The greening of the United States teacher workforce puts a premium on districts and schools hiring effective and persistent beginning teachers. Given the limitations of characteristics currently available at the time of hiring (e.g., academic ability measures, preparation type), we built off previous research in economics and psychology to…

A research-based program was designed for the improvement of decoding and encoding nonverbal cues as they are important aspects of successful communication and teaching. To extend the scientific base of the program, six correlational studies (N=784) investigated relationships between nonverbal skill and personality dimensions. Low non-significant…

This study was conducted to evaluate whether a brief self-description checklist may provide a viable method of quickly obtaining initial personality type information. The Personal Preferences Self-Description Questionnaire (PPSDQ) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) were administered to 420 college students, and PPSDQ item-response and MBTI…

A study sought to determine what relationships existed between speech rate, speech pitch variation, speech loudness, and the personality assessments made by listeners. The subjects, 214 undergraduate speech communication students, listened to one of eight tape recordings made by a male speaker to represent all the combinations of the three…

With the advent of the feminist movement it is probable that attitudes of women regarding mate selection have undergone significant changes in the 1970's. A replication of a study first conducted in 1939 which concentrated on the values and attitudes of females toward mate selection was updated using 935 single college females from 31 different…

Research indicates that traditional values regarding the family are learned early in life and tend to change slowly, if at all. Therefore, it is probable that values and preferences expressed in mate selection would vary little from one generation to the next. A replication of a study first conducted in 1939 which concentrated on male attitudes…

This research introduced resilience characteristics to study the adjustment of international graduate students at American universities. The purpose of the study was to explore relationships among resilience characteristics and background factors; among resilience characteristics and adjustment problem areas; and among adjustment problem areas and…

The Personal Preferences Self-Description Questionnaire (PPSDQ) (B. Thompson) was developed to measure personal preferences with regard to Jungian psychological types. Instruments in this area are among the most popular measures used in education and psychology; the measures are used in matching teaching and learning styles, in individual…

Noting that there is little information available about how child and teacher characteristics are related to child engagement behaviors, this study examined the effects of child characteristics on observed engagement in early childhood settings, and the interaction effects of child characteristics and teacher interaction behaviors on observed…

The relative influence of selected life history experiences on the development of three vocational types (investigative, social, and enterprising) proposed by J. L. Holland is studied using causal modeling procedures. The lack of explicitness in the developmental postulates of Holland's theory is seen as a major deficiency. Among the principal…

Noting that when adolescents select friends, they are creating a relationship context that will be an important source of influence, this study examined the criteria adolescents use when choosing friends. Adolescents in grades 7 and 10 were interviewed about the criteria they used when selecting friends, particularly the importance they placed…

Selected personality variables of college students who reside under different living arrangements were studied to determine the effect of student's type of housing, gender, and enrollment classification. A sample of students living in residential halls at Maryville College were administered the Attitude Toward Women Scale (ATWS), the Bem Sex Role…

Japanese Americans experience acculturative change while retaining some elements of cultural identity. Differences in the patterning of personality needs among Japanese American women over time illustrate the balance of these two elements. Japanese American female undergraduates completed the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS) in 1971…

This study of student teachers in high school mathematics and science classrooms compares their teaching behaviors and their scores from three pencil-and-paper tests. Data analysis indicates a relative independence between the ratings of teacher classroom behavior and scores on the pencil-and-paper tests. There was little consistent relationship…

Teacher effectiveness literature has supported the contention that a recurring theme in examining the qualities and attributes that constitute effective teachers is the use of humor in the classroom. However, most of the research did not appear to consider the potential differential effects on the students' perceptions of teachers' use of humor…