This study examined the relationship between college students' level of "developing purpose" as a psychosocial task and their tendency to seek help from a professional counselor at a university counseling center for a variety of personal and vocational concerns. Chickering's (1969) theory of college student development provided the theoretical basis for this study. The association between students' sex, educational status and type of problem, and their tendency to seek help was also investigated. Finally, this project explored students' likelihood of seeking help from persons other than professional counselors. Students' level of "developing purpose" was measured by the Student Developmental Task and Lifestyle Inventory (Winston, Miller, & Prince, 1987), while their tendency to seek help was assessed by the Tendency to Seek Help scale (Tinsley, de St. Aubin, & Brown, 1982).Preliminary analyses revealed a connection between previous counseling experience and students' tendency to seek help; therefore, data from 180 respondents reporting no previous counseling experience were used to test the hypotheses. The main analyses involved a 2 x 2 x 2 fully crossed fixed effects MANOVA design where the variables were sex, educational status, and level of "developing purpose." The dependent variables were respondents' rankings for seeking assistance from a professional counselor for personal and career concerns. Each effect was tested having first controlled for all other effects at or below the effect level. Friedman's analysis of variance were also employed to examine respondents' rankings of their perceived tendency to seek help for personal and career problems. Results indicated that there was no significant relationship between students' level of "developing purpose," sex, or educational status and their tendency to seek help. Based on a t-test, however, results suggested that students perceived themselves as more likely to seek help from a professional counselor for personal as compared to vocational concerns.Supplementary analyses revealed that, in general, participants were more likely to seek help from close friends and relatives than any other potential helpers for all personal problems. In contrast, assistance with career problems would most likely be sought from academic advisors,instructors, close friends and relatives. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research, including a more comprehensive study of Chickering's (1969) theory of student development are offered. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Carol Dweck's (1988) social-cognitive theory of achievement proposes that individuals will be most likely to pursue challenges and persevere in the face of obstacles if they (a) attribute failures to lack of effort, (b) possess an incremental theory of intelligence, and (c) possess high confidence in their intelligence. A recent study by Breed and Koestner (1991) showed that all 3 of these factors enhanced motivation among 5th and 6th grade children in regular classes. The present study examined the relation of these variables to the motivation of 44 7th, 8th and 9th graders who were classified as learning disabled (LD). Results showed that children who are LD are significantly less likely than other children to attribute failures to a lack of effort. Results also showed that children who are LD, like children who are not LD, displayed enhanced motivation when incremental theories of intelligence are highlighted. Finally, it was shown that children who are LD do not respond to positive feedback with enhanced motivation, as would children who are not LD. In fact, there was a marginal trend for children who are LD who received neutral feedback to display more motivation than those who received very positive feedback. The study highlights the difficulty of providing positive performance feedback to LD children in a convincing manner.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business, August 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 117-123). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 198 p. : col. ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Dissertation (Ph. D.)--University of Akron, Dept. of Psychology-Counseling Psychology, 2006. / "December, 2006." Title from electronic dissertation title page (viewed 04/29/2008) Advisor, Linda M. Subich; Committee members, Julia C. Phillips, Ronald Otterstetter, Karen R. Scheel, David M. Tokar, Janice D. Yoder; Department Chair, Paul E. Levy; Dean of the College, Ronald F. Levant; Dean of the Graduate School, George R. Newkome. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Tulsa, 1992. / Bibliography: leaves 219-240.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2007. / Prepared for: School of Education. Bibliography: leaves 148-167. Available online via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Villanova University, 2008. / Psychology Dept. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-40). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains iii, 126 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.