The aim of this study is to assess late adolescents' evaluations of and reasoning about gender stereotypes in video games. Female (n = 46) and male (n = 41) students, predominantly European American, with a mean age 19 years, are interviewed about their knowledge of game usage, awareness and evaluation of stereotypes, beliefs about the influences…

While the importance of "expressive writing," or informal, self-directed writing, has been well established, teachers underutilize it, particularly in technical writing courses. We introduce the term expressive/exploratory technical writing (XTW), which is the use of informal, self-directed writing to problem-solve in technical fields. We describe…

Proformative evaluation--first introduced in Scriven's (2006) "The great enigma: An evaluation design puzzle"--"is motivated, like formative evaluation, by the intention to improve something that is still developing, but unlike formative, the improvement is only possible by taking action, hence proactive instead of reactive, hence both, hence…

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is an individual difference variable consisting of beliefs that anxiety experiences lead to negative consequences, such as illness, embarrassment, or additional anxiety. Negative Affectivity (NA) is an individual difference variable that reflects a tendency to experience negative affect and to maintain a negative view of…

Conducted three studies to examine social effects of smoking tobacco. College students (n=135) rated target persons as dating and marriage prospects. Nonsmoking subjects showed consistent preference for nonsmokers. Thirty-five subjects who preferred nonsmokers for marriage provided 11 reasons. Findings from 62 subjects revealed that belief…

Examines the effects of emotional openness and other potential predictors of attitudes toward seeking psychological help in a sample of college students. Results indicate that gender (male), perception of stigma, discomfort with emotions, and lower psychological distress accounted for 25% of variance in attitudes toward seeking psychological…

Investigated stereotypes of counseling center clients and examined how these preconceptions influence social interaction. Results indicated perceivers rated clients less favorably than they did nonclients and perceivers behaved more negatively toward clients than nonclients, and clients came to behave in a less socially desirable manner than did…

Replicated 1972 study in which college students (N=208) described their most negative life experiences. College students reported negative experiences most frequently involved illness/injury, parents, and death. Interactions with teachers were at bottom of list in current study; previously this experience had been mentioned most frequently.…

College students (n=222) completed measures of negative mood regulation (NMR) expectancies, negative life events, coping responses, dysphoria, and somatic symptoms. Weeks later, they completed same questionnaires but with daily hassles replacing life events. NMR expectancies were positively related to active coping and negatively related to…

Investigated attitudes of 211 college students in Mississippi before and after viewing film "Who Is David Duke?" which provided evidence of Duke's current racism, anti-Semitism, and pro-Nazi leanings. Previous study with students in Louisiana, majority did not change attitudes after viewing film. In present study, students' attitudes…

Thirty-seven college students watched slides of an older adult reading a reminiscence passage; 38 viewed a younger adult. Students listening to the older adult significantly underestimated the number of words used, rated their interest significantly lower, and correctly answered fewer questions about content. (SK)

Political scientists have noted that, in a variety of communication settings, people are less receptive to information that comes from a politically disagreeable source. Yet, there is little research on patterns of communication across lines of political difference in an educational setting, which we argue is unique in a number of ways. Using a…

Previous research suggests that belief in the uncontrollability of a situation results in maladaptive attempts to control outcomes; perceptions of cancer's uncontrollability may result in negative attitudes toward the disease and toward patients. To test this theory 160 college students read and responded to a paragraph describing a disease…

This research examines further the hypothesis that subjects tend to allot figures to the negative poles of constructs approximately 38 percent of the time. Sixty Canadian undergraduates judged 20 nonsense words as if these were the names of persons on 20 bipolar constructs. Results clearly supported the hypothesis. (Author)

Examined thoughts concerning interacton between nondisabled college students and their peers with physical disabilities in two studies using 233 subjects. Results showed that both groups of students had similar thoughts when thinking about interaction with nondisabled peers, but nondisabled students had more negative thoughts when thinking about…