Douglas Della Toffalo, NBRI Organizational Psychologist Presents Paper at Oxford University

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Douglas Della Toffalo, NBRI Organizational Psychologist Presents Paper at
Oxford University

(PRWEB) September 18, 2007 -- The Oxford Round Table convenes to consider
major issues in contemporary educational policy in order to promote human
advancement and understanding through the improvement of education. The
Round Table also considers important public policy matters bearing on human
rights, law, economics, public finance and politics.

 Each session of the Round Table is comprised of a small select group of
leaders from both the public and private sectors of numerous countries.
Participation is by invitation only. Past delegates have included Ministers
of Education, governors from the United States, members of Parliament,
Executive Officers of international corporations, educational
administrators, attorneys and academicians from major universities.

 The Oxford Round Table  is a unique forum in that it provides select
leaders and scholars the opportunity to discuss government policy in a
collegial, "think-tank" atmosphere in the ancient city of Oxford. The
results of Round Table deliberations have been published and distributed to
individuals, governments and academic institutions around the world.
Sessions have been sponsored by the British Council, the British Foreign and
Commonwealth Office, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Bernard van Leer
Foundation, The Hague, Netherlands.

 Dr. Reed presented at a session on "Ethical Sentiments: The Waning of Trust
in Government." The topic was approached from an interdisciplinary
perspective. In her paper, Dr. Reed presented the results of NBRI's study on
trust in government. A total of 2,342 adults participated.

 Respondents in the study were asked their opinions about whether the U.S.,
overall, is headed in the right or wrong direction. Twenty-eight percent of
respondents replied they thought the U.S. is headed in the right direction,
58% in the wrong direction, and 14% replied that they were not sure.

 Respondents were also asked their opinions about what the most important
issue is in America today. They were asked to choose among the following:
crime, education, foreign relations, healthcare, illegal drugs, illegal
immigration, poverty, terrorism, the economy, the environment, the war in
Iraq, or unemployment. The four most frequently selected issues were illegal
immigration (23%), healthcare (17%), terrorism (15%), and the war in Iraq
(13%).

 A 6-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree was used
for the items "I believe the U.S. government spends money in an ethical
manner" and "I trust the U.S. government to do what is right." Seventy-seven
percent of respondents disagreed that the government spends money in an
ethical manner and 70% disagreed that the government can be trusted to do
what is right.

 When asked whether their level of trust in the U.S. government had
increased, decreased, or stayed the same in recent years, four percent of
participants stated that it had increased, 71% replied that it had
decreased, 24% responded that it had stayed the same and one percent said
they were not sure. These results are consistent with other findings in the
literature that indicate trust in government has been waning in recent
years.

 Dr. Reed, who holds a Ph.D. from Saint Louis University in
Applied-Experimental Psychology, joined NBRI as a consultant in 1996. She is
also a professor of psychology and sociology at Tarrant County College in
Fort Worth, Texas and is pursuing a doctorate in sociology at Texas Woman's
University.
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