Human Resource

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Who Controls Your Fate?

1 comments Posted by Jhawahar.R at 10:22 AM

THE PERSONAL

BEHAVIOR INVENTORY

The following statements describe how people feel about themselves and other people. Read each statement carefully, then mark how much you agree or disagree with it, using the scale below:

5 = Strongly agree
4 = Agree
3 = Neither agree nor disagree
2 = Disagree
1 = Strongly disagree

1. I live too much by other people’s standards.
2. In order to get along and be liked, I tend to be what
people expect me to be rather than anything else.
3. I guess I put on a show to impress people. I know I’m
not the person I pretend to be.
4. I change my opinion (or the way I do things) in order to
please someone else.
5. I have to be careful at parties and social gatherings for
fear I will do or say things that others won’t like.
6. In class, or in a group, I am unlikely to express my opinion
because I fear that others may not think well of it or
of me.
7. I keep still or tell “little white lies” in the company of my
friends so as not to reveal to them that I am different (or
think differently) from them.
8. There are many aspects of my behavior over which I
have very little control.
9. I often find that my own inclinations have little to do
with what I actually do or say.
10. I have trouble taking orders because they often conflict
with my own inclinations.
11. I always practice what I preach.
12. I am basically good at following through with my plans.
13. I never say anything I don’t mean.
14. I have my own code of behavior and I follow it to the
letter.
15. All one’s behavior should be directed toward a certain
small number of definite personal goals.
16. ”Tell it like it is” is always the best policy.
17. I can make impromptu speeches even on topics about
which I have almost no information.
18. I would probably make a good actor because I can play
any role.
19. I have very little trouble changing my behavior to suit
different people and different situations.
20. In informal discussions I often speak in favor of an unpopular
position in order to cause people to think more
carefully about what they are saying.
21. I can only argue for ideas to which I am strongly committed.
22. I think that it is very hard to predict how people are going
to behave.
23. Most behavior can’t be predicted in advance.
24. Some of the things my friends decide to do often come
as a great surprise to me.
25. Once you get to know a person well, even then his behavior
will often surprise you.
26. I usually have a pretty good idea how I’m going to behave
in a particular situation.
27. I usually know what my friends are going to do.
28. I think that most people are very predictable.
29. Once you get to know a person well, you can usually
tell what he/she is going to do.

SCORING

The first step is to reverse score (5 = 1, 4 = 2, 3 = 3, 2 = 4, and 1 = 5) the following items: 10, 21, 26, 27, 28, and 29. After reverse scoring, you can find your scores on four subscales.
Other-Direction (OD) is comprised of items 1 through 10;
Inner-Direction (ID) consists of items 11 through 16;
Lack of Constraints on Behavior (LC) is comprised of items 17 through 21;
and Predictability of Behavior (Pr) is comprised of items 22 through 29.

NORMS
.................SCORES............................PERCENTILE
....OD.......ID......LC......Pr
....28........24........17.....26.......................85
....25........22........15.....24.......................70
....22........20........13.....21.......................50
....19........18........11.....18.........................30
....16........16.........9......16.........................15

About the Personal Behavior Inventory

Philosophers, poets, novelists, and of course psychologists have
engaged in a lively debate about the determinants of human behavior.
On the one hand, there are those who argue that people
are prisoners of social forces that they cannot resist. This view
suggests that we all, to varying degrees, conform to the expectations
that others have for us. On the other hand, there are those
who believe that every person has a unique configuration that
evolves from biological predispositions and early childhood experiences.
This view suggests that behavior is determined by
forces that lie within each individual.

Psychologist Julian Rotter entered this fray in the 1960s when
he proposed a personality dimension called internal-external locus
of control. Rotter argued that people varied in terms of how
they perceived the world. Those who scored at the internal end
of his scale believed that they were in control, that their efforts
made a difference in how their lives unfolded. Those who scored
at the external end of the scale believed that luck or powerful
others controlled their fate. Rotter’s scale inspired thousands of
research studies, and it became clear that this internal-external
dimension had important implications for a variety of situations.
People with an internal locus of control generally seemed to
have a higher level of psychological adjustment. Because they believed
their efforts made a difference, they were more active in
taking steps to increase the odds that they got what they wanted
from life. People with an external locus of control tended to experience
more depression and anxiety and viewed the world as a
frightening, hostile place.

UCLA psychologist Barry Collins and his colleagues were intrigued
by this conceptualization but argued that the internalexternal
dimension was more complex than Rotter had
suggested. Their test, the Personal Behavior Inventory, was developed
to explore their ideas further. As you can see from their
test and the scoring system, they concluded that there were four
dimensions relevant to how we view the world, the first of which
they called Other-Direction. People with high scores on this scale
feel pressured to conform to the expectations of others. Their
low self-esteem causes them to experience anxiety should they
think about saying or doing something that might displease
those around them. Consequently, they feel rather powerless to
control the direction of their lives.

The second dimension is called Inner-Direction, and as the
items suggest, people with high scores on this scale have an inner
plan or a psychological gyroscope, to use Collins’s term,
which guides their behavior. These people, similar to Rotter’s
internals, have a clear sense of the direction they want their
lives to take, and they believe they have the resources to get
there.

