Performance monitoring refers to gathering information about the work effectiveness of others. Traditionally, monitoring has been assumed to influence people's work behavior only to the extent that it is accompanied by additional managerial action (e.g, delivering positive or negative performance consequences). It seems likely, however, that performance monitoring may also have an independent effect on work behavior by influencing the perceived importance of the monitored task. This hypothesis was tested in a laboratory experiment in which subjects worked at 2 tasks for 2 hr. Subjects' work output was significantly affected both by monitoring alone and by monitoring coupled with contingent performance consequences, and the effect of monitoring alone was mediated by perceptions of task importance. The latter result is discussed in terms of social-information-processing theory, especially as it relates to role-making processes in organizations.

People who suffer facial disfigurement as a result of head and neck cancer experience profound psychological trauma. This article will describe the role that the face plays in an individual's sense of self and body integrity; the psychological impact on self-esteem; physiological dysfunction with or without disfigurement that pose obstacles to meaningful therapeutic communication; implications for individual and group psychotherapy; and tasks of psychological recovery related to a transformed sense of face, body, and self.

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For people who are experiencing financial hardship, a cancer diagnosis can be devastating. For others, cancer may exacerbate financial stress, thereby influencing their livelihood, their ability to maintain employment benefits including health insurance, manage financial obligations, and participate meaningfully in cancer treatment. This study examined how vulnerabilities in psychosocial situations affect financial quality of life within the larger context of health-care decision making through a survey conducted with a cross-sectional availability sample of 90 cancer patients. Results from the multiple regression analysis found that health insurance adequacy, fewer perceived barriers to care, and reduced financial stress are significant predictors of better financial quality of life in this sample. Oncology social workers and other disciplines involved in psychosocial treatment with patients with cancer must assess and address financial and logistic aspects of life in order to provide comprehensive cancer care that meets all needs. Collaborative coordination with patients with cancer and their families to intervene psychosocially, medically, and financially are critical components of sound psychosocial and medical practice.

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