Demographic factors affecting assertive and defensive behavior in preschool children: An ethological study

Observations were made of naturally occurring assertive and defensive behaviors among preschool children, using ethological methods. Four major classes of assertive behavior were studied: attempts to gain possession of objects, personal space intrusion, positive directives, and negative directives; in addition, behavior with aggressive characteristics was studied. The effects of the following demographic factors upon individual frequencies of assertive interaction initiation, probability of defense (to assertive initiations), and frequencies of aggressive behavior were examined: age, sex, birth order, sib group size, ethnic identity, number of parents in the home, father's occupational level, father's education, mother's employment (yes/no), mother's occupational level, mother's education. Results of the multiple regression analyses indicated the most widespread effects for ethnic identity, number of parents in home, age, and sex. The most assertive children tended to be nonwhite/black, older, male, and from single-parent homes. These results were fairly consistent across all classes of assertive behavior studied. There were only minor effects of social class on assertive behaviors, and the demographic characteristics of the sample indicated that the ethnic differences existed independent of social class. Limitations in interpreting the behaviors studied as indicating an underlying aggressive motivation are discussed.     

Prevalence and structure of behavior symptoms among children in special education and regular classroom settings

Studied the factor structure of the Behavior Problem Checklist using children from a middle to upper-middle-class suburban school system, determined the extent to which factors generated from children in regular classrooms approximated those generated from children in special education, and examined the effects of class placement, sex, and the interactions of these variables on the average rating children receive on the generated factors. One hundred children from 12 classes for the emotionally disturbed or learning disabled and 527 children from regular forst-through seventh-grade classes were rated by their teachers on the Behaviors Problem Checklist. Following a varimax factor rotation, coefficients of factor congruence and analysis of variance were conducted to test the hypotheses. Results indicated that although teacher ratings of special education and normal children are structurally similar, special education children scored higher on all three factors than did their regular class counterparts. Furthermore, almost all percentages of occurance for individual items were higher for special education children. Further research is suggested to deal with a possible expectancy effect in teacher ratings of problem behaviors.     

A Multivariate Analysis of Psychographic Variables

This study examined the relationship between demographic and personality variables through the use of a multivariate technique, canonical analysis. The principal advantage of such a technique lies in its ability to simultaneously consider sets of variables rather than focusing narrowly in a single predictor or criterion variable. The four demographic variables examined, sex, age, education, and marital status, produced four statistically significant relationships with personality traits measured by the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule. These relations were examined and suggestions made as to how the results might be used to indicate areas for further research.     

Distance education vs face-to-face classes: individual differences, course preferences and enrollment

To understand better students' preferences for enrollment in distance education over face-to-face courses, the individual difference variables of sex, age category, class level, work status, number of distance education courses taken, frequency of computing technology usage, comfort with course management software, and comfort with computing technology were examined. Analysis indicated that older students, women, and those who work full time were more likely to enroll in distance education courses. Those who had taken the most distance education courses in the past and women were more likely to express a stated preference for distance education over face-to-face classes.     

Demographic Indicators as Predictors of Future Time Perspective

The present investigation examined the relationships between five demographic variables (age, sex, income, marital status, and education) and future time perspective. From a theoretical perspective, these demographic indicators were conceptualized as proxy measures for the social forces that influence the adult expression of this personality dimension. Data were drawn from six investigations in which a brief measure of future time perspective (Hershey and Mowen in The Gerontologist 40:687–697, 2000) had been administered to one thousand four hundred and ninety eight individuals. Higher future time perspective scores (i.e., longer future orientations) were associated with being male, increased age, income, and educational level. These main effects, however, were mitigated by a significant three-way interaction among sex, age, and level of education. These findings suggest that a complex interplay of variables is responsible for the expression of personality traits at the individual level.     

Demographic Indicators as Predictors of Future Time Perspective

The present investigation examined the relationships between five demographic variables (age, sex, income, marital status, and education) and future time perspective. From a theoretical perspective, these demographic indicators were conceptualized as proxy measures for the social forces that influence the adult expression of this personality dimension. Data were drawn from six investigations in which a brief measure of future time perspective (Hershey and Mowen in The Gerontologist 40:687–697, 2000) had been administered to one thousand four hundred and ninety eight individuals. Higher future time perspective scores (i.e., longer future orientations) were associated with being male, increased age, income, and educational level. These main effects, however, were mitigated by a significant three-way interaction among sex, age, and level of education. These findings suggest that a complex interplay of variables is responsible for the expression of personality traits at the individual level.     

Personal and family factors as predictors of pupils' mathematics achievement

This study examined personal and family factors in prediction of mathematics achievement by Kuwaiti fourth graders (395 boys, 501 girls; M age=10.0 yr., SD=8.0 mo.). Personal variables included sex, total achievement, perception of parental involvement, pupil's attitude towards school, and mathematics achievement. Family variables included parental education and parental involvement, views of school, and income. The data had good fit with the suggested model. Analysis showed variables which had significant direct association with mathematics achievement were total achievement and sex. Parental education, pupil's sex, and attitude towards school had significant indirect associations with mathematical achievement. Associations were direct for boys and indirect for girls on mathematics achievement, so sex had minimal total effects on mathematics achievement.     