Lack of Constraints is the third dimension. People with high
scores on this scale may be characterized as being creative and
free spirits. Collins and his colleagues speculated that such
people may be self-actualized in that they have the flexibility to
be spontaneous and to adapt to a wide variety of situations. A
skeptic, however, could argue that high scorers are chameleons
with little sense or little concern about what is appropriate or inappropriate.
I suspect a score in the 50th to the 70th percentile
range is the best place to be. It is desirable to have the flexibility
to adapt to different situations, but I believe a psychological gyroscope
is important as well.

Finally, the fourth dimension is Predictability of Behavior,
which includes the behavior of oneself as well as the behavior of
others. People with high scores on this scale have more confidence
in their ability to make sense of the world. Regardless of
whether they are outer- or inner-directed, they believe their lives
are understandable and hence, safe. People with low scores on
this scale tend to view life as more chaotic and hence, dangerous.
They have difficulty feeling confidence in the consequences of
their actions.

I found the Personal Behavior Inventory especially fascinating
because Collins demonstrated that the four dimensions on
his scale were independent. Unlike Rotter, whose test suggested
that one was either internal or external, Collins found that one
could have high scores on both the Inner- and Other-Direction
subscales of his test. It was also the case that the Lack of Constraints
and Predictability of Behavior subscales were independent
of the other subscales as well. This means that one person
could have any number of combination of scores on the various
scales. Further research is needed before we have a clear sense
of the implications of the potential profiles, but I would guess
that the profile indicating the highest degree of adjustment
would be a low score on the Other-Direction subscale, high
scores on the Inner-Direction and Predictability of Behavior
subscales, and as I indicated earlier, a moderately high score on
the Lack of Constraints subscale. I suspect that such people
would not be unduly influenced by the expectations of others;
they would have confidence that their efforts made a difference
and that the world was a safe, predictable place. They would also
be sufficiently free from either external or internal constraints
so that they could be spontaneous and creative when the situation
was appropriate. I only wish I fit that ideal profile a little
more closely.

How Depressed Are You?

1 comments Posted by Jhawahar.R at 8:40 AM

Just try this questionnaire to know how depressed are you

THE AUTOMATIC

THOUGHTS QUESTIONNAIRE

Listed below are a variety of thoughts that pop into people’s

heads. Please read each thought and indicate how frequently, if

at all, the thought occurred to you over the last week. Please read

each item carefully and indicate the appropriate response, using

the scale below.

5 = All the time

4 = Often

3 = Moderately often

2 = Sometimes

1 = Not at all

1. I feel like I’m up against the world.

2. I’m no good.

3. Why can’t I ever succeed?

4. No one understands me.

5. I’ve let people down.

6. I don’t think I can go on.

7. I wish I were a better person.

8. I’m so weak.

9. My life’s not going the way I want it to.

10. I’m so disappointed in myself.

11. Nothing feels good anymore.

12. I can’t stand this anymore.

13. I can’t get started.

14. What’s wrong with me?

15. I wish I were somewhere else.

16. I can’t get things together.

17. I hate myself.

18. I’m worthless.

19. I wish I could just disappear.

20. What’s the matter with me?

21. I’m a loser.

22. My life is a mess.

23. I’m a failure.

24. I’ll never make it.

25. I feel so helpless.

26. Something has to change.

27. There must be something wrong with me.

28. My future is bleak.

29. It’s just not worth it.

30. I can’t finish anything.

SCORING

To find your score, simply add together your responses for the 30

items.

NORMS

SCORE...........PERCENTILE

..60......................85

..55......................70

..49......................50

..43......................30

..38......................15

About the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire

We have learned a great deal about depression over the past few

decades. Much of this research has focused on the biological underpinnings

of depression, and this work has led to a number of

new and effective medications. And while these advances have

undoubtedly helped to improve the quality of life for countless

people, a number of people, including yours truly, are concerned

that the biological view of depression has been oversold.

We are living in a time when Prozac is one of the medications

most widely prescribed not only by psychiatrists but by family

practitioners as well. Although it seems like a simple solution to

life’s problems, there is good reason to believe that taking a pill

is not always the best solution for depression.

Among those with a healthy dose of skepticism about drugs always

being the best answer are the authors of the Automatic

Thoughts Questionnaire, Drs. Steven Hollon and Philip Kendall.

They argue that thoughts play a critical role. A number of investigators

have collected convincing evidence that certain

thoughts, or cognitions, can both initiate and maintain a depressive

episode. Hollon and Kendall developed the Automatic

Thoughts Questionnaire to assess the sorts of cognitions that are

associated with depression. Their goal was to develop a test that

would be useful in gauging the progress of psychotherapy, but it

can also be useful for those of you who are prone to experiencing

these feelings. If you do have such episodes and you had a

high score on this test, the odds are excellent that by changing

your automatic thoughts you could feel considerably better.

Please note that the norms were based on nondepressed college

students. So even if your score was above the 85th percentile, it

does not necessarily mean that you are seriously depressed. As always,

if you suspect that you are, you should consult a mental

health professional.

I know all too well that changing one’s thoughts is easier said

than done, but it can be accomplished with a concerted effort.

The first step is to recognize that the types of thoughts reflected

in the items in this test are indeed irrational—but recognizing

this is often difficult for depressed people to do. I had a client a

few years ago, for instance, who came to therapy for help with

her depression. This young woman was about to graduate from a

prestigious university and had been accepted to an equally prestigious

graduate school where she planned to obtain her Ph.D.

