The Impact of More Fully Implemented Guidance Programs on the School Experiences of High School Students: A Statewide Evaluation Study

Relationships between the statewide implementation of comprehensive guidance programs and the school experiences of high school students were explored. Data from 22,964 students attending 236 Missouri high schools were analyzed by using hierarchical linear modeling. Schools with more fully implemented model guidance programs had students who were more likely to report that (a) they had earned higher grades, (b) their education was better preparing them for their future, (c) their school made more career and college information available to them, and (d) their school had a more positive climate. Positive program effects were found after removing differences due to school enrollment size, socioeconomic status, and percentage of minority students in attendance. Results highlight the important roles school counselors play in promoting the central educational goals of their schools and support a comprehensive guidance program focus for university counseling faculty who train school counselors.     

Evaluation of a course in sex roles for secondary school students

As powerful socializing agents, schools can be important facilitators in changing social norms of gender-role expectations. This research study was designed to determine the impact of an interdisciplinary course in the effects of sex-role stereotyping on awareness and attitudes of the participants. The high school students in the experimental program increased their awareness of the stereotyping process and the effects of narrowly defined sex roles. These students perceived the roles of males and females in a more socially androgynous context than did students who did not take the course.     

The domain specificity and generality of overconfidence: Individual differences in performance estimation bias

One hundred twenty-three college students performed a knowledge assessment task and a game of motor skill in which they had to predict their performance before each block of trials. There was a bias in the direction of overconfidence on both tasks, even though the latter involved the motor domain, did not require the use of numeric probabilities, and allowed predictions to be made by using an aggregate judgment made in a frequentist mode. An analysis of individual differences indicated that there was considerable domain specificity in confidence judgments. However, participants who persevered in showing overconfidence in the motor task—despite previous feedback revealing their overconfident performance predictions—were significantly more overconfident in the knowledge calibration task than were participants who moderated their motor performance predictions so as to remove their bias toward overconfidence. The latter finding is consistent with explanations of overconfidence effects that implicate mechanisms with some degree of domain generality.     

Effects of increased occupational participation by women on androgynous and nonandrogynous individuals' ratings of occupational attractiveness

An experiment was conducted to test the idea that androgynous individuals would not devalue high-prestige occupations sustaining an increase in the proportion of women practitioners. Male and female college students identified as androgynous or nonandrogynous were led to believe that three high- or three low-status occupations would show an increased proportion of female practitioners or would be stabilized in terms of the proportion of women practitioners. As predicted, nonandrogynous individuals devalued high-prestige occupations expected to show an increase in women practitioners. In contrast, androgynous individuals rated the high-prestige occupations more attractive if they were expected to show an increase in the proportion of women than if they were not. Neither of these effects generalized to occupations of moderate prestige. Finally, there was some indication that the devaluation effect does not generalize to high-status occupations that fall outside the intellectual domain.This article is based on the second author's senior honors thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the honors college requirements. The first author served as the major advisor for this project. The authors wish to thank Alvin Goldstein, Director of the Psychology Honors program, for his helpful guidance and encouragement throughout all phases of this research, and June Chance for her helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

Views of the Self and Affiliation Choices: A Social Comparison Perspective

Associations between self-views and affiliation choices were examined using a conceptual framework derived in part from social comparison theory. Participants were 70 college students with self-esteem and comparative evaluation scores in the lowest or highest tertile who indicated their level of interest in meeting with 4 student groups. As predicted, low and high self-esteem (LSE and HSE) participants showed distinct affiliative patterns. These differences were especially pronounced for threatened participants—those who believed they were not faring as well as other college students. Results corroborate other recent findings suggesting that LSE and HSE individuals use different means to cope with self-evaluative threat. Implications of affiliation choices for problem solving and emotional regulation are discussed.     

