A meta-analysis of support variables and well-being in ethnic minority populations

Aims: The importance of social support as a predictor of well-being has been documented in the literature for decades. The extent to which social support may be uniquely relevant to the well-being of ethnic minority populations has not yet been empirically supported with meta-analytic techniques. The current meta-analytic study attempted to clarify the nuances of the relationship between support and well-being in ethnic minority populations and to identify what moderators may be relevant to understanding such relationships. Method: Data from 111 articles were included in the analyses that examined both the main effects and moderators of the relationship between social support and well-being. Results: Overall findings revealed a greater effect size (ES) between support and positive well-being (r = .38) than between support and negative well-being (r = −.27). Significant moderators included the proportion of females in the sample, age of the participants, and nature of support. Several ES differences were found in support type and ethnic group interactions as well. Conclusions: Implications of these data include the importance of social support enhancement in efforts to increase the positive well-being and attending to gender and other cultural modifiers in future studies of social support with racial and ethnic minorities.     

Correlational reasoning in an everyday context

In the context of everyday reasoning, individuals inferring a causal relation between an antecedent (A) and event (E) rarely have available as evidence for their inferences frequencies of all the four possible occurences, AE, A$\text{E}$, $\text{A}$E, and $\text{AE}$. The present study investigated the willingness of subjects in fourth, seventh, and tenth grades, and college to infer such a relation under the more typical condition of incomplete frequency data. There was some improvement with age, but even college subjects were remarkably willing to infer a relationship based on minimal data, notably the presence of cases in the AE cell. No subjects indicated the need for information regarding the remaining cells. Subsequent presentations of datafor the A$\text{E}$ cell did not substantially alter subjects' willingness to infer a relation, nor did subsequent presentation of data for the remaining two cells, despite the fact that complete frequency data indicated independence of A and E. A comparison group of subjects presented with all four cells at once showed somewhat more frequent application of quantitative reasoning strategies, but their willingness to infer a relationship between A and E was not notably less than that of subjects to whom the data were presented sequentially.     

Class,housework, and happiness: Women's work and life satisfaction

Large-sample surveys often fail to find a difference in self-reported satisfaction between housewives and employed women. Several explanations that have been offered for this failure are explored here in greater detail. The suggestion that the ease of housewives' lives is experienced as a benefit compensating for fewer satisfactions in other areas is rejected; greater time pressure is associated with greater satisfaction for housewives. The suggestion that working-class women are happier at home, while middle-class women prefer careers is also not supported; working-class women appear to be less satisfied with their lives and no more satisfied with their work whether the comparison group is working-class women with jobs or middle-class housewives. Social desirability, on the other hand, is found to be a major factor predicting the self-reported happiness of housewives, and the general issue of the role of social expectations in evaluating satisfaction is raised.     

Children's memory for a personally experienced event: Implications for testimony

This study was prompted by an interest in children's abilities to testify in legal settings. Based on the fundamental premise that children cannot provide accurate testimony about events that cannot be remembered, this investigation focused on 3- and 6-year-olds' memory of a salient, personally experienced event. The event selected was that of a visit to the doctor for a physical examination. Children at both ages remembered most of the features of the check-up at an immediate memory test, although the older children performed somewhat better than younger children. In addition, the performance of the 3-year-olds decreased over delay intervals of 1 and 3 weeks, whereas that of the 6-year-olds remained constant over this period. Moreover, at all assessment points the older children provided more information in response to open-ended general questions than did the younger children. Both groups of children were quite good at giving accurate responses to misleading questions, although the 3-year-olds performed below the level of 6-year-olds. The need for further controlled studies of children's memory capabilities is discussed.     

The women's movement in the working class

Working-class women's reactions to the women's movement are frequently discussed, but there is little empirical research on the issue. The present study examines the dimensions of support in two planes: the particular issues that engender favorable or unfavorable reactions, and the characteristics of women who are generally supportive or hostile to the movement. Supporters are found to emphasize the movement's contributions to their sense of self-esteem and entitlement; opponents emphasize sexual morality and the social segregation of the sexes. The mildly sympathetic or tolerant, who comprise the majority of the sample, see the relevance of the movement primarily in terms of future generations. In a discriminant function analysis, work experience and personal satisfaction are found to significantly distinguish between these three attitudinal groups.     

Is parenthood a desirable adult role? An assessment of attitudes held by contemporary women

The purpose of this study was to explore contemporary women's perception of parenthood. The attitudes toward parenthood of 213 undergraduate females enrolled in family or women's studies courses were measured by an 11-item Likert-type scale. Major findings include (a) the expectation that parenthood will be among the subjects' adult roles, but will be delayed; (2) a rejection of the idea that motherhood is a prerequisite to women's happiness and fullfillment; (3) a confused perception of the effect of parenthood on the male; and (4) a suggestion that although these young women intend to parent, they assess their preparation to do so as limited.     

The relation between formal operational reasoning and academic course selection and performance among college freshmen and sophomores

The significance of Inhelder and Piaget's (1958) construct of “formal operations” depends in part on establishing the extent to which formal operations have real-world relevance beyond the narrow domain of assessment situations in which Inhelder and Piaget studied them. The present research investigates this question by examining the effect of exhibiting a concrete versus formal operational level of reasoning in an isolation of variables task on academic program selection and performance of beginning college students over a two-year period. Students who reasoned at the concrete operational level did not differ from students matched on ACT scores who reasoned at a formal operational level with respect to either number of college credits obtained or overall grade point average. When courses were broken down into three categories, however, “formals” took significantly more science/math courses and received significantly higher grades in them. No differences were found in the other two categories: liberal arts/social sciences or activities/vocational courses. A further study of beginning college students already enrolled in science/math courses confirmed that very few concrete operational reasoners were present in these courses, suggesting that a process of self-selection is in operation.