Sounds impressive, right? Well, she was depressed because she

was “such a failure.” As evidence, she pointed to her rejection

from her first choice of a graduate school and to two classmates

who had higher grade point averages than her own.

What seems so obvious to an outside observer can be impossible

for the depressed person to believe. I’m not sure I ever completely

convinced this young woman that her assessment of

herself as a failure was irrational. She was saying the right things

by the end of our brief therapy and she reported feeling better,

but I suspect that she continued to harbor the belief that she was

a failure because she did not graduate number one in her class

and was not accepted to the most prestigious graduate school.

The truth is that the sorts of thoughts people have can be, and

often are, independent of what they are doing with their lives.

We have all known people who seem to make a mess of everything

they try, yet they remain convinced that their only problem

is that others fail to recognize their greatness. The important

point is that even when we experience disappointments, we are

not justified in concluding that we are worthless or doomed to a

life of failure.

The first step in modifying the automatic thoughts that are

contributing to your feelings of depression is to go through the

list of items and find a more realistic view for those that you endorsed.

Most depressed people, for instance, endorse item 21,

“I’m a loser.” They may even cite a failure or two as examples of

what losers they are. But we’ve all heard stories of people who

have had countless failures before they reached their goals. Having

a failure experience is just that—a failure experience. It does

not make one a loser.

The next step is to make a concerted effort to substitute a

more realistic, positive thought every time you experience the

negative thought. If you have the persistent thought, for instance,

that you are a loser, have a substitute thought ready. Perhaps

it would be, “Yes, I failed at that project, but the next time

around I’ll be ready and I’ll do better.” Another good thought

would be, “Yes, I failed at that project, but let me review all the

successes that I’ve had.” Thoughts can be habits the same way

that behaviors are. So just as one can conquer the bad habit of

biting one’s fingernails by engaging in a substitute behavior

whenever the urge to bite strikes, one can modify negative automatic

thoughts with a sustained effort to substitute more positive,

realistic thoughts for the negative automatic thoughts.

This approach to treating depression is called cognitive therapy.

Aaron Beck is responsible for articulating this theory, and he

has suggested that depressed people tend to make several types

of logical errors in their thinking. Magnification and minimization

are two common such errors—errors that my young client

described above was guilty of making. She magnified her failures—

namely, her “failure” to graduate at the top of her class

and her failure to gain admission to her first choice of graduate

school. That she was unable to take pride in her graduating third

in her class and being admitted to one of the top graduate programs

in the country was a result of her tendency toward minimization.

Another common error described by Beck is arbitrary

inference. An example of this is the person who believes that a

flat tire is evidence that he or she is a loser. Depressed people often

interpret impersonal events as evidence of their failures as

human beings.

The belief of researchers such as Hollon, Kendall, and Beck

that cognitions are crucial is supported by evidence that cognitive

therapy may be as effective as medication in the treatment of

depression. This debate has not been settled, but after treatment

has been concluded there is good reason to believe that people

who receive cognitive therapy are less likely to have a relapse

than people receiving medication. I suspect the debate as to

which form of treatment is best will not be resolved anytime

soon, but the evidence is clear that modifying cognitions can

play a very important role in alleviating depression for many

people. It is hard work, but I urge you to give it a try if depression

is one of your barriers to a happier, more satisfying life.

Are You an Angry Person?

1 comments Posted by Jhawahar.R at 2:13 PM

Do this analysis by yourself to understand how angry are you?

Everybody gets angry from time to time. A number of statements

that people have used to describe the times they get angry are

included below. Use the guidelines below to indicate how well

each of the following statements describes you. Please answer

every item.

5 = Completely true

4 = Mostly true

3 = Partly false/partly true

2 = Mostly false

1 = Completely false

1. I tend to get angry more frequently than most people.

2. Other people seem to get angrier than I do in similar

circumstances.

3. I harbor grudges that I don’t tell anyone about.

4. I try to get even when I’m angry with someone.

5. I am secretly quite critical of others.

6. It is easy to make me angry.

7. When I am angry with someone, I let that person know.

8. I have met many people who are supposed to be experts

who are no better than I.

9. Something makes me angry almost every day.

10. I often feel angrier than I think I should.

11. I feel guilty about expressing my anger.

12. When I am angry with someone, I take it out on whoever

is around.

13. Some of my friends have habits that annoy and bother

me very much.

14. I am surprised at how often I feel angry.

15. Once I let people know I’m angry, I can put it out of my

mind.

16. People talk about me behind my back.

17. At times, I feel angry for no specific reason.

18. I can make myself angry about something in the past

just by thinking about it.

19. Even after I have expressed my anger, I have trouble forgetting

about it.

20. When I hide my anger from others, I think about it for a

long time.

21. People can bother me just by being around.

22. When I get angry, I stay angry for hours.

23. When I hide my anger from others, I forget about it

pretty quickly.

24. I try to talk over problems with people without letting

them know I’m angry.

25. When I get angry, I calm down faster than most people.

26. I get so angry, I feel like I might lose control.

27. If I let people see the way I feel, I’d be considered a hard

person to get along with.

28. I am on my guard with people who are friendlier than I

expected.