Intentional Faith: An Alternative View of Faith Development

Faith was defined as the search for an integrating center of value and meaning that is cognitional in nature, developmental in process, and transcendental in its dimensions. An original psychometric measure was constructed and tested in two samples in a midwestern metropolitan area. The life span sample of Catholics (N = 509) ranged in ages 18–84, median age 49. Respondents were 40% male, 60% female. The sample of college students (N = 303) had a mode age of 19, but was ethnically and religiously diverse. The results indicated that the covariance structure of the scale was equivalent for the two samples. The scale clearly measures 4 independent aspects of faith: Self and Moral development, God and Death, Ritual, and Authority. Reliability was established for four developmental Ways of Faith, based on Bernard Lonergan's intentionality analysis: Common Sense Faith, Thoughtful Faith, Responsible Faith, and Transcendent Faith. The data suggested that faith development may be best conceived as a continuous reworking of one's faith, rather than a sequence of acquisition and abandonment of beliefs. A mixed pattern of modest gender, age, and attachment effects was found for the Ways of Faith. A measure of self-church identification was found to be a consistent correlate of faith development.     

抑郁性神经症患者精神创伤的临床调查与分析

通过调查与分析。希望进一步了解导致抑郁性神经症的精神创伤的性质和易感人群的年龄、教育程度和性别等方面的特点。为此类疾病的病因分析及其防治提供客观的依据。结果表明：1．不同的年龄、教育程度和性别均有各自敏感的生活事件,部分生活事件在任何年龄阶段、教育程度、性别的人群中都可构成精神创伤;2．家庭矛盾、个人发展、疾病、失去亲人等生活事件容易构成精神创伤,其中家庭矛盾尤为突出;3．不可控的生活事件是构成抑郁性神经症近、远期精神创伤的重要基础。可见,抑郁性神经症的发病与精神创伤关系密切;不同教育程度、年龄、性别对生活事件的体验及其导致精神创伤的程度不同。     

Sex differences in grade three students' attitudes toward physical activity.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes children have towards physical activity and whether boys and girls differ significantly. Sex differences were hypothesized on one or more of the subdomains of Grade 3 Children's Attitudes Toward Physical Activity inventory. The 46 boys and 51 girls ranged from 8 to 10 years of age. A multivariate analysis of variance indicated a significant effect for sex, and subsequent univariate analysis indicated that the boys had significantly lower scores than the girls on the Aesthetic subscale. Results were discussed in terms of attitides about activity in physical education classes and continued research with younger children.     

The psychometric properties of the Hebrew version of Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire

The Hebrew Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire was administered to over a thousand individuals in the community, 16–78 years of age. Factor analysis was run first on individual items, and then on the 12 sub-scales described by [Cloninger, C.R., Pryzbeck, T.R., & Svrakic, D.M. (1991). The TPQ: US normative data. Psychological Reports, 69, 1047–1051)]. The factor analyses were restricted to four orthogonal factors in order to attempt confirmation of the corrected four-factor solution [Stallings, M.C., Hewitt, J.K., Cloninger, R.C., Heath, A.C., & Eaves, L.J. (1996). Genetic and environmental structure of the TPQ: three or four temperament dimensions? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70 (1), 127–140)]. In the individual item analysis four orthogonal factors recognizable as Novelty Seeking, Reward Dependence, Harm Avoidance and Persistence emerged. However only up to half of the items originally ascribed to each factor loaded sufficiently and exclusively on the appropriate factor. When the 12 sub-scales were entered into factor analysis the four orthogonal factors were produced, and the structure satisfactorily confirmed. A few exceptions to orthogonality were observed. The data were analyzed for sex differences and age effects. Women scored higher than men did on most sub-scales of Harm Avoidance and Reward Dependence. The younger group (up to 21 years of age) scored higher on Novelty Seeking and Reward Dependence and lower on Harm Avoidance than the older group, but no sex by age interaction was detected. Preliminary normative Israeli data are supplied, and implications of the group differences discussed.     

Relative weight and personality: analyses with the personality research form

A sample of 311 West German women and 254 men aged from 16 to 84 yr was investigated in order to examine the relationship between relative body weight (as an indicator of adequate/inadequate nutrition habits) and personality traits as measured by the Personality Research Form (PRF). To control for sex all analyses were done separately for men and women. A larger number of significant (linear and non-linear) relationships was found when sociodemographic factors (age and education) were not controlled. The univariate and multivariate relationships between relative weight and personality became practically insignificant, however, after statistical control of both factors. Personality types formed by cluster analysis also did no longer differ in mean relative weight when the values were adjusted for the effects of age and education. The conclusion is drawn that the individual degree of deviation from a medical or aesthetic body-weight norm is practically independent of the personality traits measured by the PRF (as long as the degree of obesity is not a severe one).     

