American and Chinese Students’ Calibration of Comprehension and Performance

In the present study we examined the ability of American and Chinese undergraduate students to calibrate their understanding of textbook passages translated into their native languages. Students read a series of texts and made predictions of their understanding of each text as well as the number of questions they would be able to answer correctly. Students also made postdictions of their test performance. Chinese students were significantly better than American students in calibrating their understanding of passages and predicting how many comprehension items they would answer correctly. Chinese students also outperformed American students on comprehension tests. All students were able to make more accurate postdictions of comprehension test scores than predictions. Results are related to possible instructional differences between American and Chinese students. Several possible directions for future research are discussed.     

Does Traditional Stereotyping of Career as Male Affect College Women’s,but Not College Men’s,Career Decision Self-Efficacy and Ultimately Their Career Adaptability?

Sex Roles - In South Korea, strong beliefs about traditional gender roles in accordance with Confucian and patriarchic atmosphere still strongly influence daily life and the career development...     

The Impact of Family Obligations on Young Women’s Decisions During the Transition to College: A Comparison of Latina, European American, and Asian American Students

In this study, we hypothesized that (1) Latina and Asian American undergraduate women would report more frequently fulfilling family obligations than would European Americans, and (2) fulfillment of family obligations would predict students’ residential and working plans for their first semester of college. Results of an online survey completed by 296 American first-year students showed that Latinas more frequently fulfilled family obligations than did Asian Americans and European Americans, although fulfilling family obligations did not influence Latinas’ residential or working plans. European American students who more frequently fulfilled family obligations were more likely to plan to live at home, and Asian American students who more frequently fulfilled family obligations planned to work fewer hours during their first semester at college.     

Self-Efficacy for Enhancing Students’ Career and College Readiness: A Survey of Professional School Counselors

Grounded in Bandura’s (1997) self-efficacy theory and Savickas’s (2011) career construction theory, this study examined school counselors’ beliefs about whether they can perform specific tasks related to supporting students’ career and college readiness. A national sample of school counselors (N = 2,047) completed the School Counselor Self-Efficacy for Enhancing Student Career and College Readiness Scale (Baker, Parikh-Foxx, & Martinez, 2017). Findings from a survey research design indicated that the extent of related training and the challenges associated with implementation of career service delivery were of concern to participants. Recommendations for training, practice, and further research are presented.     

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.     

The Role of Maternal Employment, Role-Altering Strategies, and Gender in College Students’ Expectations of Work–Family Conflict

We examined the relationship between maternal employment and college students’ expected work–family conflict as well as the relationship between expected conflict and the anticipated use of family-altering and career-altering strategies. Results indicated a positive relationship between the extensiveness of maternal employment and expected work–family conflict only for men. In addition, students who expected extensive work–family conflict anticipated delaying marriage, limiting the number of children they will have, and, in the case of men, intending not to have children. There was no relationship between expected work–family conflict and the anticipated use of career-altering strategies. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Chinese College Students’ Experiences in the Encounter Group

In theory, the encounter group is well suited to addressing the problems of Chinese college students, but in practice, significant conflicts exist between the nature of the encounter group and the internalized beliefs of this group of students. This brief report identifies six areas of notable conflict in the therapeutic process: freedom of expression, belongingness, learning from diversity, impacts of an exam-oriented education, social inequalities, and indirect communication. The advantages for the encounter group members were the opportunities to enjoy self-expression, gain acceptance regardless of social status, learn about differences between themselves and other members, provide nonstandardized answers, increase the level of self-advocacy, and feel safe directly expressing themselves. On the negative side, group members may have felt distressed due to the conflicts between the basic character of the encounter group and their own cultural beliefs. The limitations of this study are found in the sample types, my multiple roles and biases as the author and group leader, and the features of the encounter groups conducted. Nevertheless, this brief report may increase both therapeutic applicability of the encounter group to Chinese college students and the level of cultural competence in group psychotherapists who may use the encounter group or work with this population.     

African American and Mexican American Youths’ College Adjustment and Perceptions of Parental Academic Socialization: Interactions Between Ethnicity and Parental Education

In a sample of 283 African American and Mexican American college students, we investigated the effects of ethnicity and parental education on three dimensions of parental academic socialization (PAS), active involvement, autonomy support, and demanding hard work, and their impact on college adjustment. Controlling for parental education, African Americans reported higher parental active involvement. Academic self-efficacy mediated the effects of both demanding hard work and autonomy support on college adjustment, controlling for parental education. Moderated mediation models suggested that effects of both demanding hard work and autonomy support on academic self-efficacy were stronger for African Americans than for Mexican Americans.     

Body Image Comparisons on Social Networking Sites and Chinese Female College Students’ Restrained Eating: The Roles of Body Shame,Body Appreciation,and Body Mass Index

Body image comparisons on social networking sites (SNS) have been found to be associated with disordered eating among western young women, however, the inner mechanism driving this association is largely unknown. Based on social comparison, sociocultural, and objectification theories, the present study aimed to investigate the association between body image comparisons on SNS and restrained eating, as well as the mediating role of body shame and the moderating roles of body appreciation and body mass index (BMI) among Chinese young adult women. A sample of 567 Chinese college women were recruited to complete a questionnaire assessing body image comparisons on SNS, body shame, body appreciation, restrained eating, and information about weight and height. Results showed that body image comparisons on SNS were positively associated with restrained eating and that body shame significantly mediated this association. Furthermore, body appreciation and BMI each moderated the association between body shame and restrained eating as well as the association between body image comparisons on SNS and restrained eating. These results not only have theoretical implications, but also provide guidance for prevention interventions targeting negative body image and disordered eating among college women.