Reflective learning: the use of “if only ...” statements to improve performance

Affective and functional roles of counterfactual thoughts were explored in this two-phase mixed-method study. In Phase I participants recalled disappointing academic events, generated counterfactuals (i.e., what ifs) in response to their performance, and then rated their affect, attribution, and academic locus of control. A statistically significant relationship, r=–0.47, was revealed between students' internal locus of control and the number of counterfactuals they generated. That is, a high sense of personal responsibility and control corresponded to a high number of counterfactuals. In Phase II of the study, a computerized program was utilized in which participants completed a series of anagrams after selecting specific parameters of the task. After feedback, students suggested alternate behaviors that would have changed their anagram scores. Students who compared their performance to a better performance reported lower affect but yielded a greater improvement in scores on a subsequent anagram task than students who compared their performance to a poorer performance. Findings with this sample of high school students were congruent with findings based on college students. Implications are discussed.     

The Role of Parenthood and College Education in the Self-Concept of College Students: Explicit and Implicit Assessments of Gendered Aspirations

This research examined the extent to which parenthood and college education are incorporated into the self-concept of college students. A US sample of undergraduates (90 men, 87 women) attending a large and ethnically diverse university completed explicit and implicit measures of identification with “parenthood” and “college education,” associations between these concepts and gender categories, and gender identification. Explicitly, men and women identified strongly with college education. Implicitly, women identified equally with parenthood and college education, whereas men identified more strongly with college education. In addition, implicit measures revealed that traditional gender roles accounted for a stronger identification with parenthood for participants who displayed a female identity and a stronger identification with college education for participants who displayed a male identity.     

The influence of body dissatisfaction on cardiovascular and strength-based physical activity by gender: a self-determination theory approach

Abstract

Physical activity—or lack thereof—is one behaviour that may help explain why individuals who are dissatisfied with their bodies experience poor health outcomes. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine the mediating role of behavioural regulations (i.e., autonomous and controlled) in the relation between body dissatisfaction and physical activity and to determine whether this mediated relationship was moderated by gender. Additionally, this relation was examined for both cardiovascular and strength-based physical activity. Design: A two-week daily-diary study was conducted. Measures: The Body Shape Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Behavioural Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire – 3, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire were used to test the main hypotheses. Results: For men and women, body dissatisfaction was related to less frequent cardiovascular and strength-based activity due to lower levels of intrinsic regulation. In women, the relation between body dissatisfaction and activity (cardiovascular and strength-based) was partially mediated by controlled regulations (i.e., external and introjected). That is, women who were dissatisfied exercised more because they were more likely to feel that they had to appease others or themselves. Conclusion: The present study provides direction for targeting physical activity behaviours in college students who are dissatisfied with their bodies.     

不同情感强度正性生活事件的情感和行为反应:多模型的检验和整合

3个实验探讨情感强度不同正性生活事件对个体情感和行为反应的影响。发现:(1)面对复合正性生活事件(1高正+1低正),个体会感觉比面对1个单独的高正性情感强度事件的正性感受更低,出现平均效应,2个正性生活事件不如1个好;进一步研究发现:(2)当复合正性生活事件为异类时,出现平均效应;当事件为同类时,出现累加效应;(3)当复合正性生活事件有明显的时间特点时,个体加工符合峰-终定律的解释。     

The Effects of Hurricane Katrina on Females with a Pre-Existing Fear of Storms

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of Hurricane Katrina on those with preexisting storm fear. Participants were divided into two groups, those with a fear of storms and control participants with no reported fears of any specific stimuli. Differences were examined on measures of exposure to and distress from trauma, fear, coping self-efficacy, and demographic variables. The participants were 62 female undergraduate college students who completed an online survey examining the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Despite no differences in the overall occurrence of trauma between the two groups, storm-fearful participants reported significantly more overall distress from their exposure when compared to the non-fearful participants. Those with storm-fears also reported significantly poorer coping self-efficacy following the storm than those who were not fearful. Overall, individuals with a fear of storms reported experiencing greater psychological impact and poorer coping self-efficacy from the same degree of storm exposure.     

