Personality variables of children nominated as emotionally handicapped by classroom teachers

Ninety-nine children in grades one through three in a rural Maine school were administered the Early School Personality Questionnaire (ESPQ). The teachers of these children were asked to list the children in their classroom who, in their judgement, demonstrated emotionally handicapping conditions which interfered with achievement and/or adjustment. The teachers had been involved, prior to the nomination task, in an in-service training session on the characteristics of emotionally disturbed children suggested by Bower (1961). “T” tests were used to compare the differences in the ESPQ factors between children selected as emotionally handicapped by their teachers, and those not selected. Differences were found on three factors: B (Dull vs. Bright), H (Shy vs. Venturesome) and O (Placid vs. Apprehensive). Implications of this study were for in-service education of teachers and future research on screening processes.     

A sociometric comparison of mainstreamed,orthopedically handicapped high school students and nonhandicapped classmates

This study explored the sociometric status of orthopedically handicapped (OH) high school students in mainstreamed classrooms. Twenty-nine students in mainstreamed classrooms (e.g., spina bifida or other paralysis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy) were compared with randomly selected classmates on the Peer Rating Scale (PRS), a class-administered sociometric scale. The OH group received significantly higher scores on 2 of 12 PRS factors, as well as directionally higher scores on 8 others. These were interpreted as reflecting either genuine liking and admiration for mainstreamed OH high school students or, alternatively, a “defensive” inability on the part of peers to express base-rate negative feelings toward the orthopedically handicapped. Recommendations for future research are made.     

Effects of success and failure on emotionally handicapped boys

The study was designed to investigate the extent to which expectancies and performance of emotionally handicapped children could be altered by success- or failure-induced experiences. Students were randomly assigned to either of two experimental conditions during five trials of a guessing task. Immediately following the initial experience, all children were asked to estimate their expectancy of success on a novel learning task; students were then given a progressive matrix worksheet with ten problems which required adding and/or subtracting. It was hypothesized that those students in the success condition would have higher expectancies and actual performance scores than the children in the failure condition. It was further hypothesized that expectancy levels and performance scores would be related. An analysis of the results indicated that success and failure on a task were influential on subsequent expectancy estimates and performance; a discussion of these results is presented.     

Restructuring of mainstream sociometry with learning disabled and nonhandicapped students

Sociometric ratings assigned by and to 50 elementary school students with learning disabilities and 50 nonhandicapped elementary school students (in matched pairs) were compared in this study. In addition, traditional sociometric status applied to social impact and social preference was also examined. Results showed that the matched pairs did not differ significantly in assigned status to their peers, but differed significantly in acceptance and rejection received from their shared classmates. Students with learning disabilities and nonhandicapped students differed significantly in social preference, but not in social impact.     

Personality traits and abilities as predictors of academic achievement

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the respective effects of cognitive abilities and personality traits on academic achievement. The subjects were 141 sixth-grade French adolescents (mean age: 12) who took three cognitive tests (g factor, numerical ability, and spatial ability) and answered a personality questionnaire based on the Big Five Model. Path analyses indicated that Openness-intellect had an effect on junior high school achievement in all disciplines, with most effects being indirect ones mediated by verbal achievement (French). Neuroticism-anxiety also had an effect, although not as marked and mainly on mathematics. Personality is complementary to abilities in predicting academic achievement. Possible conceptual extensions and field applications are addressed in the conclusion.     

Engaging and training students in the development of inclusive learning materials for their peers

With equal access requirements and increasing rates of enrolment of students with disabilities in higher education, universities must find appropriate and efficient ways to create accessible materials which benefit and support all students. In response to cuts to disability funding, issues relating to the provision of an inclusive curriculum are now dominating institutional policy and educational discourses. This paper reports on a trans-Atlantic project which utilised student employees to convert and develop inclusive learning materials for their peers, with the expressed purpose of piloting a sustainable intervention method generalisable to meeting similar needs of diverse universities for inclusive material provision and a future workforce aware of disability issues and accommodations. Qualitative in-depth interviews with ten students (eight UK and two US) find that involving student employees in the delivery of inclusive materials improves partnerships and attitudes around disability and accessibility measures.     

Personality traits and job exploration among Latino business students: An exploratory investigation

We examine the role of the Big Five personality traits in the job exploration process of Latino undergraduate business students to ascertain the personality traits and socio‐cognitive variables that lead to greater success of students in their job searches. We find that personalities such as extraversion and conscientiousness are positively associated with career self‐efficacy, career expectations, and interests in both academic and professional skills, which in turn positively influence job exploration behaviors. Additionally, we find that personalities such as agreeableness and neuroticism have a negative influence on career exploration behaviors. Our findings provide Latino business students with college vocational guidance that can help enhance their career confidence, job beliefs, and career interests in the job‐seeking process.     

Personality traits as a predictor of academic achievement in adolescents

The study examined the predictive value of adolescents’ personality trait ratings by different groups of informants in explaining academic achievement [grade point average (GPA)] while controlling for students’ sex and their mothers’ education. The Inventory of Child/Adolescent Individual Differences was employed as a measure of students’ personality traits at the end of elementary schooling (mean age = 14.7 years) and two years later when the participants attended secondary schools. The trait ratings were obtained through self‐, maternal and peer reports at both measurement occasions. They explained substantial portions of unique variance in the students’ GPA concurrently, and over time. Ratings by each of the three groups of informants had an incremental validity over one another in predicting school grades. Among personality variables, conscientiousness and low extraversion were consistently predictive of GPA.