What makes a goal or a precondition a better explanation of an action or outcome? Recent research shows that whereas goals are preferred for common actions, preconditions are preferred for actions that require substantial resources, particularly when those actions are obstructed. Two studies examined whether judgments of goals and preconditions reflect the controllability of the events, and whether previous findings apply to events generated by participants. Participants judged goals and preconditions as explanations for desirable extreme and moderate events and assessed the controllability and probability of the events. For common events, goals were better explanations than preconditions, whereas for the extreme scenarios, preconditions were judged equal or better explanations. The extreme events were seen as less controllable than the moderate events, and the controllability of the events predicted judgments of goals as explanations. The results suggest that participants see goals as better explanations only for events that the person can control, and they judge preconditions to be good explanations for events where the person has little control. These findings suggest that equifinality may apply only to those actions and outcomes where the preconditions are readily obtainable.

Psychiatric nursing is a stressful profession associated with high levels of burnout. Previous research has demonstrated that burnout in psychiatric nurses can be reduced via training that improves behaviour modification skills. However, the minimum amount of training required to demonstrate a beneficial effect is unclear. We evaluated the impact of a 4-day behaviour modification training program on stress, burnout, and therapeutic attitudes in nurses who were in frequent daily inpatient contact with patients with severe mental illnesses. Nurses working in the same wards served as a control group. Training improved therapeutic attitudes but did not alter self ratings of job-stress and burnout. The need for multi-pronged approaches to the prevention and treatment of burnout in psychiatric nurses is discussed.