Case study: Relational Aggression

Case study: Relational Aggression Adolescents today face many challenges with regard to both academics and peer groups. Unfortunately, one aspect of peer relations is aggression, and many times we often only think of physical aggression. However, relational aggression can also characterize the peer interactions of adolescents, and thus it has gained more attention in research. Relational aggression can be defined as a purposeful act that an individual carries out intentionally in order to inflict harm upon another individual through a social relationship (Bowie, 2007). The present literature review will discuss some of the research that has demonstrated how relational aggression contributes uniquely and negatively to social-psychological adjustment problems in youth (Crick, Ostrov, Werner, 2006; Prinstein, Boergers, Vernberg, 2001; Reynolds Repetti, 2010; Rose Swenson, 2009). The protective factors identified by research that appear to mitigate the negative effects of relational aggression will also be discussed. Being popular (Rose Swenson, 2009), having a close friend (Prinstein et al., 2001), and having a positive academic self-concept (Taylor, Davis-Kean, Malanchuk, 2007) have all been found to act as protective factors in the face of relational aggression. Lastly, relational aggression in the context of school will be examined. Given that relational aggression makes unique contributions to social-psychological adjustment problems in the absence of such protective factors, it would be valuable to explore whether or not relational aggression also has unique negative effects on academic engagement and achievement. This could have important implications for prevention and intervention efforts, as well as educational policy and classroom management strategies. Since the conception of research on relational aggression, researchers have found that engaging in relational aggression can have negative effects on various social-psychological adjustment outcomes for adolescents. A study by Crick et al. (2006) targeted a sample of 224 children, who were part of a larger longitudinal study, as they progressed from third to fourth grade in order to examine how relationally aggressive behavior affected childrens social-psychological adjustment over time. The authors hypothesized that relationally and physically aggressive children would exhibit increased levels of both internalizing and externalizing difficulties. They also expected that relational aggression would create distinct psychopathological symptoms from those that are associated with physical aggression. Participants completed a self-report measure about physical and relational aggression, as well as prosocial behavior. Participants teachers filled out a survey to assess childrens social-ps ychological adjustment. Results indicated that relational aggression is indeed a significant indicator of childrens risk for future social-psychological adjustment problems, and that the outcomes of relational aggression are unique compared to those of physical aggression. The authors call for additional, similar studies to improve prevention and intervention programs that address both physical and relational aggression in boys and girls. Similarly, a study by Prinstein et al. (2001) examined the association among relational and overt forms of aggression and adolescents internalizing and externalizing symptoms and behavior in a sample of 566 adolescents in a New England high school. The authors hypothesized that relational aggression would be distinctively associated with depressive symptoms, loneliness, self-esteem, and externalizing behavior. Another significant hypothesis was that having a close friendship would buffer adolescents from the negative social-psychological adjustment outcomes that are associated with relational aggression victimization. Several self-report questionnaires were administered to the participants that respectively measured overt and relational aggression and victimization, depressive symptoms, loneliness, self-esteem, externalizing symptoms, and close friend social support. Results demonstrated that adolescents make a distinction between overt and relational forms of aggression and victimiz ation. Relational aggression was found to have its own unique effects on victims, including higher levels of depressive symptoms, higher levels of loneliness, and lower global self-worth. The hypothesis was supported that having a close friend did act as a buffer against negative psychological adjustment problems associated with relational aggression. A study by Reynolds and Repetti (2010) gathered descriptive information from 114 girls in a Los Angeles public high school about the forms, frequency, perceived motives and functions, and types of emotions felt when relationally aggressing or when being victimized. An online survey was utilized that elicited scale ratings and descriptive responses from the participants about their experiences as both perpetrators and victims of relational aggression. The results showed that every participant reported being involved as both a perpetrator and a victim in each form of relational aggression at least once in the past year. The most frequent form reported was talking behind another girls back, while the next most frequent behaviors were spreading rumors about a girl and intentionally ignoring her. The most frequently reported function was trying to get back at someone. Additionally, the participants reported that ignoring, as compared to rumors and exclusion, was related to the strongest n