People desire to have positive self-esteem. Research by Crocker, Luhtanen, Cooper, & Bouvrette (2003) has demonstrated that late adolescents buttress their sense of self-worth through at least seven different means. Focusing primarily on two such contingencies (seeking to support self-esteem through virtuous behavior and through competitive…

Given the widely accepted notion of whole person education in Confucian societies such as Hong Kong, Mainland China and Singapore, it is surprising that research literature originated in these societies pays little attention to how students learn and develop through out-of-class experiences at university. There is little research evidence on how…

The frequent use of student self-report surveys in higher education calls into question the possibility of social desirability having an unwanted influence on responses. This research explores the potential presence of social desirability bias with the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), a widely used assessment of student behaviors.…

We examine (a) the normative course of eudaimonic well-being in emerging adulthood and (b) whether people's narratives of major life goals might prospectively predict eudaimonic growth 3 years later. We define eudaimonic growth as longitudinal increases in eudaimonic well-being, which we define as the combination of psychosocial maturity and…

This research examined Chickering's psychosocial developmental characteristics of nontraditional aged (25-45) university freshmen and compared these developmental characteristics with those reported for traditional aged (18-24) freshmen to determine if significant differences exist between these groups of students. The Student Developmental Task…

The social environments of 42 student living groups were measured by the University Residence Environment Scale, which assesses 10 salient dimensions of the social environment. Impacts on student self-descriptions and feelings are described. (Author/LBH)

Categorizes for college orientation staff a social and academic diversity of developmentally oriented programs and activities offered in terms of their time frameworks: summer or precollege programs, freshman week activities, short-term seminars and workshops, term or semester courses, and year-long and ongoing programs. (ABL)

Explores the associations between romantic relationship status and intimacy development during students' (N=297) first semester of college. Examines the relationship of intimacy development to psychological well-being and discusses implications for interventions. (EMK)