Studies five undergraduate journalism and mass communication programs from across the country focusing on students' professional needs and expectations of professional job stress. Finds that, although students perceive their field as offering opportunities in several areas, their needs and expectations differ. (MG)

Study of 298 U.S. social workers revealed that interest in international practice in developing world depended on freedom to relocate, expectation of rewarding experience overseas, possession of and desire to use requisite skills, interest in foreign intercultural arena, and global-mindedness. These variables, in combination, accounted for 41% of…

Unplanned events affect everyone's career. Counselors should give up the unfounded assumption that career decisions are the logical outcome of a "true reasoning" process and broaden their view. Counselors should teach clients that unplanned events are a normal part of career development and how to generate unplanned events. (EMK)

Investigated the possible effect of instrument titles on prospective teacher ratings of child behavior. Although statistical analyses revealed no main effects, all groups (N=164) rated a normal child's behavior in the clinically elevated range on several dependent variables. Implications for education and psychology practice are discussed.…

High school students (n=237) completed the Self-Directed Search (SDS) and Task Specific Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale. A significant relationship between responses to the two instruments supports the validity of the SDS in predicting career self-efficacy. (SK)

Parents must learn to transmit a sense of high expectations to their children (related to behavior and accomplishments) without crushing them with too much pressure. This means setting realistic expectations based on their children's special abilities, listening to their children's feelings about the expectations, and understanding what…

Women often have low performance expectations for themselves but expect other women to succeed. This study finds that minority students think not only that they will do worse than other minority group members but also that their group will do poorly. Low individual and group success expectations make the results for minorities doubly troubling.…

Examines patients (N=257) with lumbar spinal stenosis preoperatively and at six months to relate patient expectation to baseline function and pain and to determine how patient expectations and preoperative function interact to predict postoperative outcomes. Results show that patients with many preoperative expectations, particularly those with…

Tested theoretical and null hypotheses concerning principals' optimism, teacher perceptions of that optimism, and school effectiveness. Teachers and principals in 50 secondary schools responded to two standard measures. Teacher perceptions of their principal's optimism and of their school's effectiveness were correlated, but the principal's…

Examines responses of Americans and Icelanders to the Expectations About Counseling Questionnaire-Brief Form (EAC-B) through confirmatory factor analyses. Investigates the validity of and expresses concern for the underlying factor structure of the EAC-B. Argues that a four-factor solution for the EAC-B is too complex and does not fit the student…

Presents the rationale for and initial findings concerning the development of the Parental Comparison Level Index (PCLI). Explains that the PCLI--based on interpersonal processes--focuses on the role that expectations and comparative processes play in relationships. Data collected on 439 parents offer strong support for two highly reliable…

Reviews the construct of persistence as it relates to achievement motivation at work. Topics include foundational concepts of persistence; achievement motivation theory; a human motivation model; goal-setting theory; self-efficacy theory; expectancy theory; task assignments; confidence; and perceived value. (LRW)

This study examined the relationship between child characteristics and parents' developmental expectations for their children with developmental delays at ages 3, 7, and 11. Overall, parents' developmental expectations were associated with child characteristics, were moderately stable over time, and tended to decline as children matured.…

Examined how 6- to 9-year-olds and adults judged expected value of complex gambles in which alternative outcomes had different prizes. Found that participants at all ages used multiplication rule for integrating probability and value of each individual outcome, and based judgment of overall expected value on alternative outcomes. Even youngest…

Criticism of science reflects an exaggerated view of what science is capable of doing, even an expectation that science can "fix" the human condition, and misplaced fears about its hazards. Widespread scientific illiteracy in turn threatens the pursuit of science. (MSE)