29. It’s difficult for me to let people know I’m angry.

30. I get angry when:

_____ a. Someone lets me down.

_____ b. People are unfair.

_____ c. Something blocks my plans.

_____ d. I am delayed.

_____ e. Someone embarrasses me.

_____ f. I have to take orders from someone less capable than I.

_____ g. I have to work with incompetent people.

_____ h. I do something stupid.

_____ i. I am not given credit for something I have done.

NORMS

........................SCORES...........................................PERCENTILE

......AA......RAS.....HO...... AO......AI......Total

......47......33.........44.........14.......22.......160................85

......42......29.........39.........13......20.......142................70

......36......25.........34.........11......17.......123.................50

......30......21.........29.........9........14.......104................30

......25......17.........24.........8.........12.......86..................15

SCORING

The first step in scoring is to reverse (5 = 1, 4 = 2, 3 = 3, 2 = 4, and

1 = 5) the following items: 2, 23, and 25. Next, you can find your

score on five subscales. Please note that some items appear on

more than one subscale. The first is Anger Arousal and consists of

items 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10, 14, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, and 26. The second dimension

is Range of Anger-Eliciting Situations and includes items

30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e, 30f, 30g, 30h, and 30i. The third dimension

is Hostile Outlook and consists of items 8, 13, 17, 18, 21, 22,

28, 30a, 30b, 30f, 30g, and 30i. The fourth dimension is Anger-

Out and consists of items 7, 23, 24, and 29. And the fifth dimension

is Anger-In and consists of items 3, 4, 11, 19, 20, and 27.

About the Multidimensional Anger Inventory

As is the case with all sciences, psychology has been guilty of its

share of mistakes. One interesting example of this concerns the

emotion of anger. For many years, the common wisdom was that

people should express their anger, that it was unhealthy to suppress

it. Freud, one of the first proponents of this view, argued

that depression is anger turned inward, so clearly, it would be

better to express one’s anger outward to avoid the negative consequences

of repressing it. This belief was strengthened in the

1950s when psychoanalyst Franz Alexander wrote that pent-up

anger would intensify, resulting in a chronic emotional state that

caused hypertension. Alexander’s theory received some support

in the 1960s when a group of researchers brought people into

the laboratory and deliberately made them angry, which caused

their blood pressure to increase. Half of these research participants

were subsequently allowed to retaliate against the person

who made them angry, and for these people, there was a decrease

in their blood pressure. So, it seemed clear: expressing

anger could lower one’s blood pressure and possibly preclude

the risk of coronary heart disease.

Now, nearly 40 years later, researchers have a very different

view of anger, and it appears as if there is very little that is good

about it. As is always the case, the situation is extremely complex

and the interplay of a number of variables must be considered,

but it does appear that anger poses serious health and social

risks. Perhaps the most dramatic illustration of the health risks

was presented by a group of researchers from the University of

North Carolina who gave a group of medical students a test measuring

their hostility. Twenty-five years later, physicians who had

been high in hostility as students were significantly more likely

not only to have suffered coronary disease but also to have died!

The social risks of anger have been well publicized over the

past several years. Who has not heard of ugly and tragic incidents

stemming from road rage? Both spouse and child abuse are almost

always preceded by the perpetrator experiencing anger.

Over the past half century, we psychologists have gone from

teaching people how to express their anger to leading anger

management seminars. Anger is something that is best controlled.

UCLA psychologist Judith Siegel developed the Multidimensional

Anger Inventory to reflect the complexity of the emotion

of anger. After reviewing the scientific literature dealing with the

relationship between anger and coronary heart disease, she

noted that there are a number of dimensions associated with this

dangerous emotion. As the scales on her test suggest, some

people may become angry often, but a relatively narrow range of

situations elicit their anger. Other people may have a generally

hostile outlook on the world, even though they may not experience

a great deal of emotional intensity when they feel angry.

Siegel’s goal was to develop a test that would help researchers

better understand exactly what components of anger contribute

to coronary heart disease.

While we still have much to learn about the precise nature of

anger, it is clear that if you received high scores on this test then

you would benefit from modifying your anger level. It is never

easy to change lifelong patterns, but the evidence is clear that

anger management programs work. It is true that some of us are

predisposed by our biological makeup to respond more strongly

than others, but the experience of anger is strongly influenced

by learning. If we observed our parents becoming angry frequently,

we learned that anger is an expected reaction in such

situations. And remember, patterns that are learned can be unlearned.

Perhaps the most important step in modifying your anger is to

recognize that it is under your control. Too many angry people

blame the target of their emotions. The abusive husband blames

his wife for provoking him. The woman who experiences road

rage blames stupid and incompetent drivers. If you want to

change, you have to accept responsibility for your reactions. You

cannot blame others for the emotions you experience. You are in

charge, and it is up to you to do something about your anger.

One important step in modifying your anger is to learn a more

appropriate, healthier response to situations that make you angry.

Most anger management programs use relaxation training

to help people with this step. A good source of additional information

about the benefits of relaxation and detailed instructions

to help you learn this response is Harvard psychiatrist Herbert

Benson’s book, The Relaxation Response. Even if you do not spend

the time to thoroughly master these techniques, you can accomplish

a great deal with very simple breathing exercises. Suppose

you are stuck in traffic and know you will be late to an important

meeting. Rather than feel angry at all the “idiots” who are making

life difficult for you, simply lean back in your seat, take several

slow, deep breaths, and repeat the word relax to yourself.

