Gregory S. Wilson

Using Emotional and Social Factors to Predict Student Success

College academic success and retention have traditionally been predicted using demographic and academic variables. This study moved beyond traditional predictors. A survey of 218 undergraduate students from a private Midwestern university revealed that emotional and social factors (e.g., stress, frequency of alcohol consumption) related to GPA and emotional factors (e.g., self-esteem, fatigue) related to attrition.

Optimism, Pessimism, and Precompetition Anxiety in College Athletes

This study examined the effect of optimistic and pessimistic cognitive styles on performance and precompetition anxiety. Collegiate athletes (female=39; male=35) completed the Defensive Pessimism Questionnaire and were grouped as optimists, defensive pessimists or real pessimists. Defensive pessimism is a strategy through which individuals set low expectations so as to protect themselves from potential failure, but has no adverse effect on performance. Such a strategy differs from the real pessimist approach, which results in both low performance expectations and achievements. Predicted precompetition anxiety was assessed via the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Yl). Results revealed that females exhibited significantly (P<0.05) higher levels of predicted precompetition anxiety than males. However, when anxiety responses were re-analyzed by cognitive orientation, it was found that regardless of gender, optimists exhibited significantly lower (P<0.01) levels of precompetition anxiety compared to the pessimists groups. While a majority of the sample (59.9%) possessed a pessimistic style, these findings suggest that performance differences between the groups were not significant. Hence, findings from this study indicate that cognitive orientation style and not gender is the best predictor of precompetition anxiety.

Do Coping Styles Change During the First Semester of College

THE TRANSITION TO COLLEGE—Schulenberg and Maggs (2002) expressed concern about the vulnerability of students’ health during that period. Li and Lin (2003) showed that stressful life experiences positively correlated with illness. It is important to examine factors that influence which students successfully adjust to college (Brisette, Scheier, & Carver, 2002), and the ability to cope with this new experience may be an important variable. Because the way in which an individual copes with stress relates to mental and physical well-being (Bonica & Daniel, 2003), the ability to successfully cope in the new college environment is Current Problems and Resolutions