The Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) was used to assess the impact of a semester-long encounter-group, personal-growth experience on stu dents seeking degrees in counseling. Both the experimental and control groups showed gains in self-actualization. The groups differed signifi cantly only on the Spontaneity Scale. Design procedures and selection artifacts associated with obtaining participants for research are dis cussed, especially as these relate to the nature of the control-group studies cited by Knapp and Shostrom (1976).
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Byrd, R.D.Training in a non-groupJournal of Humanistic Psychology , 1967, 18-27.
2.
Ferguson, G.A.Statistical analysis in psychology and education (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966.
3.
Knapp, R.R.Handbook for the Personal Orientation InventorySan Diego, Calif.: Educational Industrial Testing Service, 1976.
4.
Knapp, R.R., & Shostrom, E.L.POI outcomes in studies of growth groups: A selected reviewGroup & Organization Studies, 1976, 1 (2), 187-202.
5.
Marks, S.E., Conry, R.F., & Foster, S.F.The marathon group hypothesis: An unanswered questionJournal of Counseling Psychology, 1973, 20, 185-187.
6.
Maslow, A.H.Toward a psychology of being (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row, 1968 .
