Using microdata from the American Dream Demonstration, the current study examines factors associated with savings and savings goal achievement (indicated by a matched withdrawal) among participants of individual development account (IDA) programs. Multinomial logit results show that hours of participation in financial education programs, higher…

In a variable distance 10-trial ringtoss, it was found that success required that a subject exceed his expected score. Therefore, the probability of success was the probability of exceeding the expected score on the 10 throws (Ps10); and this is shown to be different from the probability of scoring a ringer in a single throw (Ps1) from the same…

This study of 68 girls in a sports-with-prizes treatment indicated that children can be induced to behave generously, even after a lapse of time, in proportion to the amount of modeled generous behavior they see. Older children and children experiencing success were more generous. (SJL)

Self-efficacy theory maintains that self-efficacy expectancy, a belief about one's ability to perform a behavior successfully, is independent of outcome expectancy, a belief about the likelihood of the behavior leading to a specific outcome. To examine this hypothesis, subjects (N=95) read communications that differed in descriptions of the…

This report presents the results of two experimental studies undertaken to investigate some of the differences in success and failure attributions made by actors and observers in an achievement situation. Causal attributions of a person actually experiencing a success or failure (the actor) and someone who read about the situation (the observer)…

This paper reports on a successful attempt to understand success avoidant motivation and behavior by the development of an empirically sophisticated scoring system of success avoidant motivation and the observation of its behavioral correlates and situational determinants. Like most of the work on achievement motivation, the study was carried out…

This study examines four hypotheses concerning the nature of fear of success (FOS). Data were gathered in two stages. First, respondents in a large sample survey of metropolitan Detroit area residents were asked to tell a Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) story. In the second stage, white currently-married females aged 18 to 56 whose households…

Attributions of causes of successful task performances as a function of task and sex of the performer were investigated. Introductory psychology students (N=157) were presented with closed-circuit, videotaped episodes in which a male or female stimulus person performed a card-guessing task for 10 trials. Subjects heard the task described to the…

Discusses the increasing concern of Congress toward its function of oversight (congressional review of the actions of federal departments, agencies, and commissions, and of the programs and policies they administer). Notes factors which promote and increase the quality of oversight and analyzes trends in congressional committee oversight behavior.…

Two theories, the closed loop model (divides self-regulation into self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement) and the non-mediational model (defines self-regulation as behavior that is controlled by its long-term and observable consequences), have been proposed to explain why behavior changes when self-monitoring occurs. Both…

Describes the research method and the results of behavior analysis of successful negotiators during actual negotiations between union and management representatives and the behaviors that distinguish the skilled from the average negotiators. (MF)

This study investigates the strategies people use to acquire knowledge from maps. Among the questions examined were (1) what distinguishes poor learners from good learners, and (2) how do the learning strategies of map-using experts differ from those of nonexpert learners? Eight subjects participated in the study. Five were undergraduate students…

Describes study to determine the success of university students' behavioral self-control projects. Results indicate that the teaching of self-control principles is easily integrated into personal adjustment classes and can have lasting effects on students' coping skills. (KC)

In an impression explanation of counterdefensive attributions, the tendency of subjects is to accept primary responsibility for negative outcomes and to deny credit for positive outcomes. Counterdefensive attributions represent attempts at maximizing the esteem in which observers hold the actor. To test this hypothesis, a 2 x 5 simulation was…

Identifies characteristics of successful courtroom speech for prosecuting attorneys, defense attorneys, and accuseds using computer-based content analysis and rater judgments of verbal behaviors. Demonstrates that verbal aggression is an important factor for successful prosecutors, equivocation is important to success for defense attorneys, and…