The development of humanistic psychology has stimulated research that supports the importance of life esteem, or the way people view meaning and purpose in their lives. The Life Esteem survey is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure the four components of life esteem (framework, perspective, commitment, quality) and to assess the…

Examines the effects of acculturation on quality of life of Japanese Americans and Indo Americans in California. Data are from an ongoing multinational study. Responses from 956 adults show significant differences between the two groups in terms of quality of life, health risks, intergenerational conflicts, and health-care behavior. (SLD)

To expect an "easy life" as a professor of special education is to expect what never was nor never will be. But when the playing field is uneven for minorities, or even worse, when it is not even recognized that the playing field is uneven, there is cause for action. For example, Bonner (2004) stated that minority faculty face tremendous…

While the relationships between health behavior and health status and between health status and perceived quality of life have received some attention, the association between health behaviors and quality of life has not been determined. The primary objective of this study was to assess the effects of health behaviors on quality of life that are…

Any attempt to discuss psychotherapy with the elderly must be cognizant of the broad spectrum of personality style, life experience, and health status that exists among older adults. This diversity holds true in the specific realm of time perspective as well. Older clients may bring to psychotherapy an active engagement with the present, a…

Some research has suggested that positive life events may interact with negative life events during periods of high stress to buffer the effects of negative events. The relationships among positive and negative life events and positive and negative psychological status were examined in an investigation of the direct and mediating effects of…

Professsional child care is a comprehensive service to children and families that supplements the care children receive from their families. Need for such care will vary quantitatively as a function of demographic characteristics of the family. Child care programs can and do vary in quality, but all must foster the development of the whole child.…

A parable that addresses the issue of defining quality is presented. Among the lessons are the ideas that one needs to consider a specific quality rather than a broad use of the term, and that quality or excellence is not necessarily linked to originality, hard labor, size, common opinion, or expert opinion. It is suggested that in a free society…

Common to the sentiments that led to the establishment of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the community college movement is the conviction that humanities education is vital to the everyday lives of all citizens and should not remain the province of only specialized scholars. Indeed, this conviction is expressed in the language…

Uses objective and subjective data to document the triumphs and tragedies of the environmental movement and environmental education during the 1970's. Proposes that members of the National Association for Environmental Education dedicate themselves to a decade of integrated environmental management education. (DC)

The American dream is a dream filled with inexhaustible resources, boundless opportunities, and untold wealth. Fueled by the "psychology of affluence"--a social attitude that encourages us to want and expect more of everything--the dream equates quality of life with material wealth and assumes that our fulfillment in life is independent…

American workers change jobs more frequently than workers in older industrial countries. The movement from a manufacturing economy to a service economy involves many job changes for workers. Consequently, workers need flexibility. Counselors are challenged to help clients view life holistically, recognizing the dimension of quality of life.…

The novel, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" attempts to reconcile the dichotomy that exists between art and technology. The main character, Pirsig, believes that technology, or the making of things, is essentially art for two reasons: the Greeks never separated art from manufacture and real technology does not exploit nature.…

Some individuals adjust well to retirement despite few material possessions and health deterioration, while others have many possessions and good health and are still unhappy. To determine the factors that influence an older adult's satisfaction with retirement, a measure of an individual's status was developed, and the resulting questionnaire was…

The life styles and life chances of the unmarried include elements of choices. Singles may be grouped and characterized according to whether their status may be considered stable or temporary. A life cycle, or continuum model of singlehood is reviewed, including its different factors, or phases. A new model for singles is proposed--a life spiral…