Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin, School of Nursing. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin-Madison. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-52).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-126).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1989.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1992. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-83).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1992. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-57).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan.

The “Black-White” achievement gap, in which some African American students show lower academic achievement than their White American counterparts, has received increased empirical attention. Classism has rarely been explored in psychological research as a significant contextual factor for understanding African American college students’ academic performance. Previous research shows that academic self-concept (ASC) is an attitudinal construct which consistently predicts African American college students’ grade point averages (GPA). A wealth of previous research also suggests that college student’s social class background and experiences with classism significantly influence students’ academic attitudes and performance. With this empirical and theoretical backing, a hierarchal regression analysis was run to test experiences with classism (EWC) as a moderator of the effects of academic self-concept on GPA for a sample of 124 cisgender, heterosexual African American students at SIUC, a predominantly white institution (PWI). Thus, the present study was conducted to test the hypothesis that African American college students’ levels of experience with classism would significantly moderate the effects of students’ ASC on their GPA. Results of the regression analysis showed that EWC did not significantly moderate the effects of ASC on GPA. An alternative mediation model was also tested, and showed that EWC did not mediate the relationship between ASC and GPA. Potential explanations for the results are provided, as well as limitations, and implications. Although the findings were not significant, the results of the present study call for future research to explicitly explore the influence of social class on psychological experiences, especially as it intersects with marginalized identities in the U.S. Overall, as African Americans’ and college students’ academic experiences are both greatly influenced by social class and classism, the academic achievement of African American and White American students should be discussed in the context of systems of oppression in which their achievements occur.

This study investigated the adolescent self-concept. The concern was with the relationship between peer status as measured by a reputation scale and self-concept as measured by how an individual feels he is perceived by others.

This study examined the ways in which women and men view themselves and their women and men friends, in the context of their friendships. Ninety-five female and 95 male undergraduates completed the Friendship Questionnaire, in which they rated each of their closest friends, and rated themselves with each of those friends, on 13 dimensions of friendship. Test-retest procedures demonstrated the measure had satisfactory reliability. The general results are reflected in three patterns of friendship: 1) relationships with men friends tend to be less reciprocal than relationships with women friends in self disclosure, empathic understanding, deepening other's self awareness, and responsibility; 2) men's same-sex relationships tend to be lower in appreciation, empathic understanding, deepening other's self awareness, responsibility, and empowerment; and 3) women tend to report that they give more than they receive in friendships with women and men, on empathic understanding, self disclosure, and connectedness. The results of this study support the notion that although there is more commonality than difference in women's and men's friendships, many significant differences do exist. Further, this methodology illustrates the importance of studying people's conceptions of themselves and their friendships within the context of their specific real-life relationships. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate