Paul E. Jose

Appraisals of emotion-eliciting events : testing a theory of discrete emotions

A recent theory (Roseman, 1979,1984) attempts to specify the particular appraisals of events that elicit 16 discrete emotions. This study tested hypotheses from the latest version of the theory and compared them with hypotheses derived from appraisal theories proposed by Arnold (1960) and by Scherer (1988), using procedures designed to address some prior methodological problems. Results provided empirical support for numerous hypotheses linking particular appraisals of situational state (motive-inconsistent/motive-consistent), motivational state (punishment/reward), probability (uncertain/certain), power (weak/strong), legitimacy (negative outcome deserved/positive outcome deserved), and agency (circumstances/other person/self) to particular emotions. Where hypotheses were not supported, new appraisal-emotion relationships that revise the theory were proposed.

Parental Values and Practices Relevant to Young Children’s Social Development in Taiwan and the United States

Self-reported parental values and child-rearing practices, and teacher-reported and observed children’s social skills, were compared among families of 40 preschool and kindergarten children in each of three cultural groups: Chinese in Taiwan, first-generation Chinese in the United States, and European Americans in the United States. As expected, both samples of Chinese parents more strongly endorsed traditional Chinese values and exerted more parental control over their children than did American parents. Observations of child social competence during a videotaped family interaction revealed no significant differences among the three ethnic groups. Ratings of parental directiveness and warmth during the videotaped family interaction showed that Chinese American parents, as compared to European American parents, were rated as significantly more directive but equally warm.

Mathematics, Vocabulary, and Reading Development in Chinese American and European American Children Over the Primary School Years

Forty European American (EA; 20 girls, 20 boys) and 40 second-generation Chinese American (CA; 20 girls, 20 boys) preschool and kindergarten children (mean age at Time 1 = 5.7 years) and their mothers, fathers, and teachers participated in 3 data collections (1993, 1995, and 1997) to investigate sociocultural and family factors that contribute to childrens academic achievement. CA children outscored EA children in mathematics at all 3 times. Initially, EA children outscored CA children in receptive English vocabulary, but CA children caught up to EA children at Time 3. CA children were better readers than EA children at Time 3. According to parental self-reports, CA parents structured their childrens time to a greater degree, used more formal teaching methods, and assigned their children more homework. Parents work-oriented methods and child-specific beliefs at Time 1 influenced childrens mathematics performance at Time 3.

Cultural Differences in Early Mathematics Learning: A Comparison of Euro-American, Chinese-American, and Taiwan-Chinese Families

Forty second-generation Euro-American, and 40 Chinese-American children were drawn from well-educated two-parent families in the suburban Chicago area and 40 Chinese children were drawn from a similar population in Taipei, Taiwan (10 preschool girls, 10 preschool boys, 10 kindergarten girls, and 10 kindergarten boys in each group). Chinese-American and Taiwan-Chinese children outperformed Euro-American children on measures of mathematics, spatial relations, and numeral formation. Chinese-American parents gave more formal, direct mathematics instruction, structured their child’s time to a greater degree, and reported more encouragement for mathematics-related activities than did Euro-American parents. A path analysis using Eccles’ (1993) model of academic motivation showed that ethnicity, parents’ child-specific beliefs, and parents’ work-oriented practices directly predicted mathematics-related outcomes.

Do Parent Practices To Encourage Academic Competence Influence the Social Adjustment of Young European American and Chinese American Children

The predominant early childhood education philosophy in the United States views formal academic instruction as inappropriate and harmful to the social development of young children. Chinese American immigrants to the United States, however, have been found to teach their young children in more formal ways, to be more directive, and to structure their childrens use of time to a greater degree (C. S. Huntsinger, P. E. Jose, F.-R. Liaw, & W.-D. Ching, 1997). Forty European American (20 boys, 20 girls) and 36 2nd-generation Chinese American (18 boys, 18 girls) 1st- and 2nd-grade children and their mothers, fathers, and teachers participated in the Time 2 data collection of this longitudinal study to assess whether the formal academic environment provided by Chinese American parents is linked to poorer social adjustment in their children. Regressions showed that parents work-oriented methods influenced academic performance but not social adjustment of their children.

