Occupation and smoking in college graduates.

The results of a study of 895 members of the Harvard Class of 1946, 13 years after graduation, with respect to the association of occupation and smoking behavior, indicate statistically significant differentiations between smokers and nonsmokers; between cigarette, cigar, and pipe smokers; and in accordance with degree or rate of cigarette smoking. The significance of these findings appears to relate to the influence of personality and constitution on smoking behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal adjustment and academic predictability among college freshmen.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether the prediction of academic achievement is influenced by personal emotional adjustment as found by Hoyt and Norman in 1954. Samples consisted of 1,465 arts college freshmen from which were selected three "adjustment" groups (normal, one-peak, and maladjusted) according to arbitary cut-off points on the clinical scale of the MMPI. Correlations between grade point average (GPA) and predictor variables were determined. For the arts college, no significant differences were found between the adjustment groups for the correlation of GPA with either of the predictors high school rank or the Minnesota Scholastic Aptitude Test. 11 predictor variables were used for the engineering freshmen, only one of which yielded statistically significant differences between the adjustment groups. In contrast to the findings of Hoyt and Norman, it was concluded that the predicton of academic achievement is not influenced by personal adjustment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of medical school attendance from college freshman SVIBs.

This study compared the SVIB profiles of 2 groups of college freshmen, 1 group which eventually applied to medical school and another which did not, but all of whom scored an A on the Physican scale. Significant differences were found between the 2 groups on 8 occupational scales, the largest of which were on the Artist and Architecture scales which were highly negatively related to subsequent application to medical school. The results give further evidence of a lack of a common interest factor in Group I of the SVIB. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hope and academic success in college.

A cognitive, motivational theory is introduced to the educational research community. Hope theory integrates the conceptualization of goals, along with the strategies to achieve those goals (pathways), and the motivation to pursue those goals (agency). In a 6-year longitudinal study, individual differences in hope, as measured by the Hope Scale (C. R. Snyder et al., 1991) scores of entering college freshmen, predicted better overall grade point averages even after controlling for variance related to entrance examination scores. High- relative to the low-hope students also were more likely to have graduated and not to have been dismissed over this 6-year period. Hopeful thinking in college academics is discussed, along with the contributions of hope theory for educational research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Academic control and action control in the achievement of college students: A longitudinal field study.

A contradiction to the typical pattern of academic success occurs when bright, enthusiastic high school students fail after entering university. Two measures, perceived academic control and action control (i.e., preoccupation with failure) were administered to 524 college students at the beginning of a 2-semester course. Achievement-related cognitions, emotions, motivation, and final grades were measured at the end of the course. High-academic-control students exerted more effort, reported less boredom and anxiety, were more motivated, used self-monitoring strategies more often, felt more in control of their course assignments and of life in general, believed they performed better, and obtained higher final grades. Failure-preoccupied students received higher final grades, which corroborated their self-reported performance. Of note, high-control, high-failure-preoccupied students outperformed the other 3 groups by 1 to 2 letter grades. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychological separation, attachment security, vocational self-concept crystallization, and career indecision: A structural equation analysis.

Structural equation modeling was used to test theoretically based models in which psychological separation and attachment security variables were related to career indecision and those relations were mediated through vocational self-concept crystallization. In contrast to previous studies, which have found either weak or no support for a relation between separation or attachment security variables and career indecision, results based on a sample of 350 college students indicated that some components of separation and attachment security did relate to career indecision in a theoretically supportable direction. Results also revealed that regardless of whether global or component career indecision measures were used, separation and attachment security effects on indecision were at least partially mediated through vocational self-concept crystallization. The strongest mediated relations were observed for the effects of attachment anxiety and maternal separation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperament measures in industrial selection.

The scores on the Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey of 924 industrial Ss (338 college graduates, 128 with some college, 335 HS graduates, 105 grade school graduates), 94 college graduate vocational guidance clients, 56 HS graduate guidance clients, and 109 college students were compared to test the hypotheses that (1) Ss in the industrial situation will score higher than either guidance clients or students, and (2) the higher the educational level of Ss in the industrial situation, the greater will the faking be. Inter-group differences on most of the scales significant at the .01 level or better verified the hypotheses. "These extreme results apply mostly to… a college graduate population… wherein the need for… temperament evaluation is greatest." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Popularity, social acceptance, and aggression in adolescent peer groups: Links with academic performance and school attendance.

This article reports a short-term longitudinal study focusing on popularity and social acceptance as predictors of academic engagement for a sample of 342 adolescents (approximate average age of 14). These youths were followed for 4 consecutive semesters. Popularity, social acceptance, and aggression were assessed with a peer nomination inventory, and data on academic engagement were obtained from school records. For adolescents who were highly aggressive, increases in popularity were associated with increases in unexplained absences and decreases in grade point average. Conversely, changes in social acceptance were not predictive of changes in grade point average or unexplained absences. These results highlight the importance of multidimensional conceptualizations of social standing for research on school adjustment during adolescence and emphasize the potential risks associated with popularity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An attachment and school satisfaction framework for helping children raised by grandparents.

