Ormont

been established to generate and compile employment opportunities in these areas as well as other fields of interest to this group of actors. As a result, for example, several individuals have been hired as part-time English teachers at numerous language institutes as well as part-time acting teachers at local modeling agencies, where they lead seminars in television commercial acting techniques.

TRANSFERRING COMMUNICATIONS

SKILLS TO NEW AREAS

Some individuals, upon reassessing their careers at mid-life, decide to opt for a complete change of work (Levinson, 1978; Osherson, 1980). This was found to be the case for several actors, as a result of realistic self-appraisal and acceptance of the fickle nature of show business itself. One 40-year-old man, upon becoming a parent, summarized the process as follows:

It was very hard to make a clean break once I caught the acting bug. I could always fool myself by continuing to go to auditions and hoping I'd be discovered tomorrow. But I have finally realized that the world would live without my Hamlet and that it's time for me to use my skills more profitably.

Once actors are committed to change, they tend to draw on their expertise in communications to transfer acquired skills to new areas. The use of such transferable skills as public speaking, writing, memorizing, selling, and interviewing in numerous other fields is stressed. Typical moves are to fields such as teaching, sales, telecommunications, publishing, and special events coordination.

RENEWAL OF PURPOSE

Many professionals go through the career reassessment process and choose to make few changes (Bradley, 1986; Kanchier & Unruh, 1987). This is particularly true for two small groups of people (those in their early 30s and over 55) who entered the ACTP. These groups, having discussed personal goals and possible work alternatives, accept their current life-styles and therefore decide to continue the arduous pursuit of an acting career. It should be pointed out, however, that although these individuals have made peace with themselves and their meager finances, they are in search of a recommitment to the acting profession.

In this regard, support groups have been formed to aid in the job search process. The group attended by younger actors has proved beneficial in strengthening their commitment to acting by encouraging them to attend classes and auditions and, ultimately, to find parts. Participants in the older group unfortunately have lost interest in this support group because of the

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stark reality of insufficient acting opportunities in their age category.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The Actors' Career Transition Program has the following three main components: (a) interim and part-time work of a “higher” level; (b) reassessment and transferring of communications skills leading to career change; and (c) renewal of career and life purpose. It is our intention to continue expanding services in each of these areas, although part-time work seems to be the highest priority, and to address the needs of most people.

After careful analysis of our work thus far, we see a need to expand the job bank, especially with respect to meaningful, part-time, and interim positions, in order to help participants to achieve immediate, tangible results in their career goals. In addition, a shortcoming of the program was the failure to formalize a working relationship with a provider of psychotherapy services, so that appropriate individuals (particularly older actors suffering the loss of a career) can be readily referred for treatment. Another flaw was the program's initial focus on middle-aged actors rather than publicizing the importance of career planning for younger actors who stand to benefit from such enlightenment at the outset of their careers.

Finally, judging by the interest expressed in the program by other performing artists-musicians, singers, dancers, and directors-there is reason to believe that this work could be applied to other creative professions as well.

REFERENCES

Bradley, R.W. (1986). Career patterns of school counselors: A 15-year follow-up. Vocational Guidance Quarterly, 34, 233-246.

Fimrite, R. (1989, January 9). The second time around. Sports Illustrated, pp. 110-122.

Kanchier, C.J., & Unruh, W.R. (1987). Frequency and direction of managerial occupational change. Career Development Quarterly, 35, 304-315.

Levinson, D.J., Darrow, C.N., Klein, E.B., Levinson, M.H., & McKee, B. (1978). The seasons of a man's life. New York: Knopf. Lowell, J. (1986). Career counseling for actors: A proposal for a union service. Unpublished manuscript, Actors' Equity Association, New York. Osherson, S.D. (1980). Holding on or letting go. New York: The Free

Press.

Pickman, A.J. (1987). Career transitions for dancers: A counselor's perspective. Journal of Counseling and Development, 66, 200-201. Stern, G. (1986, August 1). The senior actor: Opportunities in a limited marketplace. Back Stage, pp. 1, 18-22.