Stress and coping among Russian and American early adolescents

Self-reported stress, coping, and depression were compared between 270 Russian and 270 American early adolescents, 10 to 14 years of age. Russian and American adolescents reported equal levels of major life stress, but Russian adolescents reported greater levels of everyday life stress. Russian adolescents reported that they were less likely to use externalizing coping and more likely to use social support and problem-solving coping compared with American adolescents. Russian adolescents also reported that they were more depressed. However, LISREL path model analyses examined the relationships among these variables and showed that Russian and American adolescents coped with stress in similar ways. A buffering effect for social support on depression was found for both national groups.

Sequentiality of speech acts in conversational structure.

One aspect of the phenomenon of coherence in conversational discourse was addressed in the present study: sequentiality of speech acts. Several models of discourse structure have postulated sequencing rules between speech acts in conversations, but these efforts have been hampered by the lack of an efficient empirical method that can characterize a large body of language data. The lag sequential technique is proposed here as a tool that can be used to abstract a “grammar” of speech act contingency from spoken discourse. Derived patterns of discourse between female adults and preschool children confirmed expectations that most discourse is based upon three fundamental speech act pairings: question-answer, statement-reply, and directive-acknowledgment. It was also found that interlocutor differences in status, knowledge, and conversational ability affected the structure of the discourse in predictable ways.

The role of gender and gender role similarity in readers' identification with story characters

This study tested the hypothesis that adult readers would identify with story characters who display a similar gender role orientation. Male and female readers rated their identification with male and female characters who acted in either a masculine or feminine manner in short story vignettes. The primary finding was an interaction between gender role of reader and gender role behavior of character: as predicted, androgynous and undifferentiated readers identified equally with both masculine and feminine characters, masculine readers identified more strongly with masculine characters than feminine characters, and feminine readers identified more strongly with feminine characters than masculine characters. Further, androgynous readers identified somewhat more strongly with both types of characters than undifferentiated readers. However, the predicted effect of gender similarity between reader and character did not exert a strong influence on the identification process. In addition, feminine subjects reported greater identification across all four stories than masculine and undifferentiated subjects. Finally, of three questionnaire measures of empathy tested, only Daviss (1983) Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Empathic Concern subscale) significantly predicted general level of identification; as expected, these scores were significantly correlated with femininity gender role scores.

Early Grade School Children's Liking of Script and Suspense Story Structures

The structural-affect theory of stories was used to predict that young grade school children prefer narratives that involve suspense to those that fail to stimulate a pleasant affective response. Suspense stories, scripts (narratives that described a mundane event sequence), and scripts with added excitement (scripts with nonintegrated exciting events) were read to children of three ages: kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. Children indicated their liking of the stories in three ways: (a) a 7-point rating scale, (b) a ranking of the three types from most liked to least liked, and (c) choosing one of the three as the story they would most prefer to hear read to them at a later date. The prediction that suspense stories would be best liked was confirmed. For the rating scale measure, only second graders reliably liked suspense stories more than plain scripts. For the ranking measure, both first and second graders reliably liked suspense stories best. Finally, for the preference measure, all three age groups reliably liked the suspense stories best. These results support the structural-affect theorys contention that young childrens story schemas begin to include the dimension of suspensefulness in story narratives.

A Propensity Score Matching Study of Participation in Community Activities: A Path to Positive Outcomes for Youth in New Zealand?

Extracurricular activities are important in many young peoples lives and have been associated with positive academic, psychological, and social outcomes. However, most previous research has been limited to school-based activities in the North American context. This study expands existing literature by analyzing longitudinal data from more than 1,300 young Māori and European New Zealanders, using propensity score matching techniques to control for selection effects. Results suggest that youth participating in community-based activities experienced greater social support than nonparticipants. For Māori youth, participating in nonsports activities was associated with later benefits, while for New Zealand European youth, benefits were associated with sports activities. Participants of different ages reported different types of benefits. These findings highlight points of similarity and difference between New Zealand and North American youth and provide a better understanding of the positive impacts of community-based activities for young people.