Irma Galejs

Locus of Control and Achievement of Nigerian School-Age Children

Summary To investigate the relationship between locus of control and academic achievement and motivation of school-age children of Nigeria, the short form of Nowicki-Strickland Personal Reaction Survey was administered to 180 Nigerian children ranging in age from 9 to 13. Their motivation was assessed by teachers ratings. Grades received in mathematics and reading/language were used as a measure of academic achievement. Findings indicated that internality was significantly related to academic achievement, but not to motivation. Results of a 2 (sex) × 4 (grade scores) analysis of variance indicate that the students who received higher grades perceived themselves as more internally oriented. No sex differences were found for any of the three measures used. Results support the conclusion that the relationship between academic achievement and locus of control are comparable cross-culturally.

Sex-Role Perceptions of Traditional And Nontraditional College Women.

Summary To investigate the differences in sex-role related behavioral preferences, three questionnaires were administered to females majoring in engineering (n = 95) and social sciences (n = 188): Work Interest Questionnaire, Opinions About Children, and Bems Sex Role Inventory. Findings indicated that engineering students scored significantly higher on work incentives, promotion, and incisive and diplomatic actions while social science students scored higher on femininity, family-related, and work-flexibility factors. Engineering students indicated significantly higher need for having children and being good mothers but preferred smaller families than the social science students. A significantly higher percentage of engineering students were first-borns and came from larger cities than the social science students.

COOPERATIVE-COMPETITIVE PREFERENCES AND BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES AS A FUNCTION OF SEX AND AGE OF SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN

The objectives of the study were to: (1) develop a two-factor self-report preference measure of cooperation and competition; (2) explore the relationships between cooperative and competitive preferences, locus of control, social competence (parent rating), and school behaviors (teacher rating); (3) investigate sex and grade differences on the dependent measures. Factor analysis was employed on an 85-item inventory, administered to 120 children, resulting in the two expected factors plus two other factors. Another sample of 246 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade children, their parents, and teachers was obtained. Correlational analysis indicated that childrens cooperative-competitive preferences were not related to behaviors rated by teachers or parents; however, childrens externality was related to competitive preferences and maladaptive behaviors at school. Analyses of variance showed girls indicated significantly more cooperative preferences than boys and girls remained uniformly cooperative over the three grade levels while males declined in cooperative preferences. Findings supported traditional sex differences as in the literature.

Popularity and Communication Skills of Preschool Children

Summary The focus of the study was to examine the relationship between communication skills and popularity of preschool children (N = 60) in mixed-age (3 years 2 months to 6 years 6 months) classrooms. Communication skills were measured by assessing childrens describing and listening skills utilizing a modified Dicksons Notebook Communication Game. Classroom teachers rank ordered the children in their classrooms from most to least popular. PPVT was utilized to measure childrens vocabulary level. Partial correlations controlling for classroom membership resulted in ranked popularity correlating with listening skills but not with ability to describe or with sex of the children; teachers perceived older children to be more popular than younger children. Partial correlations between popularity and each variable controlling for all other variables yielded one significant relationship with age. Implications for mixed-age preschool groups are discussed.

Teacher-Child Interactions and Children’s Locus of Control Tendencies

Children and teachers were observed during free-play periods in a two-phase study examining the relationships among children’s locus of control tendencies, children’s behaviors, and teacher-child interactions. The Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview was administered to 51 children between 3 and 5 years of age. Eight children (four boys and four girls) with the highest and eight children with the lowest locus of control scores were observed interacting with peers, materials, and teachers. There were no significant relationships between children’s behaviors and locus of control measures. Teacher behaviors in response to the behaviors of the same 16 children also were observed. Teachers reinforced task and peer involvement in internal children and nontask involvement in external children.

