Dave Miranda

From goal motivation to goal progress: the mediating role of coping in the Self-Concordance Model

Abstract The present studies examined the mediating role of self-regulatory mechanisms in the relationship between goal motivation and goal progress in the Self-Concordance Model. First, a systematic review, using meta-analytical path analysis, supported the mediating role of effort and action planning in the positive association between autonomous goal motivation and goal progress. Second, results from two additional empirical studies, using structural equation modeling, lent credence to the mediating role of coping in the relationship between goal motivation and goal progress of university students. Autonomous goal motivation was positively associated with task-oriented coping, which predicted greater goal progress during midterm exams (Study 1, N=702) and at the end of the semester in a different sample (Study 2, N=167). Controlled goal motivation was associated with greater disengagement-oriented coping (Study 1 and Study 2) and lesser use of task-oriented coping (Study 2), which reduced goal progress. These results held up after controlling for perceived stress (Study 2). Our findings highlight the importance of coping in the “inception-to-attainment” goal process because autonomous goal motivation indirectly rather than directly predicts goal progress of university students through their usage of task-oriented coping.

The role of music in adolescent development: much more than the same old song

There is an increasingly robust literature of recent research findings that support the developmental importance of music in adolescence. However, this intriguing literature is not familiar to many developmental psychologists, possibly due to a lack of communication among researchers and because of publication trends in developmental journals. This review aims at informing on current knowledge of how music listening can play a role in the psychosocial development of adolescents. To this end, three arguments are discussed in light of recent empirical research: music influences important aspects of adolescent development; music can represent a protective and a risk factor; and music can serve as an adjunct component in prevention and intervention. Therefore, it is proposed how music is a developmental resource in adolescence. It is argued that research on the developmental role of music can create a window to the everyday psychological, social, and cultural needs of contemporary adolescents.

Canadian university students in wireless classrooms

Two studies were conducted to examine what undergraduate students do on their laptops during class time and the extent to which laptop usage behaviors are associated with academic success. In Study 1, a sample of 1129 students from a Canadian university completed a survey measuring prototypical behaviors emitted on laptops during class time. Results of factor analyses indicated that laptop behaviors can be regrouped in two dimensions: School related and school unrelated laptop utilization. School unrelated laptop behaviors were significantly associated with lower levels of self-reported academic achievement and satisfaction. School related laptop behaviors were positively associated with academic satisfaction. These results were invariant across different faculties on campus. In Study 2, another sample of 88 students was recruited to examine the longitudinal association between laptop behaviors and semester grade point average obtained at the end of the semester. Results of Study 2 showed that school unrelated laptop behaviors were prospectively associated with lower semester grade point average, even after controlling for a series of potentially confounding influences (i.e., self-regulation failure, motivational deficit, disorganized learning, internet addiction, and school disenchantment). Overall, these results provide theoretically important support to suggest that in-class laptop utilization is a unique and contemporary mode of learning that should not be treated as an epiphenomenon merely accountable and reducible to other sources of psychological influences. Students emit school related and unrelated behaviors on laptops during class.School unrelated laptop behaviors predict lower semester grade point average.School related laptop behaviors are associated with higher academic satisfaction.Results replicated across four faculties on campus.Laptop explains unique variance beyond other sources of psychological influence.

The 2 × 2 model of perfectionism: a comparison across Asian Canadians and European Canadians.

The 2 × 2 model of perfectionism posits that the 4 within-person combinations of self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism (i.e., pure SOP, mixed perfectionism, pure SPP, and nonperfectionism) can be distinctively associated with psychological adjustment. This study examined whether the relationship between the 4 subtypes of perfectionism proposed in the 2 × 2 model (Gaudreau & Thompson, 2010) and academic outcomes (i.e., academic satisfaction and grade-point average [GPA]) differed across 2 sociocultural groups: Asian Canadians and European Canadians. A sample of 697 undergraduate students (23% Asian Canadians) completed self-report measures of dispositional perfectionism, academic satisfaction, and GPA. Results replicated most of the 2 × 2 models hypotheses on ratings of GPA, thus supporting that nonperfectionism was associated with lower GPA than pure SOP (Hypothesis 1a) but with higher GPA than pure SPP (Hypothesis 2). Results also showed that mixed perfectionism was related to higher GPA than pure SPP (Hypothesis 3) but to similar levels as pure SOP, thus disproving Hypothesis 4. Furthermore, results provided evidence for cross-cultural differences in academic satisfaction. While all 4 hypotheses were supported among European Canadians, only Hypotheses 1a and 3 were supported among Asian Canadians. Future lines of research are discussed in light of the importance of acknowledging the role of culture when studying the influence of dispositional perfectionism on academic outcomes.

Personality traits, music preferences and depression in adolescence.

ABSTRACT This six-month longitudinal study was conducted with 311 adolescents and verifies: (1) if music preferences can predict depression; (2) if personality traits can predict music preferences; (3) if music listening can represent a protective factor against depression. Results indicate that Soul music listening (e.g., hip hop, R&B) is a predictor of lower depression levels in adolescent girls. Personality dimensions from the Big Five reveal various predictive relations with music preferences, for instance Openness predicts music eclecticism. Soul music listening is a moderator of the predictive relationship between Neuroticism and depression levels in adolescent girls, thus pointing to a possible protective effect. Research paths for studies on music and adolescent development, personality traits, and evolutionary psychology are succinctly discussed.

