Subjects who value such job characteristics as "getting a felling of accomplishment, fair company policies, trying out their own ideas, doing work without feeling it is morally wrong, making their own decisions, (and) planning work with little supervision" tend to have higher aspirations and expectations, but lower goal deflection. (Author)

Language is both a reflection of the status quo and a factor in perpetuating the status quo. People use language to encode their own experiences; memories are the encoded versions of reality. People learn how to characterize their experience by seeing how others characterize their own and others' experiences. When asked to talk about successful…

Research suggests that males tend to have a more positive attitude toward computers than do females; that males outnumber females in computer camps; and that males have greater access to, and report more frequent use of, computers at home than do females. It has been suggested that these findings may be based on sex role differences and not on…

Two samples of parents and one of teachers were interviewed to determine (1) what parents of early adolescents believe about adolescence as a developmental period and what they expect for their own adolescents' development; (2) junior high school teachers' beliefs about adolescent development; (3) evidence for the effects of personal experience…

Fairy tales dramatize a widely held presumption that children are at high risk of abuse in stepfamilies. The idea seems almost accepted as fact, yet it has never been adequately tested. This paper provides detailed information about life in blended and stepfamilies. Sections focus on (1) stepmothers; (2) children's views of their stepmothers; (3)…

To foster individual development, educators must seek the gifts in every child, in those not demonstrating academic abilities as well as in the most brilliant. Instead of stifling thinking, creativity, and interest development, educators must encourage these behaviors. Currently, a big discrepancy exists between the child's potential and what…

Findings of previous scientific decision-making literature are reviewed in an effort to specify a model depicting the many facets of the individual military enlistment decision. Theories and/or models reviewed include decision theory, social judgment theory, information integration theory, conjoint measurement/unfolding theory, cognitive decision…

The Protestant ministers' occupational characteristics affect their retirement experience. Unlike most retirees, Protestant ministers tend to experience residential and church moves. A national study was conducted to examine the effects of retirement experienced by retired ministers and anticipated by active ministers of the Presbyterian Church in…

This study examined the effects of perceived similarity, behavioral confirmation of sex role stereotypes, and victim gender on attributions of blame and derogation of the victim. College students (N=120) participated in a 2x2x2 factorial design manipulating victim gender, victim behavior (active/passive), and personal similarity (young…

Interpersonal attraction appears to increase under aversive conditions. Two distinct theories suggest that attraction results from either misattribution or fear reduction. To investigate the effects of misattribution and fear reduction on attraction, 36 male college students were ostensibly exposed to an electromagnetic field while an attractive…

To explore personal characteristics (achievement motivation and anxiety) which may affect performance on a recognition task, three studies were conducted using a 375-word text on dreaming. In the first study, 54 college students answered questions about the passage either with or without reading the material. Results confirmed that recognition was…

This training module on parent readiness levels is based on the premise that parents pass through stages of development in accepting and working with their child's handicap. The module is designed to be used in inservice training on parent involvement and to aid staff in identifying levels of parent readiness for involvement and in recognizing…

People daydream, plan, and anticipate. They think frequently about their own actual or potential behaviors, and create behavioral scenarios (or scripts) in which they are the main character. To investigate the relationship between thinking about a behavior and one's expectancies or intentions to perform that behavior, subjects (N=93) in Experiment…

Reports on student expectations of an undergraduate college education. Indicates that the students were concerned primarily: 1) with developing personally; 2) with increasing decision-making skills and broadening experience; and 3) with exploring disciplines and their relationships to contemporary life. Recommends several ways for student…

Attitudes of male and female college students are compared after having taught a successful or unsuccessful simulated student who was labeled as either an underachiever or overachiever. The data showed that the performance of the child was the major factor in determining the teachers' attitudes. (Author/RC)