Search

In the context of global mandates for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) education, rural regions face significant hurdles in delivering high-quality language instruction. Generalist teachers in these areas often lack specialized training in EFL, yet are tasked with its instruction. Referred to as L2 generalists, these educators hold a pivotal role in EFL education. However, a notable gap exists in understanding the motivation propelling generalist teachers to undertake EFL instruction, particularly within Chinese rural primary schools, where various challenges persist. Grounded in self-discrepancy theory and possible selves theory, this study examined the way L2 generalist teachers' teaching motivation linked to their various self-concepts as well as their responses to various challenges when delivering EFL teaching in rural elementary schools in China. The study uncovered that the alignment between L2 generalist teachers' ought selves (i.e., the selves that they believe they should be) and ideal selves (i.e., the selves they aspire to become) acted asmotivating factors, guiding their active involvement in EFL teaching. However, challenges such as a lack of professionalization and high contextual expectations led to a discrepancy between their actual selves (i.e., the selves they perceive themselves to currently be) and their ought/ideal selves, diminishing their teaching motivation. Furthermore, the presence of ambiguous and conflicting school policies further complicatedmatters, confusing generalist teachers and eroding theirmotivation for teaching. Despite experiencing a decline in motivation for EFL teaching, their commitment to their students fostered consistency between their ideal and ought selves, inspiring them to innovate pedagogical strategies within their capabilities. The study's findings hold significance for policymakers and teacher educators, highlighting the necessity of implementing strategies to enhance the professional growth of rural L2 generalist teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the application of Self-Concepts, a Semantic-Differential Scale-based methodology, to evaluate a Serious Game designed for cognitive impairment assessment using the MoCA test and augmented reality (AR) for mobility analysis. A case study involved seven elderly participants. Despite some challenges in navigating the AR environment and cognitive tests, self-concept evaluations consistently demonstrated high user expectations and positive experiences with the digital artifact. This study validates the process and highlights the potential of Self-Concepts in assessing product acceptance within user groups.

Infiltrated consciousness occurs when a subject's sense of self comes to be strongly and negatively shaped by victimizing master narratives. Consider the stay-at-home dad who has internalized a harmful narrative of traditional masculinity and so feels ashamed because he is not the family's bread winner. One way master narratives infiltrate consciousness is through conditioning self-simulation by assigning a hierarchy of values to different social roles. Further, master narratives confine self-simulation by prescribing certain social roles to an individual and prohibiting others. One common suggestion for counteracting infiltrated consciousness is to transform it through membership in new communities with new master narratives. But how does such healing happen? This essay offers a response. Recent psychological research on constructivist theories of memory outlines a naturalistically plausible mechanism for self-simulation. I argue that this mechanism is implicated in transforming infiltrated consciousness. This clarifies features of our psychological architecture that make the alteration of self-concepts possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outcomes of studies on the effectiveness of special education (SE) remain unclear. There are only a few studies on the effects of SE that have used advanced methodology to minimise the influence of potential selection bias. This study examined the plausible effects of SE on students' affective and motivational outcomes using a quasi-experimental method of propensity score matching with longitudinal data within the context of the Finnish multi-tiered support system. The participants of this study were fifth- and sixth-grade students from 30 primary schools who took part in a larger study of school inclusion in Eastern Finland (ISKE). Data from 553 students included information from questionnaires on students' emotional engagement with school, self-concepts, and goal orientations from themselves, academic achievement from their teachers, and socioeconomic status from their parents. We examined the effects of receiving SE service by following students from fifth and sixth grade using three different regression models in ANCOVA. Results revealed not only the influence of selection bias on outcomes but also that when comparing matched groups of students, SE did not have effects on students' affective or motivational outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Motivation for computer science sets the stage for learning computational thinking. • There were no gender differences in computer science motivation among children in Grades 1-3. • Children endorsed stereotypes about computer science that favored their own gender. • Individual children's ingroup stereotypes were positively correlated with their own motivation. Learning coding during early childhood is an effective way for children to practice computational thinking. Aspects of children's motivation can increase the likelihood that children approach computational thinking activities with