Based on theory and research, social aspects like friendship and sense of relatedness are fundamental in the development of children's cultural identity and achievement of outcomes. It is argued that this is a motivational aspect often neglected in research studies focusing on students' motivation and learning. Theory and research on motivation…

Interviews were conducted with 102 urban Mexican, Mexican American, and Anglo American women to examine health-illness beliefs in five health domains as related to acculturation level: folk and hot-cold beliefs, beliefs of responsibility and control over own health, and cardiovascular disease and stress-illness beliefs. Mexican-origin women mildly…

Experimental design studied global and componential self-esteem. Perceived ethnic status was manipulated among 132 Anglo- and Mexican-American college students. For both groups, those in the high-status condition showed higher overall self-esteem and higher social competitiveness. Compared to Anglos, Mexican-Americans showed lower social-power…

This study was designed to examine the epistemological beliefs about the nature of knowledge, views of intelligence and motivational perceptions. Two samples were drawn from two large urban high schools in the Southwest portion of the United States with large Hispanic/Latino student populations while a third was drawn from a majority Anglo student…

Surveys of reservation and nonreservation American Indians and Anglo-Americans in grades 8 and 12 examined perceptions about availability of alcohol, marijuana, inhalants, and other drugs; beliefs about whether occasional or regular use of alcohol or various drugs would cause harm; and intentions concerning future drug use. (SV)

Present study examined a model of the direct and indirect influences of mother, child, and family factors on home learning activities in low-income families. Results provided partial support for the model. Separate analyses yielded comparable results for Anglo- and Mexican-Americans. Ways to facilitate parent self-efficacy are discussed. (Author)

A Spanish American village economy as influenced by changes in its land base, land rights, and the introduction of mercantile capitalism during the U.S. Territorial period in New Mexico was analyzed. Attention was given to differences in village land tenure and exploitative patterns from those imposed with the advent of Anglo American political…

The history of the conquest and dispossession of the Nez Perce Indians of the American Northwest by invaders from the time of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805 to the present is related. Their general culture is described including religious practices, eating habits, methods of acquiring food, construction of homes, and music. Characteristics…

A sleep questionnaire was administered to 80 Mexican American and 80 Anglo elderly, ages 60 to 96. The Mexican American sample reported poorer quality and longer latency of sleep, greater negative affect concerning dreams, longer sleep duration, less dream recall, more regular sleep, and more positive valence towards sleep. (JHZ)

A survey conducted by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) polled 3,000 boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 15 years regarding their attitudes toward self, school, family, and friends. Results confirmed that the passage into adolescence is marked by a girl's loss of confidence in herself and her abilities. The AAUW discovered…

A year-long, social-ecological study assessed a kindergarten classroom setting and the beliefs of 32 kindergarten children, 9 parents, and 2 teachers, for the purpose of illuminating the interactive nature of the person-environment interaction model of the learning environment. Children were from lower- and middle-income Anglo and Hispanic…

Assessed the attitudes of 359 immigrant and native-born American parents of kindergarten through second-grade children about child rearing, education, and intelligence and their children's school performance. Found that parents' beliefs about conformity were negatively related to their children's school performance. (MDM)

Posits a distinction between cultures motivated by individualistic value systems (idiocentric) and collectivistic value systems (allocentric). Study reveals that Mexican American adolescents describe themselves in more allocentric terms, while Anglo American adolescents choose idiocentric terms. Suggests a correlation between idiocentric values…