Students' perceptions of female professors

This paper examines student attitudes towards academic women. The literature on females in male-dominated professions suggests that clients resent their authority, deny their competence, and accord them less prestige than men. One hundred and eighty one university students evaluated professors in terms of 21 semantic differential scales and an occupational prestige ranking instrument. Contrary to expectation, female professors were perceived as more competent than male instructors in both task and socio-emotional competence. Further, the males were not assigned a significantly higher prestige score. Despite Goldberg's (1968) conclusion that females are prejudiced against their own sex, the attitudes of the female students were the more favorable.     

Taiwanese junior college students' needs for and perceptions of a career planning course

A 30-item survey was developed to assess the career planning needs of junior college students in Taiwan. 159 men and 493 women were surveyed about career planning needs and perceptions of a proposed course model to answer whether women differ from men in such needs and upper and lower division students differ. A series of two-way analyses of variance identified 7 items on which the women expressed needs more strongly than the men and another 8 items on which the responses of lower division students were significantly different from those of upper division students. Students' perceptions of a course model provided recommendations for a course in career education.     

Women's human rights violations: Cameroonian students' perceptions

Cameroonian university students (N = 666) assessed whether certain different societal positions that the law grants to women and men (the husband chooses the marital home, the husband wields parental power, a married woman cannot freely engage in trade, the husband administers his wife's personal property) and certain cultural practices (female genital mutilation, parents arranging their children's marriage) were seen as violations of women's human rights. Justifications for the choices were also analysed. Female genital mutilation was most often seen as a violation of women's human rights, and the husband selecting the marital home was least often seen as a violation. These differences were explained by cultural specificities. Women more often than men saw the cases as violations of rights. Respondents coming from the North saw the cases less often as violations of rights than respondents from other geocultural areas, which was in accordance with their previously observed higher collectivism. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Closeness between female college students and their professors: A novel assessment technique

An empirical investigation was conducted using a technique developed by Adler to assess how close female college students felt toward their professors. The sample included mostly white college women enrolled in a psychology of women course. The women felt closer to their female professors than to their male professors. The findings have pedagogical implications.We would like to thank Susan Eckstein, Maria Narvaez, Kathleen Peets, Ann Pufall, Sue Rosenberg Zalk, and two anonymous reviewers for their help.     

Self-esteem and social desirability in relation to college students' retrospective perceptions of parental fairness and disciplinary practices

This study examined the relationships that fathers' and mothers' interactive of disciplinary behaviors have with college students' Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory scores, Social Desirability scale scores, and their retrospective perceptions of their parents' fairness (50 sons, 84 daughters). Sons with higher scores in self-esteem reported that their mothers were fairer, had more interest in their activities, and were less likely to use verbal put-downs (abuse). Daughters with high self-esteem reported both of their parents were more interested in their activities, used praise more often, and refrained from verbal abuse. Also, these daughters reported that their mothers were more fair and encouraged their independence more. Daughters who reported their fathers as being more strict had lower self-esteem scores. There was no evidence that spanking, grounding, scolding, or monetary rewards had any effect on children's self-esteem scores, whether these methods were used by mothers or by fathers. Both sons and daughters who perceived their parents as being more fair also saw them as being more interested, having used praise more often, and having been less likely to have used verbal abuse. Daughters were less likely to view either fathers or mothers as being more fair if they had used spanking, grounding, or scolding more, and had been over-all stricter. Sons who had less strict fathers or who had received monetary rewards from them tended to regard them as being more fair. Higher social desirability scores correlated with higher self-esteem of women. Also, women with these higher social desirability scores tended to report that both their fathers and mothers used scolding and grounding less often.     

Epistemic authority of professors and researchers: differential perceptions by students from two cultural-educational systems

Teachers and researchers are considered epistemic authorities that provide reliable information if that information is relevant to their discipline. Students differentiate between relevant and irrelevant disciplines when assessing teachers’ expertise. In this paper, it is investigated whether students’ cultural-educational background plays a role in this differentiation between relevant and irrelevant disciplines. In large power distance cultures such as France, students learn to respect and obey their teacher, whereas in smaller power distance cultures such as the Netherlands, the relationships between students and teachers are more informal. Therefore, French students may be less sensitive to the actual discipline when assessing a source’s expertise. In an experiment, it was empirically tested whether French students perceived smaller differences than Dutch students between fictitious professors and researchers who put forward information that was or was not related to their own discipline. Results showed that the French participants indeed differentiated to a much lesser degree between professors and researchers with a relevant and an irrelevant discipline than did the Dutch participants. Further analyses indicated that students’ obedience partially mediated this effect of nationality on the difference between relevant and irrelevant disciplines. This study underlines the role that cultural-educational background can play in the assessments of epistemic authorities.     

