This discussion article reviews events and personal reactions following the mass killing at Virginia Tech that took the lives of 27 students and 5 professors, while injuring 29 more, on April 16, 2007. A positive view is attempted by exemplifying incredible campus leadership and resolve throughout the painful aftermath, as well as “reaching-out” communication revealing worldwide concern and compassion. The implementation of certain intervention strategies to increase proactive interpersonal communication for safety, security, and human welfare is advocated to prevent similar catastrophes. The author calls this intervention focus “actively caring,” and discusses ways to increase the quantity and quality of this behavior, as gleaned from empirical research and industry-based applications. It is hoped that this presentation will activate relevant conversations, action plans, and research proposals.
Agnew, J. (1998). The establishing operation in organizational behavior management. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management , 18, 7-19.
2.
Allen, J.B., & Ferrand, J.L. (1999). Environmental locus of control, sympathy, and proenvironmental behavior: A test of Geller's actively caring hypothesis. Environment and Behavior, 31, 338-353.
3.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.
4.
Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
5.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
6.
Barling, J., & Beattie, R. (1983). Self-efficacy beliefs and sales performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 5(1), 41-51.
7.
Bem, D.J. (1972). Self-perception theory. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 6, pp. 1-60). New York: Academic Press.
8.
Brehony, K.A. (2000). After the darkest hour: How suffering begins the journey to wisdom. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
9.
Buermeyer, C.M., Rasmussen, D., Roberts, D.S., Martin, C., & Gershenoff, A.B. (1994, May). Red Cross blood donors vs. a sample of students: An assessment of differences between groups on "actively caring" person factors. Paper presented at the Virginia Academy of Science, Harrisonburg, VA.
10.
Conger, J.A., & Kanungo, R.N. (1988). The empowerment process: Integrating theory and practice. Academy of Management Review, 13, 471-482.
11.
Daniels, A.C., & Daniels, J.E. (2005). Measure of a leader: An actionable formula for legendary leadership. Atlanta, GA: Performance Management.
12.
Dula, C., & Geller, E.S. (2007). Creating a total safety traffic culture. In Improving traffic safety culture in the United States: The journey forward (pp. 177-199). Washington, DC: American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety.
13.
Editors of Conari Press. (1993). Random acts of kindness. Emeryville, CA: Conari Press.
14.
Geller, E.S. (1991). If only more would actively care. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 24, 763-764.
15.
Geller, E.S. (1996). The psychology of safety: How to improve behaviors and attitudes on the job. Radnor, PA: Chilton Book Company.
16.
Geller, E.S. (1997). Key processes for continuous safety improvement: Behavior-based recognition and celebration. Professional Safety , 42(10), 40-44.
17.
Geller, E.S. (1998a). Beyond safety accountability: How to increase personal responsibility. Neenah, WI: J. J. Keller.
18.
Geller, E.S. (1998b). Applications of behavior analysis to prevent injuries from vehicle crashes (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies .
19.
Geller, E.S. (1998c). Understanding behavior-based safety: Step-by-step methods to improve your workplace (2nd ed.). Neenah, WI: J. J. Keller.
20.
Geller, E.S. (2001a). Behavior-based safety in industry: Realizing the large-scale potential of psychology to promote human welfare. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 10, 87-105.
21.
Geller, E.S. (2001b). A total safety culture: From a corporate achievement to a global vision. Behavior and Social Issues, 11, 18-20.
22.
Geller, E.S. (2001c). The psychology of safety handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
23.
Geller, E.S. (2001d). Working safe: How to help people actively care for health and safety (2nd ed.). New York: Lewis Publishers.
24.
Geller, E.S. (2002). The participation factor: How to increase involvement in occupational safety. Des Plaines, IL: American Society of Safety Engineers.
25.
Geller, E.S. (2005a). People-based safetyTM: The next evolution in safety. Virginia Beach, VA: Coastal Training and Technologies Corporation.
26.
Geller, E.S. (2005b). People-based safety: The source. Virginia Beach, VA: Coastal Training and Technologies Corporation.
27.
Geller, E.S. (2008). Leading people-based safety: Enriching your culture . Virginia Beach, VA: Coastal Training and Technologies Corporation.
28.
Geller, E.S., Roberts, D.S., & Gilmore, M.R. (1996). Predicting propensity to actively care for occupational safety. Journal of Safety Research, 27, 1-8.
29.
Geller, E. S., & Williams, J. H. (2001). (Eds.). Keys to behavior-based safety from Safety Performance Solutions. Rockville, MD : Government Institutes.
30.
Gewirtz, J.L., & Baer, D.M. (1958a). Deprivation and satiation of social reinforcers as drive conditions. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 57, 165-172.
31.
Gewirtz, J.L., & Baer, D.M. (1958b). The effects of brief social deprivation on behaviors for a social reinforcer. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 56, 49-56.
32.
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York: Bantam Books .
33.
Krause, T.R., Hidley, J.H., & Hodson, S.J. (1996). The behavior-based safety process (2nd ed.). New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
34.
Ludwig, T.D., & Geller, E.S. (2001). Intervening to improve the safety of occupational driving: A behavior-change model and review of empirical evidence. New York: The Haworth Press.
35.
McSween, T.E. (2003). The values-based safety process: Improving your safety culture with behavior-based safety (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
36.
Michael, J. (1982). Distinguishing between discriminative and motivational functions of stimuli. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 37, 149-155.
37.
Nowicki, S., & Duke, M.P. (1974). A locus of control scale for college as well as non-college adults. Journal of Personality Assessment, 38, 136-137.
38.
Ozer, E.M., & Bandura, A. (1990). Mechanisms governing empowerment effects: A self-efficacy analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 472-486.
39.
Phares, E.J. (1976). Locus of control in personality. Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press.
40.
Roberts, D.S., & Geller, E.S. (1995). An actively caring model for occupational safety: A field test. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 4, 53-59.
41.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
42.
Rotter, J.B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs, 80(1).
43.
Scheier, M.F., & Carver, C.S. (1985). Optimism, coping, and health: Assessment and implications of generalized outcome expectancies. Health Psychology, 4, 219-247.
44.
Seligman, M.E.P. (1991). Learned optimism. New York : Alfred A. Knopf.
45.
Vollmer, T.R., & Iwata, B.A. (1991). Establishing operations and reinforcement effects . Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 24, 279-291.
46.
Weick, K.E. (1984). Small wins: Redefining the scale of social problems . American Psychologist, 39, 40-49.
47.
Wheeless, L.R., Wheeless, V.E., & Dickson-Markman, F. (1982). The relations among social and task perceptions in small groups. Small Group Behavior , 34, 1078-1086.