Italian version of the Task and Ego Orientation in physical education questionnaire

The 1992 Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire developed by Duda and Nicholls was modified by Walling and Duda in 1995 to assess task and ego orientation in physical education. The modified version was translated into Italian and administered to 1,547 students, 786 girls and 761 boys ages 14 to 19 years, to examine the factor structure. To evaluate the goodness of fit of the expected two-factor solution as in the original questionnaire, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on four samples of boys and girls of two classes of age (14-16 and 17-19 years). Across sex and age, chi-squared/df ratios were less than 5.0, fit indices (GFI, NNFI, and CFI) not less than .90, and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) below .10. Thus, the two-factor solution of the questionnaire was supported. In the total sample, the two scales showed good internal consistency, with Cronbach alpha values of .92 for the Ego factor and .83 for the Task factor. The Ego factor accounted for 34.1% of variance and the Task factor accounted for 21.0% of variance.     

JOB ATTRIBUTE PREFERENCES AND WORK COMMITMENT OF MEN AND WOMEN IN THE UNITED STATES

The extent of assumed sex differences in preferences for work attributes is explored utilizing data from five representative national samples. The results indicated only minimal differences in preferred job attributes between males and females. Both sexes identified meaningfulness of the work as the most important job attribute, and rank ordered the other four attributes studied in the following sequence: promotion, income, security, and hours. Factors such as education, occupational prestige, age and one's commitment to continue working were more important than sex of the respondent as predictors of job attribute preferences. However, these status variables did not affect the relationship of sex and job attribute preferences. Furthermore, these factors had approximately the same relative predictive value for both males and females. Nevertheless, these statistically significant predictors explained a small proportion of the variance in job attribute preferences. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

A factor analytic study of the COPE Questionnaire by sex of respondents

This work examined the effect of sex on factor structure of a Chinese version of the 1989 COPE questionnaire with a sample of 617 Hong Kong adolescents (Mdn age = 14 yr.). Some scales had low internal consistency reliability for both sexes. Not all 15 scales could be identified as unique factors through exploratory factor analysis separately for both sexes (275 boys, 338 girls, 4 unknown). In a second-order factor analysis, both sexes' data had factors related to problem-focused coping and avoidance/escaping coping, and these two factors were only weakly correlated. An emotion-focused factor was observed in girls' data, but not boys' data.     

Second-order dimensions of the Work Values Inventory (WVI)

An item factor analysis of the 45 items of the Work Values Inventory (WVI) for 445 physically disabled clients produced six second-order dimensions: Stimulating Work, Interpersonal Satisfaction, Economic Security, Responsible Autonomy, Comfortable Existence, and Esthetic Concerns. These second-order factors provide a summary of clients' work motivation at a higher level of generality that is consistent with the WVI primary structure. The six factors are virtually independent of age, education, and intelligence and can be hand-scored by a simple procedure.     

老年人特殊生活事件的应对意向与情境性应对

该研究旨在对老年人合法权益受侵此类特殊生活事件的应对意向（ＣＩ）和情境性应对（ＳＣ）进行比较分析,多元因素分析结果鉴别出应对意向的五种方式及其三种基本类型,以及六种情境性应对方式和四种应对类型。研究也发现今老年人采用不同方式的ＣＩ和ＳＣ的旨弱程度存在的异同点。同时,多元回归分析结果表明,年龄、文化程度、经济状况和法规了解程度是影响ＣＩ和ＳＣ的显著因素,此外健康状况和性别也分别对ＣＩ和ＳＣ产生影响。     

JOB SURVIVAL OF NEW EMPLOYEES1

The job survival of 1,736 newly hired workers across a variety of organizations is examined. Voluntary and involuntary turnover are analyzed separately over the first 29 weeks on the job. Moderate support is found for a theory of job survival which distinguishes between the effects of job attitudes on voluntary withdrawal and job performance on involuntary withdrawal. Organization related factors such as pay and training are better predictors of job survival than are individual variables such as race, sex, age, and education.     

Individual Personality and Emotional Readiness Characteristics Associated with Marriage Preparation Outcomes of Perceived Helpfulness and Change

Little is known about the characteristics of individual participants for whom particular marriage preparation interventions are most helpful and change producing. Data collected from 1,655 intervention participants via the online RELATionship Evaluation Questionnaire (RELATE) were used to analyze the association of eight individual personality characteristics with perceived helpfulness and positive change resulting from participation in four marriage preparation interventions (classes, community workshops, premarital counseling, self-directed) and whether this association would also be related to gender, age, and education of the participants. General linear modeling (GLM) analysis revealed different patterns of prediction for each type of intervention. Kindness was identified most often, predicting perceived change in individual, couple, and context areas among community workshop participants, perceived couple-level change, and helpfulness among self-directed participants, and perceived individual-level change among class participants. No factors significantly predicted perceived helpfulness and change among premarital counseling participants. Implications for premarital interventions are discussed.