Herbert m. Lefcourt (1936-2011)

Presents an obituary for Herbert M. Lefcourt. In the summer of 1963, with a freshly minted PhD degree in his hands, Lefcourt moved to Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Along with several other young faculty members from the United States, Herb had been recruited to help establish a new PhD program in clinical psychology at the University of Waterloo. Over the ensuing years, it became recognized as one of the leading clinical programs in North America. Ever an optimist with a zest for life, Herb focused on the positive side of human nature in his research interests. While others studied stress and distress, Herb was more interested in the personality traits of people who are particularly resilient, able to withstand adversity without succumbing to illness and depression. Later in his career, his interests turned to the study of the sense of humor, again conceptualized as a personality variable with important implications for mental and physical health. Herb retired from the university in 1996 and was awarded the honorific of Distinguished Professor Emeritus. He had a very enjoyable retirement, pursuing his many interests, which included international travel, hiking, woodworking, literature, film, and classical music, and enjoying his summer cottage on Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron. He is remembered as an energetic teacher who, in addition to having an eclectic command of the theory and research, drew on his vast knowledge of literature, film, and current events to make his lectures interesting, informative, and thought-provoking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Psychological correlates of university students' academic performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis

A review of 13 years of research into antecedents of university students' grade point average (GPA) scores generated the following: a comprehensive, conceptual map of known correlates of tertiary GPA; assessment of the magnitude of average, weighted correlations with GPA; and tests of multivariate models of GPA correlates within and across research domains. A systematic search of PsycINFO and Web of Knowledge databases between 1997 and 2010 identified 7,167 English-language articles yielding 241 data sets, which reported on 50 conceptually distinct correlates of GPA, including 3 demographic factors and 5 traditional measures of cognitive capacity or prior academic performance. In addition, 42 non-intellective constructs were identified from 5 conceptually overlapping but distinct research domains: (a) personality traits, (b) motivational factors, (c) self-regulatory learning strategies, (d) students' approaches to learning, and (e) psychosocial contextual influences. We retrieved 1,105 independent correlations and analyzed data using hypothesis-driven, random-effects meta-analyses. Significant average, weighted correlations were found for 41 of 50 measures. Univariate analyses revealed that demographic and psychosocial contextual factors generated, at best, small correlations with GPA. Medium-sized correlations were observed for high school GPA, SAT, ACT, and A level scores. Three non-intellective constructs also showed medium-sized correlations with GPA: academic self-efficacy, grade goal, and effort regulation. A large correlation was observed for performance self-efficacy, which was the strongest correlate (of 50 measures) followed by high school GPA, ACT, and grade goal. Implications for future research, student assessment, and intervention design are discussed.     

Transtheoretical Model Constructs for Physical Activity Behavior are Invariant across Time among Ethnically Diverse Adults in Hawaii

OBJECTIVES: Physical activity (PA) research applying the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) to examine group differences and/or change over time requires preliminary evidence of factorial validity and invariance. The current study examined the factorial validity and longitudinal invariance of TTM constructs recently revised for PA. METHOD: Participants from an ethnically diverse sample in Hawaii (N=700) completed questionnaires capturing each TTM construct. RESULTS: Factorial validity was confirmed for each construct using confirmatory factor analysis with full-information maximum likelihood. Longitudinal invariance was evidenced across a shorter (3-month) and longer (6-month) time period via nested model comparisons. CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaires for each validated TTM construct are provided, and can now be generalized across similar subgroups and time points. Further validation of the provided measures is suggested in additional populations and across extended time points.     

Sense of humor, emotional intelligence, and social competence

Associations among sense of humor, emotional intelligence (EI), and social competence were examined in 111 undergraduate students using measures of humor styles, trait cheerfulness, social competence, and an ability test of EI. Emotional management ability was positively correlated with self-enhancing humor and trait cheerfulness, and negatively correlated with trait bad mood. Ability to accurately perceive emotions was negatively related to aggressive and self-defeating humor. Positive humor styles and trait cheerfulness were positively correlated with various domains of social competence, whereas negative humor styles and trait bad mood were negatively correlated with social competence. Finally, the emotional management facet of EI was positively correlated with several social competence domains.     

What is the Strength of the Link Between Objective and Subjective Indicators of Urban Quality of Life?

Urban quality of life is usually measured by either subjective indicators using surveys of residents' perceptions, evaluations and satisfaction with urban living or by objective indicators using secondary data and relative weights for objective indicators of the urban environment. However, rarely are subjective and objective indicators of urban quality of life related to each other. In this paper, these two types of indicators were linked using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to both locate respondents to the “2003 Survey of Quality of Life in South East Queensland” and also to gather objective indicators about their urban environment within the region with regard to services, facilities and overcrowding. Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), the strength of the relationships between these objective indicators and subjective indicators was examined. The results show that relationships between objective and subjective indicators of urban QOL can be weak, and suggests care should be taken when making inferences about improvements in subjective urban QOL based on improvements in objective urban QOL. However, further research is needed into the links between objective and subjective indicators of urban QOL including examining other aspects of the urban environment, non-linear relationships, and moderating effects for individual differences.