Conducted a retrospective study of 102 Swiss seniors to determine nonmedical factors affecting substantial care days required prior to death. Protected senior housing and an independent and helpful personality seemed to contribute significantly to compression of morbidity and to reduced need for long-term institutional care. (JAC)

Examined preexisting psychological, perceptual-cognitive, demographic, and physical differences between 34 adults reporting near-death experiences and 386 controls. Results indicated differences in perceptual-cognitive style in those reporting near-death experiences. Medical conditions have some effect on the experience. (JAC)

Results indicated that masculine and androgynous individuals had higher levels of self-esteem than feminine and undifferentiated individuals. Analysis also revealed that the effect of sex-role orientation on self-esteem was greater for females than for males. Implications for theories of androgyny and sex-role development are discussed. (Author/MP)

Comparison of 51 artists and 51 nonartists in India found three personality factors (introversion, independence, and tender-mindedness) which, related to working style and creative production of artists, could best differentiate artists from nonartists. These could be predicted from seven other personality factors. (DB)

Individual looks at television vary enormously in length, and this has previously indicated differences in ongoing cognitive processes. Furthermore, the relative frequency of looks of different lengths may indicate styles of attention to television. This article compares visual attention of 152 subjects across a variety of genres and examines…

This study was an attempt to integrate motivation into reading comprehension, with active knowledge construction as a linkage. The study examined two motivational constructs, need for cognition and reader's beliefs, in terms of their role in text comprehension and interest development. The results of the study provided empirical evidence for the…

This study examined the influence of high school teachers' perceptions and individual difference characteristics on teachers' use of motivating strategies in their classrooms. Participants were 75 teachers in 19 rural, public high schools. A mixed method approach was used. Quantitative measures included demographics, individual differences,…

Tallied graduating college students (N=1,843) who displayed personal adornment in addition to their traditional academic garb. Found that degree conferred, sex of recipient, and year of graduation were related to the frequency and forms (political and nonpolitical) of adornment. Indicated that personalization of graduation attire followed patterns…

Survey of familial and demographic factors on the receipt of support from family among blacks indicated that income, age, family contact, subjective family closeness, and proximity of relatives were determinants of receiving support. (Author/ABL)

Examined the role of initiator status on adjustment to marital disruption (N=144). Findings suggested that there were not overwhelming differences in marital dissatisfaction or preseparation discomfort between initiators and noninitiators but that initiators consistently perceived more benefits to the separation. (JAC)

Demonstrated a set of research techniques that combine multidimensional scaling, a quantitative cognitive procedure, and a cost-outcome analysis to study subgroup behavior of obsessive-compulsives (N=12). Results indicated that obsessive-compulsives are underinclusive in their evaluation of stimuli during judgment task. (LLL)

Results in this study suggest that it is possible to use performance on a moderator or predictability scale to select a subgroup for whom correspondence between two predictors and the criterion is much greater than that of a subgroup whose scores on the moderator indicate a lesser degree of correspondence. (Author/ES)

Examined client characteristics associated with individual outcome in a psychoeducational group treatment for depression. Posttreatment assessment showed all participants (N=75) improved markedly. Pretreatment depression severity, expectation of success, perception of mastery, age, reading ability, and perceived family support were predictive of…

Compared educational levels and drinking behaviors of 204 alcoholic women from various backgrounds. Results showed most alcoholic women starting drinking in high school or the early years of college. Those who dropped out of college were the heaviest drinkers, and started drinking younger. (JAC)

Studied adults who requested outpatient psychotherapy. Questionnaire items concerned the client's situation, past behavior in fulfilling commitments, self-prediction of session attendance, and reaction to the initial interview. A critical response scale proved highly predictive of the number of treatment sessions attended in both initial and…