enthusiasm and deep engagement. Gender inequities may interfere with children's readiness to take advantage of opportunities to build computational thinking skills through activities such as coding. Societal stereotypes can reduce young girls' motivation to engage with computer science, preventing them from gaining benefits from coding activities designed to support computational thinking. This study examined children's gender stereotypes as well as children's own motivation for computer coding in 363 first- through third-grade children. We assessed gender differences in both stereotypes and motivation, as well as links between the stereotypes that individual children held and their own motivation. Children generally endorsed stereotypes about interest and ability for computer coding that favored their own-gender group, although third-grade girls reported gender-egalitarian beliefs about interest in coding. There were no gender differences in children's motivation for computer coding in terms of their own interest, sense of belonging, or ability self-concepts. Children's stereotypes about their own-gender group were significantly positively correlated with their own motivation for computer coding. These findings suggest that early childhood represents an excellent age for children to begin building computational thinking skills, before girls endorse negative stereotypes about their gender's interest in computer science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the impact of organizational-based self-esteem, role breadth self-efficacy, and voluntary learning behavior on perceived employability. Perceived employability is determined by an individual's capabilities and competencies, which enhance their employment opportunities in the future. The study collected data through a survey of employees in the banking sector in Karachi, using SPSS tools to analyze the effects of the antecedents of perceived employability and voluntary learning behavior. The research aimed to investigate the relationship between self-concepts and voluntary learning behavior, highlighting the critical influence of employees on both antecedents. The findings of this study could improve employee performance and help develop specific abilities and skills required by employers, such as creativity and inspiration. The study emphasizes the importance of perceived employability in obtaining better employment opportunities and its impact on the Pakistani context.

The document is a corrigendum for an article titled "Understanding L2 generalist teachers' motivation for teaching EFL in China's rural elementary schools" published in Frontiers in Education. The correction addresses an error in the author list, clarifying that Wei Sun and Hong Shi should share joint first authorship. The authors emphasize that this correction does not impact the scientific conclusions of the original article. The document also includes information on the publication date, DOI, and copyright details. [Extracted from the article]

"Sense of agency" (SoA), the feeling of control for events caused by one's own actions, is deceived by visuomotor incongruence. Sensorimotor networks are implicated in SoA, however little evidence exists on brain functionality during agency processing. Concurrently, it has been suggested that the brain's intrinsic resting‐state (rs) activity has a preliminary influence on processing of agency cues. Here, we investigated the relation between performance in an agency attribution task and functional interactions among brain regions as derived by network analysis of rs functional magnetic resonance imaging. The action‐effect delay was adaptively increased (range 90–1,620 ms) and behavioral measures correlated to indices of cognitive processes and appraised self‐concepts. They were then regressed on local metrics of rs brain functional connectivity as to isolate the core areas enabling self‐agency. Across subjects, the time window for self‐agency was 90–625 ms, while the action‐effect integration was impacted by self‐evaluated personality traits. Neurally, the brain intrinsic organization sustaining consistency in self‐agency attribution was characterized by high connectiveness in the secondary visual cortex, and regional segregation in the primary somatosensory area. Decreased connectiveness in the secondary visual area, regional segregation in the superior parietal lobule, and information control within a primary visual cortex‐frontal eye fields network sustained self‐agency over long‐delayed effects. We thus demonstrate that self‐agency is grounded on the intrinsic mode of brain function designed to organize information for visuomotor integration. Our observation is relevant for current models of psychopathology in clinical conditions in which both rs activity and sense of agency are altered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a well-established, steady trend of religious disaffiliates in the USA. However, little qualitative research has been devoted to documenting the experience of religious disaffiliation or "exiting," specifically in the context of identity reconstruction and well-being. This study investigates an understudied subgroup of exiters—individuals who have left Christian fundamentalist religions. Drawing on 24 in-depth interviews, this research reveals the social psychological processes through which former religious participants reconstruct their identity and self-concepts related to their well-being. The results demonstrate that while it is challenging in the beginning stages of the exiting process to develop a new identity and improve self-concepts, over time the construction of a nonreligious identity eventually contributed to participants' greater well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, YouTube videos about the self-identified asexual Michelle serve as a starting point for addressing aspects of asexuality that variously position themselves in regard to concepts of the self. On the one hand, asexuality is included in the field of so-called identity politics; on the other hand, it is considered to be a disruption of the same. From there, I discuss the role of psychoanalysis in this area: is it irrelevant, as e.g. Elizabeth Hanna Hanson would suggest, or – with reference to Alenka ZupanČiČ – might psychoanalysis provide useful terminology for the disruptive force beyond identity-concepts? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging adults have the highest rates of depression compared to other age groups, yet effective, developmentally appropriate interventions are scarce. A growing body of research suggests an important link exists between self-concepts and depression. To contribute to the dialogue regarding emerging adult depression, theory, and potential points of intervention, a systematic research synthesis (SRS) on the state of knowledge of the relationship between self-concepts (self-esteem, self-efficacy, locus of control, and mastery) and emerging adult depression was conducted using the vulnerability and stress process models. Three primary findings emerged: a greater breadth of work has examined self-esteem and has provided support for its relationship with depression; research on self-efficacy, mastery, and locus of control is minimal with mixed results; and self-concepts work in differential ways to impact depression. Preliminary evidence suggests interpersonal stressors have a contributing role in the relationship between self-concepts and depression. Results identify new avenues of interventions to pursue for a population at risk for depression and in need of developmentally appropriate treatment options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cycling contributes to the formation of positive self-realisation concepts. • Self-realisation occurs on physical, psychological, social and growth dimensions. • Cycling has the potential of a direct and indirect contribution to positive mood. • Analysing the shift from car to bicycle use requires a multidisciplinary approach. This study explores the relations between cycling habits, eudaimonic well-being and positive mood. Specifically, this study investigates whether cycling contributes to the formation of positive physical, social, and self-actualisation concepts, which in turn could affect the mood and well-being of travellers. A survey was administered to 1131 inhabitants of the Brisbane area in Australia to elicit their socioeconomic traits and travel habits, as well as to measure self-concepts related to self-actualisation and the relation between cycling and mood. Structural equation modelling explored the system of relations between socioeconomic characteristics, observed travel habits, and latent self-concepts. The results of this study highlight that there exists a positive relation between bicycle use, self-actualisation on physical, psychological, social and self-efficacy dimensions and positive mood. Also, the findings of this study suggest that policy implications follow: (i) active travel to school and work should be promoted as a mean to increase the eudaimonic capacity through cycling, as this is one of the most important capacities for both children and adults; (ii) improvements in cycling infrastructure would not only foster higher cycling rates, but also reduce stress for commuter cyclists; (iii) eudaimonic benefits should be included in multi-criteria and cost-benefit analyses to better grasp cycling benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Professional self-concept is the individual's perception of himself/herself as a professional person. Stress is considered a common phenomenon in nursing education due to the nature of clinical environments. However, the relationship between these two variables is unclear in the review of the literature. Accordingly, this study aimed to assess the correlation between professional self-concept and stress among nursing students in clinical environments. Materials and Methods: The present descriptive correlational study was conducted, between the second and the eighth semesters, on 154 nursing students who were selected using the stratified random sampling technique. Based on the purpose of the study, the Cowin's 36-item questionnaire of professional self-concept and Cohen's perceived stress scale (PSS) were used to collect the required data. Finally, data were analyzed by SPSS using the Pearson correlation coefficient (or Spearman correlation coefficient in case of non-normality of the variables). Results: The overall mean score of professional self-concept in nursing students was 210.80 ± 37.41. In addition, the highest and lowest scores were related to the seventh and second semesters, respectively. Further, the correlation coefficient of the total score of professional self-concept with the total score of stress was equal to -0.31, which is considered significant (P < 0.001). Conclusions: In general, a statistically significant correlation was observed between the professional self-concept and stress among the nursing students. In other words, a higher professional self-concept was associated with a reduction in the level of stress. Therefore, lower professional self-concept can be one of the possible causes of stress among the students. As a result, designing and implementing interventions are considered essential in promoting professional self-concept among nursing students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research was to investigate the role cyber asylum-seekers’ self-concepts play in cyber censorship awareness as well as the effects of privacy risk perceptions and privacy concerns on the behavioral intention to seek cyber asylum. The study examined how the self-concepts of cyberspace users affected their awareness of cyber censorship (where a self-concept comprises six elements—self-disclosure, self-efficacy, self-assertion, social presence, self-esteem, and self-identity). Based on consumer panel data from a survey of cyberspace surfers (n = 1500), the results revealed that online media users’ self-concepts played an important role in making them aware of cyber censorship and explained how cyber censorship awareness affected privacy risk perceptions and privacy concerns. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings and limitations of the study as well as directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study with 248 German teachers examined the conceptual separability of six dimensions of teachers’ self-concept ( pedagogical skills, subject content knowledge, consulting, innovation, media use, diagnostics) and three emotions ( enjoyment, anger, anxiety ) as well as relations of these constructs. Results showed that all self-concepts and emotions were clearly separable from each other. All six self-concepts were positively related to enjoyment and negatively related to anxiety and anger. However, regression analysis revealed that only self-concept of pedagogical skills was positively linked to enjoyment and negatively linked to anger, while only self-concept of subject content knowledge was negatively linked to anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Premarital counseling equips couples with information about all aspects of sexuality and the related health issues. This study was aimed to assess the quality of premarital counseling services in health care centers in Tabriz. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 236 randomly selected women from premarital counseling centers in Tabriz was carried out and a self-structured instrument including items on demographic characteristics, the quality of counseling condition and providers, family planning, genetic and thalassemia counseling and sexual health was used for data gathering. Results: The results showed that the viewpoint of clients about relationship with health care provider and condition of consultation was suitable in 75.8% and 85.2% of women, respectively. It was found that in 72.5%, 38.1% and 49.6% of clients the counseling areas were in moderate level respectively for counseling about importance of family planning, genetic counseling and thalassemia. It was indicated that 58.5% of participants expressed the sexual health aspect of the premarital classes as poor or completely poor. Conclusions: Our study results can provide suitable information for health policy providers to improve the quality of premarital counseling classes. In order to develop a relatively stable behavior in young couples, it is recommended that the quality of the classes would be overemphasized.

Wealth is associated with differences in people's self-concepts. We propose that these self-concepts should define the types of appeals that are most effective at motivating generosity. Across three field studies, we randomly assigned participants to view an appeal for a charitable organization that emphasized agency (the pursuit of personal goals) or communion (the pursuit of shared goals). When the appeal emphasized agency, wealthier individuals reported greater willingness to give and donated more money to charity. In contrast, when the appeal emphasized communion, less wealthy individuals reported greater willingness to give. These findings could not be explained by relevant demographic characteristics such as age, ethnicity, or gender. This work adds to a growing body of research suggesting that wealth does not inherently result in selfishness or generosity. By tailoring messages to fit with people's self-concepts, it is possible to catalyze giving across the socioeconomic spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology is the property of Editorial of the University of Almeria (Spain) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

本研究主要目的在於比較父母教養方式與自我概念二者對高中生偏差行為影響之差異。其次，是評估自我概念對父母教養方式與高中生偏差行為間關係的影響。而本研究之青少年自我概念焦點為道德取向、自我價值、自我韌性。抽樣對象為臺灣都會區高中（高職）學生，主要採用分層叢集隨機抽樣方式，有效分析樣本計784 份，並採用巢式迴歸模型分析所蒐集的數據。研究結果發現：一、父母關愛、父母管教、道德取向對高中生偏差行為各有其直接之影響力；二、父母教養方式中的父母關愛對高中生偏差行為發生的預測力，比個人自我概念效應更重要；三、道德取向對父母管教與高中生偏差行為間關係的影響中，扮演著具意義性的角色。 The main purpose of this study was to compare the impact of parenting with that of the senior high school students’ self-concepts on the delinquent behavior in Taiwan metropolitan areas. Secondarily, this research was also constructed to evaluate the effects of the students’ self-concepts on the relationship between parenting and delinquency. In this study, the students’ self-concepts mainly focused on their ‘moral direction’, ‘self-esteem’, and ‘ego-resilience’. The valid sample subjects, 784 senior high school students, were selected from Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung metropolitan school districts with a random stratified-cluster method. And the nested regression method was used to analyze the collected data. The findings of this study show: (1) parental caring, parenting and moral direction have direct effects on the students’ delinquent behavior; (2) compared with the students’ self-concepts, parental caring is more contributive in predicting the development of the students’ delinquency; (3) moral direction plays a significant role, influencing the relationship between the parenting and the students’ delinquency.

