The Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) was administered to 219 Czech adolescents, 132 of whom were mathematically gifted. Two distinct orthogonal constructs of perfectionism were identified, indicating that healthy and unhealthy perfectionism are not opposite poles on a single continuum but are independent constructs. Perfectionism was…

Examined patterns of academic functioning and mental health in middle school students and the relation of such patterns to their prior and subsequent functioning. Found variegated patterns of academic and emotional functioning at eighth grade and stability in these patterns across the high school transition. Found some long-term stability among…

In the pathway of discouragement, there are two significant indicators that things have gone awry. First, there is an escalating "disconnect" among the adults who are involved in the life of the young person. Second, the problem solving gives way to discouragement, anger, and punitive consequences. For some children the trajectory lasts over his…

The authors explored test-preparation and test-taking strategies that high school students used in algebra tests. From a pool of high school students (N = 156), 61 students participated in interviews, and of those interviewed, 26 represented those who were high achieving as well as highly interested in mathematics (n = 15) vs. those who were low…

This handbook serves a four-fold purpose: (1) it functions as a reference guide for counselors using the Otis Spunkmeyer Student Motivational Program (SMP); (2) individuals in other corporations who are interested in sponsoring their own Student Motivational Program (SMP) may use it to train counselors; (3) it serves as a program overview for…

This ethnographic study documents and interprets key school, work, and family life issues in the lives and experiences of a sampling of recent immigrants from the war-torn Central American nations; and suggests a psychocultural theory of achievement motivation. Information was gathered from observation in two urban high schools, interviews with 50…

In recent years, many psychological constructs with associated measures have been proposed for educational research and the evaluation of educational programs. Among the most interesting and potentially useful are those reflecting motivational and volitional aspects of human behavior, the conative constructs. Among the conative constructs are…

One hundred freshmen students at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine were surveyed using the Lancaster Approaches to Studying Inventory to determine if the success of students at a highly selective combined baccalaureate/MD degree program is affected by their different approaches to learning. Analysis of the survey…

This study compared parent stress, family functioning, and social support in 55 families with a developmentally handicapped child (ages 0-7) and 55 families with a nonhandicapped child. Findings indicated that a young handicapped child did induce greater stress in his parents than did a nonhandicapped child. Parents of handicapped children…

Women who reenter college after years of work or family responsibilities were compared to women with similar backgrounds who do not reenter school on measures of fear of success and achievement anxiety. A questionnaire designed to determine reentry status, age, socioeconomic standing, facilitating and debilitating anxiety, and fear of success was…

Need-based theories of work motivation are considered with particular reference to university faculty; it is hypothesized that three different types of people are attracted to the academic setting: (1) those who want to teach, (2) those who want to do research, and (3) those who want to do both. According to need theories, certain fundamental…

Achievement motivation recently has been examined as a four-factor construct. Fiji, part of the British Commonwealth, provides an interesting testing ground for the question of different achievement patterns for different ethnic groups. The achievement motivation levels of high school students from four ethnic groups and university students from…

Five theoretical perspectives related to occupational choice were assessed. These were (1) Super's career development perspective, (2) Holland's typology of occupational choice, (3) status-attainment research in the field of sociology, (4) economic theory of individual willingness to work in different occupations, and (5) a model of decision…

This second general technical report of the Consortium for Longitudinal Studies summarizes the findings of current analyses of longitudinal studies of low income children who participated in experimental preschool programs initiated in the 1960s and includes additional data and further analyses of the 1976-77 follow-up study. The pooled data bank…

The purposes of this study were: (1) to develop measures of the need for achievement in 4-5-year-old children, and (2) to discover the psychosocial origins of need for achievement. The hypotheses regarding the second purpose were that middle and lower socioeconomic status (SES) mothers of children characterized by high need for achievement would…