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Most commentaries and empirical investigations on mentorship have focused on academic and professional outcomes to date. Drawing on literature from various areas of mentorship, we propose an approach of effective mentorship based on caring and compassion for personal aspects of young adult mentees. As such, we outline characteristics of a successful mentor for undergraduates and provide suggestions for hiring considerations and research.

Most commentaries and empirical investigations on mentorship have focused on academic and professional outcomes to date. Drawing on literature from various areas of mentorship, we propose an approach of effective [...]

Undergraduates who sunbathed were assessed on personality variables and then randomly assigned to read one of 4 essays (with photos) that manipulated threat and coping appraisal information about sunbathing, skin damage, and skin cancer symptoms and prevention. High threat-appraisal information was by far the most powerful predictor of intentions to take precautionary measures against skin cancer. Coping appraisal information was associated with reduced perceptions of hopelessness concerning skin cancer risk. Individual-difference variables (i.e., appearance concern, need for cognition, health locus of control) predicted maladaptive coping modes and, to a lesser extent, adaptive behavioral intentions. Results suggest that tailoring persuasive appeals to individuals may modestly improve preventive efforts, and that invoking perceived threat effectively motivates most people.

Inman and Baron (1996) found that African Americans and Whites possess prototypes for racist behavior that involve Whites oppressing African Americans. However, prototypical content may be more detailed and specific for African Americans because of differing cultural experiences. In the present experiment, undergraduates read stories about interpersonal encounters representing prototypical and nonprototypical situations. Actor race ambiguity was manipulated by the presence or absence of photographs. As expected, Whites tended to make equal ratings of prejudiced behavior for prototypical and nonprototypical situations. However, African Americans perceived more prejudice in prototypical vignettes than in nonprototypical vignettes. They also perceived stronger prejudicial displays and more dispositional motivation for targets in prototypical vignettes. The results suggest that African Americans have heightened sensitivity to prejudice in specific situations, a factor that may contribute to racial confrontations and misunderstandings.

This experiment compared the effectiveness of appearance-based messages focusing on the benefits of tanning and the efficacy of preventive measures on students' intentions to protect themselves against sun-induced skin damage. Subjects who were high or low on a dispositional measure of appearance concern responded to 1 of 4 essays providing either high or low benefits information, and high or low efficacy information. Overall, subjects low in appearance concern expressed greater intentions to take precautionary measures than did those high in appearance concern. Additionally, the low benefits of tanning message produced greater intentions to take precautions than did the high benefits message. The benefits results suggest 1 mechanism through which sun protection behaviors may be encouraged.

This study was an investigation of personality factors associated with bulimic behaviors and attitudes in males. Various measures that have been noted as predictors of female bulimia were tested on 96 college students. Chronic dietary restraint and interoceptive awareness were the strongest predictors of more maladaptive eating patterns. The results suggest that maladaptive eating patterns in males and females may share a common set of features.

This six-week program involving minority honor students juxtaposed didactic and experiential research components in psychology to provide a breadth of exposure to researchers and topics while achieving in-depth training in research methodology. Interns initially participated in faculty-sponsored research but later developed and implemented their own studies. (Author/RM)

Responses of 17 elderly persons and 20 VA inpatients with alcohol-abuse problems (all 60 yr or older) to an Alcohol Attitude Survey administered by telephone and interview were examined. Inpatients felt more vulnerable, perceived higher costs in moderating drinking, and showed lower response efficacy. Inpatients consumed substantially more alcohol than the community-dwelling elders. Hypotheses for study were generated.