This will not work miracles the first time you try it, but if you consistently

practice relaxing in situations that typically make you

angry, you will be surprised by the change in yourself over a few

weeks’ time.

Along with learning to relax, you must change your thoughts.

I do not have much of a problem with anger but there is one situation

that I have had to make a conscious effort to work on—

the express line in the grocery store. I would find myself

becoming increasingly angry when the people in front of me did

not do everything they could to make the line move quickly. Especially

infuriating was the person who would wait until the

checker announced the total before digging through her purse

to find her pocketbook. Then, this especially annoying person

would dig through her change pocket to preserve as many of her

precious dollar bills as possible (see, I’m getting worked up just

writing about it). I decided I had to change when I realized I

would still be angry by the time I got home from the store. So I

would take the deep breaths and then tell myself that at most, it

was adding a minute to my delay and that the woman was not intentionally

doing this to make my life miserable. And rather than

stare at her in a futile attempt to speed her up, I would amuse

myself by reading the headlines of the tabloid newspapers that

are always adjacent to the checkout line.

It has been several years since I vowed to work on this, and

there are still times when I am in a hurry and I have to remind

myself to practice what I preach. It is almost impossible to completely

change our reactions, but it is also true that I almost

never walk out of the store feeling angry at the people who were

ahead of me in line. With persistence, you too can overcome

most anything.

How Rational Are You?

0 comments Posted by Jhawahar.R at 11:26 AM

Check how rational are you with this simple survey by yourself

THE SURVEY OF
PERSONAL BELIEFS

People have different ideas and beliefs. We are interested in your
opinion about the following statements. Using the scale below,
select the number that best reflects your belief about each statement.

1 = Totally agree
2 = Mostly agree
3 = Slightly agree
4 = Slightly disagree
5 = Mostly disagree
6 = Totally disagree

1. Dealing with some people can be very unpleasant, but
it can never be awful or horrible.
2. When I make a mistake, I often tell myself, “I shouldn’t
have done that.”
3. Absolutely, people must obey the law.
4. There is nothing that I “can’t stand.”
5. Being ignored, or being socially awkward at a party,
would reduce my sense of self-worth.
6. Some situations in life are truly terrible.
7. In some areas I absolutely should be more competent.
8. My parents should be reasonable in what they ask
of me.
9. There are some things that I just can’t stand.
10. My self-worth is not higher because of my successes in
school or on the job.
11. The way some children behave is just awful.
12. I absolutely should not have made certain obvious mistakes
in my life.
13. Even if they had promised, and it was important to me,
there is no reason why my friends have to do what I
want.
14. I can’t deal with it when my friends (or my children) behave
immaturely, wildly, or improperly.
15. There are good people and bad people, as can be seen
by watching what they do.
16. There are times when awful things happen.
17. There is nothing that I must do in life.
18. Children must eventually learn to live up to their obligations.
19. Sometimes I just can’t tolerate my poor achievement in
school or at work.
20. Even when I make serious or costly mistakes, or hurt
others, my self-worth does not change.
21. It would be terrible if I could not succeed at pleasing
the people I love.
22. I would like to do better at school (or at work) but there
is no reason why I absolutely must do better.
23. I believe that people definitely should not behave
poorly in public.
24. I just can’t take a lot of pressure and stress.
25. The approval or disapproval of my friends or family
does not affect my self-worth.
26. It would be unfortunate, but certainly not terrible, if
someone in my family had serious medical problems.
27. I definitely have to do a good job on all things that I decide
to do.
28. It’s generally okay for teenagers to act differently by eating
pizza for breakfast and leaving clothing and books
all over the floor in their room.
29. I can’t stand some of the things that have been done by
my friends or members of my family.
30. A person who sins or harms others repeatedly is a “bad
person.”
31. It would be awful if someone I loved developed serious
mental problems and had to be hospitalized.
32. I have to make absolutely sure that everything is going
well in important areas of my life.
33. If it’s important to me, close friends should want to do
the favors that I ask of them.
34. I can easily tolerate very unpleasant situations and uncomfortable,
awkward interactions with friends.
35. The way others evaluate me (friends, supervisors, teachers)
is very important in determining the way I rate myself.
36. It’s terrible when my friends behave poorly and inappropriately
in public.
37. I clearly should not make some of the mistakes I make.
38. There is no reason why my family members must act the
way I want them to.
39. It’s unbearable when lots and lots of things go wrong.
40. I often rate myself based upon my success at work or
school, or upon my social achievements.
41. It would be terrible if I totally failed in school or at
work.
42. There is no reason why I should be a better person than
I am.
43. There are clearly some things that other people must
not do.
44. There are some things about people at work (or in
school) that I just can’t stand.
45. Serious emotional or legal problems would lower my
sense of self-worth.
46. Even very bad and distasteful situations like failing, or
losing a lot of money or a job, are not terrible.
47. There are some good reasons why I must not make errors
at school or at work.
48. Absolutely, my friends and family should treat me better
than they sometimes do.
49. I can easily accept it when my friends don’t behave the
way I expect them to.
50. It is important to teach children that they can become
“good boys” and “good girls” by performing well in
school and earning the approval of their parents.