Developmental Aspects of Locus of Control in Preschool Children

Summary Locus of control (LOC), egocentrism, and verbal skills were measured in 174 children attending preschool. Responses to questions on the Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview were scored independently as measures of LOC orientation and egocentrism. Results indicated that LOC orientation for positive and negative social event outcomes are highly related; however, children perceived more control over negative than over positive outcomes. Contrary to predictions by Mischel, internal responses of young children were not predominantly egocentric; nor was LOC related to age. Children perceived significantly more control over social event outcomes involving parents than over peers and teachers. Results were interpreted as supporting the concept of LOC as a stable, unitary personality trait that develops in young children as a result of interactions with parents.

Locus of Control and Task Persistence in Preschool Children

Summary Preschool children were administered the Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview and were also observed interacting with peers, teachers, and materials in the classroom. It was predicted that internal children would show greater task persistence by spending more time in physical-motor, cognitive, and social activities, while external children would spend more time in non-task-involved behaviors, such as watching others and moving around. Results did not confirm this hypothesis. This nonconfirmation of earlier research is discussed in terms of a distinction between experimental and natural settings.

Co‐operative and competitive preferences and locus of control in Anglo‐American and Latvian‐American school‐age children

The Social Behavior Inventory (SBI), a forced‐choice test to measure co‐operative‐competitive preferences, was administered to school‐age American (N=876) and Latvian (N=134) children and their parents. The American sample was drawn from thirty public schools in an urban area; the Latvian sample was obtained from six private schools in the midwest. The objectives were to study: (1) co‐operative‐competitive preferences of the two samples; (2) the relationship between childrens cooperative‐competitive responses and locus of control tendencies (Nowicki‐Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children), socioeconomic status, sex and age; (3) the relationship between childrens responses and parent ratings on the SBI; (4) the differences of American and Latvian children on their co‐operative‐competitive preferences and locus of control tendencies. The results reveal that: (1) American and Latvian parents and children selected responses on the SBI in the co‐operative direction; (2) American and Latvian girls chose significantly more co‐operative responses than boys; (3) children (i.e., American and Latvian) who preferred co‐operative behaviours perceived themselves as internally controlled; (4) Latvian mothers perceived their children significantly more competitive than American mothers; (5) American mothers perceived their daughters significantly more co‐operative than Latvian mothers; and (6) American children perceived themselves significantly more co‐operative than Latvian children. Similarities exist between the two cultures but there is an indication that the Latvian sample is somewhat more competitive in nature, attributable perhaps to the socialization process of the Latvian subculture.

Locus-of-Control Dimensions in Preschool Children

Abstract To investigate relationships among social-nonsocial and positive/negative locus of control, the Stephens-Delys Reinforcement Contingency Interview (SDRCI) and the Stanford Preschool Internality-Externality Scale (SPIES) were administered to 111 preschoolers. Children perceived more control over positive and social outcomes than over negative and nonsocial outcomes on both scales. No correlations were observed between social and nonsocial locus of control. Positive and negative locus of control were highly correlated on the SDRCI but not on the SPIES; however, positive/social and negative/nonsocial items were confounded on the SPIES. Results were interpreted as supporting independence of social/nonsocial locus of control but not of positive/negative locus of control for preschool children.

Competitive behaviours of American and Chinese children working individually and working together: A comparative study

Abstract The study compared American (N=50) and Chinese (N= 84) school‐age childrens co‐operative‐competitive behaviours using a puzzle completion task. The differences in performance of boys and girls when working alone and when working together with the same sex partner as well as among grades were investigated. For the American sample there were 16 kindergartners, 14 first‐, and 20 second‐graders, resulting in 15 boy‐ and 10 girl‐pairs. The Chinese sample consisted of 28 children from each grade with a total of 21 boy‐ and 21 girl‐pairs. For both samples the children were matched within grade on sex and age. The behaviours were measured by using three puzzles arranged in three orders. Each child participated in a puzzle completion task 3 times: alone, with the same sex partner as a leader, and as a helper. For the pairs, only the leaders completion time was recorded. There were no significant cultural differences between the American and the Chinese childrens co‐operative and competitive behaviours ...