Role conflict and academic procrastination: A self‐determination perspective

The purpose of the present study was to propose and test a model of role conflict and academic procrastination. This model posits that non‐self‐determined motivations toward school and interpersonal relationships are positively related to role conflict between these two life domains. In turn, role conflict between school and interpersonal relationships is expected to be positively related to academic procrastination. Participants were 292 university students. Results from structural equation modeling supported the model. It thus appears that self‐determination and role conflict are important to foster our understanding of academic procrastination. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Body posture effects on self‐evaluation: A self‐validation approach

Building on the notion of embodied attitudes, we examined how body postures can influence self‐evaluations by affecting thought confidence, a meta‐cognitive process. Specifically, participants were asked to think about and write down their best or worse qualities while they were sitting down with their back erect and pushing their chest out (confident posture) or slouched forward with their back curved (doubtful posture). Then, participants completed a number of measures and reported their self‐evaluations. In line with the self‐validation hypothesis, we predicted and found that the effect of the direction of thoughts (positive/negative) on self‐related attitudes was significantly greater when participants wrote their thoughts in the confident than in the doubtful posture. These postures did not influence the number or quality of thoughts listed, but did have an impact on the confidence with which people held their thoughts. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antecedents and trajectories of achievement goals: A self‐determination theory perspective

Background. Research has shown that both achievement goal theory and self‐determination theory (SDT) are quite useful in explaining student motivation and success in academic contexts. However, little is known about how the two theories relate to each other. Aim. The current research used SDT as a framework to understand why students enter classes with particular achievement goal profiles, and also, how those profiles may change over time. Sample. One hundred and eighty‐four undergraduate preservice teachers in a required domain course agreed to participate in the study. Method. Data were collected at three time points during the semester, and both path modelling and multi‐level longitudinal modelling techniques were used. Results. Path modelling techniques with 169 students, results indicated that students' autonomy and relatedness need satisfaction in life predict their initial self‐determined class motivation, which in turn predicts initial mastery‐approach and ‐avoidance goals. Multi‐level longitudinal modelling with 108 students found that perceived teacher autonomy support buffered against the general decline in students' mastery‐approach goals over the course of the semester. Conclusions. Data provide a promising integration of SDT and achievement goal theory, posing a host of potentially fruitful future research questions regarding goal adoption and trajectories.     

Dental anxiety,oral health‐related quality of life,and general well‐being: A self‐determination theory perspective

The aim of this study was to test a structural equation model (SEM) with the following hypotheses: (1) patients’ perceptions of oral health care professionals’ (i.e., dentists and dental hygienists) controlling interpersonal styles would positively predict patients’ dental anxiety through their basic psychological need frustration in treatment; (2) in turn, high dental anxiety would positively predict dysregulation of dental anxiety, which through a feedback loop contributes to perception of oral health care professionals’ controlling styles; and, (3) in addition, both dental anxiety and dysregulation of dental anxiety would predict poor Oral Health‐Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) and subsequently poor general well‐being. A cross‐sectional study was conducted among 322 students at the University of Oslo. Participants responded to a survey with validated questionnaires. All variables in the model tested were acceptably normally distributed. The SEM did fit the data well and all hypotheses were supported. A bootstrapping procedure indicated that all indirect links in the model were supported. Analysis indicated that common method variance (CMV) did not seriously distort the results in this setting. Although the majority of oral health care professionals are perceived as being noncontrolling by their patients (51%), the proportion perceived as moderately (38%) or highly (11%) controlling represent a challenge for oral health care education and practice. It would be useful for oral health care professionals to be trained in avoiding a controlling treatment style.     

Procrastination as self‐regulation failure of performance: effects of cognitive load,self‐awareness,and time limits on ‘working best under pressure’

Effects of cognitive load, objective self‐awareness and time limits on the self‐regulation of performance speed and accuracy were investigated between procrastinators and non‐procrastinators. In experiment 1 chronic procrastinators completed fewer items (slow speed) and made more errors (less accuracy) than non‐procrastinators under high but not low cognitive load conditions when the time span was limited and brief. In experiment 2 chronic procrastinators performed slower than non‐procrastinators under a 2 second, but not under no limit, 1 second, or 4 second time limit conditions. Chronic procrastinators compared to non‐procrastinators also performed more slowly and made more performance errors under objective self‐awareness conditions regardless of the length of time. These experiments indicate that chronic procrastinators regulate ineffectively their performance speed and accuracy when they ‘work under pressure’ (defined by high cognitive load, objective self‐awareness, and imposed time limitations). Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Women,alcohol, self‐concept and self‐esteem: A qualitative study of the experience of person‐centred counselling

This study explores the self‐concept and self‐esteem of women with alcohol problems from a client perspective, and relates the findings to person‐centred theory and practice. Eight women with severe and long‐standing alcohol problems, who had received person‐centred counselling, were interviewed in relation to their sense of self over time. The data were analysed using grounded theory methodology, resulting in the emergence of five key categories. Examples from the interviews are used to illustrate the complex relationships between life experience, self‐concept, self‐esteem and drinking. The possible significance of the findings for counsellors working with this client group is discussed.     