     

Whither the Epidemic? Psychoactive Drug-Use Career Patterns of College Students1

Reported nonmedical use and intentions for future use of eight groups of psychoactive drugs were conceptualized and arrayed to represent a person's usage career. Intentions closely predicted usage eight months later. Changes in careers were analyzed from data obtained in surveys of all students at a univeristy in 1968 and three follow-up surveys of the class of 1972. In 1968, the most common order of extent of use of the drug groups was: beer, hard liquor, tobacco, cannabis, depressants, amphetamines, hallucinogens, and narcotics. Students' starting, usage, and intent patterns for the drugs displayed hierarchical, Guttman-like, scalability in approximately this order. Intentions to progress to new drugs on the scale were strong in all classes in 1968. In the class of 1972, however, despite growing experience with the less common drugs as they went through college, intentions to return to more common drugs grew and intentions to progress to new ones decreased, relative to both themselves as freshmen and to equivalent level classes in 1968. The pattern of these changes suggests that it is hazardous to extrapolate from early usage and intent data in predicting the long-term course of usage.     

Chinese University Students’ Perceptions of Plagiarism

This study examines Chinese undergraduates’ perceptions of plagiarism in English academic writing in relation to their disciplinary background (i.e., hard vs. soft disciplines), academic enculturation (i.e., length of study in university), and gender. Drawing on data collected from 270 students at two universities in China, it finds clear discipline-based differences in participants’ knowledge of plagiarism and perceptions about its causes; an enculturational effect on perceived acceptability of and condemnatory attitudes toward plagiarism, with senior students being less harsh than their junior counterparts; and complex interactions among disciplinary background, length of study, and gender. Furthermore, it reveals conceptions of (il)legitimate intertextuality (i.e., textual borrowing) differing from those prevalent in Anglo American academia and clearly punitive stances on perceived plagiarism. These results suggest the need to take an educative rather than punitive approach to source use in English academic writing.     

Unemployed Adults’ Career Thoughts,Career Self‐Efficacy,and Interest: Any Similarity to College Students?

Little empirical knowledge about unemployed adults exists during a time when this group needs substantial career assistance. Because there is greater empirical understanding of college student career development compared with what is known about unemployed adults, a chi square and analyses of covariance were used to compare the career thinking, self‐efficacy, and interests of 169 unemployed adults seeking public job center assistance with that of 200 college students. Additionally, a diverse sample of 2,444 unemployed adults is demographically reviewed. Unemployed adults reported a higher level of Realistic interests and similar levels of negative career thinking and career decision‐making self‐efficacy compared with college students.     

College Students’ Perceptions of and Responses to Cheating at Traditional,Modified, and Non-Honor System Institutions

To address growing concerns about academic integrity, college students (n?=?758) at honor system and non-honor system institutions were presented with eight scenarios to determine the influence of an honor system on their perceptions of and responses to academic dishonesty. Main effects for honor code status emerged. Students from traditional honor system schools considered the behaviors to be more dishonest, and were more likely to respond that they would report the incident when compared to students attending modified and non-honor system institutions. Findings suggest traditional honor systems, with specific rules and regulations in place, are more effective at cultivating academic integrity among students; modified honor systems may not be as effective as previous research suggests.     

Students’ Anticipated Situational Engagement: The Roles of Teacher Behavior,Personal Engagement,and Gender

Among 9th-grade students (248 girls, 255 boys) from a large multiethnic school, the authors examined 2 aspects of anticipated situational engagement in relation to 3 types of hypothetical teacher behavior: authoritarian, authoritative, permissive. Furthermore, the authors investigated the moderating roles of students’ personal (trait-like) engagement and gender. Multilevel analyses showed differential effects of teacher behavior type. Anticipated situational engagement was generally highest with the authoritative teacher and lowest with the authoritarian teacher. However, students’ personal engagement and gender qualified these effects. The effects of the authoritative and authoritarian teachers versus the permissive teachers on anticipated situational engagement were more positive (or less negative) for students with high versus low personal engagement. Also, the positive effects of the authoritative and permissive teachers versus the authoritarian teacher were stronger for female students than for male students. Results show that anticipated situational engagement should be understood by examining the combined influences of contextual and individual characteristics.     

Taiwanese College Students’ Perceptions of Plagiarism: Cultural and Educational Considerations

The present study investigates Taiwanese college students’ perceptions of plagiarism. Specifically, this study seeks to explore how perceptive students pursuing higher education in Taiwan are in recognizing plagiaristic writing, in what terms they perceive source use in writing as appropriate and inappropriate, and view why plagiarism occurs. The study included 30 high- and 30 low-achieving students selected out of 396 students in English writing classes at a university in Taiwan. Drawing upon evidence from a writing exercise and individual interviews with these 60 Taiwanese college students, the present study identified a variety of reasons why students may plagiarize. Most of the students participating in the study had some basic understanding of plagiarism. They had some familiarity with the Western notion of plagiarism, but based on the writing exercise, more often than not they were not able to recognize plagiarism when it actually occurred. Students’ understanding was generally, but not entirely, consistent with their source use behavior. More than half of the students considered that plagiarism is a cultural issue. However, there are also other factors that may lead to plagiarism. Finally, recommendations in terms of writing pedagogy are made.     

The Study of College Students’ Beliefs in China

Pastoral Psychology - The beliefs of college students is an important issue that is followed closely by the Government of China (GOC). In recent years, the GOC increasingly has encouraged the...