Social cognitive predictors of Mexican American college students' academic and life satisfaction

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on September 28, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Lisa Y. Flores.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2009.This study used Lent's (2004) social cognitive model of well-being to examine the academic and life satisfaction of 460 Mexican American college students. A model demonstrated that positive affect, acculturation, college self-efficacy, college outcome expectations, and academic goals predicted academic satisfaction and life satisfaction. Specifically, positive affect had a significant positive relation to all variables measured in the model. Further, acculturation predicted college self-efficacy, college outcome expectations, and academic goals but not academic satisfaction. In addition, college self-efficacy predicted college outcome expectations, academic goals, academic satisfaction, and life satisfaction. College outcome expectations predicted academic satisfaction but not academic goals. Academic goals predicated academic satisfaction and life satisfaction while academic satisfaction predicted life satisfaction. Implications of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.Includes bibliographical reference

Perspectives of work among Mexican Immigrants

Presented at the American Psychological Association Convention, New Orleans, August 10-13, 2006.Includes bibliographical references.In this pilot study, four Mexican immigrants who have lived in the United States from one to five years were interviewed about their experiences with work in the U.S. Interview data were analyzed using consensual qualitative research methods (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997). Themes associated with their work experiences were motivation for working in U.S., barriers to working, access to working, attitudes toward work, conceptions of work, work goals and expectations, work climate, and information for others. Implications of the results for vocational psychologists and suggestions for future research are discussed