Research suggests that counselor educators continue to debate whether general personality characteristics, relationship building skills, or other knowledge or skills are important in selecting the most effective counselors (Crews et al., 2005). Further, counselor educators continue to rely on measures that have limited ability to predict counseling competence or success in graduate programs. Such measures include GRE and GPA scores along with heavy reliance on the personal interview that is well-known for bias. Moreover, research supports that there is a need for assessments that will assist in determining the most effective counselors and emphasize the importance of measuring those characteristics that have a solid empirical link to client outcomes. The purpose of this study was to bridge the gap in the literature and to measure counselor characteristics that have are grounded in current outcome literature. Outcome research has suggested that counselor empathy is one of the strongest predictors of client outcome. Therefore, two constructs were explored in this study that are linked to empathy: Loevinger‘s (1976) Theory of Ego Development and Altruistic Caring as measured by the Heintzelman Inventory (Robinson, Kuch, & Swank, 2010). The sample consisted of 81 graduate-level counselor trainees in their first or second semester of practicum at a large South Eastern university. Results revealed no statistically significant relationship between variables. However, further exploratory analysis yielded a statistically significant relationship between a component of altruistic caring, specifically early career choice in the counseling field (4.1% of the variance explained), and client outcome. Implications for counselor educators are presented along with areas for future research.

The primary purposes of this study were (a) to investigate the relationship between counseling interns' site supervisors' experience and training in supervision and their own levels of ego development and (b) to investigate the relationship between supervisors' levels of ego development and the ego functioning and occupational stress of their intern-supervisees. The theoretical framework for this investigation included cognitive developmental models of supervision (e.g., Blocher, 1983; Stoltenberg, 1981), ego development (Loevinger, 1976, 1997) and the Person-Environment Fit theory of occupational stress (French, Rogers, & Cobb, 1974). The findings of this study contribute to an understanding of (a) the levels of ego development and post-degree clinical supervision experiences of internship site supervisors in different areas of counseling specialty; (b) the relationship between social-cognitive developmental levels and levels of perceived occupational stress in counseling interns; and (c) cognitive development theory and counseling supervision. Ninety-six counseling internship students in three master's level counseling programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation for Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) in Central Florida as well as 58 (73% response rate) of their internship site supervisors participated in the study. The site supervisors completed the Supervisors Experience Questionnaire (Walter, 2008) and the Washington University Sentence Completion Test--Form 81 (WUSCT; Hy & Loevinger, 1996). The participating counseling internship students completed a demographics questionnaire, the WUSCT--Form 81, and the Occupational Stress Inventory--Revised (OSI-R; Osipow, 1998). The statistical procedures used to analyze the data included chi-square, ANOVA, simultaneous multiple regression, and MANOVA procedures. The primary research hypotheses for the study were (1) that formal training in supervision and participation in post-graduate clinical supervision would predict supervisor ego development and (2) that supervisor ego development would predict supervisee ego development and occupational stress levels; these were not supported for these data. However, the results identified statistically significant relationships between supervisor participation in post-graduate clinical supervision and area of counseling specialty, with school counselor supervisors less likely to have participated in supervision than other supervisors. Additionally, the findings identified a negative correlation between interns' levels of perceived occupational stress and their ego development levels (14.6% of the variance explained), as well as a negative correlation between interns' levels of satisfaction with their internship site supervision and their levels of occupational stress (40% of the variance explained). The data from this investigation suggested that school counseling interns experienced higher levels of occupational stress due to occupational roles and lower levels of personal resources than interns in other counseling tracks, with the track accounting for 25.6% of the variance in the occupational stress levels. Implications for counseling supervisors and counselor educators are presented, along with areas for future investigation.

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The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which measures of ego strength, as conceived by Erikson (1963a) and operationalized by Markstrom, Sabino, Turner and Berman (1997), contribute to the prediction of academic achievement of high school students. At issue was whether the ego strength variables enhance prediction beyond that provided by selected demographic variables and two measures of religiosity: faith participation and faith importance. Participants included 121 Black and 131 White students of Virginia. They were in the ninth through twelfth grades and were attending a single high school in the Tidewater area of Virginia. They were administered a questionnaire that included several demographic questions, two questions regarding religion in their lives, and five subscales from the Psychosocial Inventory of Ego Strength (PIES) developed by Markstrom et al. (1997). These variables were used in a series of hierarchical regression analyses to predict grade-point-average (GPA) which was obtained from the permanent school records of each student. Significant relationships were found between and among the five psychosocial ego strengths. Several relationships were found between students’ psychosocial ego strength attributes and parents’ educational levels. A positive significant relationship was found between the total ego strength and academic achievement. Some differences were found between race and the Hope subscale, faith participation, and faith importance. Race was also found to be a significant influence on the predictive relationships between psychosocial total ego strength and academic achievement. Total ego strength was found to be a significant predictor of academic achievement. The essential finding of the study was that ego strength measures explained approximately 10% of the variance in GPA above that already accounted for by the demographic variables and the two religiosity variables. The items measuring the importance of faith and participation in faith activities did not contribute to the prediction of GPA, except for faith participation among Black students. / Ph. D.