Measuring and reducing college students' procrastination

We examined college students' procrastination when studying for weekly in-class quizzes. Two schedules of online practice quiz delivery were compared using a multiple baseline design. When online study material was made available noncontingently, students usually procrastinated. When access to additional study material was contingent on completing previous study material, studying was more evenly distributed. Overall, the mean gain in percentage correct scores on weekly in-class quizzes relative to pretests was greater during contingent access than during noncontingent access conditions.     

Distorted cognitive maps: college students' misperceptions of nation size

On a questionnaire 256 college students reported a number of distorted views concerning the sizes of nations in the world and these distortions appeared to generalize to geographic regions. Considering that individual cognitive maps are commonly used to assess new information about the global environment, these inherent distortions could significantly bias the students' views of the world.     

Asian American college students' suicide ideation: a mixed-methods study

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the phenomenon of suicide ideation among 293 Asian American college students. Guided by T. Joiner's (2005) interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior, the authors examined the relationships among perceived burdensomeness, thwarted belongingness, self-construals, and suicide ideation. Compared with thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness was a more robust predictor of suicide ideation. However, thwarted belongingness moderated the positive association between perceived burdensomeness and suicide ideation. Furthermore, interdependent self-construal and independent self-construal both weakened the link between perceived burdensomeness and suicide ideation and between thwarted belongingness and suicide ideation. The authors also conducted a qualitative analysis of participants' open-ended responses about their perceptions of why Asian American college students might consider suicide. The authors identified a core phenomenon of unfulfilled expectations as well as 2 broad themes related to this core phenomenon: unfulfilled intrapersonal expectations and unfulfilled interpersonal expectations, comprising the subthemes of (a) family, (b) relationship, (c) cultural differences, and (d) racism. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for suicide-related clinical interventions and primary prevention efforts among Asian American college students.     

Predictors of college students' alcohol consumption: implications for student education

Understanding why young adults consume alcohol the way they do can lead to more effective educational programming for promotion of students' personal health and safety. The authors examined the predictive role of expectations about alcohol, perceived peer norms of consumption, awareness of rules, and individual self-efficacy in conjunction with demographic variables for male and female college students' weekly alcohol consumption. The sample of 4,960 students analyzed here is 10 to 20 times larger and more nationally representative than the samples used in similar studies. The authors used a general linear model; 41% of the men's variance and 33% of the women's variance in self-reported weekly alcohol consumption were explained by the set of predictors. In descending order of variance accounted for in male and female students' self-reported weekly alcohol consumption, perceived gender-specific norms of consumption, expectations about the effects of alcohol, and the importance of drinking in high school were significant predictors for both men and women. The salience of psychological variables for young adults' consumption of alcohol underscores the importance of recognizing individual predictors of behavior in the broader ecological context in which those behaviors are performed.     

High risk drinking and college students' self-perceptions

The present study examined the relationship between high risk drinking and college students' self-perceptions. High risk drinking was defined as the consumption of four or more drinks in a row for women and five or more drinks in a row for men during a single sitting (within the last year). Historical trends regarding college-age drinking indicate that 44% of college students fit the criteria for high risk drinking at least once over the past year. A survey was administered to 210 college students (52 men and 158 women) between 18 and 22 years of age (M = 20.9, SD = 1.3) to assess their use of alcohol and their self-perceptions. Students' self-perceptions were measured with four subscales from the Neemann-Harter Self-perception Profile for College Students. Students either volunteered to participate in this study outside of class or were solicited during class. It was predicted that students' self-perceptions would differ significantly depending upon their alcohol consumption, i.e., 17.1% were Abstainers, 25.2% were Nonproblem Drinkers, and 57.6% were High Risk Drinkers. Analysis gave significant difference on Global Self-worth between students who abstained and those who were High Risk Drinkers. However, students' perceptions of Scholastic Competence, Intellectual Ability, and Social Acceptance did not differ significantly for the alcohol consumption groups. In addition to high risk drinking, a number of other variables were associated with self-perceptions, such as high school alcohol use, low high school GPA, and students' reported academic involvement. These relations are discussed.     