egative feelings experienced at the time of the incident, like sadness. Ignoring emerged as a unique form of relational aggression in this study, which merits further investigation. Implications of this and similar studies demonstrate that intervention and prevention efforts should focus on the most frequently reported behaviors by adolescents. Due to the evidence suggesting that relational aggression has unique, negative effects on social-psychological adjustment in children and adolescents, it is important to look at what protective factors might exist for children and adolescents that buffer these negative effects. In addition to the finding that a close friend can buffer the negative effects of relational aggression (Prinstein et al., 2001), other protective factors have been identified through research. For example, a study by Rose and Swenson (2009) looked specifically at perceived popular adolescents who relationally aggress and whether or not their participation in relational aggression leads to emotional adjustment problems. The authors studied a sample of 439 students in seventh and ninth grade in the United States. It was hypothesized that perceived popularity would moderate the association between relational aggression and internalizing symptoms. Peer nomination surveys were used to assess peer status and aggres sion, and the Childrens Depression Inventory was used to assess internalizing symptoms. Results demonstrated that perceived popular adolescents who relationally aggress do not experience emotional adjustment problems, but youth who were perceived as less popular did experience elevated internalizing symptoms. This finding suggests that popularity acts as a buffer against the negative effects of relationally aggressive behavior. For this reason, the authors discuss future directions in research that could examine which other variables protect popular, relationally aggressive peers from experiencing internalizing symptoms. Similarly, Cillessen and Mayeux (2007) also investigated peer status and aggression, however they did so around the transitions from elementary to middle school, and from middle school to high school. They looked at how these constructs are related to adolescents academic and social expectations in their new school system. The total sample size was 2,434 with students from fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth grade. The authors hypothesized first that pre-transition expectations and post-transition perceptions of academic and social functioning would be moderately correlated. Secondly, they hypothesized that both social preference and perceived popularity would be positively correlated with social expectations, and thirdly, that both overt and relational aggression would be positively associated with social expectations. Participants completed a sociometric assessment that measured social preference, perceived popularity, overt aggression, and relational aggression. Participants also comp leted a set of self-report questionnaires that measured pre-transition expectations and post-transition perceptions of academic and social functioning. Results demonstrated that their first hypothesis was correct. They also found that popular adolescents had more positive expectations of transitions, and also rated themselves as doing better socially after the transition. Relational aggression was negatively correlated with the academic functioning of sixth grade girls. No other main effects were found for relational aggression. Consequently, the authors called for more research on relational aggression in the social and academic lives of students, especially for girls. Relational aggression can have impacts on the development of friendships as well, as demonstrated by Sijtsema et al. (2010) in their longitudinal study. They examined how aggression in different forms and functions (instrumental, reactive, overt, relational) impacts friendship development in a sample of 337 participants, ages 12 to 14 years. The authors hypothesized that instrumental, relational, and overt forms of aggression would be associated with making friends who are equally aggressive. They also hypothesized that reactive aggression would predict a high number of unidirectional friendship nominations in which the aggressor nominates others, but is never nominated by others. Additionally, the authors hypothesized that social influence effects will appear uniquely in relational aggression contexts. Various questionnaires were administered to the participants to gather information about friendship networks, previous acquaintances, and occurrences of instrumental, reactive, overt, and relational aggression. Results demonstrated that all four conceptualizations of aggression had unique and meaningful effects on friendship selection and social influence during early adolescence. Of particular interest was that relationally aggressive adolescents selected similarly aggressive friends, and that relational aggression was subject to social influence. Therefore, it was found that relational aggression uniquely affects early adolescent friendships, regardless of the function of the relationally aggressive behavior. Given that relational aggression can occur in school contexts because that is where peer groups are situated, it is important to examine various aspects of the schooling experience in order to better understand why relational aggression occurs. Accordingly, Totura, et al. (2009) conducted a study that used an ecological framework to examine how middle school students (N = 2,506) perceptions of their family