Surveys of 371 European American, African American, Mexican American, Vietnamese American, and Armenian American adolescents in ethnically diverse high schools in Los Angeles found that most adolescents set high goals for the future and expected to reach them. Compared to European American adolescents, minority group adolescents attributed…

Investigated attitudes toward rape victims held by 144 undergraduates. Results showed that: (1) sympathy effect occurred for female victims, with both male and female raters; (2) masculine and undifferentiated raters showed sympathy effect whereas feminine and androgynous subjects did not; and (3) victims were attributed internal locus of…

Causal ascriptions for anticipated goal attainment and the emotional consequences of such ascriptions were studied in 731 college students answering questionnaires. Internal and external attributions were made for past outcomes. Subjects felt that internal factors accounted more for success, and external, for failure. (SLD)

Developed student-centered method of health education in which health issues and activities were determined by students themselves. Compared to control group (N=47), experimental group students (N=51) scored more favorably on clarification of individual health issues, reported health-enhancing activities, and self-esteem. Intervention appeared to…

Presents a matrix that suggests that workplace health promotion and employee assistance programs may represent employer involvement in areas over which they have no legitimate control. (JOW)

Thirty-four adolescents with learning disabilities received either spelling strategy training, spelling strategy plus attribution training, or a control condition. Significant differences in spelling recall scores favored the strategy training condition. Addition of the attribution training resulted in no observable improvement in spelling…

This exploratory, cross-sectional study examined the impact of independent variables on the adult development cycle of 33 African-American professionals. Shifts in locus of control and life themes and the impact of racism on locus of control were focuses of the inquiry. Implications for diagnosis and intervention are discussed. (SLD)

Internal consistency, convergent, and discriminant validity coefficients and replicability of the factor structure were studied for previously validated locus of control (LOC) and achievement-need scales administered to 192 graduate students. Results indicated adequate internal consistency for the LOC scale and convergent, but not discriminant,…

Attribution theory provides the cornerstone for an examination of victim self-blame in clinical and research literature. It is argued that other-blame often is presented as the preferable attributional outcome for abuse victims, while the empirical evidence is less than supportive of this claim. Suggestions are offered for further research. (JPS)

Psychological and sexual variables were compared for white women, ages 18 through 22, who did (n=41) or did not (n=400) report prior forced sexual intercourse (FSI). Those who had FSI had lower internal locus of control and higher depression scores and needed and received more psychological help than those not reporting FSI. (Author/SW)

A study of the impact of their children's deafness on Greek mothers was undertaken with 42 hearing mothers. Onset of deafness before 18 months of age was associated with greater maternal stress. The mothers mainly had an external locus of control, and self-esteem proved the best predictor of stress. (Author/SW)

Offers insights gathered while supervising two school-based, action-research investigations. Conceptualizes reflective teaching and practitioner research. Analyzes why a loosely conceived investigation generated developments in staff expertise and curriculum innovation, while a more rigorous project attracted academic praise and dust. Debates…

Reports on a study involving college students who completed a questionnaire measuring involvement, moods, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavior control, and intentions concerning specific leisure activities. Reports one year later showed that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control predicted leisure intentions;…

Examined effects of retention in kindergarten and first grade. Compared 31 retained students to 31 nonretained students with similar grades on grade point average in second through fifth grades and teacher-assessed social competence, cognitive competence, externalizing problems, internalizing problems. Retention, not associated with long-term…

Examined hypothesis that poor parental bonds in childhood lead to adult social competency deficits in part responsible for low social support. Data from 253 undergraduates revealed that parental bonds were positively related to self-efficacy, especially care with social self-efficacy. Parental bonds and social competencies predicted 35 percent of…