Middle school students' perceptions of a peer who stutters

Little is known about how middle school students perceive a similar-aged peer who stutters. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of stuttering frequency, Likert statement type (affective, behavioral, cognitive), and the gender of the listener on middle school students' perceptions of a peer who stutters. Sixty-four middle school students (10-14 years) individually viewed a video sample of a teen telling a joke at one of four stuttering frequencies (<1%, 5%, 10%, 14%). After the students viewed one of the video samples, they were asked to rate 11 Likert statements that reflected their affective, behavioral, and cognitive perceptions of a peer who stuttered. The results revealed an interaction between stuttering frequency and Likert statement type. Ratings of behavioral statements (speech production characteristics) were significantly more positive for the sample containing <1% stuttering than 10% and 14% stuttering. Ratings for cognitive statements (thought and beliefs) were significantly more positive for the sample containing <1% stuttering than 10% and 14% stuttering. The stuttering frequency of the peer did not significantly influence how students rated affective statements (feelings and emotions). It was also found that male and female middle school students did not significantly differ in their perceptions of a male peer who stutters. Clinical implications are discussed relative to peer teasing, friendship, listener comfort, and social acceptance within a middle school setting for a student who stutters. Future research directions are also discussed. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will be able to: (1) summarize how middle school students perceive stuttering; (2) explain how the frequency of stuttering influences middle school students' perceptions of a peer who stutters; and (3) provide clinical implications of the data from this study.     

High school students' perceptions of nursing homes: before and after experience.

86 high school students considering entering a health care profession indicated that they would not likely choose to work in a nursing home even though they found them in general to be more pleasant than expected.     

Status of psychology as a science in northeast Brazil: undergraduate students' perceptions

The Psychology as Science scale was used to assess whether Brazilian students believe psychology is a science. 190 undergraduates from four universities in Brazil participated. Analysis showed that 54% of students strongly agree that psychology is a science, 26% strongly agree that psychological research is necessary and that training in methodology is important, and 25% strongly agree that behavior is predictable.     

The drinker and the nurturer: College students' perceptions of men and fathers

This three‐part study examined 421 mid‐Atlantic university students' perceptions of the content of social stereotypes related to fathers‐ and men‐in‐general. College students viewed men‐in‐general as having far fewer positive parenting and personal qualities, but generally did not differ in breadwinning characteristics when compared to fathers‐in‐general. The results empirically supported the notion that younger adults generally do not view men‐in‐general as having the qualities associated with active fathering (e.g., being physically, financially, or emotionally involved with children), although they are seen as comparable providers. Men‐in‐general also are viewed much more negatively than fathers‐in‐general. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Graduate psychology students' perceptions of the scientist-practitioner model of training

Since its inception over forty years ago, there has been considerable controversy regarding the viability of the scientist-practitioner model for training professional psychologists. The present study utilized a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods to assess graduate psychology students' (n=24) perceptions of this training model. Counselling, clinical, and school psychology students participated in semi-structured interviews and were administered the Vocational Preference Inventory, Form B (Holland, 1977) and the Scientist-Practitioner Inventory (Leong & Zachar, 1991). Data were analyzed using a combination of grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and additional qualitative data analytic approaches (Miles & Huberman, 1984). A number of patterns were observed between students' perceptions and feelings about the scientist-practitioner model and their definition of science, career interests, and shaping experiences. Implications for the future training of professional psychologists are discussed.     

Primary process patterning in college students' inkblot responses

Holzman Inkblots were administered under standard instructions and under instructions to respond imaginatively. Protocols were scored according to Holt's system for scoring primary process. Subcategories of primary process proved to be reliable and to differ in prominence. A stable pattern of primary process, characterizing college students' inkblot responses, appears to represent students' intuition of what it means to be imaginative.