The main focus of this research study was to assess changes that occurred in the self concept of female adolescents undergoing an interpersonal skills training course that was incorporated into a peer counselling pre-selection training programme. Secondary aims were formulated, on the basis that the course would form an integral part of the existing peer counselling programme, to increase the effectiveness of the existing programme and improve perceptions of counselling and guidance in the school environment. A careful investigation was made of various measures of the self concept, and their usage within the South African context. It was decided to use the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale (TSCS). Use was also made of a questionnaire, consisting of both closed-ended and open-ended questions to substantiate and augment findings established by the TSCS. The actual programme, which formed the basis of this research, took place during the second school term, after school hours. The setting of the research in the school environment, as part of an existing school programme was seen as being advantageous. Problems attached to sustaining such a programme in a natural setting were carefully assessed and considered. A comparison group was established at a similar school in a neighbouring city, to try to establish levels of validity. Because an important aspect of this programme was the active involvement of learners in the school environment, learners who were already peer counsellors were involved in the running of the course. The actual programme was based on the concepts established by Rogers and developed by researchers such as Purkey and Novak. Consideration was given to theoretical aspects applicable to adolescents in the study of the self concept. The results of the TSCS and the questionnaire were analysed and changes to the self concept of the experimental and comparison groups were considered. Positive gains in the self concept of the experimental group were noted. However, caution was expressed in the interpretation of this information due to the difficulties inherent in defining the self concept and in controlling other variables which may have be influential. An important aspect of this study is the democratic nature inherent to the peer counselling model. This aspect resulted in specific consideration being given to the role of the educator in organising a peer counselling programme. The researcher considered this of significance in the light of education in an emergent democracy, such as that of South Africa. / Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

The!Wurpose of this study was to examine the effects of attributional style, mood, and self-esteem on the tendency to engage in bulimic behaviors. Specifically, it was proposed that individuals with a depressive attributional style (i.e. internal, stable, and global causes) would exhibit negative mood and low self-esteem, which would increase their tendency to engage in binging behaviors. Final data analyses were performed on 140 college females, exclusive of obese or anorexic restrictor females, enrolled in an introductory psychology course. Data consisted of self-report questionnaires which pertained to demographic characteristics, attributional style, positive and negative mood, self-esteem, and binging behaviors. The data were evaluated using path analytic techniques. Path coefficients were obtained via a series of multiple regression analyses. Although evidence did not fully support the proposed causal model, results did support the linear relationship between self-esteem and binging behaviors, andthe attributional dimension of globality with negative mood. Level of self-esteem appears to play an important role in relation to binge behaviors among the present nonclinical sample. Suggestions for future research and alternative models are proposed. / Department of Psychological Science

This research examined how responses to female imagery displayed in Cosmopolitan magazine vary as a function of females’ conceptualizations of their own sexual identities. After completing the Sexual Self-Schema Scale (SSSS; Andersen & Cyranowski, 1994), female students were randomly assigned to either a sexualized or non-sexualized advertisement condition. Participants rated how they felt as they viewed three images, reported their attitudes toward the images, and completed a post-task mood assessment. Findings revealed significant main effects for condition and schema, but no interactions. First, women exposed to the non-sexualized series reported more favorable attitudes and felt happier as they viewed the advertisements than those exposed to the sexualized series. Second, women with positive sexual self-schemas indicated more favorable attitudes than negatively schematic women, felt the happiest and most excited as they viewed the series, and reported the most positive affect afterward. Suggestions for future research and marketing implications are discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

