Trait adjectives which people use to describe themselves will have features both unique to the individual and shared with or common to many people. To examine the uniqueness of descriptors of one's self, and how unique descriptors might be organized in memory, subjects (N=40) made self-descriptiveness and other-descriptiveness ratings for the same…

Beck's (1967) hypotheses concerning depression build upon notions that a depressed person's cognitions differ from those of nondepressed persons and that a relationship exists in which depressive cognitions assume primacy over mood. A study was conducted to test Beck's hypotheses and to examine the roles that cognition and mood play in depression.…

Private self-consciousness (PSC) refers to the dispositional tendency to be attentive to the private, covert aspects of oneself. Studies were conducted to investigate whether there are motivational underpinnings for individual differences in level of PSC. Four separate studies were conducted at three different institutions. Study 1 (N=59) results…

Several investigators have proposed that locus of control has a significant effect on several aspects of classroom behavior. Horak (1979) found that children with a high self-concept tended to be internally controlled, whereas children with a low self-concept tended to be externally controlled. The present investigation sought to further examine…

Despite the importance of officiating, there is little information available on how major college football officials view their sport, themselves, and their role as officials. Southeastern Conference (SEC) football officials (N=39) responded to a survey packet consisting of the California Psychological Inventory (CPI) and a four-page profile of…

Burnout is a phenomenon in which the cumulative effects of a stressful work environment gradually overwhelm the defenses of staff members, causing them to psychologically withdraw. To understand the experience of professional and paraprofessional nurses suffering from burnout requires a close examination of the environments in which they function.…

While attributions have traditionally been viewed as social cognition variables, some researchers have proposed that individual differences exist in attributional patterns and that these patterns are differentially related to and predictive of various behaviors. A study was conducted to examine the question of attribution style as a trait-like…

Research on women in atypical occupations has generally focused on highly educated women and has neglected to compare atypically employed women to equally educated women in sex-typical occupations. Since the median American worker has only 13.6 years of schooling, the lack of research on the personality characteristics of noncollege-degreed women…

Holland's (1973) theory of vocational choice proposes a typology of, and a match between, people and occupations. The Self Directed Search (SDS) can be used to assess people's occupational orientation types. To assess the construct validity of Holland's theory of occupational preferences, 171 female industrial workers participated in a study,…

Males' and females' interaction styles were observed while they worked in four-person, mixed-sex groups on a discussion task. In some groups, members were only given information about each others' names and gender. Under these conditions, males were perceived higher in competence than females. Further, males were found to engage in a greater…

This series of exercises is designed to provide undergraduate students with some experiences to deepen and clarify their understanding of the various approaches to personality. The exercises include the semantic differential, modeling, systematic desensitization, shaping, role construct repertory, free association, and approach-avoidance…

Three main facets have been postulated to interactively comprise the student achievement complex. These include the student's motivational make-up, study behaviors and strategies, and cognitive and self-management demands with student study activities. This investigation is a subset of a series of studies on personality correlates, study…

While research on humor in children has increased in the past 20 years, there is less information on adult humor. The Humor Assessment Instrument (HUMA) was developed as part of an ongoing humor intervention project. HUMA was used to interview 398 adults on their perception of humor in the media, humor among acquaintances, humor in parents, most…

While past research has documented the independent effects of individual difference characteristics and contextual information on perceptions of leadership, it has not investigated the simultaneous effects. This study explored the interactive effects of these factors under the hypothesis that dispositional characteristics should be more strongly…

The assumption that the more able student can recognize a correct answer in a multiple choice situation more quickly than the less able student leads to the prediction that higher scores would be associated with shorter test-taking time. Research investigating this prediction have yielded mixed results, suggesting the need to examine other…