Musical abilities and active engagement with music have been shown to be positively associated with many cognitive abilities as well as social skills and academic performance in secondary school students. While there is evidence from intervention studies that musical training can be a cause of these positive relationships, recent findings in the literature have suggested that other factors, such as genetics, family background or personality traits, might also be contributing factors. In addition, there is mounting evidence that self-concepts and beliefs can affect academic performance independently of intellectual ability. Students who believe that intelligence is malleable are more likely to attribute poor academic performances to effort rather than ability, and are more likely to take remedial action to improve their performance. However, it is currently not known whether student’s beliefs about the nature of musical talent also influence the development of musical abilities in a similar fashion. Therefore, this study introduces a short self-report measure termed ‘Musical Self-Theories and Goals’, closely modeled on validated measures for self-theories in academic scenarios. Using this measure the study investigates whether musical self-theories are related to students’ musical development as indexed by their concurrent musical activities and their performance on a battery of listening tests. We use data from a cross-sectional sample of 313 secondary school students to construct a network model describing the relationships between self-theories and academic as well as musical outcome measures, while also assessing potential effects of intelligence and the Big Five personality dimensions. Results from the network model indicate that self-theories of intelligence and musicality are closely related. In addition, both kinds of self-theories are connected to the students’ academic achievement through the personality dimension conscientiousness and academic effort. Finally, applying the do-calculus method to the network model we estimate that the size of the assumed causal effects between musical self-theories and academic achievement lie between 0.07 and 0.15 standard deviations.

Se trata de un diseño de tipo antes-después de administrado el tratamiento. La metodología triangula métodos cualitativos y cuantitativos. La hipótesis sostiene que el auto-concepto social mejora significativamente luego del proceso de cambio; la autoestima se mide antes y después verificando diferencias. Los fundamentos consisten en la re-categorización cognitiva, atención sistemática y la presencia de un observador participante entrenado, acompañante del proceso de cambio. La finalidad es definir-construir-instalar "el observador" que produce el cambio en forma controlada e intencional. La percepción del cambio resulta ser una construcción que se compone de datos de la observación y de la autobservación como problemas. Las elaboración de conjeturas acerca de las nuevas acciones a llevar a cabo y su experiencia subjetiva son tópicos pendientes para seguir indagando. Es necesaria la estabilidad creativa -resistir presiones para instalar el cambio: desorden, caos, son obstáculos. Re-categorizar, insight, metacognición, distanciamiento, son eventos para el cambio.The methodology before-after treatment that would be applied links qualitative and quantitative methods. Actual hypothesis supports that social self-concept improves meaningly after the change process. Selfesteem will be measured before and after to verify differences. Basis consists on cognitive recategorization, systematic attention and a trained participant observer who attends change process. The aim of this research is to describe - to construct - to install "the observer" who produces change in a controlled and intentional way. Change perception turns out to be a construction composed by observational and self-observational data as problems. Hypothesis about new actions and heir subjective experience should still be analize. The creative stability - to resist pressures- is necessary to install a change: disorder, chaos are obstacles. Recategorizing, insight, metacognition, distance, are events for a change.

