Tested hypothesis that African American children protect themselves from failure by detaching their self-esteem from academic outcomes. Analyses revealed a pattern of weakening correlations between self-esteem and academic outcomes from 8th to 10th grade for African American students. Correlations for white students remained stable or increased.…

Presents results of a study developing an informal social skills teacher rating scale for use with early adolescents. Reports that the scale includes skill identification and situational analysis. Provides information on identifying and ranking responses and checking a content validity and reliability. Concludes that the matrix can generate…

Cooperating teachers' ratings (using student rating forms) of teaching interns were studied, focusing on characteristics considered as strengths and qualities that make an intern outstanding. Results from cooperating teachers for 60 intern elementary school and secondary school teachers identified valued personal characteristics. Interpersonal…

Examined self-perception as a correlate of individual temperament. Administered Harter's Self-Perception Profile for Children and the Dimensions of Temperament Survey-Revised to 131 third and fifth graders. Offers suggestions for classroom changes that will enhance the development of positive self-perception. (MM)

Uses Social Learning Theory to compare 149 university students from Poland with 136 university students from the southern United States for belief-based personality constructs and personality correlates of paranormal beliefs. As hypothesized, Poles reported a more external locus of control and significantly greater endorsement of irrational…

A test with 1,446 high school students in Israel of a multidimensional model of adolescent drug use that incorporates sociodemographic variables, personality variables, cognitive variables, interpersonal factors, and the availability of drugs validated the model longitudinally. Results suggest that different legal and illegal substances share a…

Lilian Katz is director of ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, professor at University of Illinois, and, in 1992, was elected president of National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Discussed are her background, early childhood teacher preparation, students' and teachers' dispositions, Montessori…

Analyzed male and female adolescents' perceptions of parental behavior in allowances, gifts, use of family car, curfew, and chores. Gender-equal behavior, as evinced by allowances and gift giving toward sons and daughters, was less evident in curfews and chores. Subjects' perspectives indicate that parents perpetuate stereotypical gender roles.…

A national survey which examined the occupational role identity of female academic librarians collected personal, demographic, and job data. In addition, a test for orientation to the occupational role and a sex-role orientation test were administered. Women academic librarians were found to hold a positive and unique occupational role identity.…

Presents a study of Irish primary and secondary schoolchildren learning Irish as a second language. Discusses intelligence abilities, attainment in Irish, personality traits, and attitude toward learning foreign languages. Concludes personality measures were not strongly related to cognitive measures, but attitude may play a role. Reports no…

Commendable as it is for children to have high self-esteem, many practices advocated in pursuit of this goal may inadvertently develop narcissism through excessive preoccupation with oneself. Self-esteem is more likely to be fostered when children have opportunities to build self-confidence through effort, persistence, and accrual of skills. (SLD)

Study investigated relationships among personality and academic achievement measures and supervisors' ratings of student teacher behaviors using undergraduate grade point average (GPA), Preprofessional Skills Test (PPST), Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and Classroom Procedures Evaluation Form (CPEF). Results indicate significant relationships…

A study followed 66 medical students from matriculation through clerkship to determine the use of an anxiety measure, undergraduate grades, and Medical College Admission Test scores in predicting clerkship performance. Results showed disparities in prediction but suggest that the way students are evaluated in clerkships determined which factors…

Examines the extent to which the effect of gender of a target person on evaluators' judgments reflects evaluators' tendencies not to use the evaluee's gender because they assume case information is more valuable. Results with 144 female and 92 male college students in 2 studies demonstrate that evaluators do use gender stereotypes. (SLD)

Examines relationships between gender role orientation and physical health for 103 female and 42 male college students. Gender role orientation is significantly related to health-related behaviors but not to self-reported physical health. Masculine individuals do not perceive themselves as having less illness symptoms than others. (SLD)