and school contexts moderated their involvement in and the effects of bullying and victimization. The authors hypothesized that students with internalizing and/or externalizing problems would be less likely to be categorized as bullies and/or victims if they had a stable family context, and if their school had high levels of support and monitoring. They hypothesized that students would be more likely to be identified as bullies and/or victims if their school and family contexts were characterized by low levels of support, monitoring, and school belongingness. The investigators used student and teacher surveys to measure bullying and victimization, internalizing and externalizing problems, family functioning, school bonding, adult monitoring at school, aggressiveness of the school climate, and academic performance. Results of this study demonstrated that there are many relations among emotionality, bullying, and students perceptions, as well as some significant gender differences. One result particularly important result is that bullies and bully/victims exhibited lower academic achievement and were less bonded with school. This points to a potential area of research that explores whether or not increasing childrens academic engagement, achievement and bonding with school can actually decrease relational aggression. Another important implication of this study is that it demonstrates how important students perceptions of their environment are and the impact that their perceptions can have on their experiences with bullying and victimization. Furthermore, Taylor et al. (2007) explored how self-esteem and self-concept may influence aggression in a school setting. The authors used a diverse sample of 842 children, which was part of a larger longitudinal study, in middle schools in an East coast state. The authors hypothesized first that students with negative academic self-concepts would be more likely to aggress in school than children with more positive academic self-concepts. Their second hypothesis was that students whose high academic self-concept is threatened would be more likely to aggress at school. The study utilized interviews and self-report questionnaires from both the participants and the participants primary care givers to measure the constructs of aggression, self-esteem, academic self-concept, and academic performance. Results supported the authors first hypothesis in that low academic self-concept was correlated with increased aggression in school. However, their second hypothesis was not supported. These findings are significant because they demonstrate that if we can increase childrens academic self-concepts, perhaps aggression would decrease. All of the studies mentioned above have made significant contributions to the study of relational aggression, specifically with regard to the social-psychological effects of relational aggression, protective factors, how relational aggression impacts friendship development, and how school contexts can impact relational aggression. These studies all have some analogous strengths and limitations that can point us to future directions in research. Longitudinal methods were used in the study by Crick et al. (2006), as well as the study by Sijtsema et al. (2010), demonstrating definite strengths for these two studies. However, Crick and his colleagues did mention that a limitation of their study was that the interval was only one year, and so future studies would benefit from having longer time intervals to see how relational aggression affects children through different developmental periods. Sijtsema et al. (2010) acknowledged that a limitation of their study was that peer relations wer e examined with respect to school grade, so aggression that occurs outside of school might not have been captured in the study. Both studies by Prinstein et al. (2001), and Totura et al. (2009) addressed the fact that their cross-sectional designs were an inherent limitation. Specifically, Totura et al. (2009) stated that the cross-sectional nature of their study prohibits researchers from determining which came first, internalizing and externalizing difficulties or bullying/victimization. In this way, future longitudinal studies would be exceptionally beneficial to the field so that we can further examine what factors lead to engaging in relational aggression. Similar to the study by Totura et al. (2009), the study conducted by Rose and Swenson (2009) discussed a limitation of their study that the results cannot speak to causation, only to correlation. Their study did have two important strengths in their sample size and their use of validated measures of depression and anxiety. The study by Totura et al. (2009) also had a very large sample size at N = 2,506. The study by Prinstein et al. (2001) used a very ethnically diverse sample. Future studies would benefit from also making every effort to obtain a diverse sample in order to best understand relational aggression in adolescents. Additionally, future studies would benefit from including school transitions and perceptions, like Cillessen and Mayeux (2007) did in their study. A limitation of their study was their exclusive use of self-report measures, which will be discussed later in this literature review. The authors did acknowledge, though, that future research would benefit from including more objective measures of social and academic outcomes. Lastly, a strength of the (2010) study by Reynolds and Repetti was that the investigators collected novel, descriptive data through an online survey that informed them of the unique experiences