The numbers of children raised by their grandparents are increasing. Although placement with their grandparents may be the best setting for children whose parents can no longer care for them, research suggests the children may experience difficult school functioning such as behavioral, emotional, and academic problems. Additionally, the grandparents often are subject to high levels of stress that adversely affects their physical and emotional well-being. The aforementioned problems frequently occur secondary to relational issues. Attachment and school satisfaction constructs include human relational factors that are important to understanding the school-related functioning of children raised by grandparents. In this article, the implications of attachment and school satisfaction on the children's functioning are described. The constructs offer relational strategies to improve the educational and developmental trajectories of children raised by their grandparents. An attachment model and framework, based on the constructs, is described to guide prevention and intervention with these families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prediction of college achievement from the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule using intellectual ability as a moderator.

Following the procedures of Goodstein and Heilbrun (see 37:3), scores for 102 males on the EPPS, the Minnesota Scholastic Aptitude Test (MSAT), and 2 grade-point indices were analyzed for the entire sample and for low, middle, and high ability groups using partial correlation with MSAT scores held constant. The results show little agreement with those reported by Goodstein and Heilbrun. The sample was also randomly divided into cross-validation groups and a similar analysis performed. These results were not stable. The possible moderating effects of intellectual ability are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting success in college: A longitudinal study of achievement goals and ability measures as predictors of interest and performance from freshman year through graduation.

The authors examined the role of achievement goals, ability, and high school performance in predicting academic success over students' college careers. First, the authors examined which variables predicted students' interest and performance in an introductory psychology course taken their first semester in college. Then, the authors followed students until they graduated to examine continued interest in psychology and performance in subsequent classes. Achievement goals, ability measures, and prior high school performance each contributed unique variance in predicting initial and long-term outcomes, but these predictors were linked to different educational outcomes. Mastery goals predicted continued interest, whereas performance-approach goals predicted performance. Ability measures and prior high school performance predicted academic performance but not interest. The findings support a multiple goals perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social cognitive predictors of Mexican American college students' academic and life satisfaction.

In this study, we used Lent's (2004) social cognitive model of well being to examine the academic and life satisfaction of 457 Mexican American college students attending a Hispanic-Serving Institution. Using structural equation modeling, results indicated that the model provided a good fit to the data. Specifically, we found positive relations from positive affect to enculturation, acculturation, college self-efficacy, academic satisfaction, and life satisfaction; from enculturation to college self-efficacy; from acculturation to college self-efficacy and college outcome expectations; from college self-efficacy to college outcome expectations, academic goal progress, academic satisfaction, and life satisfaction; from college outcome expectations to academic satisfaction; from academic goal progress to academic and life satisfaction; and from academic satisfaction to life satisfaction. Findings indicated the model was invariant across gender groups, and overall, 38% and 14% of the variance in academic satisfaction and life satisfaction, respectively, were explained by the predictor variables. Implications for research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Proactive personality and the successful job search: A field investigation with college graduates.

The current article tests a model of proactive personality and job search success with a sample of 180 graduating college students. Using structural equation modeling, the authors tested a theoretical model that specified the relations among proactive personality, job search self-efficacy, job search behaviors, job search effort, and job search outcomes. Job seekers were surveyed at 2 separate points in time, once 3-4 months prior to graduation and once 2-3 months following graduation. The results suggest that proactive personality (a) significantly influenced the success of college graduates' job search, (b) was partially mediated through job search self-efficacy and job search behavior, and (c) was independent of self-esteem and conscientiousness. The findings are discussed in terms of their general implications for understanding the nature of the process through which distal personality factors, such as proactive personality, affect the nature and success of an individual's job search. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Vocational interests of college freshmen and their social origins.

The relationship between interests as measured on the SVIB and socioeconomic status of college students was explored. 9 groups of entering college freshmen were selected on the basis of father's occupation and educational level of both parents. Differences among distributions of the 9 groups on each of 48 SVIB scales were tested for significance using the analysis of variance test. Conclusions are: measured vocational interests of college students were not independent of social origin, college students of lesser cultural background tended to identify with occupations requiring quantitative and technical training, extent of overlap between social groups on SVIB scales was high. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental arousal of achievement motivation in adolescent girls.

2 groups of female high school students (40 achievers and 40 underachievers, matched for IQ) were exposed to 2 experimental conditions (Neutral and Achievement Oriented) and 2 types of pictures (those depicting males and those depicting females). The overall effect of the experimental achievement arsousal conditions for all girls was nonsignificant. However, a highly significant 2nd-order interaction effect was obtained: the achievement motivation scores of achievers increased significantly in response to Achievement Oriented conditions when they produced stories to pictures of females but did not increase in response to pictures of males; by contrast, the achievement motivation scores of underachievers increased significantly in response to Achievement Oriented conditions when they produced stories to pictures of males but did not increase in response to pictures of females. (43 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate Students' Perspectives of Academic Positions in School Psychology.