THE LONG-TERM IMPACT OF WOMEN'S STUDIES ON STUDENTS'PERSONAL LIVES AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM

Stake, Roades, Rose, Ellis, and West (1994) reported that women's studies classes led to more feminist activism and greater personal courserelated changes than nonwomen's studies classes. The present study tested the durability of the positive changes observed in women studies students 9 months following the last week of class. Comparisons between students who participated at follow-up (26.3%) and students who did not participate indicated that the follow-up participants were representative of all students who completed the courses. In the follow-up sample, class impact reported in the last week of class was sustained at follow-up. Women's studies students continued to report substantial changes in their interactions with others and willingness to adopt new roles and behaviors. Ratings of positive effects were significantly higher than ratings of negative effects ( p < .0001). Students'responses indicated they were using their women's studies learning as a framework for understanding their experiences and making lifestyle changes.     

Making and Breaking Abstinence Pledges: Moral Foundations and the Purity Movement

The purity movement encourages teenagers and young adults to make abstinence pledges, which are promises not to engage in premarital sexual intercourse. Moral foundations theory contends that there are individual differences in the bases of moral decision-making. The purpose of this study was to investigate, among a large sample (N = 961) of U.S. college students, whether there are differences in moral foundations between individuals who make and do not make abstinence pledges—and, among individuals who make an abstinence pledge, between those who do and do not break their pledge. Results indicated that abstinence pledgers endorsed greater binding foundations than those who did not make a pledge. Among abstinence pledgers, women who kept their pledge reported higher binding foundations than both men who kept their pledge and women who broke their pledge. Overall, these results suggest links between moral foundations and abstinence pledging.     

Self-report of ADHD symptoms in college students and repetition effects

The research in this article focuses on the relation between self-report of attention deficit disorder (ADD) symptoms and performance on a two-alternative forced-choice task that measures repetition effects. The ADD/Hyperactive Adolescent Self-Report Scale--Short Form is administered to college students after they completed the repetition effects task. Performance to familiar and novel stimuli can be measured using this paradigm. The results indicate that participants in the good and poor attention groups do not differ in their responses to repeated stimuli. However, participants who self-report poor attention are faster to respond to novel stimuli compared with participants who self-report good attention. This brief questionnaire appears to capture individual differences in attention and may be useful in attention research.     

The experience of tedium in three generations of professional women

Tedium, defined as the experience of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion, was studied in three generations of professional women, who were questioned extensively about their lifestyles, life stresses, and life attitudes. Results indicated that in spite of the differences in life features and pressures among the three groups, the similarities in their experiences, attitudes, and overall life satisfaction are rather impressive. The differences among the generations tended to cluster around the more stressful environment of college for the young preprofessional women, who experienced most tedium and were most overextended and conflicted, and around the more traditional attitudes toward women and women's issues expressed by the older postprofessional generation, who also had the least tedium. The midcareer professional women were characterized by more positive life attitudes, more satisfaction from their work, and by liberal feministic attitudes toward working women's issues. Three focal variables were hypothesized and documented to be important tedium correlates for all professional women. Of the three, role conflict rather than number of roles was found to be a positive tedium correlate. Sense of control and especially having social support systems emerged as significant negative tedium correlates.An earlier version of this article was presented as a paper at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, August 26–30, 1977. The authors wish to thank Trudy Solomon, who assisted in the organizational aspects of the study, and Susan Reuss and the students of the University of California, Berkeley's social psychology course, who took part in the group research project and helped in the data collection.     

Putting the "affirm" into affirmative action: preferential selection and academic performance

Two studies explored the relation between academic performance and preferential selection. In Study 1, female participants were led to believe that they had been selected to be leaders in a team problem-solving task because of their gender, because of their gender and ability, or at random. Results showed that women who believed they had been selected because of their gender performed significantly worse on a subsequent problem-solving test than women who believed they had been selected at random and women who believed they were selected because of both their gender and their ability. In Study 2, students' suspicion of having benefited from race-based preferences in college admissions was negatively related to their grade point average (GPA). Furthermore, this suspicion partially mediated the GPA gap between academically stigmatized (Black and Latino) and nonstigmatized (Caucasian and Asian) students.     