Oral health and dental well‐being: testing a self‐determination theory model

This study tested a self‐determination theory (SDT) process model of oral health and subjective dental well‐being. The results showed that: (1) patients' perceptions of autonomy‐supportive dental professionals were significantly positively predictive of patients' psychological needs satisfaction in treatment; (2) needs satisfaction was significantly related to perceived dental competence (positive), autonomous motivation (positive), and controlled motivation (negative) for dental care; (3) perceived competence was significantly positively, and controlled motivation was significantly negatively associated with self‐rated oral health and oral‐health‐related quality of life; (4) autonomous motivation for dental treatment was significantly positively associated with valuing continued dental treatment; and (5) the three oral‐health‐related variables were all significantly positively linked to subjective dental well‐being. A structural equation model supported the SDT process model.     

Computerised CBT self‐help for depression in Higher Education: Reflections on a pilot

Aims: This study comprised the second phase of a small‐scale exploration of the viability of a computerised CBT intervention for depression within the context of a Higher Education counselling service. Method: The program ‘Beating the Blues’? (BtB) was offered to students experiencing depression, with measurement of uptake, attrition, satisfaction and effectiveness of the program. Results: Outcomes were calculated alone and in combination with those found in Phase One (previously presented in this journal), to enable a whole study report. In Phase Two, 15 students commenced BtB. The low completion rate in the intended academic year of the study led to extension over a further term. Seven participants completed the programme in Phase Two, a rate of 46.7%; 27 students used the programme over the entire study, with 63% completion. In both phases depression scores fell significantly following completion of the programme; anxiety scores fell significantly for Phase Two completers. User feedback was mixed. Clinical implications and conclusions: Many students have a comparatively short wait for a psychological service which may reduce interest in a computerised self‐help intervention and may help explain the low uptake. It is suggested that whilst CCBT is acceptable and effective for some depressed students, the number of sufficiently interested students, together with reported satisfaction from the intervention, was too small to warrant current inclusion of BtB within our service, particularly given its cost implications. Suggestions for further CCBT‐related investigations within this setting are made.     

Self‐construal and students’ math self‐concept,anxiety and achievement: An examination of achievement goals as mediators

This study examines the role of self‐construal in student learning by testing a mediation model: through math achievement goals, self‐construal predicts math self‐concept and anxiety, which further predict math achievement. A sample of 1196 students from 104 secondary classes in Singapore took a survey and a math achievement test. The results from multi‐group structural equation modelling support measurement invariance and equal path coefficients in the mediation model between boys and girls. Interdependent self‐construal positively predicted mastery approach and avoidance goals, through which interdependent self‐construal had a positive total indirect effect on math anxiety. Independent self‐construal positively predicted mastery approach, performance approach and performance avoidance goals, and through the two approach goals, high independent self‐construal was associated with high math self‐concept. Overall, self‐construal was not associated with math achievement. The findings enhance our understanding of achievement motivation from a sociocultural perspective and help explain East Asian students’ relatively higher anxiety and lower self‐concept in comparison with their Western counterparts as reported in international studies.     

Impression management motive and voice: Moderating effects of self‐monitoring,self‐efficacy,and voice instrumentality

The purpose of this study is to examine how employees’ impression management motive influences their voice by considering dispositional and situational variables. Drawing on the theory of self‐motive, we hypothesized that voice would be more positively related to impression management motive than prosocial motive. In addition, based on the interactional approach of motive and trait and trait activation theory, we hypothesized that the relationship between impression management motive and voice would be moderated by self‐monitoring, self‐efficacy, and voice instrumentality. Using a sample of 307 supervisor–subordinate dyads from South Korea, we found that, although prosocial motive had a positive influence on voice, impression management motive had a stronger influence on voice than prosocial motive. We also found that the positive influence of impression management motive on voice was stronger for employees with high levels of self‐monitoring, self‐efficacy, and voice instrumentality. This study helps verify the boundary conditions as to when impression management motive is strongly related to voice. In addition, this study will provide theoretical clues for resolving the inconsistent findings on the relationship between impression management motive and voice.     

Meaning making,self‐determination theory,and the question of wisdom in personality

Self‐determination theory (SDT) has advanced the most comprehensive model of motives for human flourishing in the field of personality psychology and beyond. In this article, we evaluate SDT relative to the process of meaning making, particularly from a narrative perspective, showing what SDT can and cannot explain about the construction of self‐identity and its relation to human flourishing. On the one hand, SDT explains how subjective assessments of need fulfillment drive the process of self‐determined living. The internal motives that follow such fulfillment serve as important themes in people's life stories that predict several markers of hedonic and eudaimonic well‐being. On the other hand, SDT's focus on subjective fulfillment limits what SDT can explain about how wisdom, which is a canonical good of both eudaimonia and meaning making, helps people make sense of life's more difficult or unfulfilling events. SDT may facilitate a facet of wisdom that is more subjective and experiential but not the critical facet of wisdom defined by objectively more complex structures of interpretation.