The first partnership experience and personality development. A propensity score matching study in young adulthood

Personality development in young adulthood has been associated with the experience of a number of new social roles. However, the causal interpretation of these findings is complicated by the fact that it is not possible to randomize young adults by their life experiences. To address this problem in the context of the first partnership experience, we applied propensity score matching to a sample of initially inexperienced singles and followed them across 4 years. Using matched samples, results indicated that the first partnership experience relatively robust increased life satisfaction. The first partnership experience between the ages of 23 and 25 (but not in other ages) was also related to higher self-esteem, extraversion, and conscientiousness and to lower neuroticism. The discussion highlights the effect of the first partnership on the development of a mature personality and the potential for propensity score matching to make useful contributions to social and personality research. (DIPF/Orig.

Some thoughts on analytical choices in the scaling model for test scores in international large-scale assessment studies

International large-scale assessments (LSAs), such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), provide essential information about the distribution of student proficiencies across a wide range of countries. The repeated assessments of the distributions of these cognitive domains offer policymakers important information for evaluating educational reforms and received considerable attention from the media. Furthermore, the analytical strategies employed in LSAs often define methodological standards for applied researchers in the field. Hence, it is vital to critically reflect on the conceptual foundations of analytical choices in LSA studies. This article discusses the methodological challenges in selecting and specifying the scaling model used to obtain proficiency estimates from the individual student responses in LSA studies. We distinguish design-based inference from model-based inference. It is argued that for the official reporting of LSA results, design-based inference should be preferred because it allows for a clear definition of the target of inference (e.g., country mean achievement) and is less sensitive to specific modeling assumptions. More specifically, we discuss five analytical choices in the specification of the scaling model: (1) specification of the functional form of item response functions, (2) the treatment of local dependencies and multidimensionality, (3) the consideration of test-taking behavior for estimating student ability, and the role of country differential items functioning (DIF) for (4) cross-country comparisons and (5) trend estimation. This article's primary goal is to stimulate discussion about recently implemented changes and suggested refinements of the scaling models in LSA studies

Predicting Homework Effort: Support for a Domain-Specific, Multilevel Homework Model

To date, homework research has been only loosely tied to theories of educational psychology and has relied mainly on time-on-task measures. The two studies (414 and 1,501 eighth graders) presented in this paper provide support for a domain-specific, multilevel model that includes an expanded effort measure, motivational predictors (expectancy and value components), learning environment variables, parental behavior variables, and stable personal characteristics such as cognitive ability and conscientiousness. Homework effort was found to be positively related to achievement. Only moderate intercorrelations were observed between the corresponding constructs of homework motivation and behavior in math and English as a foreign language. Conscientiousness and homework motivation (expectancy and value components) proved to be the strongest predictors of homework effort in math, English, and French. Perceived homework quality varied considerably between classes and impacted on homework motivation and behavior

Between-Teacher Differences in Homework Assignments and the Development of Students’ Homework Effort, Homework Emotions, and Achievement

The study examines whether teachers’ homework objectives, implementation practices, and attitudes towards parental involvement are associated with the development of students’ homework effort, homework emotions, and achievement during grade 8. A total of 63 teachers (40 male, 23 female; mean teaching experience M = 17.5 years) of French as a second language and their 1,299 grade 8 students (51.2% female; mean age at first measurement point: M = 13.84, SD = 0.56) participated in the study. In multilevel models, teachers’ homework attitudes and behaviors were specified to predict outcomes at the end of grade 8, controlling for covariates at the beginning of grade 8. A low emphasis on drill and practice tasks and a high emphasis on motivation and self-regulation was associated with favorable developments in homework effort and achievement. Controlling homework assignments were associated with less homework effort and more negative homework emotions; the opposite pattern was found for students whose teacher supported student homework autonomy rather than parental homework involvement. The authors call for a systematic integration of findings from homework research in teacher training

Predicting career aspirations and university majors from academic ability and self-concept : A longitudinal applications of the internal-external frame of reference model

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics university majors are critical pathways toward prestigious careers, yet women are still underrepresented in many of these domains. In this chapter, we review the role that self-beliefs play in the development of educational aspirations and attempts to realize those aspirations at the end of secondary school. In particular, we use the internal/external frame of reference model to explore the potential of achievement and self-concept profiles as predictors of university major aspirations and attainment as one possible explanation for gender differences in these domains. After reviewing previous research in this area, we provide a research example using a large longitudinal database from Germany (N = 1,881). Results suggest that (a) high math achievement and self-concept predicted math-intensive university major choice and lower likelihood of entering verbal-intensive majors (and vice versa); (b) there appeared to be a continuum of university majors such that strong mathematics achievement and self-concept profiles predicted entry into hard sciences, while the opposite profile predicted entry into the humanities with biology and medicine displaying more mixed patterns; and (c) after controlling for achievement and self-concept there were still important gender differences in university majors. Implications for theory and practice are discussed