Ronda J. Ormont is director of the Actors' Career Transition Program. Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to Ronda J. Ormont, Actors' Equity Association, 165 West 46th St., 14th Floor, New York, NY 10036.

JOURNAL OF COUNSELING & DEVELOPMENT SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 1989 VOL. 68

Testing the Test

Self-Report Reconsidered: A Further Look at its Advantages

as an Assessment Technique

TIMOTHY M. OSBERG

Laing (1988) has discussed some the potential virtues of the use of clients' self-reports in the assessment process. In this article I respond to some of the issues raised by Laing and attempt to provide counselors with some additional information on the value and the limitations of the use of self-report in psychological assessment. The empirical literature is used as a basis for making recommendations about when and for whom reliance on self-report is appropriate and how the accuracy of self-report data can be maximized.

T

he willingness of professionals to rely on self-report as a technique for psychological assessment is something that has waxed and waned over the years. Some theoretical approaches, such as the psychoanalytic viewpoint, decry its use altogether on the basis of the argument that people do not have conscious access to the most important determinants of their behavior, which remain largely unconscious. As someone who has researched in depth the value of self-report as an assessment technique (e.g., Osberg & Shrauger, in press, 1986; Shrauger & Osberg, 1981, 1982), I was pleased to see Laing's (September 1988) Testing the Test feature on the potential virtues of self-report. Laing's discussion, however, did not present a complete picture of all of the issues bearing on the use of clients' self-reports in the assessment process. Although I commend Laing for crystallizing some of the important considerations in the use of self-report and I recognize that it is difficult to touch on all relevant aspects of this issue, my goal is to provide counselors with some additional information on the value and limitations of the use of self-report in psychological assessment. In addition to commenting on some of the points raised by Laing, I attempt to provide more in the way of guidelines for counselors on when and for whom the use of self-reports may be most appropriate, as well as some suggestions for maximizing accuracy.

In discussing research on the validity of self-report, Laing appropriately noted the inconsistency of the results of such studies. I wish to point out to counselors, however, that there are existing reviews of this literature that allow some insight into the moderators of accuracy of self-report in psychological assessment. Reviews by Mabe and West (1982) and Shrauger and Osberg (1981) have helped to clarify why there have been inconsistent findings in research on the validity of self-reports

in comparison to other methods of assessment. One important

conclusion from these reviews is that the predictive validity of self-reports varies depending on the type of behavioral criteria under examination. Some behavioral domains represent better targets for self-prediction than do others. Self-reports have been most useful in the prediction of criteria such as vocational choice (e.g., Gottfredson & Holland, 1975), academic achievement (e.g., Holland & Nichols, 1964), and psychotherapy outcome (e.g., Richert, 1976). In addition, self-reports have most clearly outperformed projective psychological tests (Shrauger & Osberg, 1981). Thus, although there have been inconsistent findings on the value of self-reports, there is information available on the variables that help to explain this inconsistency.

Laing (1988) also implicitly drew a dichotomy in suggesting that one either uses tests, inventories, or observations or "can question the person himself or herself" (p. 60) in the assessment process. In reality, the variety of assessment techniques available lie along a continuum of reliance on self-report. Many tests simply provide a structure to elicit a person's self-report; thus, even though a "test" is being used, the counselor may still be relying heavily on self-report. Projective measures, however, such as the Rorschach and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) are not considered self-report measures, because client responses are interpreted in terms of their latent, as opposed to manifest, content. Some self-report personality measures, however, are more closely akin to the use of direct verbal selfreports, differing only in that they provide a structured means for eliciting clients' self-assessments, which can then be quantified and compared to available norms. My point is that counselors may be relying heavily on self-report even if they have not consciously decided to question a person directly.

Laing (1988) noted the importance of efforts to improve the accuracy of self-reports and discussed four useful criteria for deciding how much credibility should be given to self-reported data. These criteria are that (a) the respondent must understand what he or she is being asked; (b) the information must be accessible to the respondent; (c) the respondent must be willing or motivated to provide the appropriate information; and (d) the examiner must be able to properly interpret the data provided by the respondent. In addition to these suggestions, the empirical literature provides the basis for me to make the following additional recommendations to counselors for enhancing the accuracy of self-report data.

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