The study examined the perceptions of two gifted samples (n=54) and a nongifted control group (n=130) of preadolescent boys (ages 12-13) regarding their school and peer experiences, intrafamily roles, discipline and identification models, and career choices. Results of a 62-item questionnaire indicated that the group identified as having…

The concept of creativity has many attributes and is a significant factor in our lives. Creative persons are observant, express part-truths, see things as others do not, are independent in cognitive faculties, are motivated by their talent and values, can hold many ideas at once, have greater sex drive, see a complex world, and have strong egos.…

Previous research has suggested that individuals will modify their self concepts in the direction of the feedback they receive from others. Based on the notion that private self-consciousness is a general strategy of adaptation in the social world, the self concepts of 80 persons representing 4 types of private self-consciousness and either…

Loneliness, one of our least satisfactorily conceptualized phenomena, has been relegated to philosophy and sociology, and when confronted in the therapy session, has been subsumed under depression and treated as if it were depression. However, loneliness is a separate entity with unique characteristics that need to be identified and treated…

Traditional Chinese personality characteristics such as inner harmony, concern for others, submissiveness to authority, and respect for learning so pervade Chinese biographies that they constitute cultural themes. In order to determine whether such themes are more evident in Chinese than in Western youth, a cross-cultural study of self-concept was…

This paper describes the Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model (SEM), developed by psychologists to learn more about stability and change in self-definition. An initial section discusses the situational-motivational processes assumed necessary for individuals to maintain a positive self-evaluation, i.e., a reflection process and a comparison process.…

Although several surveys of attitudes toward computers have been conducted, little is known about attitudes toward specific computer applications. College students (N=203) were surveyed about their attitudes toward computer applications. Results indicated that there are three clusters of computer applications about which respondents hold similar…

Symbolic self-completion theory suggests that people who are committed to a certain self-definitional goal, e.g., "psychologist,""parent,""dancer," are not willing to give up this goal when facing a shortcoming. Such individuals often engage in self-symbolizing or positive self-descriptions designed to coverup the…

Generally, role-taking research has focused on the development and correlates of role taking in children. To explore role taking in the relatively overlooked population of young adults, a sociometric instrument, the Peer Role-Taking Questionnaire (PRTQ), was developed and used to measure perceived role-taking behaviors. The results were compared…

A study investigated the effect of the psychological gender of the perceiver on evaluations of leadership performance of a male and a female manager engaging in either supportive or nonsupportive nonverbal communication with a male subordinate. Subjects were 139 male and 150 female undergraduates who had completed a personal attributes…

A survey questionnaire asked adult (aged 18 or older) respondents to list, in order of importance, the five most important characteristics of their best and worst teachers in school; to answer the question: "What didn't school teach you?"; and to grade schools locally and nationally on a scale from A through F (A through D and F for Fail). A…

Four symposium papers report the results of a longitudinal study of career development and life changes for a sample of 1,967 female college graduates in the Michigan Student Study who were studied in 1967, 1970 and 1981. The first of the papers, entitled "Where Are They Now? Career Outcomes for the Original Role-Innovators," by Sandra…

This paper reviews the literature concerning attitudes of fifth and sixth grade students to provide background information for instructional designers and scriptwriters from the Skills Essential to Learning Project, which develops television/film series and related print materials for different grade levels to enhance the teaching of thinking…

This paper discusses receiver apprehension, an information processing syndrome, in the context of counterattitudinal advocacy. Receiver apprehension was conceptualized as a trait anxiety associated with misinterpreting, inadequately processing, and/or being unable to adjust to incoming messages. This processing anxiety suggested cognitive rigidity…

The counseling profession has changed emphasis over the past 20 years reflecting a movement in the field from public school to community service to private business. Consequently there has also been a change in the profile of counselor trainees. Data from students (N=238) having attended the counselor training graduate programs at Indiana…