Towards a cultural-developmental psychology of music in adolescence

Music is a fundamental cultural product with which adolescents are finely attuned within and across sociocultural contexts. However, very little is known about the intricate interplay among music, psychology, and culture in adolescence. The purpose of this literature review is twofold: (1) to define, ground, and situate a new perspective towards a cultural developmental psychology of music in adolescence; and (2) to find and organize the extant literature pertaining to the cultural and developmental roles of music in adolescence. The rationale is organized in two sections. The first section defines the meaning of a cultural-developmental psychology of music in adolescence. It also explains how this perspective can be grounded in principles of cultural psychology, notably the mutual constitution between culture and the person. It then situates this perspective within established cultural research on music (evolutionary psychology, music perception, and ethnomusicology). The second section presents a critical outlook on the slowly growing but fragmented literature pertaining to culture, psychology, and music in adolescence (music preferences; music motivation and functions; dance; language; social network and multitasking; ethnicity and cultural diversity; and cultural competence in music-based interventions). In conclusion, theoretical and methodological directions are suggested for future cultural research on music in adolescence.

Musical preferences and depression in adolescence

ABSTRACT This study investigates the links between musical preferences (metal, soul, electronic, pop, and classical) and depression in adolescence. Research participants were 329 adolescents (179 girls and 150 boys) from Montreal (Canada). Analyses controlled for state anxiety, drug use, academic problems, importance given to lyrics, and time spent listening to music per week. In adolescent girls, preference for metal music was linked with higher depression levels, whereas preferences for soul music and pop music were linked to lower depression levels. The links between musical preferences and depression levels were not significant in boys. The five musical preferences were not associated with an episode of clinical depression in adolescence. Theoretical explanations for the influence of music on depression in adolescence are further discussed.

Can fantasizing while listening to music play a protective role against the influences of sensation seeking and peers on adolescents' substance use?

“The combination of music and drugs proved to be potent, and scientific research has yet to explain it” (Levitin, 2008, p. 74; The World in Six Songs).This study examined if fantasizing while listening to music could represent a potential protective factor against adolescent substance use (cigarette, alcohol, and cannabis). The first hypothesis was that fantasizing while listening to music would moderate (buffer) the link between sensation-seeking and substance use. The second hypothesis was that fantasizing while listening to music would also moderate (buffer) the link between peer substance use and individual substance use. The sample comprised 429 adolescent boys and girls who answered a self-report questionnaire in 2003. They were regular students attending a public high school in Montreal, Canada. The results revealed that fantasizing while listening to music came short of buffering the link between sensation-seeking and substance use among highly musically involved adolescents. Still, fantasizing while listening to music significantly attenuated the relationship between peer substance use and individual substance use (thereby, showing a protective effect) among highly musically involved adolescents. Fantasizing while listening to music did not buffer the relation between either risk factor (sensation-seeking or peer substance use) and substance use among moderately musically involved adolescents.

Personality Metatraits and Music Preferences in Adolescence: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT Exploring relations between the personality metatraits of the Five-Factor Model of personality (Stability and Plasticity) and music preferences in adolescence represents a new research path. The objective of this pilot study was to explore the potential of considering these two personality metatraits in research on adolescent music preferences (Metal, Soul, Electronic, Pop, Classical, and Eclecticism). The sample was composed of 30 regular high school students (age: M = 16.45, SD = 0.81 years). The results confirmed that personality metatraits seem to be linked to music preferences in adolescence. As hypothesized, Plasticity (Extraversion and Openness) was associated with music preferences, while Stability (Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Neuroticism inverted) was not. Some implications for future developmental research on adolescent music preferences (e.g., Plasticity and the dopaminergic system) are highlighted.

Music-evoked autobiographical memories, emotion regulation, time perspective, and mental health

The intriguing phenomenon by which songs trigger the recall of self-defining moments in one’s past is called music-evoked autobiographical memories (MEAMs). This study examines if various types of MEAMs can partially mediate the impact that emotion regulation (reappraisal and suppression) and time perspective (past positive and past negative) can have on mental health (internalizing symptoms and happiness) in youth. To this end, we developed the Music Evoked Memory Orientation Scale (MEMOS), which was specifically designed to assess the phenomenological characteristics of MEAMs. The sample consisted of 397 undergraduate students (Mage = 19.17 years; 80.6% female) that attended a Canadian university. Results revealed that the MEMOS had adequate psychometric qualities in terms of factorial validity, internal consistency, convergent validity, and incremental validity. Most notably, analyses indicated that social sharing of MEAMs mediated the relationships between emotion regulation (reappraisal and suppression) and happiness. However, aspects of MEAMs (self-identification, social sharing, and coherence) did not mediate any relationship between emotion regulation and internalizing symptoms. Also, of particular interest, social sharing of and coherence in MEAMs mediated the relationships between past positive and mental health. However, aspects of MEAMs (self-identification, social sharing, and coherence) did not mediate relationships between past negative and mental health. Interestingly, mediated effects from MEAMs held despite controlling for personality traits (Extraversion and Emotional Stability). In sum, future studies need to examine why only some MEAMs, particularly the social sharing of MEAMs, matter at the intersection of emotion regulation, time perspective, and mental health in youth.