Different Forces, Same Consequence: Conscientiousness and Competence Beliefs are Independent Predictors of Academic Effort and Achievement

Conscientiousness and domain-specific competence beliefs are known to be highly important predictors of academic effort and achievement. Given their basis in distinct research traditions, however, these constructs have rarely been examined simultaneously. Three studies with 571, 415, and 1,535 students, respectively, found a moderate association between conscientiousness and competence beliefs, but competence beliefs meaningfully predicted both conscientiousness and academic effort, irrespective of how academic effort was measured (student report or diary data). The associations of competence beliefs with academic effort were highly domain specific, whereas conscientiousness was predictive of academic effort across a wide range of academic subjects. Conscientiousness and competence beliefs were also associated with academic achievement. Cognitive ability, although associated with academic achievement, only loosely predicted academic effort

Schulformen als differenzielle Lernmilieus: Institutionelle und kompositionelle Effekte auf die Leistungsentwicklung im Fach Französisch

Based on two representative samples of eighth grade students from the Swiss cantons Wallis (N = 926) and Fribourg of (N = 778), the present study examines achievement gains in French as a foreign language in the different tracks of the Swiss secondary school system. The main focus lies on effects resulting from differences in the educational environments of the tracks. Beside differences in group compositional characteristics (compositional effects), differences in institutionalized learning opportunities (institutional effects; e.g., track-specific traditions of teacher education, didactics, curricula) need to be considered here. Results of multilevel analyses showed that students’ learning progress differed between the tracks, even when controlling for various intake characteristics (including prior knowledge) at the student level. Further analyses revealed that track differences in student gains persisted, even when controlling for the intellectual and social composition of the student body at the class level.Auf der Basis von zwei repräsentativen Schülerstichproben der Schweizer Kantone Wallis (N = 926) und Fribourg (N = 778), die während der 8. Jahrgangsstufe im Fach Französisch als Fremdsprache unterrichtet wurden, geht der vorliegende Beitrag der Frage nach, ob Schülerinnen und Schüler je nach besuchtem Bildungsgang unterschiedliche Fortschritte in der Entwicklung ihrer Fachleistungen machen. Von besonderem Interesse ist dabei, ob und in welchem Ausmaß die Zusammensetzung der Schülerschaft (Kompositionseffekte) und möglicherweise auch institutionell differierende didaktische und curriculare Angebote zwischen den Bildungsgängen (Institutionseffekte) als lernmilieuprägende Faktoren von Bedeutung für die Entwicklung der Fachleistungen sind. In Mehrebenenanalysen zeigten sich auch nach Kontrolle der individuellen Eingangsvoraussetzungen (einschließlich des Vorwissens) bedeutsame Unterschiede in den Lernzuwächsen an den verschiedenen Bildungsgängen. Die weiteren Analysen lassen darauf schließen, dass sowohl von kompositionellen als auch institutionellen Effekten auf die Leistungsentwicklung auszugehen ist

Short assessment of the Big Five: robust across survey methods except telephone interviewing

We examined measurement invariance and age-related robustness of a short 15-item Big Five Inventory (BFI–S) of personality dimensions, which is well suited for applications in large-scale multidisciplinary surveys. The BFI–S was assessed in three different interviewing conditions: computer-assisted or paper-assisted face-to-face interviewing, computer-assisted telephone interviewing, and a self-administered questionnaire. Randomized probability samples from a large-scale German panel survey and a related probability telephone study were used in order to test method effects on self-report measures of personality characteristics across early, middle, and late adulthood. Exploratory structural equation modeling was used in order to test for measurement invariance of the five-factor model of personality trait domains across different assessment methods. For the short inventory, findings suggest strong robustness of self-report measures of personality dimensions among young and middle-aged adults. In old age, telephone interviewing was associated with greater distortions in reliable personality assessment. It is concluded that the greater mental workload of telephone interviewing limits the reliability of self-report personality assessment. Face-to-face surveys and self-administrated questionnaire completion are clearly better suited than phone surveys when personality traits in age-heterogeneous samples are assessed