of relational aggression among high school girls. A limitation of this study was its relatively small sample size (N = 114), and the fact that the stud y only addressed girls. All of these studies (Crick et al., 2006; Prinstein et al., 2001; Reynolds Repetti, 2010; Sijtsema et al., 2010; Taylor et al., 2007; Totura et al., 2009; Cillessen Mayeux, 2007; Rose Swenson, 2009) actually used self-report questionnaires as at least part of their methodology. Self-report methodologies are certainly valuable, however future research would benefit from the use of different methodologies as well, as suggested by Cillessen and Mayeux (2007), in order to ensure that we understand relational aggression from multiple perspectives. Crick et al. (2006) also used teacher reports in order to assess the childrens social-psychological adjustment. Equivalently, Totura et al. (2009) used teacher surveys in addition to student surveys to measure bullying and victimization, and internalizing and externalizing symptomology, in addition to other various constructs. Rose and Swenson (2009) used peer nomination surveys in order to assess peer status and aggression, and this was in a ddition to the self-report measure used to assess internalizing symptoms. Taylor et al. (2007), in addition to having the adolescents complete self-report questionnaires and having their primary caregivers complete surveys, also interviewed the adolescents themselves. The use of interviews could provide valuable in-depth information about the experiences that children and adolescents have with relational aggression. Another methodology that has not yet been utilized in past research is focus groups. This could involve having six to eight adolescents talk about their experiences with relational aggression. Methodologies like focus groups and interviews would be extremely valuable when used in addition to self-report, peer-report, teacher-report and/or parent-report surveys. In this way, researchers would be able to gather information from a variety of sources in order to understand relational aggression. Few studies have addressed how relational aggression might impact the academic achievement and engagement of adolescents. Exceptions to this include the study by Totura et al. (2009) that investigated how middle school students perceptions of their family and school contexts moderate their involvement in and the effects of bullying and victimization. Importantly, the authors defined bullying as engaging in the following behaviors: kicking/pushing/hitting, name calling, teasing, socially isolating others, and spreading false rumors (Totura et al., 2009, p. 579). In this way, the authors do capture important aspects of relational aggression. The results of this study have important implications for future studies that look at how relational aggression impacts academic achievement and engagement. Moreover, Taylor et al. (2007) investigated how self-esteem and academic self-concept influence aggression in a school setting. However, a limitation of this study is that the researchers opera tionalized aggression as acts of aggression that resulted in formal school discipline, although they acknowledged the various forms of aggression and the fact that not all aggression results in formal discipline. It must be addressed, though, that acts of relational aggression might not have been captured to the full extent in this study. Nevertheless, the methodology used and the results found in this study provide support for promising directions in the research of a possible link between relational aggression and academic achievement. Overall, the studies mentioned above utilize similar methodologies in order to address various aspects of relational aggression. The studies above investigated how relational aggression affects social-psychological adjustment adolescents, what protective factors exist to buffer adolescents from the negative effects of relational aggression, how engaging in relational aggression affects friendship development, and lastly how a few school-related constructs affect ones experience with relational aggression. The purpose of this literature review was to provide an analysis of what research has been done with regard to relational aggression. Because it has been shown that relational aggression has unique, negative effects on the social-psychological adjustment of adolescents, it is imperative that we examine what other negative effects might be a result of engaging in relational aggression, either as a perpetrator or as a victim. Specifically, research on how relational aggression impacts academic engagement in the classroom, and consequently academic achievement, would be very valuable. School bonding and school spirit are other constructs that could be explored. If a negative association is found between relational aggression and academic engagement, this could have implications for educational policy and school behavioral management systems. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to explore whether or not increasing the academic self-concept of an adolescent would cause a subsequent decrease in their engagement in relational aggression. Future studies would benefit form utilizing multiple methodologies, including interviews or focus groups in order to gain a deeper understanding about what it is like to experience relational aggression. The area of how relational aggression might impact academic engagement has yet to really be explored, and so studies in this area would be indispensable in informing research and also practices in the field.

Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”

Edgar Allen Poe is a name that conjures up images of haunting dark rooms and dreary landscapes. His poems and short stories explore the inner workings of the human imagination, the parallelism of life and death, the fine line between sanity and madness, the delicate balance of beauty and terror, and the hesitation between a natural and a supernatural explanation of unusual events. â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† examines these themes in a collision and intermingling of manifold, complex circumstances. Poe uses duality and mirror images, symbolism, and a Gothic tone to convey the terror and fear that overwhelms and finally destroys the House of Usher. Studying the characters and the connections established between them, the symbolism and duality throughout the story, and most importantly the way in which the story is told, provides insight into the deeper meanings and true significance of the story. A part of the terror of this story is its vagueness. Rather than directly exploring the internal causes of the Ushers' illnesses, it presents these characters to the narrator and the reader as an impenetrable mystery. While many have tried to decipher the twin motif, this paper serves to explore how the events effect the narrator, and in turn, effect the reader. As the reader tries to interpret the story and make sense of the strange events that unfold, the reader finds himself experiencing feelings that mirror the narrator's. This is an often overlooked meaning and purpose to â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher. † A study of the opening paragraph is a crucial element to understanding the significance of the story. The opening paragraph not only introduces the conflict between the natural and supernatural, but gives insight into the narrator's reason for telling this story. First, it sets up an opposition between the narrator's experience of a force that may be supernatural and his insistent interpretation of this experience as explainable according to obscure psychological laws or else illusory, the mere product of nerves. After struggling to rationalize his immediate â€Å"sense of insufferable gloom† upon merely glancing at the House of Usher, he acknowledges that worldly things can sometimes give shape to the mind. He tries to change his perspective to shake his gloomy feeling, but looking into the tarn and seeing the reflection of the house provides no relief and instead deepens his terror. This experience contradicts his beliefs. The conflict between the reports of his senses and his interpretations of these reports persists when he reasons that being conscious that one is giving way to superstition accelerates the speed at which one gives way. This is â€Å"the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis. Parallel to the narrator's conflict is a subtle opposition that becomes increasingly stronger and important as the story progresses. Unlike many of Poe's other works, the opening provides no statement of the narrator's purpose in telling this story. Even though the narrator is never explicit about why he tells this story, he reveals his reasons indirectly from the very beginning. This narrator imagines a listener as conveyed by his conversational tone. The narrator mildly re sists his own story, trying rhetorically to dissociate himself from it. The frequency of his assertions of the present tense increases at crucial points in his narrative: when he recounts his perception of the atmosphere, when he discusses Usher's artistic productions, and especially, when he reports Usher's belief in the sentience of all things. This resistance suggests that he is telling this story to convince himself, or rather have the reader confirm that he is not mad. The purpose for the narrator's visit to the Usher House is to alleviate Rodrick from his suffering by means of his cheerful disposition. Upon discovering the physical similarities between Rodrick and the house, suggesting that both are essentially living corpses, alleviation seems futile. When Usher acknowledges these resemblances by asserting that the â€Å"physique† of the house affects the â€Å"morale† of his existence, he indicates that at the center of his malady is a growing dominance of the material world over his spirit, a world that includes both his house and his body. Rodrick's house and body have become his prison. Madeline's presence later in the conversation triggers yet another unaccountable oppression and after finding Usher with his face buried in his hands, he feels helpless. Mid story consists of a succession of of images of Usher's imprisonment in his world and of the narrator's attempts to resist the oppressive feelings that attack him. Rather than attempting to change Rodrick's point of view, the narrator only persists resistance to becoming â€Å"ushered. † The narratology shifts focus to the image of Rodrick. He proclaims his