Across society, the consistent influx of students enrolling in higher education institutions without a comparable increase in degree attainment has produced a heightened awareness and a desire to identify the factors related to influencing college success. This dissertation aims to develop a greater understanding of three potentially relevant…

According to the compensation model of aggression (Staub, 1989), some people bully to defend against their own feelings of weakness and vulnerability. Classmates and teachers rated a sample of American sixth graders in terms of trait: defensiveness (i.e., defensive egotism), self-esteem, bullying, and related behaviors. Consistent with the model,…

This study evaluated whether the positive association between early autonomy-supportive parenting and children's subsequent achievement is mediated by children's executive functions. Using observations of mothers' parenting from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N…

Relations between paternal autonomy support and four aspects of adolescent social competence and responsibility at age 16 were examined using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. With controls on maternal autonomy support, significant relations were observed between paternal autonomy support and three of the four…

Community studies indicating that affluence has social-emotional consequences for youth have conflated family and neighborhood wealth. We examined adolescent boys' delinquency and adolescent girls' anxiety-depression as a function of family, neighborhood, and cumulative affluence in a sample that is primarily of European-American descent, but…

Does one sex explore more than the other? Is one sex more curious than the other? That's a tough question to answer definitively. We know that we explore in varying degrees. Whether sociological or biological, good or bad, this investigation attempts to determine if there are substantive differences in acting upon inquisitiveness between genders.…

Students generally find themselves in listening situations, but they may not prefer this mode. A study of Arkansas educators' personality traits and communication abilities found that educators were either reactors, workaholics, or persisters. They interacted well with others like themselves but demonstrated limited potential to interact with…

Parents and educators can be described by three predominant personality types as characterized by Kahler's Process Communication Model. Children at-risk are predominantly two other types, and the adults in their lives have little energy to deal with them effectively. Two projects designed to assist the parents of children and youth having…

The purpose of this study was to provide a framework for identifying personality differences between novice and experienced counselors utilizing the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992a). Two groups of counselors (N = 69) were compared in terms of their personality profile. One group, consisting of 48% of the participants,…

Teacher educators understand that a "highly qualified" teacher must have more than knowledge and skills. Having the disposition or "teacher's heart" is also important. One teachers' college in Arkansas identified dispositions that were valued by its faculty, supported by research, and already existed in its program. Then…

This document examines microenterprise development as an employment option for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients. The document begins with a brief discussion of the feasibility of self-employment as an option for TANF recipients, particularly in a slow economy. The next section answers policy questions pertaining to the…