modern community policing methods may have rejected police work as a result of the experience. 15 academy completers and 9 dropouts were used in the sample. Analyses of the scales of the MMPI-2 and the Inwald Personality Inventory identified variables upon which the two groups differed. The hypothesis that more sensitive, empathic and independent individuals were leaving the academy appeared to be supported.     

Using the good cop/bad cop profile with the MMPI-2

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) has been widely used in a variety of ways to screen candidates for law enforcement positions. This study extends the use of the MMPI Good Cop/Bad Cop (GC/BC) profile (Blau, Super, & Brady, 1993) to the MMPI-2. The MMPI-2 profiles of 39 veteran police officers were used to predict their performance (No Apparent Problems, Borderline, or Serious Problems Possible), and these predictions were compared with supervisors’ ratings of the officers’ actual performance. The MMPI-2 predictions were accurate for 46% of the officers, a rate that was significantly better than chance (p=.024). Based on the current data, the best selection outcome would be obtained by accepting officers whose MMPI-2 profiles place them in the No Apparent Problems or Borderline groups, and rejecting officers whose profiles suggest Serious Problems Possible. This could be accomplished simply by rejecting any officer who obtained a score above 65T on any of the clinical scales. This selection strategy would have resulted in the acceptance of 22 officers, 19 of whom were highly rated by their supervisors, and the rejection of 17 officers, 11 of whom were rated as borderline or poorer by their supervisors. It would also result in the erroneous rejection of 6 officers who were highly rated by supervisors. AUTHOR NOTE: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1994 annual meeting of the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology, in Roswell, New Mexico. The authors wish to thank Jim Herndon, Ph.D., for this comments on this study.     

Transfers of Technology: A Basic Primer On Tax Considerations

The objective of this paper is to introduce managers of R&D operations to tax issues that must be considered when technology is transferred across international boundaries within the same company. The tax implications are often misunderstood or even overlooked in the technology transfer process. The paper explains how countries seek to tax their fair share of the income earned inside their borders. Since the amount of income earned depends on the price for technology paid by one part of a company to another, this transfer price is of keen interest to the tax authorities. To preserve their tax bases, therefore, countries establish rules to regulate the international transfer of goods and services, including technology, between related parties. This paper provides an overview of the economic principles underlying these rules, and illustrates their application with a series of examples.     

Mediators of the Relation Between Beliefs in a Just World and Emotional Responses to Negative Outcomes

Research shows that strong believers in a just world respond with less negative and more positive emotion to their own negative outcomes than do weak believers. The present study investigated mediators of this relation. We proposed that strong believers in a just world (versus weak believers) would make stronger internal and weaker external attributions for their negative outcomes, leading to reduced perceived unfairness, which, in turn, was expected to lead to less negative and more positive emotion. We assessed the just world beliefs of a sample of undergraduates as well as measuring their cognitive and emotional responses to an exam grade. Mediational analyses showed that our data were consistent with the processes proposed above. Various cognitive and motivational interpretations of the present findings are discussed     

A comparative evaluation of a new generation jail

This study reports findings from an evaluation of a new generation jail in a large southwestern state. The jail is one component of a complex containing a traditional jail, an indirect supervision facility (barracks), and the new generation jail. Using survey and operational data, we compare the new generation jail to the other two facilities. The findings provide generally positive support for the effectiveness of the new generation jail. Inmates and staff were much more satisfied with the physical facilities. Staff perceived it as more secure, though they reported only limited advantages in safety and security. Violence and disciplinary problems were substantially lower. However, no savings in staffing levels were noted, nor were there differences in job satisfaction for staff in the new generation jail. We discuss the implications of the findings and suggest additional directions for jail evaluations.     

Review of Books on Private Law and EU Law

Books reviewed in this article:
H. Kötz, Europäisches Vertragsrecht, Band I: Abschluß, Gültigkeit und Inhalt des Vertrages
H. Kötz, A. Flessner, European Contract Law, vol. 1: Formation, Validity, and Content of Contract; Contract and Third Parties
U. Drobing, Private Law in the European Union     

Adolescent self-esteem related to feelings toward parents and friends

The study was conducted to see if there is a developmental process whereby the self-esteem of young adolescents is more closely related to feelings toward parents and that of older adolescents more closely related to feelings toward best friends. The subjects, 138 eighth-graders and 139 eleventh-graders, completed the Inventory of Family Feelings with regard to parents and best male and female friends and the Tennessee Self Concept Scale. Self-esteem was found to be significantly related to feelings toward parents and toward friends for adolescents of both grades. Feelings toward parents were generally more closely related to self-esteem than feelings toward friends, although the relationship between self-esteem and feelings toward parents was decreased with the older group. If a developmental shift in the relationship between self-esteem and feelings toward friends occurs, it does so slowly, showing only a slight beginning by the eleventh grade.Received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Major interests are self-concept and psychosocial stress.