The purpose of this study was to examine the roles of university students' cognitive distortions in their sense of autonomy. One hundred and three third-year university students from Shanghai, The People's Republic of China, responded to the Cognitive Distortion Scales [Briere, J. (2000). "Cognitive Distortion Scales: Professional…

In this study, defensive pessimism is reviewed in relation to anxiety, self-esteem, expectations, self-regulation, and self-handicapping. Then, two case studies of American pre-service teachers in a mathematics classroom are provided that move the research beyond survey and correlational studies. In the case analyses, defensive pessimists'…

Presents questionnaire results concerning self-handicapping, course-related expectancies, and study habits. Reports that self-handicappers were more likely than others to make external and unstable attributions. Concludes that the underlying cognitive mechanism of self-handicapping strategies is a defensive attributional pattern that protects an…

Presents results of a study of cultural differences in causal attributions and self-serving bias. Reports more self-serving attributional bias among U.S. than Finn students. Suggests that cultural differences in self-serving bias may result from differences in need to protect self-esteem, coping mechanisms, and cultural differences in coping with…

How can schoolyard bullies be stopped? How can sensitive children become more resilient? How can teachers and parents help youngsters deal with teasing and taunting? This guide--for teachers and parents of children in grades K-12--helps to answers these questions and others like them. It uses the "frames-and-scripts" approach, a method based on…

This learning guide on improving responses to individual and family crises is part of a series of learning guides developed for competency-based adult consumer and homemaking education programs in community colleges, adult education centers, community centers, and the workplace. Focus is on the connections among personal, family, and job…