Several measures of experiential avoidance have been developed in investigating how efforts to control unwanted private events may contribute to psychopathology. We sought to extend research on ...experiential control by developing and examining the psychometric properties of the Experiential Approach Scale (EAS) as a measure reflecting efforts to sustain desired affective states. An exploratory and 2 confirmatory analyses revealed a 2-factor structure comprised of Anxious Clinging and Experience Prolonging subscales. Further structural analyses supported a hierarchical model of experiential control, with experiential approach and experiential avoidance as first-order factors. Both EAS subscales demonstrated high internal reliability and temporal stability as well as sufficient convergent and divergent validity. Only Anxious Clinging was positively associated with measures of psychological distress and psychopathology and inversely related to subjective happiness and satisfaction with life. Suggestions for further research in the development of the EAS and its possible use in investigating experiential approach are discussed.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
For over 70 years, research has tackled the issue of academic misconduct in the university setting. However, a review of the literature reveals that (a) consensus on the magnitude of such behavior ...has not been reached, and, (b) no one with expertise in quantitative methodology has attempted to classify the behaviors that describe cheaters until Ferrell and Daniel proposed the use of the Academic Misconduct Survey (AMS). Even they, following their 1995 study, made a call for the development of understandable constructs in the measurement of cheating. Seventeen years later, the present study sought to produce such constructs. In a series of three phases of data collection, 4,100 participants completed a revised version of the AMS. A factor solution containing five factors proved to be the most interpretable. The five factors are as follows: creative padding, interactive cheating, false personal excuses, taking credit for others’ work, exam cheating. The present paper outlines the constructs proposed and discusses implications in this area for (1) scholars within the area of measurement and (2) educators with regard to student accountability and performance.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The purpose of this research is to provide additional empirical evidence supporting the use of both a multidimensional profile and an overall evaluation of teaching effectiveness as valid indicators ...of student perceptions of effective classroom instruction. A factor analytic teaching evaluation instrument was used that also included open-ended comments on four questions. Numerical scores from 208 classes were matched with the average valence of the open-ended comments. It was found that the average valences were highly positively correlated with the numerical factor scores that make up the multidimensional profile of teaching effectiveness and with the second-order factor that serves as an overall evaluation of teaching effectiveness. The implications of these results for the usefulness of student evaluations are discussed.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Social capital is an increasingly popular construct in research examining social and behavioral determinants of health and well-being. Yet, comparing the results of social capital research is ...inhibited by inconsistencies in labeling, different definitions and subsequent disagreement on level of analysis, and limited evaluation of the psychometric properties of measures of social capital. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Social Capital Questionnaire (Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 36(1) (2000) 23). In the current study, the original Australian-based instrument was modified for telephone administration with a US sample. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a similar factor structure to that found during initial survey development. These findings lend support to the notion of social capital as a meaningful construct and suggest the Onyx and Bullen instrument deserves further attention as a practical tool for health researchers and community agencies interested in social capital.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
This research sought to investigate student success using psychological sense of community as a guiding theory with the intention of providing information that could be applied in a university ...setting. Policy makers, researchers, and practitioners involved with higher education need programs for student success that are both efficient and effective (Wolf-Wendel, Ward, & Kinzie, 2009). Students who are successful achieve adequate grade point averages while enrolled in courses and complete their programs of study in a timely manner. In a culture where college students are a diverse group of individuals, numerous factors could influence success. The development of a sense-of-community scale and an investigation of its relationship to student success were used to explore how universities might be able to assist student success. This study created a sense-of-community survey from the National Survey of Student Engagement to study the relationship between sense of community and student success. Factor analysis suggested four factors: Campus Social Milieu, Divergent Thinking, Institutional Involvement, and Relationships. Reliable relationships were apparent between sense of community and student success. (Contains 8 tables and 1 figure.)
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
The degree to which experiential avoidance may represent a functional response class was examined by comparing the perseverance of participants displaying high versus low levels of experiential ...avoidance, as assessed by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (Hayes et al., 2004), during a “psychological biathlon” consisting of 2 challenging tasks that previously had only been studied separately. Consistent with previous research, high avoidant participants were less tolerant of pain and were outperformed by low avoidant participants during a distress-inducing perceptual–motor task. The 2 groups of participants also differed significantly from each other on a composite perseverance measure derived from standard scores on each of the separate tasks, suggesting that experiential avoidance operates as a functional response class. We discuss implications of the findings for the assessment, further investigation, and conceptualization of experiential avoidance as a core process that supports diverse forms of human suffering and dysfunctional behavior.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, ODKLJ, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
This study created a sense-of-community survey from the National Survey of Student Engagement to study the relationship between sense of community and student success. Factor analysis suggested four ...factors: Campus Social Milieu, Divergent Thinking, Institutional Involvement, and Relationships. Reliable relationships were apparent between sense of community and student success.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK, ZRSKP
Universities have traditionally had a vested interest in the civic preparation of students. In order to understand the unique situation of this population of students in a university serving ...non-traditional community students, qualitative data was used to identify pathways and barriers associated with their civic engagement. Results suggest themes associated with time, knowledge, and access.
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IJS, NUK, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
An unresolved issue in student evaluations of teaching effectiveness (SETE) literature is what type of overall evaluation of teaching effectiveness should be used in personnel decisions. The ...objective of this study is to compare the merits of: (a) an overall evaluation made by students, (b) a weighted average overall evaluation with the weights determined by students, (c) a weighted average overall evaluation with the weights being determined by the individual instructors teaching their respective classes, (d) an unweighted average overall evaluation, and (e) a second-order factor that proxies for an overall evaluation. Our results indicate that: (a) all of these overall evaluations were very highly intercorrelated, (b) the unweighted and weighted average overall evaluations measured virtually the same thing, and (c) the second-order factor that served as an overall evaluation was most highly correlated with the other overall evaluations and had the advantage of being most understandable to the faculty.