fear of going mad. In his mind, the house is causing him, body and soul, to mirror itself. The narrator, attempting to rationalize once again, concludes that Rodrick's condition is the condition of his world. It cause is in the nature of things. Rodrick hesitantly admits â€Å"a more natural and far more palpable origin,† hence why he send for the narrator as a aversion. As the days go on, Rodrick entertains the narrator with art and poems, all of which the narrator observes reflect the polarities of Rodrick's mental state. As the narrator tells of his and Rodrick's activities and of Rodrick's behavior, his tone becomes increasingly desperate and his efforts to remind the reader of his presence, rather than just reporting the events, increase exponentially. He describes their artistic pursuits: â€Å"his long, improvised dirges will ring forever in my ears,† â€Å"I hold painfully in my mind,† â€Å"(vivid as their images now are before me). † The narrator's very efforts to escape into the present of the narration betray him, for what he wishes to escape in the past awaits him in the future. Towards the end of the story, the narrator starts to mirror Rodrick. He appears to be telling his story to deny the significance upon which his story insists. As he resists his story, so his story resists him, refusing to take the shape he desires for it. His story mirrors the House of Usher. The narrator thus reveals his obsession. Could he convince his listener that what he has experienced is illusion, he might perhaps convince himself and so exorcise the story. He is compelled to tell his tale, but compelled by inner necessity to be free of the tale, to save himself. After Madeline's death, he claims he has been infected by Usher. After the account of Madeline's burial, the narrator's efforts at identifying with his listener are less frequent and less desperate. The death of Madeline is followed by the disappearance of all light from Usher's eyes and by rhetorical hopelessness in the narrator. Usher roams without object from chamber to chamber and gazes â€Å"upon vacancy for long hours,† as if listening (95). Soon the narrator is doing the same. When Rodrick enters the narrator's room his â€Å"mad hilarity† appalls the narrator, but the narrator welcomes his presence rather than being alone. Usher has come to show him something, the peculiar storm outside, which the narrator at first thinks sublimely beautiful. Upon further observation, he concludes that Usher must not look at it. He reaches this conclusion when he notices that the seemingly living whirlwind appears imprisoned within â€Å"the unnatural light of a faintly luminous and distinctly visible gaseous exhalation which hung about and enshrouded the mansion† (96). For the first time, the narrator reports direct resistance to Rodrick's perception and a direct attempt to explain it away as â€Å"merely electrical phenomena not uncommon† or as the result of the miasma of the tarn. As a diversion, he suggests reading. As the narrator attempts to entertain Rodrick with a hopeful sounding story he is not diverted. As Usher's arrival in the narrator's room mocks the narrator's earlier arrival at Usher, and as the revelation of the storm emphatically affirms Usher's world view, so Madeline's escape from the tomb mocks â€Å"The Mad Trist,† and her appearance turns the screw of the horror of Usher's world view. The Mad Trist,† while it may, as the narrator asserts, lack imagination, speaks rather directly to Rodrick's despair. The story, in the portion the narrator tells, is of the reconquest of a palace of gold, which had been reduced by a dragon into a hermit's hut, a hut with most of the characteristics of the haunted palace of U sher's poem. Ethelred's progress, then, suggests the possibility that King might retake his lost kingdom and don again the purple for which he was born. However, in the background is the opposite horror, the echoing series of events leading up to the destruction of the metaphorical king, Rodrick, and his palace. Madeline's escape from her tomb is a mockery of the recovery of reason. Soon the narrators surrounded by dualities: the twins, the reelings, the usherings, the collapses, the doublings of storm and house. He flees, but as the his rhetoric has already revealed, he cannot escape. He is infected. The House of Usher utters him with its last breath, and he is expelled into a space identical in meaning with those he has left. Were the narrator speaking rather than being spoken, he might seize his last opportunity to assert that with the destruction of the house and the appearance of the natural light of the moon, Usher's disease disappears from the earth. But it is clear from the manner of his telling as well as from his vision of the moon that the narrator has not yet accomplished this exorcism. The moon insists upon being unnatural, â€Å"a wild light †¦ a gleam so unusual †¦ the full, setting, and blood-red moon,† which bursts upon his sight. Usher