‘It is my decision,and it's really up to me. But they wanted me to do it’: an exploration of choice in enrolling in a reengagement programme

This study explores how choice to enter a reengagement programme was experienced and understood by students and staff. In seeking to understand choice, we sought to gain insight into one design element that is considered to be vital for effective reengagement programmes: namely, that they are voluntary or choice-based. We interviewed 12 students and 5 staff who were involved in a reengagement programme that was underpinned by philosophy of choice. Specifically, it was a mandate of the programme that students had to actively and voluntarily ‘choose' to enter the programme. Analysis of the interviews revealed that it was not as simple as a student ‘choosing' to enter the reengagement programme and then entering it. Rather, four main construct types emerged through the interviews that explained the ways in which choice was experienced by the students: (1) an opportunity for self-improvement, (2) an escape from the current situation, (3) a threat, for which the alternative would be a severe consequence, and (4) a nudge taken from a respected adult. Using a ‘contexts-for-action’ ecological model of agency, we seek to understand the construct types by exploring the complex factors that constrain or legitimize why, how, when, and with whom a student makes his/her ‘choice'. The contexts that emerged in this study relate to the internal or external influences as well as whether the choice was proactive or reactive.     

Why students become more engaged or more disengaged during the semester: A self-determination theory dual-process model

We adopted a dual-process model within a self-determination theory framework to investigate why students sometimes veer toward a longitudinal trajectory of rising classroom engagement during the semester and why they other times tend toward a trajectory of rising disengagement. Measures of perceived autonomy support, perceived teacher control, need satisfaction, need frustration, engagement, and disengagement were collected from 366 (174 females, 192 males) Korean high-school students using a three-wave longitudinal research design. Multi-level structural equation modeling analyses found that perceived autonomy support predicted longitudinal changes need satisfaction which predicted changes in engagement and also that perceived teacher control predicted longitudinal changes need frustration which predicted changes disengagement. Reciprocal effects also emerged in that extent of disengagement predicted both longitudinal increases in students' perceptions of teacher control and decreases in perceptions of teacher autonomy support. We conclude that students tend toward a semester-long trajectory of rising engagement when they perceive their teachers to be autonomy supportive and need satisfying while they tend toward a trajectory of rising disengagement when they perceive their teachers to be controlling and need frustrating.     

Autonomy and competence frustration in young adolescent classrooms: Different associations with active and passive disengagement

Few studies have attempted to identify distinct psychological correlates of different forms of classroom disengagement. Drawing from basic psychological needs theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), this study investigated two divergent mechanisms predicting active and passive classroom disengagement. Pupils (N = 647; age = 11–14 years) and their respective teachers completed a questionnaire measuring the study variables. Using structural equation modelling, pupils' perceptions of teacher psychological control positively predicted pupils' autonomy and competence frustration in class. Pupils' competence frustration indirectly and positively associated with teacher-rated passive disengagement (e.g. daydreaming in class), via reduced feelings of vitality. Pupils' autonomy frustration demonstrated positive associations with both active disengagement (e.g. talking and making noise) and passive disengagement but neither relationship was explained by feelings of vitality. These distinct mechanisms may have implications for educators, identifying potential causes of different forms of pupil disengagement and the importance of avoiding psychological control in classrooms.     

Strategic Communication during Marital Relationship Dissolution: Disengagement Resistance Strategies

This study investigated the communication strategies used by divorced individuals who did not wish their marriages to end (non-initiators). Participants were 270 divorced persons drawn from divorce recovery and support groups as well as network sampling. An adaptation of Buss's (1988 Buss , D. M. ( 1988 ). From vigilance to violence: Tactics of mate retention in American undergraduates . Ethology and Sociobiology , 9 , 291 – 317 . [CROSSREF] [CSA] [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) taxonomy of partner retention tactics served to capture the communication strategies of non-initiators during marital dissolution. A factor analysis revealed that four disengagement resistance strategies—commitment, alignment, negativity, and harm—are used by non-initiators during the process of marital dissolution.     

How Violent Video Games Communicate Violence: A Literature Review and Content Analysis of Moral Disengagement Factors

Mechanisms of moral disengagement in violent video game play have recently received considerable attention among communication scholars. To date, however, no study has analyzed the prevalence of moral disengagement factors in violent video games. To fill this research gap, the present approach includes both a systematic literature review and a content analysis of moral disengagement cues embedded in the narratives and actual game play of 17 top-ranked first-person shooters (PC). Findings suggest that moral disengagement factors are frequently embedded in first-person shooters, but their prevalence varies considerably. Most violent video games include justifications of the portrayed violence, a distorted portrayal of consequences, and dehumanization of opponents. Implications of the findings for research on violent games are discussed.     

Predicting maintenance enactment from relational schemata,spousal behavior,and relational characteristics

Thus far, researchers have made significant strides in identifying maintenance behaviors and articulating the impact of maintenance behaviors on salient relational characteristics. This study seeks to identify those variables which best predict the enactment of particular maintenance strategies among married individuals. Data were collected from 520 married individuals. Fitzpatrick's (1988) relational schemata, perception of spouse's use of maintenance behaviors, and one's own satisfaction and commitment served as the independent variables. Stafford, Dainton, and Haas' (2000) typology of maintenance behaviors served as the dependent variables. Results indicate that the most potent predictor of an individual's enactment of a selected maintenance behavior is his or her perception of the spouse's use of that same behavior. The variance explained ranged from a low of .04 to a high of .49.     

Effects of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Motivations on Film Enjoyment Through Moral Disengagement

In light of literature documenting differences in viewers’ entertainment preferences, this study (N = 168) examined how motivations for film consumption based on pleasure (hedonism) and meaning (eudaimonia) are associated with moral disengagement and enjoyment of content featuring a morally ambiguous character. Findings indicate that whereas hedonic motivation positively influenced moral disengagement, eudaimonic motivation had the reverse effect. Furthermore, eudaimonic motivation had a direct positive influence on enjoyment, and the relationship between hedonic motivation and enjoyment was mediated by moral disengagement. Implications for the role of morality as it relates to individual preferences for media consumption and enjoyment are discussed.