What Causes Success and Failure in School and Friendship? Developmental Differentiation of Children's Beliefs across Middle Childhood

1990 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen A. Skinner
Keyword(s):  
School Performance ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Perceived Control ◽  
Developmental Change ◽  
Life Domains ◽  
Perceived Effectiveness ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Children's Beliefs ◽  
Developmental Differentiation ◽  
Domain Differences

A study was conducted to examine the development of domain-specific perceived control during middle childhood. Four hundred and twenty children, ages 7-12 years, reported the perceived effectiveness of five causes (effort, attributes, powerful others, luck, and unknown factors) in producing outcomes in two life domains, namely, school performance and friendship. Analyses of mean level differences between domains revealed that effort was perceived as a more effective cause in the academic domain and that attributes, powerful others, and luck were viewed as more important to friendship outcomes. Furthermore, for effort and powerful others, these domain differences increased with age. In contrast, the perceived effectiveness of attribute causes became more similar across domains as children became older. The potential of these findings is discussed with respect to explaining developmental change in the relations between domain-specific perceived control and corresponding aspects of behaviour.

Children's Beliefs about Control, Means-ends, and Agency: Developmental Differences during Middle Childhood

1988 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen A. Skinner ◽  
Michael Chapman ◽  
Paul B. Baltes
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Perceived Control ◽  
Developmental Differences ◽  
Control Beliefs ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Agency Beliefs ◽  
Children’S Behaviour ◽  
Children's Beliefs

A new action-theoretical conceptualisation was used to study developmental differences in children's generalised perceived control. According to this conceptualisation, controland action-related beliefs are multidimensional and may include not only (1) expectancies about the extent to which an agent (e.g. the self) can obtain desired outcomes (referred to as control beliefs), but also (2) expectancies about the extent to which certain causes or means produce outcomes (means-ends beliefs), as well as (3) expectancies about the extent to which the agent possesses the potential means (agency beliefs). Cross-sectional age differences in these three sets of beliefs were studied in 240 boys and girls from age 7 to 12. The results of age comparisons in mean level indicated that: (1) perceived control of positive events is greater than that of negative events at all ages; (2) the categories of means-ends beliefs (i.e. for the causes effort, attributes, powerful others, luck, unknown) are increasingly differentiated from each other as to their level of perceived effectiveness; (3) agency beliefs for effort, attributes, and powerful others are high across middle childhood. The increase in the perceived accessibility of powerful others is an especially noteworthy finding. Surprisingly few sex differences were found, with the exception that boys rates the cause "attributes" as more effective than girls. The pattern of age differences in control, means-ends, and agency beliefs not only adds to our understanding of the development of generalized expectancies involving control and action across middle childhood, but also holds promise for future research on the origins of these beliefs and on how they influence children's behaviour and action.

scholarly journals Personal Experiences of Age Discrimination in Different Life Domains: Determinants and Consequences

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 192-192
Author(s):  
Jana Nikitin ◽  
Sylvie Graf ◽  
Klaus Rothermund ◽  
Maria Clara P de Paula Couto
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Age Discrimination ◽  
Life Domains ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Subjective Importance ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Age discrimination is pervasive in society which bears far-reaching consequences for individuals in terms of decreased psychological and physical health. Age discrimination can be experienced in different life-domains and perceived as a social (others’ experiences) or as a personal phenomenon (own experiences). Our first goal was to examine country- and age-related differences in personal experiences of age discrimination in distinct life domains, reported by 2,817 participants aged 40 to 90 years from the US, China, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Taiwan. As another goal, we investigated the impact of age discrimination on life satisfaction. Personal age discrimination was domain-specific, with more experiences reported in the family, work, and personality domains. Personal age discrimination increased with age and was higher in China and Taiwan. Age discrimination negatively predicted life satisfaction. This negative effect was more pronounced if age discrimination was experienced in domains with high subjective importance.

