Étude comparative des profils motivationnels d’adolescents scolarisés en lycée d’enseignement général,technologique et professionnel

The present research investigated motivational profiles of high school students following general, technological or vocational education. The French educational system is defined by an implicit hierarchy: the general education is considered as the most prestigious one, while specific education such as technological or vocational education is perceived as more appropriated for students with learning difficulties. Those representations could induce differences in academic engagements’ reasons. Nine hundred and forty-seven French students (552 following general, 222 following technological and 173 vocational education) completed the French version of the Academic Motivation Scale (AMS, Vallerand, Blais, Brière, & Pelletier, 1989). The AMS assesses various types of motivation defined by self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002). Cluster analysis revealed three distinctive motivational profiles present in all three types of education. In the first cluster, students’ scores were moderate in autonomous and controlled motivation and low in amotivation (moderate autonomous – controlled profile). The second cluster was characterized by high levels of autonomous and controlled motivation and a low amotivation (high autonomous – controlled profile). Finally, the third cluster was defined by a low autonomous motivation, a moderate controlled motivation and high level of amotivation (controlled profile). In addition, we found an impact of secondary education's type on academic motivation. Technological education was associated with the controlled profile, whereas adolescents involved in vocational education were more numerous in the high autonomous-controlled profile. Students following the general education were over-represented in moderate autonomous-controlled profile. The results presented above might be of a great interest to career counseling professionals and professors, especially if discussed in line with self-determination theory, in terms of motivational remediation.     

The Broader Autism Phenotype,Social Interaction Anxiety,and Loneliness: Implications for Social Functioning

Recent research has begun to focus on the subclinical presentation of autistic-like traits in individuals, a construct termed the broader autism phenotype (BAP). The presence of the BAP has been established in both first-degree relatives of individuals with autism as well as in the general population. The current study aimed to examine how self-reported BAP characteristics, social interaction anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation relate to social functioning (specifically, loneliness) in a sample of college students. Results showed that for all subjects, BAP, social interaction anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation did not predict loneliness in a regression model. However, for males these predictors accounted for approximately 48 % of the variance in loneliness scores. Among males, individuals rating themselves as having lower social skills, lower imagination, and higher social interaction anxiety were more likely to also report feeling lonely. These results indicate that the predictors used may function differently among males and females. Although BAP characteristics and social interaction anxiety may not be important correlates of social functioning for females in this sample, they appear to be very important for males’ subjective feelings of loneliness.     

Another look at personal validation

Students' ability to validate the results from their own psychological tests was examined in two experiments. In Experiment I, sophomore, senior, and graduate students were presented with their actual and inverted profiles from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) and the Students were asked to select their actual profiles. The senior and graduate students could reliably select their own profiles while the sophomore students could not. In Experiment 2, sophomore students were presented with their actual and inverted profiles from the CPI and the Differential Aptitudes Test (DAT) and the students were asked to select their actual profiles. The students were able to reliably select their actual profiles for both tests. The students were much more likely to select their own DAT profile than CPI profile, and they were more confident in their selection of the actual DAT profile.     

Passion and intrinsic motivation in digital gaming.

Digital gaming is fast becoming a favorite activity all over the world. Yet very few studies have examined the underlying motivational processes involved in digital gaming. One motivational force that receives little attention in psychology is passion, which could help us understand the motivation of gamers. The purpose of the present study was to identify subgroups of young people with distinctive passion profiles on self-determined regulations, flow dispositions, affect, and engagement time in gaming. One hundred fifty-five students from two secondary schools in Singapore participated in the survey. There were 134 males and 8 females (13 unspecified). The participants completed a questionnaire to measure harmonious passion (HP), obsessive passion (OP), perceived locus of causality, disposition flow, positive and negative affects, and engagement time in gaming. Cluster analysis found three clusters with distinct passion profiles. The first cluster had an average HP/OP profile, the second cluster had a low HP/OP profile, and the third cluster had a high HP/OP profile. The three clusters displayed different levels of cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes. Cluster analysis, as this study shows, is useful in identifying groups of gamers with different passion profiles. It has helped us gain a deeper understanding of motivation in digital gaming.     