SCORING

First, you must reverse the score (1 = 6, 2 = 5, 3 = 4, 4 = 3, 5 = 2,
and 6 = 1) for the following items: 1, 4, 10, 13, 17, 20, 22, 25, 26,
28, 34, 38, 42, 46, and 49.
Next, you can find scores on five subscales.
The names of the subscales and the items on each subscale
are as follows:
Awfulizing (Aw) 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, 31, 36, 41, and 46;
Self-Directed Shoulds (SDS) 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27, 32, 37, 42, and 47;
Other-Directed Shoulds (ODS) 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, 38, 43, and 48;
Low Frustration Tolerance (LFT) 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, 29, 34, 39, 44, and 49; and
Self-Worth (SW) 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50.
Your grand total is obtained by adding together the five subscale scores.

NORMS
......................SCORES...............................PERCENTILE
.Aw.....SDS....ODS....LFT....SW.........Total
....30......31.....34.......35.....35...........165.............85
....28......29.....32.......33.....33...........153.............70
....25......26.....29.......30.....30...........140.............50
....22......23.....26.......27.....27...........127.............30
....20......21.....24.......25.....25...........115..............15

About the Survey of Personal Beliefs

The Survey of Personal Beliefs reflects an approach to psychotherapy
called rational emotive therapy, developed by psychologist
Albert Ellis. Ellis argued that while people tend to
believe they are anxious, depressed, or otherwise unhappy because
of the things that happen to them, they are really distressed by the things they say to themselves about the things that happen
to them. To illustrate this distinction, suppose you go to work
one morning and your boss greets you with the news that you are
fired. While it may make sense to you that your bad feelings are
a result of your termination and uncertain future, Ellis’s response
would be, “You’re not depressed because you lost your
job, you’re depressed because of what you are saying to yourself
about losing your job. You’re probably telling yourself that losing
your job is a tragedy, that it proves what a loser you are, and that
you will never find suitable work again.” Ellis would go on to tell
you that it was too bad you lost your job, but it is not the end of
the world. You should use the experience to learn something
about yourself that will increase the odds of success on your next
job. And it is doubtful that you were actually happy in a job from
which you were fired, so this experience offers you the opportunity
to find work that will be more satisfying. Ellis argues that to
tell yourself that losing your job is a tragedy is irrational and that
to feel better, you must adopt more rational, logical ways of viewing
the world.
Ellis outlined numerous irrational beliefs that were especially
prevalent among unhappy, distressed people, and the Survey of
Personal Beliefs was developed by Howard Kassinove and Andrew
Berger to reflect these common, irrational beliefs. As you
can see from reading the items on this test, Ellis’s list of irrational
beliefs reflects a handful of common themes. One of these is that
to feel worthwhile, we must be loved and approved of by virtually
everyone. While most of us would agree that it is impossible for
everyone to like or approve of us, many people feel genuinely
devastated when they learn that a colleague or acquaintance harbors
negative feelings about them. Many others will make poor
decisions with the hope that it will inspire liking and approval
from others. (Do the names of any politicians come to mind?)
Healthy people can accept that they are disliked by others, and
they are able to make the right decision even when they know it
will anger some people.
A second, and in my mind an especially common irrational belief,
is that all problems have good solutions. In my experience as
a therapist, I have seen many clients who seek help, believing the
perfect answer to their dilemma is just waiting to be found. The
truth is that many problems simply do not have “good” solutions
and we must settle for the least onerous alternative. The middleaged
woman married to a philanderer who is a good father and
a kind companion must decide which alternative, none of which
are good, works best for her. And then she must remind herself
that while it is unfortunate that her husband is a womanizer, it is
not the end of the world. By making the best of whatever alternative
she does select, she has an excellent chance of experiencing
joy and happiness again.
As you can see from the norms, we can all be a little irrational
at times. While Ellis would have us believe that it is irrational to
think it terrible if we failed at school or work (item 41), the average
person does “Slightly Agree” with this statement. Only those
people who “Totally Agree” or “Mostly Agree” are likely to end
up with a score that results in their being labeled as irrational. I
do like Ellis’s approach to psychotherapy, but I believe there are
times when he is guilty of overstating his case. I suspect the difference
between people who function at a high level and others
is a matter of degree. Even the best-adjusted person could be expected
to feel devastated by losing a job, but they can also recover
relatively quickly. They realize they have no choice but to
move on and to make the best of the situation.
If you did score below the 30th percentile on this test, the
odds are good that you could have a more satisfying life by modifying
the things you say to yourself. The first step is to use your
responses to the individual items to identify your trouble spots.
Do you believe you have to be successful at everything you try in
order to be worthwhile? Are you too concerned with the approval
of others? Do you feel your past makes it impossible for
you to find happiness? As always, the place to start is to know
thine enemy.
Ellis’s classic book, A Guide to Rational Living, is an excellent
guide to help in your effort to think more rationally and logically,
but the essence of this technique is to articulate these rational
statements when you find you are feeling bad. So, if you
feel depressed when you learn a coworker has said something
nasty about you, tell yourself, “I can’t please everyone. I would be
a rather bland person if no one disliked me.” If you feel anxious
while thinking about some small problem, remind yourself that
it is beyond your control and that your life is not going to be
much different no matter what happens. As always, keep in mind
that the key to success in making these changes is persistence
and consistency.

Find Your Interest!!! Select Your Career!!!

