Self-rated health (SRH) and subjective life expectancy (SLE) are widely used for understanding health and predicting mortality. However, what these items measure remains unclear, due to the lack of conceptual frameworks. We administered a web survey across the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, and Mexico. The questionnaire included SRH…

Data were analyzed from 178 American and 153 Chinese college students who participated in a study examining motivation to attend college. Students in the two countries reported similar motivations for attending college, with career and personal reasons being most important and helping family least important. Also, the study assessed the influence…

Two Afro Caribbean immigrants share our individual experiences of navigating the United States (US) academy, and the strengths we derived in the process. We explore the questions: How do we make meaning of our experiences as members of the academe? What accounts for our ability to perform, develop, and grow as scholars in the US? We used the…

Uses Social Learning Theory to compare 149 university students from Poland with 136 university students from the southern United States for belief-based personality constructs and personality correlates of paranormal beliefs. As hypothesized, Poles reported a more external locus of control and significantly greater endorsement of irrational…

Locus of control (LOC) is a personality variable shown to possess potential explanatory power in the study of ethical decision making. There have been, however, diverse results reported in the literature. Whenever differences on this variable are indicated by the research, individuals with an Internal LOC report the more ethical responses. This…

The Girls' Circle is a support group for adolescent girls developed by Beth Hossfeld and Giovanna Taormina as a unique program that addresses the needs of girls by focusing on increasing connections, building empathic skills, and developing resiliency. The present study evaluates the effectiveness of the Girls' Circle intervention on improving…

This investigation examined students attending U.S. and Canadian visual and performing arts secondary schools for distinguishing personality characteristics, locus of control, acceptance of talents, labeling, family dynamics, anxiety levels, perceived personal and school problems, and views of peers, artists/teachers, and counselors. One hundred…

Beliefs about the causes of success and failure in academic achievement were compared for students in the United States and Israel. The following 11 attributions were placed randomly in a questionnaire format: (1) mood; (2) skill; (3) knowledge; (4) chance; (5) effort; (6) competence; (7) help; (8) ability; (9) task; (10) bias; and (11) luck. Each…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine characteristics of academically successful Hispanic students. Despite repeated failures and early academic difficulties, some Hispanic students continue to fight through their adversity. Some children have a positive attitude toward school although there are monumental barriers for these at-risk…