Why might someone avoid information that could be useful for making an important decision? Useful information can indicate that some options are better than others for achieving an important goal or averting disaster. A theory is developed here which proposes that decisions feel more important because the consequences of the decisions are more threatening the self-concept. Useful information threatens to reduce a decision maker's decision options, thus constraining their opportunities to act quickly, reduce uncertainty and make the decision in a way that is self-verifying. This occurs while a decision maker is strongly motivated to reduce the uncertainty and the threat to the self-concept generated by the decision making situation. As a result, people become less likely to access useful information when making more important decisions. This is more likely to occur when the decisions includes a substantial threat to more salient identities and core aspects of the decision maker's self-concept. First a study is conducted to develop a measure of the relative strength of a respondent's leadership identity. Then, hypotheses derived from the theory are tested in two experiments. The hypotheses predict that participants making more important decisions will (1) experience stronger feelings, (2) value self-verifying options more and feel more certain after making a decision, (3) prefer fewer options in a subsequent decision task after making more, as opposed to less important decisions, (4) make more important decision more quickly, (5) access less useful information when making more important decisions , (6) feel more certain after avoiding useful information that could indicate an identity validating solution is inferior and less certain if accessing that information, (7) report that decisions associated with stronger feelings are more important, and (8) prefer fewer choices to pick from in a subsequent decision when having made a prior decision with less useful information. The hypotheses are tested in two incrementally differing experimental in which participants make organizational leadership decisions after completing the instrument developed to test the strength of their leadership identity. Contrasting pairs of conditions vary theoretically important elements to make the decisions feel more or less important. Both pairs vary the importance of the decision situation by changing the definition of the situation to increase or decrease the consequences for the participant's leadership identity. The second study similarly varies the decision's importance and adds the opportunity to access various types of useful information prior to making each decision. Findings indicate that decisions feel more important when the outcome includes a credible threat to the maintenance of a highly salient identity. Participant making more important decisions in experiment A felt more certain they were right after making their decisions. They preferred fewer options in a subsequent decision situation which indicates they felt more powerful. In Experiment B Participants were less likely to access useful information when making more important decisions. Participants who did access useful information prior to making a more important decision preferred more options in a subsequent task. This indicates they felt less powerful after making more important decisions with more information. These findings have implications for research on decision making, identity theory, leadership in organizations, and research on emotions, and the role of perceptual control in the resiliency of social structure.

The relationship between academic self-concept and academic achievement in African American students who have experienced geographic mobility was the focus of this study. Specifically, this study used quantitative methods to assess African American students from counties in Iowa to obtain information about the students' relocation from urban to rural school environments and to understand how such moves influenced their academic performance and academic self-concept. Gender and length of time since transition were also considered. The sample consisted of 101 African American middle school/junior high students who had been enrolled in Iowa schools for less than 24 months or more than 24 months. Results indicated a significant relationship between academic self-concept and academic achievement measures of ITBS composite scores and cumulative GPA. Gender and the length of time since transition were not shown to be linked to students' academic ability or performance in school. Data gathered from this study will assist administrators, parents, educators, and school counselors with understanding geographic mobility, academic self-concept, and academic achievement. Information obtained will also provide insight about other factors that relate to the academic setting and students' assessment of school such as student motivation, perceptions of peers, the academic self-perceptions students possess, students' attitude towards teachers and classes, and students' attitude towards school.

El presente estudio es de tipo cuantitativo, no experimental de diseño descriptivo correlacional y de corte transversal; el objetivo del presente estudio consistió en conocer la relación entre el autoconcepto y el vínculo que existe entre el niño (a) y su mascota en un grupo de 181 niños de ambos sexos (51.9% hombres, 48.1% mujeres) que pertenecieron al tercer (n = 64) , cuarto (n = 58) y quinto grado de primaria (n = 59) provenientes de dos colegios privados de Lima. Los participantes tenían edades de entre 7 y 13 años (M = 9.7, DE = 1.01) de los cuales 152 tenían un perro como mascota. Los integrantes respondieron al Cuestionario de Autoconcepto para Niños (Váldez-Medina, González, López, & Reusche, 2001) y la Escala de Vínculo con la Mascota (Schencke & Farkas, 2012). Con relación a las variables psicológicas, se encontró que el autoconcepto positivo y el vínculo con la mascota presenta una correlación positiva y no significativa (r = .13). En cuanto al autoconcepto negativo y el vínculo con la mascota presenta una correlación negativa y no significativa (r = -.10). Se discuten los resultados en función a la correlación entre los ítems con las dimensiones de Autoconcepto Positivo y Autoconcepto Negativo, en donde se encontró que existe una relación positiva entre el autoconcepto positivo y las conductas asociadas al cuidado de la mascota, así como también entre el autoconcepto positivo y la frecuencia con la que el niño le hace cariño a su mascota. Por último, se encontró una relación positiva y significativa entre el autoconcepto negativo y el número de hermanos que posee el niño. / The present research is a quantitative, non-experimental study of descriptive correlational and cross-sectional design, which objective is to explore the relationship between self-concept and the bond between the child and his/her pet in a group of 181 children of both sexes (51.9% male, 48.1% female) that belonged to the third (n = 64) , fourth (n = 58) and fifth grade (n = 59) from two private schools in Lima. The participants were between the ages of 7 and 13 years old (M = 9.7, DE = 1.01) of which 152 had a dog as a pet. Participants responded to the Self-concept Questionnaire for Children (Váldez-Medina, González, López, & Reusche, 2001) and the Companion Animal Bonding Scale (Schencke & Farkas, 2012). Regarding the psychological variables, it shows that positive self-concept and pet bonding have a positive but not significant correlation (r = .13). As for the negative self-concept and pet bonding, it was found that it has a negative but not significant correlation (r = -.10). The results are discussed according to the correlation between the items and the positive and negative self-concept dimensions, where it was found that there is a positive relationship between the positive self-concept and the behaviors associated with pet care, as well as between the positive self-concept and the frequency with which the child cares for his pet. Finally, a positive and significant relationship was also found between the negative self-concept and the number of siblings the child possesses. / Tesis

