Research has associated high levels of private self-consciousness (PSC) with accurate self-knowledge and with behavior consistent with one's attitudes. A study by Buss and Scheier reported that privately self-conscious persons are more susceptible to attribution bias, the self-focus of such persons leading them to attribute their positive and…

Factor analyzed combined items from Rotter's Internal-External Scale and Levenson's Multidimensional Internal External Locus of Control scales revealing factors similar to Difficult World, Just World, Predictable World, and Politically Responsive World, and additional factor, Friendly World. Most factors were correlated with masculinity; only…

Previous research on the concept of perceived control has assumed that beliefs about control reflect a generalized personality trait and that people desire as much personal control as possible. To investigate whether perceptions of and needs for control vary across different life domains, and whether the discrepancy between perceived and desired…

In separate research studies, students who were given a choice of learning materials or who had control over aversive noise, demonstrated higher motivation and better task performance. To investigate the additive effects of choice and control on perception of control, 80 male and female college students participated in a 2 (choice vs. no-choice) X…

Administered items from three locus of control (LOC) tests and the Beck Hopelessness Scale to 197 undergraduates. Factor analyses produced multiple factors for each LOC test; Beck proved to be unidimensional. Each LOC test contained salient dimension describing belief in luck, chance, or fate. Other common themes were internal control and…

The Nuclear Locus of Control (NLOC) scales were constructed to assess beliefs as to whether nuclear war and nuclear policy decisions are, or can be, influenced by oneself, powerful others, or chance. Three scales measuring internal, powerful others, and chance nuclear LOC show internal consistency estimates (Cronbach's Alpha) of .87, .76, and .85,…

Based on a modification of Berglas and Jones' (1978) design, conditions of contingent and noncontingent success and failure were manipulated to determine when and why individuals choose to adopt self-handicapping strategies. Male undergraduates (N=76) were informed that they were participating in a study investigating the effects of music on…

To investigate correlates of fear of crime and physical mobility among physically vulnerable older adults, 42 community dwelling older adults twice completed a battery of tests, with 1 year intervening. The tests included Functional Health Status, Perceived Health Status, Sense of Mastery, Leave of Residence, and Fear of Crime. Crime statistics…

The potential for feelings of hopelessness and depression in the aged is well documented. Although studies have examined the role of perceived control in ameliorating depression in the institutionalized elderly, no research has actually measured the perceived causal attributions among depressed, hopeless and/or institutionalized elderly…

The reformulated learned helplessness model for the prediction of depression has been investigated extensively in young adults. Results have linked attributions made to undesirable, controllable events to depression in this age group. This reformulated model was investigated in 97 elderly women and was contrasted to the original learned…

Discussion of learner control in the educational process focuses on adult distance education. Independence, power, and support are described as the three components of control of the learning process, and the concept of control as it relates to the communication process between student and teacher is discussed. (LRW)

Although much is being written about the sociological aspects of the battering syndrome, little has been done to investigate the personality characteristics of battered women. To investigate the personality characteristics which relate to the life styles of battered women, 60 women (30 battered women, 30 non-battered women), ranging in age from 19…

According to the major attributional hypotheses, egotism and expectancy confirmation, people tend to make internal attributions when successful and external attributions when they fail. In order to investigate the effect of manipulation on egotistical and expectancy confirmation attributions, 190 female undergraduates participated in two series of…

A review of the literature on job analysis and job evaluation reveals several aspects of jobs which are important to organizations. To better explain the psychological dimensions of the work environment, three models of perceived job characteristics were compared using confirmatory factor analysis: Walsh, Taber, and Beehr's (1980) components of…

Little is known about the power strategies adolescents view as effective in influencing an intimate partner to have or avoid having sexual intercourse. These strategies were examined in a pretest survey of 203 adolescents who reported their agreement or disagreement with strategies used to have protected sex or to avoid having sex with a…