The present study examines the role of gender, school achievement tests, school grades, self-concepts, and vocational interests in predicting the transition from school to different fields of vocational education and training in a German sample of 10th-grade students ( N = 900) attending intermediate secondary school. All sets of constructs were assessed with respect to multiple domains related to school subjects and the salient characteristics of occupations. Results showed that the sets of predictor variables had large proportions of variance in common (18% to 87%). On average, the profiles of students' construct scores resembled the characteristics of the different groups of occupations. Multinomial logistic regression analyses based on three alternative classification systems of occupations revealed that all variables were related to students' vocational choices, but that vocational interests were the most powerful predictors, and that the remaining variables only had small incremental effects once interests were controlled for. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of GENDER: Zeitschrift für Geschlecht, Kultur und Gesellschaft is the property of Verlag Barbara Budrich GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Musical abilities and active engagement with music have been shown to be positively associated with many cognitive abilities as well as social skills and academic performance in secondary school students. While there is evidence from intervention studies that musical training can be a cause of these positive relationships, recent findings in the literature have suggested that other factors, such as genetics, family background or personality traits, might also be contributing factors. In addition, there is mounting evidence that self-concepts and beliefs can affect academic performance independently of intellectual ability. Students who believe that intelligence is malleable are more likely to attribute poor academic performances to effort rather than ability, and are more likely to take remedial action to improve their performance. However, it is currently not known whether student's beliefs about the nature of musical talent also influence the development of musical abilities in a similar fashion. Therefore, this study introduces a short self-report measure termed "Musical Self-Theories and Goals," closely modeled on validated measures for self-theories in academic scenarios. Using this measure the study investigates whether musical self-theories are related to students' musical development as indexed by their concurrent musical activities and their performance on a battery of listening tests. We use data from a cross-sectional sample of 313 secondary school students to construct a network model describing the relationships between self-theories and academic as well as musical outcome measures, while also assessing potential effects of intelligence and the Big Five personality dimensions. Results from the network model indicate that self-theories of intelligence and musicality are closely related. In addition, both kinds of self-theories are connected to the students' academic achievement through the personality dimension conscientiousness and academic effort. Finally, applying the do-calculus method to the network model we estimate that the size of the assumed causal effects between musical self-theories and academic achievement lie between 0.07 and 0.15 standard deviations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Singaporean elementary-school students ( N = 299) completed Child Implicit Association Tests (Child IAT) as well as explicit measures of gender identity, math–gender stereotypes, and math self-concepts. Students also completed a standardized math achievement test. Three new findings emerged. First, implicit, but not explicit, math self-concepts ( math = me ) were positively related to math achievement on a standardized test. Second, as expected, stronger math–gender stereotypes ( math = boys ) significantly correlated with stronger math self-concepts for boys and weaker math self-concepts for girls, on both implicit and explicit measures. Third, implicit math–gender stereotypes were significantly related to math achievement. These findings show that non-academic factors such as implicit math self-concepts and stereotypes are linked to students' actual math achievement. The findings suggest that measuring individual differences in non-academic factors may be a useful tool for educators in assessing students' academic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Life As A Film ( LAAF) procedure is described. This was developed for use with offenders, building on Mc Adams's (1993) explorations of autobiographical accounts from effective individuals. The advantages of the LAAF procedure for a prison population are discussed, together with the content dictionary used for analysing LAAF responses. The LAAF reveals implicit and explicit aspects of self-concepts and relationships to others, as well as perceived agency and future orientation within a dynamic storyline. Quotations are given to illustrate those psychological processes that underlie criminality, complementing Presser's (2009) work on offender reform and Maruna's (2001) study of narratives of desistance. The values of the LAAF procedure for understanding the maintenance of offending behaviour and the consequent implications for interventions with offenders are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's motivations to engage in everyday activities draw on their experiences in thinking of oneself and the activities. In theory, these personal and