Analyzing individual differences in vocational, leisure, and family interests: A multitrait-multimethod approach

This study investigates the latent structure of individual differences in vocational, leisure, and family interests. The participants consisted of 302 French adults who rated their like or dislike for activities based on Holland’s RIASEC typology and presented in three life domains: work, family and leisure. The multitrait-multimethod model proposed by Eid [Eid, M. (2000). A multitrait-multimethod model with minimal assumptions. Psychometrika 65, 241-261.] was used with the vocational interests as standard comparison, and was applied separately on each of the 6 RIASEC types. Results indicated that interests strongly intercorrelated whatever their vocational vs. leisure or family contextualization. However, since these correlations were controlled for measurement error, the results also suggested that the effects of these contextualizations of the activities could not be ignored because they accounted for a non negligible part of the variance for several activities. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed and directions for future research are presented.     

Are People Better at Recognizing Ambivalent Sexism on the Basis of the Non-standard Profiles than the Standard ASI Ones?

Kilianski and Rudman (1998) developed “standard” profiles of a benevolent and a hostile sexist man from the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) and tested if a U.S. sample of female students would perceive them as referring to the same person (i.e. an ambivalent sexist). Results showed that although they appraised the benevolent sexist profile favourably, and the hostile sexist one unfavourably, they considered it unlikely that they could refer to the same man. We developed “non-standard” profiles similar to those used by Kilianski and Rudman, with the major difference that they were not made directly from the ASI, but on the basis of attitudes and actions of a realistic soap-opera character, and tested if they would be considered as referring to the same individual by a sample of 238 undergraduate students (81 males and 157 females) at the University of Zimbabwe. Our results showed that both male and female participants found it as difficult to detect ambivalent sexism on the basis of non-standard ASI profiles as on the basis of standard ASI profiles.     

Imbalanced word-reading profiles in eighth-graders

This current study introduced a new method to investigate the prevalence and correlates of significant imbalances in the relative accuracy with which eighth-graders read nonwords (e.g., prauma) and exception words (e.g., vaccine). Substantial proportions of students showed imbalanced word-reading profiles, but these were not strongly tied to differences in reading and spelling achievement. Of the students without reading difficulties, 19% had imbalanced word-reading profiles favoring exception words and 17% had imbalanced word-reading profiles favoring nonwords. Of the poor readers, 39% met the criterion for phonological dyslexia (with imbalanced word-reading profiles favoring exception words) and 14% met the criterion for surface dyslexia (with imbalanced word-reading profiles favoring nonwords) in relation to the eighth-grade benchmark readers, but the incidence of these types of dyslexia varied with verbal ability. Of the poor readers with normal verbal ability, 60% were classified as phonological dyslexics and none was classified as surface dyslexic. In students low in verbal ability, surface dyslexia was more common. However, when imbalanced word-reading profiles were defined in relation to fourth-grade reading-level controls, only 12 phonological dyslexics and 1 surface dyslexic were identified. Relatively few cases of either type of developmental dyslexia appeared to be "pure."     

Investigating the Relationship Between Attention and Working Memory in Clinical and Community Samples

The first aim of the present study was to investigate whether differences in core deficits in ADHD subtypes lead to dissociable working memory profiles. The second aim was to compare the working memory profiles of inattentive students with those identified as having poor working memory, as they exhibit very similar behavioral profiles. Finally, the relationship between working memory and academic attainment in these groups were also of interest. Four groups of 9-year-olds were recruited: a community sample of children with inattentive symptoms, a clinically diagnosed group of children with ADHD-Combined, children with low working memory, and a healthy comparison group. They were assessed on measures of working memory, IQ, academic attainment, and sustained attention. The findings indicated that the combined and inattentive subtypes could not be distinguished on the basis of their working memory profile. In contrast, those with inattentive symptoms did better on the short-term memory tasks than the low working memory group. The majority of all three atypical groups performed very poorly in reading and math. This pattern can be interpreted as reflecting the link between working memory and academic attainment, even in those with attention problems.     