1 comments Posted by Jhawahar.R at 11:37 AM

Have you ever wished to know your interest in life, this powerful tool helps you to find your interest and it will suggest best jobs that suits your character
This tool help you to find your interest. It does take 15-20mins and you can do it by your own.

Questionnaire and scoring key can be downloaded through this link[Download Tool]. You must strictly follow the instructions given in the questionnaire.

BEFORE READING REST OF THE POST PLEASE FINISH THIS TOOL EXERCISE

Tool Outline:

This tool is based on six categories of interests and skills

Doing things
Practical people enjoy being in contact with real things, such as machines, plants, fabrics, animals, circuitry, engines, food, tools, technical equipment, flowers, clothes, make up, chemical and biological substances, plastics, glass, metal, building materials, containers, etc
Anything which needs making, mending or manipulating on a large or small, intricate scale will satisfy the doers of this world.
Practical people apply skillful, agile coordination of hand, eye and body to produce work in the world of concrete reality. They often like to be outdoors and can solve problems by practical logic. They avoid boredom by putting their hands to good use.

Thinking
Thinkers enjoy investigating, analyzing, theorizing, diagnosing, evaluating and understanding. They think about things before taking or recommending any action. Any situation or idea that needs logical or scientific thought will satisfy the thinkers of this world, who are often introspective.
Thinking people collect ideas, read to acquire them, and usually have unconventional ways of making decisions. They are studious and independent, with interests in the physical sciences and medicine. People who enjoy thinking like to use their minds and trust their own logic and insight better than that of anyone else’s. They solve problems by using their thinking skills and avoid boredom by taking up intellectual challenges.

Imagining ideas
Imagining people like creating or inventing new ideas or new ways of applying old ideas. They enjoy art, drama, music, sculpture, dance, architecture, literature and all forms of design. Whenever they can toss around ideas, focus on feelings, intuition and unexpected angles, they will produce something new.
Imaginative people prefer variety and any sight, sound or texture is a joy to them. They are interested in people and places and their own inner responses to the inner world. People who enjoy using their own imagination are sensitive and expressive. They do not like to be tied down to a structured routine and prefer free- wheeling existence. They solve problems b creating unusual solutions. They escape boredom by moving into their own inner world and becoming totally absorbed in imaginative, creative process.

Communicating with people
Communicative people enjoy getting a response from others. They are sociable and enjoy occupations where they can help, support, protect, encourage or inspire others. Human relationships have priority in their lives.
Communicators are interested in the human stories behind world events and may work as responsible documentary reporters. They would certainly enjoy work in the social sciences, teaching, nursing, counseling and community-based occupations. They are tactful and concerned and enjoy sharing other people’s joys and problems. Many love contact with live audiences and use their skills of empathetic communication in areas such as comedy and singing.
Communicators do not particularly enjoy being alone and prefer to live in a partnership and work with people. They solve problems by discussion with other people. Boredom never occurs while they are in human company.

Managing Enterprises
Managers are interested in any enterprise that has an element of risk and excitement. They like to stretch themselves and others and they enjoy the stress of winning through against all odds.
Managers are ambitious, self confident, hard working, independent people who use energy, skill, knowledge and an ability to handle people to achieve results. They can motivate people, solve problems, make decisions, communicate enthusiasm and persuade people to do what seemed impossible.
Managers thrive on variety, power, status, money and the ability to make things happen. They know how to resolve conflicts, bring the best out of people and delegate effectively. They solve problems by taking a risk and do not understand the meaning of boredom.

Organization information
Organizers are interested in facts, projects, administration, routines, and structures. They are well organized people and enjoy using times, facts, figures, legal material, files, computer systems. Word processors and anything that can be ordered structured and subjected to formal reasoning.
They love projects which require complex, detailed organization. They enjoy routines, certainty, power, status and working in large companies.
They enjoy controlling stores, quantity surveying, collecting things, displaying collections and making detailed catalogs. Problems are solved by using careful, logical steps.

OCTAPACE

3 comments Posted by Jhawahar.R at 7:59 PM

O--- openness
C--- confrontation
T--- trust
A---autonomy
P--- pro action
A--- authenticity
C--- collaboration
E--- experimentation

Download Questionnaire

The OCTAPACE profile is a 40-item instrument that gives the profile of organization's ethos in eight values. These values are openness, confrontation, trust, authenticity, pro action, autonomy, collaboration and experimentation. The instrument contains two parts. In part I, values are stated in items 1 to 24 (three statements of each of the eight values), and the respondent is required to check (on a 4-point scale) how much each item is valued in his organization. Part 2 contains sixteen statements on beliefs, two each for eight values, and the respondent checks (on a 4-point scale) how widely each of them is shared in the organization.
In addition to checking the items on the extent of their importance or sharing in the organization, the respondent can also check how much they should be valued, or how much the beliefs are useful. Thus both present as well as desired and ideal profiles can be obtained.

SCORING KEY:

To make scoring easier, an answer sheet is provided. From the key, the items marked with an asterisk are first reversed so that 4 becomes 1, 3 becomes 2, 2 becomes 3 and 1 becomes 4. This makes all items unidirectional. The rows are then added. The eight rows represent the eight aspects in the same order. The scores on each aspect range from 5 to 20. In a group, participants can themselves score their completed answer sheets.