An increasing number of vacancies in school psychology academic positions and the reduced number of applicants seeking to enter academia have created projected shortages in academe. The purpose of the current study was to determine perspectives of academia held by current school psychology graduate students, who are in line to become the next generation of trainers. Based on information yielded from focus groups conducted with graduate students at two major doctoral school psychology training programs, a 42-item survey was designed to assess students' beliefs regarding benefits and drawbacks of an academic position, possible incentives that would encourage one to apply for an academic position, and past and current likelihood of applying for an academic position. Doctoral students from 98 school psychology graduate programs were invited to participate in the study; a total of 236 students returned completed surveys. Results indicated a significant trend toward increased consideration of an academic career as students progress through graduate school. The highest-ranked benefits of an academic career involved roles and activities inherent to the position, as opposed to potential benefits such as salary or prestige. Regarding perceived drawbacks to academia, job stress was ranked as the most significant deterrent, while the area of least concern involved current preparation to assume an academic position. Finally, respondents agreed on several incentives that would be helpful in overcoming hesitancy in applying for an academic position, including reducing politics in the tenure process, increasing salary, and increased availability of academic positions that emphasize applied work. Implications for current trainers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The multidimensional structure of perfectionism in clinically distressed and college student samples.

Confirmatory factor analysis was used to evaluate 2 multidimensional measures of perfectionism (R. 0 Frost, P. Marten, C. Lahart, & R. Rosenblate, 1990; P. L. Hewitt & G. L. Flett, 1991). On a first-order level, support was found for Hewitt and Flett's (1991) original 3-factor conceptualization of perfectionism, although only for an empirically derived 15-item subset. Support was also obtained for 5 of the 6 dimensions proposed by R. O. Frost et al. (1990), but the model only displayed good fit when a refined scale containing 22 of the original 35 items was used. A second-order analysis found evidence for 2 higher-order factors of adaptive and maladaptive perfectionism. Perfectionism dimensions correlated in expected directions with personality domains, symptom distress, and academic achievement. The brief measures of perfectionism also retained the construct-related validity displayed by the full-item versions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Acculturative stress, depression, and anxiety in migrant farmwork college students of Mexican heritage.

Migrant status (migrant, nonmigrant) and sex (female, male) differences were examined in a sample of 168 college students of Mexican heritage on measures of college stress, acculturative stress, depression, anxiety, and academic achievement. Migrant farmwork students reported higher levels of acculturative stress than nonmigrants, and men reported higher levels of acculturative stress than women. When language preference was held constant, there were no differences in depression and anxiety. However, migrant students reported higher levels of depression and anxiety than nonmigrants when language preference was not held constant. The overall sample reported high levels of depression: 55% versus the expected 20% of the general population shown in other research. Depression and anxiety were highly correlated, and women reported a higher grade point average than male students. Implications include the importance of integrating cultural factors in stress research with this population and accounting for acculturative stress, depression, and anxiety in clinical treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Promotion of Academic Careers in School Psychology: A Conceptual Framework of Impact Points, Recommended Strategies, and Hopeful Outcomes.

School psychology is facing a major shortage of faculty in graduate training and education programs. To deal with this shortage and the issues that surround it, we propose a conceptual framework that incorporates a number of impact points that graduate training programs can use to educate and sustain individuals in academic careers. The impact points include: selection of students, program-related training variables, post-program transition variables, and sustainability of academic careers. Each of these impact points is discussed within the context of the role that current faculty and practitioners in the profession can play in graduate education and training of academic scholars. Among the variety of potential solutions to the shortage, we introduce the concept of the "virtual university" to promote future education and sustainability of faculty within our graduate training programs. A case scenario from graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is presented as a context for the impact points raised in the article. We argue that those of us in the profession think systemically and lead the way into a new era of collaborative work across our graduate programs and among our colleagues in clinical, counseling, and related areas of applied and professional psychology graduate training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting Educational and Vocational Attitudes Among Rural High School Students.

Given the paucity of literature addressing the experiences of rural youth, this study investigated the ability of assessed levels of social support, perceived parental involvement, academic self-efficacy, and perceived educational barriers to predict school engagement and work role attitudes among rural high school students. The authors specifically intended to test the generalizability of M. E. Kenny, D. L. Blustein, A. Chaves, J. M. Grossman, and L. A. Gallagher's '(2003) findings with a rural population and within a social cognitive career theory (R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 2002) framework. Results supported the hypothesized importance of contextual factors (social support and parent involvement) and self-efficacy in predicting the work and school attitudes of rural students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)