The purpose of this research study was to identify which dimensions of self-concept were predictive of depression and anxiety in gifted adolescents in a residential academic setting. Additionally, this study compared mean scores of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescents (MMPI-A; Butcher, et, al, 1992) to normative data. A total of 278 high school juniors and seniors from the Indiana Academy completed both the Self Description Questionnaire III (Marsh, 1984) and the MMPI-A. After screening data on the basis of MMPI-A validity scales, the final sample of 222 students consisted of 128 females and 94 males.Simultaneous multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify which dimensions of self-concept were related to depression and anxiety. Frequency data was generated to compare the MMPI-A profiles to normative scores.Three dimensions of self-concept; Same-Sex, Emotional Stability, and General Self-Esteem were found to predict depression. Five dimensions of self-concept; Verbal, Problem-Solving Ability, Same-Sex, Emotional Stability, and General Self-Esteem were found to predict anxiety. Frequency data showed 10% of the sample fell in the clinically elevated range on the MMPI-A Depression scale and only 6% of the sample fell in the clinically elevated range on the MMPI-A Anxiety scale.Future research on protective factors in gifted youth should utilize a more heterogeneous sample. In addition, future research should be longitudinal in order to identify causality in the relationship. Implications for counseling psychologists include providing social skills training to enhance social self-concept. Additional implications include providing programming to increase opportunities to practice social skills. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Proceeding from the belief that much human misery is self-inflicted as a result of negative self-statements (Ellis & Harper, 1962), it was felt that emphasis on positive self-thought would represent a significant therapeutic intervention. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of positive self-statements on self-concept. Since negative self-defeating statements are quite well ingrained, especially within Christian people (Reglin, 1976), it was decided to identify this as the target population. Furthermore, it was felt that cognitive restructuring would require considerable amounts of direction before it would be effective. To accomplish this goal, Frank (1961) and Breger and McGaugh (1967) suggest the need for therapists to consider such methods as hypnosis, suggestion, and relaxation. Therefore, within this study, these methods of restructuring were utilized in an effort to enhance self-concept.The sample consisted of 48 female Christian students enrolled Fall Quarter, 1983 at Ball State University. Twenty three and twenty five subjects were assigned to the experimental and control conditions, respectively. The experimental group was exposed to hypnotically induced positive self-statements. The subjects in the control group did not receive treatment. At the end of the treatment period, all subjects were administered the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale. The Total Positive Score (P) was used as an index of self-concept.The initial hypnotic induction consisted of a procedure suggested by Wolberg (1964) and Barber (1975). The procedure involved (a) deep breathing, (b) progressive muscle relaxation, and (c) visualization of a relaxing scene. After a pause, deepening by means of mental imagery took place in which subjects imagined themselves descending a 10 step escalator. During subsequent sessions, an abbreviated induction procedure was used.The positive self-statements used in this study are those formulated by Barber (1979, 1981), Hartland (1965, 1971), Stanton (1975, 1977), and others (Coleman, 1971; Gorman, 1974;, Maltz, 1960; and Oakley, 1965). The content of these positive self-statements suggested that subjects would feel generally more relaxed and self-confident, more self-reliant and independent,physically stronger and healthier, calmer, more serene and unconcerned by situations. which used to bother them. It was hypothesized that hypnotically induced positive self-statements would have a significant facilitating effect on self-concept in Christian, female college students. The hypothesis was tested using a two-group design and the corresponding parametric "t" test. Analysis of the data clearly indicates the absence of any significant treatment effect.

The purpose of the study was to explore the significance of the concept, differentiation of self (DOS), for understanding marital satisfaction. Also, the predictive validity of the Family Systems Personality Profile was explored. The sample was nonclinical in nature and was composed of 101 married couples from east central Indiana.Subjects responded to three questionnaires: Family Systems Personality Profile (FSPP), a psychometric instrument for measuring differentiation of self; the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), a psychometric instrument for measuring marital adjustment; and a demographic information sheet.A multiple regression analysis using marital adjustment as the criterion variable was conducted. The predictor variables were: Education level, income, age, years married, age at marriage, number of children, previous marriage, cohabitation, and FSPP total score. The .01 alpha level was necessary for statistical significance.Findings1. Contrary to the Bowen theory, there was not a significant relationship between spouses' levels of differentiation of self.2. Consistent with the Bowen theory, there was a statistically significant relationship between levels of DOS and marital satisfaction for males and females.3. As a predictor of marital quality, the FSPP contributed approximately 17% of the variability in DAS scores over and above that variance contributed by all of the demographic variables, for males and females.ConclusionsIn this nonclinical population of highly educated, middle class married couples, the FSPP was a useful predictor of marital quality. The mate selection hypothesis of the Bowen theory was not supported by this data. Thus, this study did not rule out the possibility that the FSPP could be measuring another psychological construct in addition to differentiation of self.

This study was undertaken in an effort to determine the effect of compensatory education on achievement and the self concepts of students in inner city schools. The subjects for this study were chosen from the third, fourth, and fifth grades of the Lincoln, Longfellow, Blaine, and Garfield public elementary schools of Muncie, Indiana. The experimental group received compensatory treatment which consisted of remedial reading, tutorial aid, and counseling, while the control group received the standard type of education given by the schools involved in the study. Both groups were selected by classroom teachers on the basis of personal judgment with no specific criteria given for the selection. Academic achievement was measured by the results of the Iowa Basic Achievement Test. This test was given twice (pre- and post-test) to both the control and experimental groups in grades four, and five. Grade three had been administered the Metropolitan Achievement Test (MAT) as a pre-test the previous spring at the end of grade two. Grade three was tested by the Iowa Basic Achievement Test in a post-test the spring of 1973.Self concept was measured by the results of the test by Waetjen and Liddle, Self Concept as a Learner (SCAL). This test was given twice to both the control and experimental groups; the pre-test in the fall of 1972 and the post-test in the spring of 1973.The results were used to evaluate the eight basic hypotheses. Statistical analysis of the results led to rejecting only one hypothesis. Hypothesis 7 was rejected at the .05 level of significance.In general, any gains shown by the experimental group over the control group were of small statistical magnitude, whether in the area of academic achievement, reading achievement or self concept. The same may be said of any of the differences between the various schools, grades, and class groups. No strong relationship between compensatory education and the probability of success could be clearly established from the data. A strong relationship was established, however, between compensatory and the probability of success for grade three. Since the impact of counseling, tutorial aid, or remedial reading was not analyzed separately, this relationship was attributed to the compensatory treatment as a whole and specifically to any one part of the program.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether global and area specific self-concept decreased as students advanced in the elementary grades and whether an educational program to increase self-concept affected global and area specific self-concept in a positive way. The participants were 154 first and third grade students from eight intact classrooms in two public elementary schools in a rural midwestern school district.An altered Non-Equivalent Control Group Design was utilized in which the self-concept treatment was administered to School A between Test One and Test Two and to School B between Test Two and Test Three.A repeated measures design and a MANOVA were used to test the seven null hypotheses at the .05 level of significance. The three hypotheses that were rejected dealt with increased self-concept scores for first and third graders after the treatment was given and differences in specific areas of self-concept.The following results were reported:1. There was a decline in global self-concepts from first to third grades, but the difference was not significant.2. Self-concept scores for first and third graders increased after the treatment.3. The only significant difference on the six specific area subtest scores between first and third grade students existed on the intellectual and school status subtest.The researcher concluded that the treatment may have been related to the increase in self-concept scores for both first and third graders.Recommendations for further research included replication and expansion of this study with various grade levels, different self-concept tests and interventions. / Department of Elementary Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Historical Involvement and Mastery of a skill on Self-Esteem. Much of the literature on the relationship between self-esteem and physical conditioning has mixed findings. In this study it was hypothesized that Historical Involvement and Mastery of physical conditioning skills and industrial arts skills would significantly influence self-esteem scores.Physical Conditioning and Industrial Arts skills groups were utlized as Ss. Eighty-five male and female undergraduates from physical conditioning skills classes and ninety-three male and female undergraduates from industrial arts skills classes participated. Both groups participated in their respective skills for one hour a day, four days a week, for ten consecutive weeks. They completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale prior to and immediately following the classes. They also completed an Historical Involvement questionnaire for their respective skill.In the primary analysis, a 2 (Skill--Physical Conditioning, Industrial Arts) x 3 (History--Mastery/History, Mastery/Non-History, Non-Mastery)-Analysis of Variance was performed. Mastery was distinguished by the grade B or above. Five planned comparisons using t tests were performed to test the research hypotheses. The levels of Historical Involvement and Mastery did not significantly affect self-esteem scores in either skills group. As was hypothesized, there were no significant differences in self-esteem scores either in the Non-History/mastery condition. Physical conditioning classes overall did produce higher scores than industrial arts classes, regardless of History or Mastery. However, when a ninety-five percent confidence interval was constructed, the difference between these two groups could have been as little as 0.2 units or as much as 1.5 units. Therefore, while statistically significant, this finding should be interpreted cautiously.A secondary analysis was performed in the Physical Conditioning group only, measuring percentage of skill improvement. The Ss were grouped into High and Low percentages of improvement and showed no significant differences on self-esteem scores.It is suggested that individuals' attitudes toward a particular skill and the value it has in their lives and/or their perceptions of their improvement might be the factors that relate to changes in self-esteem with mastery of that skill.