The major purpose of this study was to test Erik Erikson's epigenetic concept that the achievement of a reasonable sense of ego identity during adolescence is a prerequisite to the establishment of intimate relationships in adulthood. The sample consisted of 400 couples. Their names were drawn from a population of 1600 names which had been compiled from twelve church directories. The adjusted sample was 378 couples of which 88 chose to participate by returning completed questionnaires. The participants were typically white, well educated, well employed, in first marriages and fairly consistent in religious attendance. The project questionnaire was completed by both marital partners. It consisted of two scales and demographic questions. The Ego Identity Scale as developed by Rasmussen (1961) was used to measure the degree of identity obtained by all participants. The Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships as developed by Olson and Schaefer (1981) was used to measure the degree of perceived intimacy on five dimensions within dyadic relationships. The hypotheses tested were designed to examine Erikson's epigenetic theory. Briefly, it was hypothesized that (1) spouses would have similar levels of ego identity development; (2) the identity of one spouse would be related to the intimacy of the other; (3) an individual's ego identity would be related to his/her achieved intimacy; and (4) demographic variables would not be found to influence ego identity. Husband and wife models were also compared. The ego identity scores of spouses were found to be related; no relationship was found between the ego identity of one spouse and the perceived intimacy of the mate; a significant relationship was found to exist between an individual's degree of ego identity development and his/her perceived level of intimacy across five intimacy dimensions; and demographic variables were not found to influence ego identity development. Interesting similarities and differences were found between husband and wife models. Generally, results reinforced Erikson's epigenetic concept. Further research was suggested to differentiate between male and female models and to assess the effectiveness of various therapeutic interventions by levels of couple identity development. / Ph. D.

Spillover research has shown that workday stress hampers commuting safety, while ego depletion research has demonstrated that prior self-regulation leads to performance decrements in subsequent tasks. This study sought to unite these two lines of research by proposing that ego depletion-induced alterations in attention and motivation are the mechanisms by which workday experiences spill over to the commute and impair driving safety. To examine the daily influences of these within-person processes on driving behavior in the post-work commute, this study adopted a daily survey design, wherein participants took an online survey immediately before and after each post-work commute across one work week. In these daily surveys, fifty-six participants (N = 56; n = 250 day-level observations) reported their workday self-regulatory demands; pre-commute levels of attention, motivation, and affective states; and driving behavior during the commute home. Using multilevel path analysis to isolate within-person effects, the current study found no evidence to suggest that workday self-regulatory demands lowered pre-commute attention and motivation, nor did it detect associations of attention and motivation with post-work aberrant driving. Results indicated that an ego depleted state might impair attention and motivation but not driving safety in the commute. Instead, the results pointed to the person-level factor of trait self-control as potentially having a greater impact on post-work aberrant driving than daily experiences. / M.S. / Research has shown that employees tend to drive more unsafely when commuting home after a stressful workday. However, most of this research has examined what about the person makes them drive more unsafely than someone else, but it is also important to understand what about the workday makes someone drive more unsafely one day than another day. I predicted that a workday containing more self-control demands would make an employee drive more unsafely when commuting home from work because facing more self-control demands would lower the employee’s attention and motivation for driving safely. To test this idea, I gave participants two online surveys per day for five consecutive days, Monday through Friday – one at the end of their workday (asking about their workday demands and current levels of attention and motivation), and one at the end of their commute home (asking about their driving behavior during that post-work commute). The data from my final sample of 56 participants (N = 56; n = 250 study days) showed no evidence to support my hypotheses: the amount of workday self-control demands was not found to associate with attention and motivation before driving home, and attention and motivation before driving home were not found to relate to driving safety during that commute home. On the other hand, I did find that a person’s general ability to maintain self-control was associated with their driving safety during the commute home (regardless of workday self-control demands). These results suggest that a person’s character might be more important in determining their day-to-day driving safety during the commute home than the self-control demands they face during the workday.

This study has explored the role of presence and the power of intuition in musical improvisation, drawing inspiration from Eckhart Tolle's concept of the present moment, Kenny Werner's book "Effortless Mastery," and jazz guitarist Peter Bernstein’s way of improvising. This has been presented with a combination of musical exercises that include awareness of internal thought processes. The exercises aim to cultivate a more intuitive improvisational style among musicians.   This study investigated the impact of analyzing musical phrases, engaging in active listening, and ear training, alongside cultivating presence in the moment, on enhancing musical experiences. The findings underscored the critical role of present-moment awareness in nurturing spontaneity, creativity, and emotional engagement in musical interactions for both performers and audiences. It sought to deepen our understanding of how mindful presence enriches musical expression and interaction.   Through analyzing intuition, thoughts, and awareness of ego, the study illuminated the transformative potential of present-moment awareness in fostering a deeper connection between musician and instrument, thereby elevating the authenticity and quality of musical output.