Openness : 1, 9, 17, 25*, 33
Confrontation : 2, 10, 18, 26*, 34
Trust : 3, 11, 19, 27, 35*
Authenticity : 4, 12*, 20, 28*, 36
Pro action : 5, 13, 21, 29, 37
Autonomy : 6, 14*, 22*, 30*, 38
Collaboration : 7, 15, 23*, 31*, 39
Experimentation: 8, 16, 24, 32, 40*

OPENNESS: Openness can be defined as a spontaneous expression of feelings and thoughts, and the sharing of these without defensiveness. Openness is in both directions, receiving and giving. Both these may relate to ideas (including suggestions), feedback (including criticism), and feelings. For example, openness means receiving without reservation, and taking steps to encourage more feedback and suggestions from customers, colleagues and others. Similarly, it means giving, without hesitation, ideas, information, feedback, feelings, etc. Openness may also mean spatial openness, in terms of accessibility. Installing internal E-mailing may be a step in this direction: everyone having a computer terminal has access to information which he may retrieve at any time. Offices without walls are another symbolic arrangement promoting openness. In some organizations, even the chief executive does not have a separate exclusive cabin; floor space is shared by other colleagues at different levels in the organization. This willingness to share and this openness results in greater clarity of objectives and free interaction among people. As a result of openness, there should be more unbiased performance feedback. Indicators of openness in an organization will be productive meetings and improved implementation of systems and innovations.

CONFRONTATION: Confrontation can be defined as facing rather than shying away from problems. It also implies deeper analysis of interpersonal problems. All this involves taking up challenges. The term confrontation is being used with some reservation and means putting up a front as contrasted with putting one's back to the problem. A better term would be confrontation and exploration (CE).
Let us use the term confrontation in this sense of confrontation and exploration, i.e. facing a problem and working jointly with others to find a solution to the problem. The outcome of confrontation will be better role clarity, improved problem solving, and willingness to deal with problems and with 'difficult' employees and customers. There will be willingness of teams to discuss and resolve sensitive issues. The indicators, which are also outcomes, can be improved by periodical discussions with clients, bold action, and not postponing sticky matters.

TRUST: Trust is not used in the moral sense. It is reflected in maintaining the confidentiality of information shared by others, and in not misusing it. It is also reflected in a sense of assurance that others will help, when such help is needed and will honor mutual commitments and obligations. Trust is also reflected in accepting what another person says at face value, and not searching for ulterior motives. Trust is an extremely important ingredient in the institution building processes.
The outcome of trust includes higher empathy, timely support, reduced stress, and -reduction and simplification of forms and procedures. Such simplification is an indicator of trust and of reduced paper work, effective delegation and higher productivity.

AUTHENTICITY: Authenticity is the congruence between what one feels, says and does. It is reflected in owning up one's mistakes, and in unreserved sharing of feelings. Authenticity is closer to openness. The outcome of authenticity in an organization is reduced distortion in communication. This can be seen in the correspondence between members in an organization.

PRO ACTION: Pro action means taking the initiative, preplanning and taking preventive action, and calculating the payoffs of an alternative course before taking action. The pro action can be contrasted with the term react. In the latter, action is in response to an act from some source, while in the former the action is taken independent of the source. For example, if a person shouts back at his friend's accusation he shows reactive behavior. However, if he does not use this pattern but responds calmly and suggests that they discuss the problem together, he is showing proactive behavior. Pro activity gives initiative' to the person to start a new process or set a new pattern of behavior. Pro activity involves unusual behavior. In this sense pro activity means freeing oneself from, and taking action beyond immediate concerns. A person showing pro activity functions at all the three levels of feeling, thinking and action. .

AUTONOMY: Autonomy is using and giving freedom to plan and act in one's own sphere. It means respecting and encouraging individual and role autonomy. It develops mutual respect and is likely to result in willingness to take on responsibility, individual initiative, better succession planning. The main indicator of autonomy is effective delegation in organization and reduction in references made to senior people for approval of planned actions.

COLLABORATION: Collaboration is giving help to, and asking for help from, others. It means working together (individuals and groups) to solve problems and team spirit. The outcome of collaboration includes timely help, team work, sharing of experiences, improved communication and improved resource sharing. The indication could be productivity reports, more meetings, and involvement of staff, more joint decisions, better resource utilization and higher quality of meetings.

EXPERIMENTING: Experimenting means using and encouraging innovative approaches to solve problems; using feedback for improving, taking a fresh look a things, and encouraging creativity. We are so caught up with our daily tasks that we often only use traditional, tried and tested ways of dealing with problems.
While these methods save time and energy, they also blind us from perceiving the advantage of new ways of solving a problem. The more we work under pressure, the less is our inclination to try a different approach as the risk seems to be too high. And yet, complex problems require new approaches to their solutions. Organizational learning does not imply repetitive action; it implies applying past experience to current problems to reach beyond. This can be called creativity. Other terms such as innovations, experiments, new approaches, etc. also convey the same meaning.

There are several aspects of creativity in an organization. Creativity is reflected in new suggestions generated by employees, attempts at improving upon previous ways of working, trying out a new idea to which one has been exposed, innovating new methods, and thinking about a problem while ignoring so called constraints. The last one is also called lateral thinking, i.e. thinking aimed at generating alternatives. There is enough evidence that such thinking contributes towards the development of new products, new methods and new processes.

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