Specificity of MMPI cluster types to chronic illness

Abstract

Cluster analysis derived MMPI profile types were compared for three distinct illness populations: chronic low back pain (CLBP), mixed headache (HA), and cardiac disease (CD). Results replicated previous findings in the chronic pain and cardiac literatures. Differences between diagnostic groups and genders were found for the prevalence of the derived MMPI profile types. Results indicated that, in males, the two chronic pain groups had similar profile types and similar relative frequencies of these types, but both differed from the CD sample. The chronic pain groups tended to have a greater number of patients with pathological and distressed MMPI profile types and a lesser representation in the subclinical profile type compared to the CD sample. Similar findings were obtained for females, though the CLBP group tended to have a higher frequency of highly distressed, pathological profiles than either the HA or CD groups. Results suggested that the MMPI may be a measure of response to illness rather than reflecting predisposing personality types for any given illness and that the higher frequency of highly distressed profiles in the chronic pain samples reflects the increased suffering of those populations compared to other illnesses.     

Sex differences in anxiety,curiosity, and anger: A cross-cultural study

The major aim of the present study was to examine sex-group differences in anxiety, curiosity, and anger, as states and traits, among Israeli college students, and to compare the data with norms available for American students. The sample was composed of 223 female and 151 male students who were administered the Hebrew version of Spielberger's State-Trait Personality Inventory (STPI/HB). Significant differences in the STPI/HB profile for males and females were observed, with greater sex-group differentiation on the trait scales than on the state scales. Specifically, Israeli females show higher levels of Trait-Anxiety and Trait-Anger than Israeli males, whereas higher levels of State-Curiosity are observed among the latter. Overall, the sex difference profiles are highly comparable for Israeli and American college students. Observed sex-group differences are discussed and explicated.The authors wish to thank Prof. Shlomo Breznitz, of the University of Haifa, and Prof. Charles Spielberger, of the University of South Florida, for their interest in and support of this research. Thanks are also due to Smadar Ashuach and Orli Tamam-Karbi for their help in data collection. The order of authorship was determined alphabetically and both authors contributed equally to this paper.     

A reexamination of sex differences in job preferences

Previous research has found conflicting answers to the question of whether males and females share similar preferences for various job characteristics. It is difficult to determine if the different findings are due to the different populations sampled, the various methodologies employed, or to a real change in the phenomenon itself. This study essentially replicates earlier work by having 130 male and 84 female college students rate the importance of 10 job characteristics for both themselves and members of the opposite sex. Both sexes rated motivators as important, but females also placed importance on the hygienes. Males tended to underestimate the importance of the motivators for females, while females overestimated the importance of hygienes for males. The subject's sex could be predicted by both the importance for self and importance for opposite sex ratings, contrary to the earlier study. The difference in results and interpretation was shown to be due to the type of analyses used. Additionally, it was found that females' job preferences were related to their mothers' educational achievement.     

Is there a Scandinavian psychology? A bibliometric note on the publication profiles of Denmark,Finland, Norway,and Sweden

This note presents a quantitative bibliometric analysis based on information obtained from the PsycINFO database concerning publication patterns in different subfields of Scandinavian psychology for the years 1984 to 1997. A cluster analysis shows that the publication profiles of the Scandinavian countries are more similar to each other than to both the profile of the USA and a norm profile based on all countries except the USA and Scandinavia. The main differences are that the relative proportions of articles dealing with psychological disorders are higher and the relative proportions of articles dealing with educational psychology are lower for Scandinavia than for the rest of the world. Within the Scandinavian countries, Finland and Sweden form one cluster with higher relative proportions of psychophysiological articles, and Denmark and Norway form one cluster with higher relative proportions of articles dealing with psychological disorders.     

Emotional Intelligence Profiles in College Students and Their Fathers’ and Mothers’ Parenting Practices

The present study has two objectives: first, to analyze whether the dimensions that make up emotional intelligence (attention, clarity, and repair) give rise to different profiles of university students, and secondly, to determine whether these different profiles are differentially associated with the parenting practices that students report with regard to their fathers and mothers. Results obtained indicate the existence of different profiles of college students. The profile that corresponds to adequate emotional skills presents a lower score in attention, but higher scores in clarity, and especially in mood repair. The other two profiles are inadequate, in the first case because a higher score in emotional attention is accompanied by low scores in mood repair, and in the second case because low scores are presented in all three dimensions. Likewise, we verified the existence of significant differences in the educational practices of parents, the adequate profile is characterized by greater use of parenting dimensions considered to be positive, and at the same time, lower scores on dimensions considered to be negative. One of the dysfunctional profiles is associated with higher scores in positive practices, and is also associated with higher scores in practices considered to produce a negative effect. The second dysfunctional profile is associated with higher scores on the dimensions considered to be negative and lower scores on positive dimensions.     