Students’ academic self-concepts (ASC) and their orientation towards self-regulated learning are important elements of success. Despite this fact, little work has been conducted exploring these areas medical students. Given the shifting priorities of medical education toward competency-based education and self-directed learning, the goals of this study were to validate an existing measure of ASC and to improve our measurement capabilities for understanding the Master Adaptive Learner (MAL). Evidence for validity and scale reliability was collected for the ASCS with this novel population and a range of motivational and self-regulative variables (Goal orientation, academic emotion regulation, and lifelong learning) were analyzed and reduced to produce a single scale for MAL. Surveys were administered to 203 medical students at an urban, Mid-Atlantic medical school and students’ grades were linked to survey responses. Results of a confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the original factor structure was not a good fit to the data for the current data. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to identify which structure fit better, and while a three-factor structure was produced, only one factor met reliability standards. This factor, confidence, was merged with items from the other surveys, and reliability scores for a composite MAL scale were identified. Based on these findings and the result of an EFA, the total item pool was reduced from 83 to 25. These 25 items discriminated between two clusters of students: MALs and others. Students’ membership in the MAL cluster predicted greater performance on the first exam in medical school, but not on any other grade outcomes. These results provide early evidence for the continued study of MAL and motivation in medical school, which will help researchers and curriculum designers support the development of future physicians.

Researchers have examined the relationship between ability grouping and academic self-concept in math, science, and English, and have found varying results. However, previous studies have not examined the relationship between ability grouping and academic self-concept for the subject of Talmud. Middle school presents a unique opportunity to examine this relationship because middle school is when both ability grouping for Talmud and the study of Talmud begin. The purpose of this correlational study was to assess the relationship between ability grouping and the academic self-concept for Talmud in middle school students. The predictive relationship among individual academic achievement, school average achievement, and academic self-concept for Talmud was also examined. Two-hundred ninety-three 6th and 7th graders from single-gender, traditional Jewish Orthodox boy schools in a suburb of New York City completed a self-report questionnaire measuring academic self-concept for Talmud. The collected data were analyzed using analysis of variance and multiple regression analyses. According to the results of the study, students placed in the lower-ability grouping had a statistically significant lower academic self-concept for Talmud than did those in the middle- and higher-ability grouping. In addition, individual academic achievement was a predictive factor of academic self-concept for Talmud whereas school average achievement was not found to be a predictive factor in this particular study. By understanding the impact of ability grouping, school administrators can develop policies for class placement and can provide additional care to balance the effects of ability grouping for those middle school student negatively affected by placement.

Research has suggested that behaviors beginning in childhood or adolescence may play a mediating role in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and involvement in prostitution. It is currently unknown how poor self-concept and low self-efficacy play a mediating relationship in this association. The primary purpose of this correlational study was to evaluate early youth problem behaviors such as poor self-concept and reduced self-efficacy as possible mediators in the association between childhood abuse/neglect and participation in prostitution during young adulthood. The central research questions explored the association between childhood maltreatment and involvement in prostitution, as well as how self-concept and self-efficacy mediate the association between childhood maltreatment and engagement in prostitution in young adulthood. The Eco-developmental theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. Data consisted of 4,882 adolescents in Grades 7-12 in the United States during the 1994-1995 school year from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, 61 of whom self-reported activity in prostitution. Results from Pearson correlations and Structural Equation Models indicated a relationship between childhood maltreatment and prostitution during young adulthood; self-efficacy and self-concept did not mediate this relationship. Childhood abuse was not a significant predictor of self-efficacy and self-efficacy was not significantly related to prostitution. Childhood maltreatment was a significant, negative predictor of positive self-concept. By demonstrating that childhood maltreatment is linked to prostitution in young adulthood, this research can foster positive social change, by showing the value of creating intervention programs that target childhood abuse in order to reduce involvement in prostitution in young adulthood.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the self-perceptions of gifted individuals who have a disability that impacts their ability to learn and/or express knowledge, a population known as "twice-exceptional." Twice-exceptional participants were compared to gifted participants without disabilities to determine whether they differed in their self-perceptions. The self-perceptions that were measured in this study were self-esteem, global self-concept, academic self-concept, and sense of inadequacy. Scores from the Behavior Assessment Scale for Children--2nd Edition (BASC-2) and the Piers Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale--2nd Edition (Piers-Harris 2) from school-age youth (n = 97) between ages 7 and 17 were used in the present study. Participants included 40 gifted youth, 29 gifted youth with learning disabilities, and 28 gifted youth with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Correlations that were calculated among age, gender, and scales measuring self-esteem, global self-concept, and sense of inadequacy for each group of twice-exceptional participants (G/ADHD, G/LD) revealed that neither age nor gender was significantly correlated with the three measures of self-perception. Self-Esteem and Total Self-Concept were positively correlated for each category of twice-exceptional participants, and Sense of Inadequacy was negatively correlated with the former two measures. Gifted participants with learning disabilities were significantly different from gifted participants without disabilities on Self-Esteem, Intellectual and School Status (a measure of academic self-concept), and Sense of Inadequacy. Gifted youth reported higher levels of self-esteem and academic self-concept, and lower levels of sense of inadequacy. Gifted youth with ADHD were not significantly different from either comparison group. All three groups reported scores in the average range, with the exception of Intellectual and School Status. On this measure, gifted participants without disabilities reported scores in the above average range. Within the entire sample of participants, Interpersonal Relations and Sense of Inadequacy were found to predict 61% of the variability in Total Self-Concept Scores. Research and practice implications of the findings from these analyses were discussed.

