Browsing by Author "Gish, Claudia Imwalle"
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Item Construct validity of Bakan's agency and communion(1975) Gish, Claudia Imwalle; Ward, G. Robert; Edwards, Donald D.; Jones, Howard L.; Cox, John A.This study was conducted to provide answers to the following questions: 1. Does a significant relationship exist between male sex and Bakan's agency concept, as well as between female sex and Bakan's communion concept? 2. Are there logically predictable, significant relationships between scores on an instrument designed to measure the constructs agency and communion and selected scores on personality assessment instruments? The theoretical bases for this study were Bakan's concepts, as well as Block's sex role extrapolation from Loevinger's theory of ego development. Agency, as Bakan has described it, is manifested in self-protection, self-assertion, and self-expansion while communion manifests itself in being at one with others, in contact, openness, and union. Bakan's concepts are symbolic of all life processes; however, in terms of sex roles they are stereotypically masculine and feminine. Block has integrated Bakan's concepts with Loevinger's theory, extrapolating a relationship between agency and communion and level of ego development. Block postulates that lower levels of ego development are representative of agency, while higher levels are represented by attempts at integration of agency and communion, and movement toward an androgynous sex role. This study has related traditional sex role stereotypes to Bakan's concepts and has offered agency and communion as alternative constructs; the premise being that it is no longer functional to retain the gender associations of the words masculine and feminine in many contexts. There are implications for socialization of males and females, vocational choice, professional training, and psychological testing. The subjects were 73 graduate students in Administration and Supervision (AED) and 26 graduate students in Guidance and Counseling (CED) in the College of Education, University of Houston. The Descriptive Word List (DWL) was developed to measure the Agency-Communion constructs. Spearman-Brown reliability coefficients were: AED, r = .89, Agency Scale; r = .84, Communion Scale; CED, r = .88, Agency Scale; r = .97, Communion Scale. Raw scores on the two DWL scales were correlated with sex and with scores on the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), the Adjective Self-Description (ASD), and the Opinion Scale (OS). Two correlation matrices were obtained; multiple regression analyses were also computed. Results indicated no significant relationships between sex and DWL A and C scale scores; the evidence points toward an integrated model of Agency-Masculinity and Communion-Femininity. Results relating to the second question indicated only the predicted relationships between the CPI Self-acceptance scale and Agency scores, and the CPI Femininity scale and Communion scores were significantly correlated. Post hoc consideration of multiple regression analyses of the variables Agency and Communion DWL scores proved to be the most fruitful research approach with regard to the second question. The portrait which emerged from regression analysis of Agency scores indicated a strong "self" orientation with emphasis on surface appearances or impressions as well as on self-assertive or aggressive elements which were combined with problems relating to impulse control. The portrait which emerged from regression analysis of Communion scores indicated strong social interest with emphasis on warmth and an orientation toward a group. Results indicated social maturity, social integrity, and conformity to a group. Findings related to hypothesis one and post hoc multiple regression analyses related to hypothesis two are congruent with Bakan's theory and Block's sex role extrapolation from Loevinger, and are supportive of the construct validity of agency and communion.Item Prediction of academic success in a university Honors program(1968) Gish, Claudia Imwalle; Stovall, Frank L.; Schnitzen, Joseph P.; Cox, John A.; Zwicky, Laurie BowmanThe purpose of this study was to assess the predictive validity of scores made on aptitude, achievement, and personality tests, as well as the high school achievement records which were used in the selection of students for the Honors Program at the University of Houston. Coefficients of correlation were obtained as measures of relationship between the predictor variables and the criteria. The criteria of 'success' were (1) the first semester grade point average (GPA I); and, (2) the cumulative grade point average (CUM GPA). The 24 predictor variables were the 3 scores of the Scholastic Aptitude Test, SAT-V, SAT-M, and SAT-T; the Concept Mastery Test; the Cooperative English Test scores on Vocabulary, Level of Comprehension, and Speed; the 16 scales of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule which include Achievement, Deference, Order, Exhibitionism, Autonomy, Affiliation, Intraception, Succorance, Dominance, Abasement, Nurturance, Change, Endurance, Heterosexuality, Aggression, and Consistency; and, the high school rank (converted to a percentile). The total sample numbered 111 students of whom 61 were females and 50 were males. At the time of this study they were classified as follows: 49 were freshmen; 33 were sophomores; and, 29 were juniors. The data for the study were obtained from the permanent record files of the University of Houston Honors Program, the official high school transcripts, the official University of Houston transcripts, and the files and records of the University of Houston Counseling and Testing Service. In addition to the coefficients of correlation between the predictor variables and the criteria of success, inter-correlations also were obtained between the predictor variables and the criteria. The Pearson Product Moment coefficient of correlation was used in all instances. The procedures involved the use of the IBM 1230 Optical Scanning Device for the card punching operations and the Sigma 7 Computer for the mathematical computations of means, standard deviations, and correlation coefficients. The study was limited by the restricted number in the sample, by data unavailable for individual subjects, as well as by the high aptitude and achievement level of the individuals within the sample. A major statistical limitation lay in the restricted range of the scores obtained on the tests, by the high ranks achieved in secondary school,and by the comparatively high level of the 'success' criteria, the grade averages earned by the sample group. As an initial study, a pilot research project, the study was an analysis or description of some of the more basic aspects of the Honors Program, namely, selection and performance. The study did not reveal significant relationships between any of the three SAT scores and GPA I or CUM GPA. Nor were significant coefficients of correlation obtained between the Concept Mastery Test, the three scores on the Cooperative English Test, and the two criteria of success, GPA I and CUM GPA. The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule, while providing a useful personality profile of the honors group, did not reveal positive correlations with either of the criteria, with the exception of the sue (Succorance) scale which was correlated at .29 to the CUM GPA at the .05 level of significance. The end (Endurance) scale correlated -.42 with CUM GPA, at the .01 level of confidence, a seemingly surprising finding in view of the trait it purports to measure. The high school achievement record, in terms of high school rank, proved to be the most useful predictor variable with correlations of .34 to .45 with the two criteria, depending on the sample size. The two 'success' criteria, first semester grade point average and cumulative grade point average are very highly correlated, at .94 and .95 (depending on sample size), and indicated that future college achievement tends to be closely related to first semester grade point average. On the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule a t-test determined the significant differences between the mean scores obtained by the honors sample group and the test standardization norm group. The following differences were noted: the honors sample group scored higher on the scales of Achievement, Intraception, Endurance, and Change; they scored lower on the scales of Order, Heterosexuality, Deference, Affiliation, and Succorance.