Pain-related correlates of MMPI profile subgroups among back pain patients

The MMPI profiles of 96 male and 218 female patients attending a back pain clinic in a private university-affiliated, orthopedic hospital were analyzed by a hierarchical clustering procedure. The clustering procedure produced four male and four female profile subgroups. The subgroups were compared with one another on the basis of patients' responses to the Cornell Medical Index and revised McGill Pain Assessment Questionnaire. Within the male and female patient cohorts it was found that profile subgroups featuring elevated clinical scales showed greater disruptions of daily activities than did subgroups with relatively unelevated profiles. However, profile subgroups with elevations primarily on the neurotic triad scales reported greater affective disturbance and disruption of daily activities than did subgroups with elevations on both the neurotic triad and relatively psychotic scales. In addition, profile subgroups with subclinical elevations on the neurotic triad scales appeared to have adjusted to their pain experience more poorly than did subgroups that featured scores on nearly all clinical scales that were within one standard deviation of the mean. Suggestions are provided for the use of the MMPI in assessing chronic pain patients and future research regarding cluster analyses of patients' MMPI profiles.     

Does binge eating play a role in the self-regulation of moods?

Self-reported emotional experiences and eating behaviors were studied in college students in an attempt to determine what types of emotional experiences precede and follow binge eating and how specific types of compensatory behaviors modify these experiences. First-year male and female students (N=390) were surveyed for depression, anxiety, health status, life satisfaction, and eating attitudes (EAT-26). Those reporting recurrent binge eating episodes were asked to describe their emotional feelings before and after bingeing and before and after compensatory activities. EAT-26 scores corresponding to scores previously reported for eating disordered patients were found in 9.7% of students. Binge eating was nearly twice as frequent among females (16.4%) as males (8.6%) Among females, positive relationships were found between specific EAT-26 factors scores and both anxiety and depression scores. The emotional antecedents and consequences of binge eating and of compensatory activities were compared in three sub-groups of individuals who reported recurrent bingeing with loss of self-control during binges. The three sub-groups consisted of individuals who reported, 1) bingeing without engaging in compensatory activities, 2) bingeing and compensating by means other than vomiting (fasting, exercising, or use of laxatives or diuretics), and 3) bingeing and compensating by vomiting. Regardless of the type of activity, those individuals who engaged in compensatory activities reported greater negative affect preceding binge episodes than those who did not compensate. In addition, contrary to expectations, negative affect did not decrease, but instead increased significantly, following binge episodes and decreased immediately before and after compensatory activities.     

University and student segmentation: Multilevel latent‐class analysis of students’ attitudes towards research methods and statistics

Background. It is often claimed that psychology students’ attitudes towards research methods and statistics affect course enrolment, persistence, achievement, and course climate. However, the inter‐institutional variability has been widely neglected in the research on students’ attitudes towards research methods and statistics, but it is important for didactic purposes (heterogeneity of the student population). Aims. The paper presents a scale based on findings of the social psychology of attitudes (polar and emotion‐based concept) in conjunction with a method for capturing beginning university students’ attitudes towards research methods and statistics and identifying the proportion of students having positive attitudes at the institutional level. Sample. The study based on a re‐analysis of a nationwide survey in Germany in August 2000 of all psychology students that enrolled in fall 1999/2000 (N= 1,490) and N= 44 universities. Methods. Using multilevel latent‐class analysis (MLLCA), the aim was to group students in different student attitude types and at the same time to obtain university segments based on the incidences of the different student attitude types. Results. Four student latent clusters were found that can be ranked on a bipolar attitude dimension. Membership in a cluster was predicted by age, grade point average (GPA) on school‐leaving exam, and personality traits. In addition, two university segments were found: universities with an average proportion of students with positive attitudes and universities with a high proportion of students with positive attitudes (excellent segment). Conclusions. As psychology students make up a very heterogeneous group, the use of multiple learning activities as opposed to the classical lecture course is required.