This study was designed to investigate more completely the variable of achievement effort (effort in school) as related to self rating, teacher rating, student self concept, actual achievement, and sex differences. A group of 198 sixth grade students were used as the experimental subjects. Five sets of data were obtained on the students: (a) students' self ratings on an achievement effort rating scale, (b) teachers' ratings of their students on the same achievement effort rating scale, (c) students' scores on a self concept scale, (d) students' performances on an achievement test, and (e) students' performances on an intelligence test. Partial correlation, product-moment correlation, and chi-square were the statistical techniques used to analyze the data. The results showed that the correlations which were not significantly different than zero were: (1) achievement with self concept, and (2) achievement with achievements effort as rated by the student. The correlations which were significantly greater than zero were: (1) achievement effort as rated by the student with self concept, (2) achievement with achievement effort as rated by the teacher, and (3) achievement effort as rated by the student with achievement effort as rated by the teacher.

The thesis is the result of an inquiry into the experiences of a group of people engaged in a Buddhist inspired creative meditation program, the main practice of which is the recognition and honouring of the spiritual dimensions, the divinity of self and others. The study employed a heuristic process of examining 'inner world' experiences. The inquiry was collaborative in the sense that its findings were not those of one person alone, but were a compilation of the results of interactions within the group. The inquiry was based on the hypothesis that creative meditation can facilitate changes in a person's perception of self and the external world. The principal aim was to explore into that possibility and investigate the group members' thoughts and feelings as to the main function, significance and eventual outcome of their practice. The investigation seemed to show that for the core group participants there were changes in self-understanding involving more self-acceptance. Changes in attitudes to relationships of various kinds also took place and these also seemed to involve the development of a greater degree of acceptance. With some participants the association of the practice with favourable co-incidence was an interesting but inexplicable feature. For some there was an identification of mind sets which seemed to have a bearing on the quality of meditation experience and its outcomes. The title of the study refers to the manner in which the meditations were often generated. A mandala, a symbolic picture, was designed by each participant and the features of this were imagined to move, sometimes dancing, through the meditations which followed. The second sub-title refers to an integral feature of the practice which was an attempt to arouse a sense of the wonderful as a quality of the people who were imagined to appear in the meditations. / Master of Science (Hons) (Social Ecology)

This thesis examines the way in which traditional accounts of gender differences in the self-concept have relied on distal explanatory factors, and have thus conceptualised the gendered self as stable across both time and situation. This notion of a stable, gendered self has been implicated as underlying of a range of psychological gender differences (e.g., Cross & Madson, 1997), such as those in moral reasoning (e.g., Gillian, 1982) and ways of knowing (e.g., Belenky et al., 1989). As a result, these behaviours are also seen to be stable across time and context.¶ An alternative perspective is investigated, which looks to social identity theory and self-categorisation theory for a conceptualisation of both gender and the self-concept as being malleable and context-dependent (e.g., Turner et al., 1987). The social identity perspective describes the way in which proximal aspects of the social context affect the expression of gender-related behaviours, attitudes, and beliefs. In this way, the social identity perspective provides an analysis of group membership, group norms, and social influence which can not only account for the differences that are observed between men and women, but can also offer an analysis of the context-dependence of these difference and an approach by which gender differences can be mollified.¶ A series of nine empirical studies are reported, investigating the way in which individuals (a) define themselves, (b) approach moral reasoning, and (c) approach knowledge and learning, across a number of different social contexts. Together, the results suggest that the self-concept, moral orientation, and ways of knowing are neither stable nor inherently gendered, but are malleable and dependent on the nature of the self-other relationship as defined by the proximal aspects of the social context. The implications for traditional theories of gender differences are discussed, as are the broader implications for feminism and social change.