is dead and yet, in the narrator, Usher lives on. Turn where he might, he sees only Usher. In the effort to throw off this burden, he tells his story, asking his implied listener to confirm his fruitless assertions that his experience was illusory, but in the very act of telling, he is again caught up in the compelling vision of Madeline's return and the doubled collapse of the house. Implicit in his attempts at persuasion has been the promise that the tale would come to an end and that his unaccountable experiences would be explained. The final image of the tarn's waters closing over the fragments of the house violates probability, and the narrator offers no explanation for it. If the opposition between the narrator's rational explanations and his unaccountable experiences is to be resolved, the reader must do so without the help of the narrator, and the immediately available alternatives are not satisfactory. The reader's natural response is to re read or relieve the text, trying to rationalize what has just been presented, thus mirroring the role of the narrator. As he has failed in his pursuit to alleviate Usher from his madness, the reader in turn fails to make sense of the narrators experience.

People Resourcing and Rewards

There are a number of different ways in which psychometric testing can be used by employers in the recruitment process. The importance attached to the recruitment process by employers as well as employees make it extremely important for reliable measures to be put in place to ensure that the recruitment process and therefore the employment process brings forth the best of employees to a company. It is a crucial stage in starting because the kind of employees employed in an organization goes along way to determine the kind of workforce the organization the will have. Psychometric testing refers to a method which is used by employees to select the most suitable applicants to fill existing vacancies. Psychometric tests have been discredited due to the fact that, information gathered from them is not generalizable and therefore they cannot be relied upon in making selections for particular kinds of jobs. Another demerit associated with psychometric tests is that, they are more useful for top positions requiring high skills such as those involving graduates as well as highly qualified candidate. While this is an advantage to the employers seeking to fill vacancies for highly qualified staff. It is however challenging to apply the tests when recruiting for manual vacancies . High costs associated with the psychometric tests have been pointed out as a major impediment to the usability of the psychometric tests. Employers invest quite a large amount of money in order to secure and use psychometric tests. The direct costs involved in the tests include the training that has to be offered to the staff of the company requiring using the tests for recruitment since these are to administer the tests during actual interviews. The other cost involved in the test is that of the annual fees required for employers or companies which would want to use the tests. This is a demerit in that; companies have to invest heavily on the tests. To obtain and use the tests, employers are not only required to subscribe yearly something which can really strain a company’s income. Merits associated with the tests include the fact that, the tests are very objective . Objectivity is a crucial quality for any interview and therefore the fact that, these tests offers that advantage makes them very attractive and suitable for employees. Since subjects may jeopardize any chances of recruiting the best applicants, the objectivity associated with this method makes it very attractive to employers. Usually the common interview methods which traditionally have been used by recruiters have been known to be prone to subjectivity. Therefore objectivity associated with the psychometric tests is seen as a plus by the employers. Reliability is another merit associated with the test. According (EIRR, 2000p. 8-88), psychometric tests are more likely to filter out all unsuitable and unwanted applicants at early stages of the interviews thus saving the employers time and money. This is especially necessary in this era whereby un reputable schools have come up and also the underworld supplies quite a big percentage of fake certificates in circulation today. A good percentage of the fake certificates go unnoticed and undetected. In light of the above challenges, psychometric tests have become the better option for employers in detect ing dishonest applicants. The increasingly common fight for employment as well as gender mainstreaming in the labor market has effectively resulted in a more unbiased ways of recruitment and selection. This coupled with other factors have warranted a more sober approach to the recruitment process. The fact that many states have come up with legislation requiring equal job opportunities for