The perceptions of three groups of women regarding their body image, self-concept, total self-image, and self-esteem were compared. The groups included 64 women who had mastectomies and wore external breast prostheses, 31 women who had mastectomies and underwent breast reconstruction, and a control group of 78 women who had not experienced mastectomy. The body image, total self-image, and self-esteem mean scores indicated that the prosthesis and reconstruction groups had more positive feelings regarding their bodies than did the control group. There were no significant differences in self-concept among the three groups. These findings challenge a common assumption that mastectomy automatically results in psychiatric morbidity caused by an altered body image and suggest that health professionals should not make assumptions about how a woman will psychologically respond to mastectomy.

This paper reports findings from an Australian study about the post‐employment experiences of older persons who had left the full‐time workforce (either voluntarily or involuntarily). It examines their perceptions about seeking re‐employment in terms of their desires to remain in or return to work, and what employment conditions might entice them to remain in or return to work, including how organisations might help or hinder such re‐entry to the workforce. A qualitative approach using exploratory semi‐structured interviews was chosen to explore this relatively underresearched area. Participants from a mix of employment histories, industries, occupational categories and ages (but all over 45 years of age) formed the sample. A key finding of the study was the lack of planning on the part of employers to consider these older workers as a potential future pool of employees. The study points to some important lessons for the management of older workers to meet the predicted looming labour shortage in Australia.

Sixty-four women who postmastectomy wore an external breast prosthesis and 31 women who had breast reconstruction participated in the present study. It was hypothesized that the breast prosthesis group would exhibit more negative attitudes towards their mastectomy experience compared to the breast reconstruction group. Using the Mastectomy Attitude Scale (MAS) the results indicated that both groups were satisfied with their bodies, had a positive outlook towards their lives, implied that sexuality entailed more than having breasts, and felt that mastectomy treatment was necessary to save their lives. Neither group concealed that they had a mastectomy, however, they were not prone to discuss their mastectomy experiences. The findings from the study indicate that the women postmastectomy already had or developed positive attitudes towards themselves and life in general and the method chosen for breast restoration had no apparent impact on these attitudes. Reasons for the sample's positive attitudes are discussed.

Two hundred eighty-two undergraduate students (94 groups) participated in a laboratory study designed to compare three methods of assessing group efficacy: an aggregate of self-efficacy perceptions, an aggregate of individual perceptions of group efficacy, and a consensual approach. Findings indicate that the three methods of measuring group efficacy do not differ in their capacity to discriminate high and moderate task-difficulty conditions nor do they differ in terms of their consistency, the magnitude of their relationship with goals, or the degree to which they are affected by performance. Findings suggest that any of the three methods can be applied when studying the effects of group efficacy, at least for tasks with low interdependence.

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