scholarly journals The Measurement and Role of Ecological Resilience Systems Theory Across Domain-Specific Outcomes: The Domain-Specific Resilient Systems Scales

Assessment ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1444-1461 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Maltby ◽  
Liz Day ◽  
Sophie S. Hall ◽  
Sally Chivers
Keyword(s):  
Systems Theory ◽  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Adaptive Capacity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
Life Domains ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Educational Engagement ◽  
Trait Resilience

Research suggests that trait resilience may be best understood within an ecological resilient systems theory, comprising engineering, ecological, and adaptive capacity resilience. However, there is no evidence as to how this theory translates to specific life domains. Data from two samples (the United States, n = 1,278; the United Kingdom, n = 211) facilitated five studies that introduce the Domain-Specific Resilient Systems Scales for assessing ecological resilient systems theory within work, health, marriage, friendships, and education. The Domain-Specific Resilient Systems Scales are found to predict unique variance in job satisfaction, lower job burnout, quality-of-life following illness, marriage commitment, and educational engagement, while controlling for factors including sex, age, personality, cognitive ability, and trait resilience. The findings also suggest a distinction between the three resilience dimensions in terms of the types of systems to which they contribute. Engineering resilience may contribute most to life domains where an established system needs to be maintained, for example, one’s health. Ecological resilience may contribute most to life domains where the system needs sustainability in terms of present and future goal orientation, for example, one’s work. Adaptive Capacity may contribute most to life domains where the system needs to be retained, preventing it from reaching a crisis state, for example, work burnout.

Effects of Welfare and Employment Policies on Middle-Childhood School Performance: Do They Vary by Race/Ethnicity and, If So, Why?

2009 ◽  
pp. 370-384
Author(s):  
Hirokazu Yoshikawa ◽  
Pamela Morris ◽  
Lisa Gennetian ◽  
Amanda L. Roy ◽  
Anna Gassman-Pines ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
School Performance ◽  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Employment Policies ◽  
Race Ethnicity

The siren song of aesthetics? Domain differences and creativity in engineering and design

2018 ◽  
Vol 233 (2) ◽  
pp. 451-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H Cropley ◽  
James C Kaufman
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Design ◽  
Common View ◽  
Arts And Sciences ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Industrial Designers ◽  
Product Creativity ◽  
Domain Differences

For many years, researchers have debated the role of “domain” in creativity. Opinion remains divided, but a common view is that creativity is a combination of domain-general elements, coupled with domain-specific manifestations, usually in the form of different kinds of products. Discussions of domains and creativity frequently take place in very broad, thematic terms, differentiating only between Arts and Sciences, with less attention given to differences within domains. The goal of this paper is to explore a single technological domain, studying differences between the micro-domains of Engineering and Industrial Design. Do engineers and industrial designers differ when evaluating the creativity of products? If they differ, what might be the underlying drivers of these differences? Contrary to expectations, not only were there significant differences between these groups, but evidence presented in this study suggests that engineers have difficulty differentiating between aesthetics and functionality, as components of product creativity, in contrast to industrial designers, who seem to possess a more discriminating eye.

scholarly journals Age Differences in Age Stereotypes

GeroPsych ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara De Paula Couto ◽  
Ronja Ostermeier ◽  
Klaus Rothermund
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young People ◽  
Age Differences ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Life Domains ◽  
Old People ◽  
Age Stereotypes ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Better Than

Abstract. We examined the domain-specific views of young and old people held by young (18–30 years, n = 278) and older adults (60–85 years, n = 289) in Germany, the USA, and India. Views about old and young people differed between life domains but were mostly similar across age groups and countries. Older adults in the USA and Germany – but not in India – held slightly less negative views about old people than did young people in some domains, possibly indicating a projection of better-than-expected own aging experiences of older adults into their in-group stereotypes in Western countries. The findings of our study can be explained by socialization processes, supporting mostly a developmental perspective regarding the acquisition and endorsement of age stereotypes.

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