Academic optimism (AO) is positively correlated for student achievement and is comprised of three constructs: academic emphasis, collective efficacy, and trust in students and parents. In essence, AO is the permeated belief of a teacher that academic achievement is important, that teachers can effectively increase student achievement, and that…

This quantitative study examined grit and hope scores with a population of first-year Science, Technology and Engineering (STEM) students. The researcher strived to understand if higher grit and hope scores correlate with higher grade point averages (GPA) and persistence in STEM among first-year STEM students enrolled in a mid-sized, suburban,…

This study focused on the unseen, thus, unobservable rationalization process in the pre-fraud state. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a relationship was present between one's ability to rationalize and their traits of sympathy towards others with their intention to commit fraud. Fraud is costly and does not discriminate. The Fraud…

The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study is to discover to what extent self-efficacy, indicated by self-confidence, optimism, proactive coping, and capability belief, as measured by the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) is present in Native American college graduates. A convenience sample of 512 Native American college graduates,…

This study examined resource high school students' self-concept and the effect that it has on academic achievement in a rural school district in low country South Carolina. This study examined the self-concept model of the Piers-Harris 3. In the Piers Harris 3 model, the researcher examined six self-concept domains. These six self-concept domains…

The dual-factor model of mental health proposes that symptoms of mental illness and markers of mental wellness can occur simultaneously, while functioning as discrete factors that contribute to mental health and adaptive functioning (Keyes, 2005). The current study investigated the utility of the dual-factor model of mental health (cf. Greenspoon…

The gameplay experience can be understood as an interaction between player and game design characteristics. A greater understanding of these characteristics can be gained through empirical means. Subsequently, an enhanced knowledge of these characteristics should enable the creation of games that effectively generate desirable experiences for…

The idea that individual behavior is the result of society's influence on individual self-concept beliefs reflects more than a century of theory and research. Therefore, this study focuses on self-concept as a construct of primordial human characteristics such as emotion, aspiration, love, conflict, anger, jealousy, contradiction, guilt, and…

The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of direct care workers (DCWs) in group homes towards PWDs. This study also investigated DCWs' demographic and other variables on their attitudes towards PWDs. The scale of attitudes towards disabled persons (SADP) questionnaire was administered to a purposive sample of 108 direct care workers…

This study examined the relationship between individual and family perfectionism and mental health functioning among two hundred and seven Latino college students. One aim of this study was to test the factor structure of the Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APS-R; Slaney, Rice, Mobley, Trippi, & Ashby, 2001) with Latino college students by…

Nationally published reports on death rates for substance abuse (drug-alcohol related), violence (homicide), and risky sexual behaviors (HIV/AIDS) among African-American men are deeply concerning. The goal of this study was to examine the relationship between historical/developmental factors (masculine identity, racial identity, racism),…