social realities provide the complex foundations of self-concepts. The aim of this project was to define the foundations of children's self-concepts about everyday activities; to focus on everyday activities of literacy and numeracy. Participants were 8- to 12-year-old girls and boys, in a pilot study ( N = 16), correlational models of identities ( N = 297) and comparative contexts ( N = 42), and experimental evidence ( N = 82). The pilot study validated materials, and Study 1 confirmed a perceptual base for self-concepts. Results of Study 2 highlighted a range of comparative contexts, and Study 3 confirmed personal and social bases of children's self-concepts. In this situation, foundations of self-concepts cover identities (as a sense of individuality and belonging) and self-categorizations, in thinking about stability of skills and abilities over time, and in relation to children the same age. These ideas are readily applied to identities and arrays of self-categorizations in other situations. In conclusion, a personal and social theory of self-concepts extends contemporary Motivational Spiral Models that relate self-concepts to task strategies, skills, feelings and participation. Outcomes suggest foundations for differential interventions motivating children to participate in everyday activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an account of the self as a multilevel system consisting of social, individual, neural, and molecular mechanisms. It argues that the functioning of the self depends on causal relations between mechanisms operating at different levels. In place of reductionist and holistic approaches to cognitive science, I advocate a method of multilevel interacting mechanisms. This method is illustrated by showing how self-concepts operate at several different levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Premarital counseling equips couples with information about all aspects of sexuality and the related health issues. This study was aimed to assess the quality of premarital counseling services in health care centers in Tabriz. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 236 randomly selected women from premarital counseling centers in Tabriz was carried out and a self-structured instrument including items on demographic characteristics, the quality of counseling condition and providers, family planning, genetic and thalassemia counseling and sexual health was used for data gathering. Results: The results showed that the viewpoint of clients about relationship with health care provider and condition of consultation was suitable in 75.8% and 85.2% of women, respectively. It was found that in 72.5%, 38.1% and 49.6% of clients the counseling areas were in moderate level respectively for counseling about importance of family planning, genetic counseling and thalassemia. It was indicated that 58.5% of participants expressed the sexual health aspect of the premarital classes as poor or completely poor. Conclusions: Our study results can provide suitable information for health policy providers to improve the quality of premarital counseling classes. In order to develop a relatively stable behavior in young couples, it is recommended that the quality of the classes would be overemphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every sphere of life has been revolutionised by science. Thus, science understanding is an increasingly precious resource throughout the world. Despite the widely recognised need for better science education, the percentage of school students studying science is particularly low, and the numbers of students pursuing science continue to decline internationally. This study establishes a new measure to investigate students’ science self-concepts, motivation, and aspirations. The instrument shows sound psychometric properties in investigating secondary students’ science self-concepts in different disciplines of science. Though available data show that students’ science self-concepts are domain specific, it could not be shown that motivation and aspirations are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presented study aims to approach the complex topic of travelling and identity. Being a traveler in a certain country and its cultural context is always influencing the general and situative identity. Certain parts of the own identity can be reinforced or neglected. Greve [27] showed that there is an activation of different self-concepts according to different cultural contexts. This paper is based on an empirical research in order to investigate these aspects. It is the first empirical study done concerning self-organized travelling and identity. To study this, an open approach was used following the principles of grounded theory [26]. The method applied was a half-structured interview. 