PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Year:2012 | Volume:15 | Issue:1 (29)|Papers Count:7

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the consistency of students' learning style with media utilization of faculty members of Human Science department in Isfahan University. Eighty-four Human Science students were selected through random sampling method. Instruments used included learning style inventory (VARK) and researcher made questionnaire for measuring the media utilization. Mean, Standard Deviation, t-test, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, Gamma coefficient of concordance, Somers’d coefficient of concordance were the statistical tests used. Results indicated that dominant style of Human Science students was visual. Comparing learning styles of male and female students showed the dominant learning style of males and females was visual. Also, there was significant difference between media utilization of faculty members according to sense. Largest mean for media used by faculty members of Human Science was aural and least mean beloned to kinesthetic media. Results also indicated that there were not consistencies between visual learning style of students with media used by Isfahan faculty members.

The purpose of this study was to test alternative casual models of relation among motivational (self- efficacy, control beliefs of learning, and test anxiety), cognitive and metacognitive (critical thinking, metacog-nition, self-regulation, time management, and peer help seeking) variables, and academic achievement in female high school students studying in the mathematics branch. The sample was selected through multistage cluster sampling. two hundred fifty female high school students in the mathematics branch were selected. Some subscales of the Motiva-tional Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ, Pintrich et al., 1991) were used. The students’ average scores in five specific courses at the end of the academic year were considered as the index for their academic achievement. Data was analyzed by Cronbach's alpha, confir-matory and exploratory factor analysis, and path analysis. The present study tested two casual models. Although the two models were supported by the obtained results, the goodness of fit indices of the second model was better. The first model indicated that time and environment management has a mediating role in relations among test anxiety, self-efficacy, control of learning beliefs, and academic achievement. The second model indicated that test anxiety had a mediating role in relations among time and environment management, peer help seeking, and academic achievement. The models indicated that self-efficacy had a positive, significant, and direct effect on academic achievement. Test anxiety had a significant, negative, and direct effect on academic achievement.

The aim of this research was to study situational and personal antecedents of change-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors among employees of industries and organizations in the city of Isfahan. The sample group consisted of 309 persons who were selected from various industrial organizations. Research instruments consisted of: Change-oriented citizenship behaviors (with 10 items), goal orientation based on learning (with 9 items), goal orientation based on performance (with 9 items), organizational commitment (with 6 items), leader-member exchange quality (with 7 items), transformational leader-ship behaviors (with 5 items) and contingent reward leadership behaviors (with 4 items). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) on the basis of maximum likelihood. Results showed that, the proposed model lacks suitable fitness for industrial organizations. Therefore the proposed model was revised on the basis of statistical and theoretical rationale. The revised model shows suitable fitness. In the revised model, learning goal orientation, performance goal orientation, and organizational commitment, respectively showed the highest relationship with change oriented citizenship behavior (standardized beta coefficients were; 0.54, 0.22 and 0.11 respectively). Results also showed a significant relation between leader-member exchange and organizational commitment (b= 0.256), between organizational commitment and learning goal orientation (b= 0.361) and between learning goal orientation and performance goal orientation (b= 0.428). Leadership behaviors also have a significant relation with leader member exchange, organizational commitment, and performance goal orientation.

The present research was aimed to clinically compare general self-efficacy beliefs of depressed or anxious students with normal students at Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. For this purpose, samples of 180 students were selected from 3 groups through available sampling, based on the opinion of the Psychiatrist and diagnostic tools (Cattell Anxiety and Beck Depression Inventories). Each group included 30 girls and 30 boys in both anxious and depressed groups, who had visited the counseling center of the university during the first three months of 1389 (March, April and May of 2010). The normal students consisted of those who were studying during the second semester of 88-89 (2009-2010). This group was then matched with the first group in terms of gender, age, educational level, and marriage status. Another tool used in this research, was the scale of General Self-efficacy (GSE-10). Data were analyzed using the Chi-square, ANOVA, and Scheffe post hoc tests. Results showed significant differences between the general self-efficacy of depressed, anxious and normal students. Also, normal students scored higher in the general self-efficacy.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of the dimensions of self-awareness and loneliness with mental health among university students. Therefore, 281 undergraduates (207 women and 74 men) from Shiraz University were recruited for this study. The Self-Awareness Scale, Loneliness Questionnaire, and General Health Question-naire (GHQ28) were used as instruments for psychometric evaluation. Factor analysis and correlation between subscales and total scores revealed the construct validity of these instruments. Reliability of the instruments was revealed through the use of Cronbach’s alpha coefficientts. Results indicated the positive relationship between social anxiety, loneliness, physical symptoms, anxiety/ insomnia, social dysfunction, and depression. In addition, the rising intensity of loneliness, which reflects the student’s poor and inefficient social interaction on campus, can further increase psychological disorders in students. A series of hierarchical multiple regressions showed that students’ mental health was predicted by social anxiety and loneliness.

The present study has investigated the effect of reciprocal teaching, also known as “cross-age peer tutoring” on reading achieve-ment and self-esteem of primary school students. The target population consisted of second and fourth grade students in the 19th educational district of Tehran. Among this group, 34 students (17 from the control and 17 from the experimental groups) whose grades were below the class average and 34 fourth grade students (17 control and 17 experimental) who volunteer-ed to act as substitute teachers, were selected for the sample group. The Cooper-Smith Self-Esteem questionnaire was used to investigate the self-esteem variable. Sample group subjects, were put randomly in the experimental group (17 second graders and 17 fourth graders) and the same number of students were assigned to the control group. The experimental group, trained through the Reciprocal Teaching method in 24 sessions, each session consisting of 45 minutes. Performances of the two groups were compared based on their reading capacity and the Cooper -Smith Self-Esteem Questionnaire (pre-test and post-test). Results of the analysis showed that the Reciprocal Teaching approach has positive effects on both groups: the reading achievement and self-esteem of the experimental group subjects (p<0.01).

The current research was aimed at constructing and validating the Lifestyle Questionnaire. The Statistical population consisted of all school teachers employed by the city of Isfahan’s board of education in the year 2009-2010. Participants included 300 teachers (145 men and 155 women) selected via cluster random sampling. The instruments were the Lifestyle Questionnaire (LSQ), which was constructed by the researchers, and Ryff’s scales of Psychological Well-being (RSPWB). The LSQ is shown to have sufficiently high validity and reliability to measure individual lifestyle. Factor analysis results show that the lifestyle questionnaire (LSQ) is multidimen-sional, consisting of ten factors, namely: physical health, exercise and fitness, weight control and nutrition, illness prevention, psychological health, spiritual health ,social health, drug and alcohol avoidance, accident prevention, and environmental health respectively according to their eigenvalue and percentage of variance.