Dispelling Some Myths and Sharing Some Sad News

Psychologists are generally trained to look for, find, and explain differences. We live in a world with an ever-increasing tendency towards Balkanization in our political parties, educational ideologies, religious beliefs, and societal structures. How about we spend a few minutes looking at some similarities?

Please examine the diagrams below. Managers (230 females and 226 males) participating in a one-week leadership development program were asked the following SYMLOG survey question:

In general, what kinds of values do you need to show in behavior in order to be most effective?

Which scatter diagram below do you think represents the results for females? Which one displays the results for males? On the surface, and for purposes of personal feedback, you may consider the results to be strikingly similar.

The co-workers of the managers (1064 for Females and 1114 for Males) were asked the following SYMLOG survey question regarding the manager:

In general, what kinds of values would be ideal for this person to show in order to be most effective?

Please examine the diagrams below. Which do you think were directed towards the female managers? Which towards the male managers? On the surface, and for purposes of personal feedback, you may consider the results to be strikingly similar.

I am not sure what you might make of these data, but I hope you at least find the displays intriguing. If you would like to see more displays (and answers to the questions above) regarding this set of data you can download a PDF for further inspection.

As it is, SYMLOG would not be worth much if it only identified similarities. Even these data, when treated appropriately, reveal even more intriguing findings. If you are interested you can learn more about perceptions involving male and female leaders by reviewing a chapter by A. Paul Hare, et al in the text: SYMLOG Field Theory: Organizational Consultation, Value Differences, Personality and Social Perception edited by A. Paul Hare. You can find out about this text here: SYMLOG Field Theory — www.greenwood.com.

The snapshot of research shown above, and the chapter referred to above, are samples of the myriad contributions of Paul Hare to the academic literature. I first met Paul Hare at Harvard over thirty years ago and he has been a personal friend ever since. It is with sadness that I pass along word from his daughter, Sharon Hare, that her father and our colleague, A. Paul Hare, has been diagnosed with a fairly rare form of leukemia (Chronic MyeloMonocytic Leukemia). It seems that this disease is in its final stages and that Paul has entered into a hospice program in his home in Be'er Sheva, Israel. Sharon will be traveling to Israel this week to be with Paul.

Paul is a giant in social psychology and stands without parallel in researching and writing about social psychology with an emphasis on group dynamics, psychodrama, and the sociology of social interaction. Paul and Freed Bales worked together shoulder-to-shoulder as friends and colleagues for over fifty years and Freed often referred to Paul as the "historian of social psychology". Paul has been, and continues to be, a great source of clarification and influence in sociology and social psychology with his ongoing publication of the Handbook of Small Group Research. His recently written memoir (and more, with contributions from friends and family) is available from Amazon.

It is clear that Paul would very much welcome correspondence from his friends associated with SCG or any others with whom he has worked over the years. I am not aware of anyone who uses SYMLOG that has not directly benefited from Paul's contributions to the research, refining of the methodology, and his constant stream of books and articles related to the field over the last many years.

If you are so inclined, please send a note of appreciation to Paul at his email address paulhare@bgu.ac.il If you cc: Sharon in the correspondence, she will be able to share in your reflections. Her e-mail address is: sharonehare@gmail.com

Thank you and kind regards,

Bob

© 2009 SYMLOG Consulting Group