110 face to face were carried out with persons from 11 countries and therefore different cultural backgrounds. The data was analyzed using the methods of content analysis [39]. Travelling and longer and stays abroad update both the dynamic as well as the static aspect. Travelling interestingly resulted in context related identity modifications as well as in the stabilization / consolidation of certain other areas of identity. Values and criteria for values had been changed as well as tendencies to act, habits and expectations of self-efficacy. More than 40% of the interviewees considered travelling as a phase of self-positioning, similar to the moratorium. Identity changes had been proved especially in 3 areas: self and personality, values and behaviour. In the area of self & personality had been evidence especially for processes of self-updating, self-expansion (in adding new features and nuances to the self). The qualitative research revealed a clear connection of travel motivation, place, cultural context and identity. There is evidence that searching for certain different contextual variables systematically help to add new facets to identity. Travel motivation and behavior is quite often connected to certain biographical stages and values with respect to cultural settings. It implies various cognitive and behavioral consequences which can last for a long time according to the duration and personal value of the travel or special travel phases. Most of the empirical data showed phases of 2-4 years with a certain preference for one or more countries with similar features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Penal facilities across the U.S. are facing a ballooning population of elderly inmates whose needs present a particularly daunting and costly challenge for prison officials. At a tremendous cost to American taxpayers, geriatric correctional facilities are being built to accommodate elderly inmates. As the cost of such accommodations escalates and additional facilities for the elderly emerge, it is now all too important to determine who among prison inmates should be defined as elderly and in need of geriatric services. The objectives of this twofold project were to determine when inmates came to see themselves as elderly and to develop a perspective on the aging process in prisons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a longitudinal dataset of 470 Dutch adolescents, the current study examined the ways in which early sexual initiation was related to subsequent attachment, self-perception, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems. For male adolescents, analyses revealed general attachment to mother and externalizing problems at Wave 1 to predict to early transition at Wave 2. However, there was no differential change in these psychosocial factors over time for early initiators of sexual intercourse and their non-initiating peers. For female adolescents, the model including psychosocial factors at Wave 1 did not predict to sexual initiation at Wave 2. However, univariate repeated measures analyses revealed early initiators to have significantly larger increases in self-concept and externalizing problems than their non-initiating female peers. While the difference between female early initiators and non-initiators were statistically significant, the mean levels of problem behaviors were very low. The findings suggest that, contrary to previous research, early sexual initiation does not seem to be clustered with problem behaviors for this sample of Dutch adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In view of the potential importance of self-esteem in schizophrenia, there is a considerable lack of knowledge about the characteristics of specific self-esteem. The literature suggests that the experience of the self might be particularly destabilised in the transition phase between acute and remission points of the illness. Thus, the present study aims at examining the quality and correlates of different self-concepts at the beginning stabilisation phase of schizophrenia. In this study, 135 patients with schizophrenia were assessed 3 weeks after admission to inpatient treatment. Four central self-concepts were measured by the Frankfurt Self-Concept Scales (FSKN; Deusinger, I.M., 1986, Die Frankfurter Selbstkonzeptskalen (FSKN), Göttingen, Hogrefe). Clinical psychopathologic, neuropsychological and sociodemographic factors were analysed in two-step exploratory correlation and regression analyses to determine their relative contribution to self-concepts. The median of the four self-concepts ranged between −0.9 and −1.4 standard deviations below normative level. The relationship between negative symptoms and self-concepts was consistently significant, even when the contribution of depression was partialed out. In the multivariate analyses, these two symptom clusters explained up to 39% of the variances in our patients'' self-evaluation. Neuropsychological dysfunctions were of relatively subordinate relevance for the patients'' self-concepts. Thus, our results suggest that specific self-esteem at the point of beginning stabilisation of schizophrenia is significantly confounded not only by depression but also by negative symptoms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study examined delinquent risk behavior defined as shoplifting involvement from a social domain perspective. Aspects of adolescent self-concepts associated with significant others and self-worth were explored as predictors of self-perception of morality. The sample ( N = 155) comprised Caucasian students aged 14 to 18 enrolled in one high school in a Southwest state. More than half of the adolescents had self-reported shoplifting involvement. Independent two-step regression analyses were conducted for the two shoplifting involvement groups. Peer social acceptance was a strong positive predictor of self-worth for adolescents with shoplifting involvement, whereas the strongest predictor for adolescents with no shoplifting involvement was parent-child relationships. Strong direct paths linked peer social acceptance, self-worth, and self-perception of morality for adolescents with shoplifting involvement, and parent-child relationships, self-worth, and self-perception of morality for adolescents with no shoplifting involvement. Educational implications for programs focusing on adolescent self-concept and moral development are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]