This paper evaluates models of positive mental health for their applicability to blacks and describes three studies that examined self-esteem, locus of control, and commitment to social change as critical dimensions of effective functioning and mental health among blacks. The first study examined racial differences in self-evaluation by subjecting…

A reformulated theory of learned helplessness posits that helplessness may be the outcome of a learning disabled (LD) student's belief of personal or universal helplessness. Motivational, cognitive, and emotional deficits may result. Research on locus of control and persistence as well as on the contrast between mastery (achievement)-oriented…

Recent research indicates that a significant number of college-age women suffer from bulimarexia (also called the gorging-purging syndrome, the binge-purge cycle, bulimia or bulimia nervosa). To examine the relationship of three personality variables (anxiety, assertiveness, and locus of control) to eating disorders, 46 college students…

The report presents data from the base year (1980) and first followup (1982) of a longitudinal study of U.S. high school seniors and sophomores. Students were asked in self-administered questionnaires whether they had any of seven specific handicaps; whether they had a condition that limited the kinds or amounts of work or education they could…

"High level wellness...is defined as an integrated method of functioning which is oriented toward maximizing the potential of which the individual is capable. It requires that the individual maintain a continuum of balance and purposeful direction within the environment where he is functioning." Expanding upon this quotation from Halbert…

Although the behavioral element of the Type A pattern has been identified, the cognitive component of the complex is less well understood. To examine the relationships of self-focused attention, standards for performance, and performance evaluation to Type A behavior, 72 undergraduates were studied. Subjects were classified as Type A (N=36) or…

The results of this study suggest that problems involving students' feelings of control of environment and academic achievement can be resolved within the context of the school. (Author/SF)

This study assumes that all suicidal and self-destructive behavior can be placed on a continuum from hopeful (H) to hopeless (S). The author attempts to show that there is an underlying continuum of hope corresponding to what we know about the statistics of suicidal behavior. He employs two operational hypotheses as tests of his ideas: (1) a group…

The results obtained in a series of investigations with locus of control used as an independent variable provide evidence in support of the results obtained from situationally contrived studies of perceived control. The impact of stressors seems to be diminished in situations in which participants can exercise some degree of control. Likewise,…

Focuses upon the problems and successes encountered at the Widows Consultation Center in the use of therapeutic discussion groups as a method of counseling widows and helping them to build a new life. (Author)

Examines the interactive effect of educational structure and a psychological trait, locus of control, on pupil attitudes. Subjects were 660 pupils in open and traditional classrooms in grades 4, 6, and 8. Catalytic interactions in the hypothesized directions were supported by the data with internals more satisfied in open, low-structured…

Determines for a group of fifth-and sixth-grade middle class children the extent of the relationship if any between each of three measures of cognitive style (reflection-impulsivity, field dependence-independence, and internal-external locus of control) and each of two separate measures and a combined measure of fantasy predisposition. (RC)

This monograph takes the position that citizens in a democracy can and should be largely internally controlled and that schools play an important role in preparing democratic citizens by helping students develop the necessary attitudes and skills needed to become internally controlled. Part 1 looks at discipline from a sociological perspective,…

Freire's model of emancipatory education is one alternative to the behaviorist theory of education predominant in the field of educational technology. The educational context, the teaching/learning situation, is an extremely complex situation. Reducing this situation to a question of inputs and outputs oversimplifies the many facets of education.…

Fourteen studies were reviewed whose findings indicate that learner control of certain presentation characteristics interacts with certain learner characteristics. Thus, learner control is not a panacea for accomodating individual differences. Instead, some kinds of individual differences probably should be taken into account by teachers and…