all and without any form of discrimination has further served to ensure that, organizations go for psychometric testing during the staffing process (EIRR, 2000p. 0-90), cites a more professional human resource body as also a factor which can be linked to the increasingly popularity of the psychometric testing. Another merit of psychometric testing is that, they are very good in predicting cognitive ability of candidates something which is very useful for managerial jobs as well as high skilled jobs. Since the psychometric tests measure abilities as well as personal traits and personal attributes of people this makes them ve ry useful when hiring for highly competitive vacancies which attract applicants form well qualified professionals. Psychometric tests are also useful in that they assist employees to land jobs which suit their personalities and therefore are more likely to offer happiness to both employees and employers. This according to (EIRR, 2000p. 80-100), is useful in ensuring that employees perform to their peak hence contributing positively to their organizational growth. Psychometric tests also help employees not to pursue unsuitable careers in which their chances of succeeding in such are limited. Therefore psychometric tests offer employees an opportunity to carry out a self assessment and therefore plan better their career paths. Although the tests are not 100 % reliable they are useful in making sure that, an employee does not recruit employees whore are likely to end up quitting the job after being hired. Finally, psychometric test are useful in preparations to switch careers since such a step can make or break ones career path. Psychometric tests comes in hand to make sure that, people do not miss out on opportunities neither do they waste out of opportunities in pursuit of careers which do not suit them in the first place.

Early Us Hist Essay - 1006 Words

Is early United States history a story of progress? Progress in westward expansion (for white Americans) not good for native Americans. The early United States history is a story of progress and conflict in terms of political, territorial, and social advancement. Political: Alien and Sedition Acts- During the Adams administration, congress passed the Alien and Sedation acts to suppress public criticism of the government and limit the freedom of foreigners in the US. Outcry against these acts helped the republican cause. then the rise of democratic politics – between 1820 and 1840, a revolution took place in American Politics. When property and taxpaying qualifications for voting were repealed, voter participation grew drastically.†¦show more content†¦Tecumsen and Tenskwatawa – Calling for a return to traditional Native American practices, these brothers created a powerful pan-indian military movement and eventually allied with the British in order to stop Anglo-American expansion War of 1812 – The war of 1812 effectively destroyed the ability of the Native Americans to resist American Expansion east of the Mississippi and it convinced Americans that they could now fend off European threats. Missouri compromise – The Mississippi compromise, which represents the nation’s first extended debate over slavery’s expansion, preserved sectional balance and prohibited the formation of slave states north of the Mississippi compromise line. Indian removal act – Passed in 1830, this act forced Native Americans to leave their tribal lands and settle on federal lands to the west of the Mississippi River. manifest destiny. – â€Å"Manifest Destiny†, the commonly-held belief that God had chosen Anglo-Americans to expand westward, was in reality a racial, economic, and political justification for aggressive territorial expansion. But with the US War with Mexico came great debate over whether slavery should continue to exist expanding.– This war bitterly divided American public opinion, greatly expanded the nations borders,Show MoreRelatedHist 405 Final Exam Latest Devry1210 Words   |  5 PagesHIST 405 FINAL EXAM LATEST DEVRY To purchase this visit following link: http://www.activitymode.com/product/hist-405-final-exam-latest-devry/ Contact us at: SUPPORT@ACTIVITYMODE.COM HIST 405 FINAL EXAM LATEST DEVRY HIST 405 Final Exam Latest DeVry Page 1 Question 1.1. (TCO 4) The Spanish who settled in Florida and New Mexico were primarily (Points : 2) conquistadors. merchants. missionaries. plantation owners. Type: MC Question 2.2. (TCO 1) The Jamestown colony was established byRead MoreAmerindian Arguments and Actions Essay771 Words   |  4 Pagesin 1607 (The Early European Colonies). These colonists sought after riches so they sailed over from England in search of gold (The Early European Colonies). While in America, the English received tobacco from local Indians. The Englishmen adored the new crop and took some back to England (The Early European Colonies). Tobacco was a remarkable success in England. 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