Interrole conflict among married women: The influence of husband and wife characteristics on conflict and coping behavior

The present research investigated the conflict that women experience between their home and nonhome roles. All of the women in the sample (N = 115) were married and living with their husbands, had at least one child living at home, and were college students. It was found that women who placed a similar level of importance on work as their husbands experienced less intense conflict than women who differed from their husbands in career orientation. In addition, the number of children at home was positively related to a woman's conflict when her husband was highly work oriented. A woman's use of reactive coping strategies was negatively related to her life satisfaction when her husband was dissatisfied with his own life.     

Nontraditional gender roles and the sexual experiences of heterosexual college students

The purposes of this study of heterosexual college students were (1) to specify gender differences and similarities in sexual beliefs and experiences, (2) to determine the prevalence of women enacting traditional male roles in dating and sexual interactions, and (3) to examine the relationship between women's enactment of traditional male roles and their sexual experiences. Findings for this predominantly Caucasian sample indicated that there were no significant gender differences in age of first intercourse, frequency of intercourse, oral sex participation, prevalence of coitus and anal sex, rating of how often sex partners satisfied their sex needs and desires, and reactions to recent intercourse. Although less than men's frequencies, sizable proportions of women acknowledged they had multiple sex partners and sex without emotional involvement. Support for an increased proportion of females engaging in the traditional male roles of initiating sexual involvement and dates and paying date expenses was also found. Findings also suggested that there are no simple patterns between women's sexual experience and nontraditional roles but that this association depends on the specific role as well as the status and quality of a woman's current sexual relationship. Findings were discussed in terms of their potential to contribute to women's sexual decisions.     

Gender Differences in Leadership Aspirations and Job and Life Attribute Preferences among U.S. Undergraduate Students

The purpose of the present study was to examine gender differences in constructs associated with leadership aspirations in a sample of 467 undergraduate students because these might contribute to the gender gap in leadership attainment. The results demonstrated that female participants perceived themselves as having less leadership ability than male participants, and viewed their attainment of leadership roles as less likely than male participants did, which could reflect anticipated discrimination. Female participants reported less interest than male participants in elite leadership positions (e.g., CEO, senator), and associated positive characteristics with such roles less than male participants. They were also less likely than male participants to indicate a willingness to accept a promotion that would require them to sacrifice enjoyable work. Male and female participants ranked the importance of a variety of job and life attribute preferences similarly, though female participants emphasized the importance of life attribute preferences (e.g., family, good health), whereas male participants emphasized the importance of job attribute preferences (e.g., high salary). Finally, male participants were more likely than female participants to expect and prefer that they would out-earn their future spouses. These results highlight the need for greater consideration of how young women’s and men’s leadership aspirations and job/life preferences contribute to the gender gap in leadership attainment.     

Naturally Occurring Mentorship in a National Sample of First‐Generation College Goers: A Promising Portal for Academic and Developmental Success

Attending college is increasingly important to compete in this global world; however, young people whose parents did not attend college are significantly less likely to enroll in and finish college. Formal programs to support first‐generation college goers are common, but not scalable to provide support to all young people who need it. Instead, mentoring that naturally occurs on these students’ journeys into and out of college may be a more practical avenue for supporting their success. This study investigated the role community members, relatives, and educators play in first‐generation college goers’ educational outcomes. Data from 4,181 participants of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent and Adult Health were used to test differences in supports received between first‐generation, continuing‐generation, and non‐college goers. Results demonstrated that mentorship in adolescence moderated the relationship between parental college attendance and educational attainment in adulthood. Next, findings suggested that first‐generation students received less support for identity development from their mentors than continuing‐generation students. This study has program implications for facilitating college attendance and fostering the development and success of first‐generation students. Moreover, this project continues to concretize an emerging taxonomy of mentoring functions for youth and emerging adults.     

Role models in self-esteem of college women

This study examined the relationship between self-esteem and the existence of role models among a sample of 36 female college students. Participants completed a questionnaire which included demographic questions, the Self-esteem Inventory, and questions concerning use of childhood and contemporary role models. Independent t-test results indicated that participants who reported having current role models had higher self-esteem scores than participants who did not, suggesting that role models may contribute to higher self-esteem in college-age women. No significant differences in self-esteem were by sex of the role model.