The relation between past history of outcomes and achievement expectancies was examined for 72 elementary school students. (JMB)

Employing the multidimensional scaling of similarities data, studied person perception in five adult-aged groups of both male and female respondents. Identified three basic attributes: perceived age, perceived gender, and perceived autonomy. Discerned several generalizable trends for the attributes of perceived age and perceived autonomy.…

The present study compares the attributions of young children 5 to 6.5 years of age with those of adult subjects 20 to 30 years of age, who were engaged in the same competitive situation. It was hypothesized that sex differences would occur in the sample of adults but not in the sample of children. Believing outcomes to be determined by either…

Incorporating Elkind's (1979) construct of the personal fable, this investigation focused on the relationship between self-concept and projected attachments to a distant object (i.e., a favorite celebrity). In a repeated measures design, 79 male and female 5th, 8th, and 11th graders and college sophomores completed a set of personality scales,…

Sixty mothers of four- through 12-year-old children rated the (1) environmental versus dispositional basis of their child's behavior; (2) behavior's probable origins, cross-situational consistancy, and temporal stability; (3) child's controllability; and (4) personal responsibility for engaging in each behavior. Findings suggested a positive bias…

Age and sex of the applicant had little impact on attitudinal items. Competent and hired applicants were rated significantly more positively. There was a significant age by hiring interaction on the attribution items. Stable factors were used more often to explain the failures of the old. (Author)

With the increased number of women in the work force, sexual harassment is receiving increased attention from the federal government, journalists, researchers, and counselors. To investigate the influence of two contextual variables (status of the initiator and age of the victim) on perceptions of sexual harassment allegations, 123 college…

Examines whether parents of children ages 5 through 13 are able to recognize the impact various socialization techniques have on their own child's interpretations of prosocial behavior. Additionally investigates parents' beliefs about causal attributions made by their children. (MP)

Children's judgments of whether another's misdeeds warrant punishment and, if so, how much punishment, appear to depend upon (1) the degree of external constraint (e.g., provocation) on the transgressor, (2) the age of the child making the judgment, (3) the sex of the transgressor and (4) the sex of the child making the judgment. (BH)

Used hypothetical vignettes to examine 384 preadolescents' understanding of gossip in varying circumstances. Found that children correctly labeled talk about nonpresent others as gossip and considered it inappropriate. Skepticism was higher for gossip than for firsthand information and was greatest with cues suggesting that speakers were…

Students from grades four through eleven (n=304) responded to a questionnaire regarding their viewpoints on grades. Three dimensions were examined: (1) attitudes about being graded; (2) comprehension of grading systems; and (3) causal perceptions and attributions about why students get good grades. Findings are discussed. (Author/MT)

Children, aged 9, 12, and 15, evaluated successes and failures of other children using information supplied about ability, effort, outcome, and sex. Several sex differences were found, particularly in the extent to which evaluations related to effort and outcome information. Findings are compared to those of American and Iranian studies.…

Two experiments were conducted to examine the role of sex differences in learned helplessness in the generalization of failure experience. Subjects in experiment 1 were fifth graders and subjects in experiment 2 were fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. (MP)

This study investigated age trends in children's explanations of their own academic successes and failures. Ability attributions for success and failure in reading were more effectively predicted by reading attainment in older than in younger children. Perception of own attainment was more accurate in older children. Sex differences were also…