This article reports the first meta-analysis of the literature on protection motivation theory (Rogers, 1975, 1983; Rogers & Prentice-Dunn, 1997), a model of disease prevention and health promotion that has generated research for over two decades. The literature review included 65 relevant studies (N = approximately 30,000) that represented over 20 health issues. The mean overall effect size (d+ = .52) was of moderate magnitude. In general, increases in threat severity, threat vulnerability, response efficacy, and self-efficacy facilitated adaptive intentions or behaviors. Conversely, decreases in maladaptive response rewards and adaptive response costs increased adaptive intentions or behaviors. This held true whether the measures were based on intentions or behaviors, and suggests that PMT components may be useful for individual and community interventions.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate two different interventions on their ability to promote advance directive completion. Specifically, an intervention based on protection motivation theory, which involved presenting threatening information and coping information, was compared with a general healthy aging intervention, which spent little time actually discussing advance directives. Participants were obtained from a community sample involving church groups and senior centers. Participants were assigned to one of the two interventions. Participants were then asked several questions, including whether or not they had completed an advance directive at 3-month follow-up. Results indicated that those who participated in the healthy aging intervention completed more advance directives than did those in the protection motivation theory intervention. These results are consistent with the tenants of socioemotional selectivity theory, which states that older adults are focused more on maintaining their well-being and are more likely to remember positive information than negative. Advance directive interventions should take into account the developmental stage of older adults and should provide materials that are consistent with their goals and values at this life stage. In this way, advance directive interventions could become more effective at producing more completed documents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using protection motivation theory, we examined racial differences in intent to complete a living will, rational problem solving (e.g., information seeking), and maladaptive coping responses (i.e., wishful thinking) to a health crisis. Sixty healthy, older adults without living wills responded to written vignettes, including information about living wills as an effective coping mechanism to avoid a health crisis. Use of adaptive coping responses predicted intent to execute a living will. A significant race-by-threat interaction predicted use of rational problem solving, with Caucasians more likely to seek information in response to perceived threat in comparison with African Americans. A significant race-by-adaptive-coping interaction predicted maladaptive coping, indicating that Caucasians were more variable in their maladaptive responses. The effectiveness of health care messages regarding living wills for older adults may be enhanced by focusing on racial differences in response to perceived health threat and perceived adaptive coping information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the factors that influence teaching evaluations in higher education. Past studies have indicated several factors influencing teaching evaluation ratings that instructors receive. Teaching evaluations are widely used in assessing courses and the quality of teaching in higher education. Many educators have raised concern about this method evaluation, however, as previous research has indicated there are several factors that affect the ratings students give instructors on teaching evaluations.

This article discusses issues related to teaching the philosophy of scholar Sigmund Freud. Freud's scientific legacy is controversial within contemporary psychology. There are pedagogical benefits to this controversy, however, because instructors can use it to encourage students to critically evaluate Freud's contributions. Researchers believe that contemporary psychology students benefit in three ways by studying the controversy surrounding Freud. First, Freud's ideas are part of the history and vernacular in psychology and the wider culture.

Presents the Minority Access to Research Careers Program in psychological research in preparation to graduate study by undergraduate students. Exposure to research and topics in research methodology; Development and implementation of research by students; Importance of research internship for advanced study in psychology.

SUMMARY The field of program evaluation provides unique opportunities to apply social psychological theories and research skills in field settings. The present article (a) discusses why social psychologists are especially qualified to perform evaluations, and (b) illustrates the application of social psychological concepts and methods to projects in three diverse settings: health care, desegregation, and mental health training. In addition, practical problems likely to be encountered when conducting an evaluation are considered from the perspective of the three specific projects. Finally, the benefits provided by the social psychologist/program evaluator for the intervention project are reviewed, as well as the benefits yielded by program evaluation for the discipline of social psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two current views of behavioral self-regulation (self-efficacy theory and control theory) were tested in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. Ninety-six undergraduate students were exposed to high and low levels of three between-subjects variables: self-efficacy expectancy, outcome expectancy, and degree of self-awareness. Following an extreme failure on an initial performance task, individuals' persistence on a second, insoluble task was assessed. Results indicated that self-efficacy expectancies were the best predictor of persistence. Unexpectedly, heightened self-awareness did not enhance the saliency of self-efficacy expectancies or outcome expectancies as control theory would predict. Indeed, it was when subjects were not self-aware that high and low outcome expectancies differentially affected persistence. It was suggested that following failure, heightened self-awareness leads to a greater cognizance of negative affect than to relevant expectancies for performance. It is this negative affect, which precludes the formation of an outcome expectancy, that influences behavior. Based on these findings, a revision of control theory was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the need to provide investigations with a specific instrument for the assessment of parental locus of control. Construction and administration of the scale; Establishment of construct and discriminant validity of Parental Locus of Control (PLOC) Scale; Administration of PLOC and seven additional scales to two groups of parents.