SELF ASSESSMENT

A personal inventory can reveal your abilities, interests, attitudes, and values. It will define your strengths and your weaknesses. Looking for a match between your strengths and the work you are considering is the most important step before you write a resume or search for a job. In fact, when the time comes to write your resume and prepare for a job interview, you will find the task much easier the more you know about yourself.

What if you are not sure what kind of job or career you want? “You” are the place to start. What do you do well and enjoy doing? Answers will help you identify your strengths and help you to decide on what contributions you can make in the marketplace. Many people try to fit into jobs advertised in newspapers or other sources. The employer today has many qualified candidates from which to choose. You will be seriously considered for a position only by showing the employer that you know who you are, what you can offer and where you are going.

Sometimes it is difficult to examine what may be a weakness. Everyone is not equally good at everything. If you want to improve an area, take steps to work on it, e.g., a writing course to enhance written communication skills. Or, perhaps what you or your friends may think of as a deficiency or weakness in you can be turned into a strength in the right job, e.g., lack of empathy may seem like hard-heartedness, but to a person who repossesses furniture and cars, it can be an advantage.

You will need to commit some time to prepare your personal inventory. Your honesty and the quality of your work will predict your level of success in getting the right job. Write out your answers and the conclusions you come to as a permanent record of your thoughts and feelings. The data then becomes an important resource as you continue in your career planning and job search activities.

Personality & Attitudes

Two of the most important factors to determine your happiness and success in a job are your personality and attitudes. Assess your feelings and actions in different situations as they may be different, e.g., in a large group vs. one-on-one, in a fast-paced vs. slow-paced environment. You are unique, having different tolerance levels than others for chaos, detail, and risk-taking.

Evaluate who you really are now, not the person you think you would like to be. Be honest when you judge your thoughts and feelings, your attitudes and behaviors. Put an x to show each personality trait and self-management skill that especially apply to you. Add to the list other traits describing yourself. Check with your friends. Do they see you as you see yourself?

Choose what you would consider your top 5 personality and attitudinal strengths, and think of an example of a time when you successfully used each one.

Personality Preferences

Discuss your preferences in terms of the way you live in the world both outside yourself and inside yourself, the way you take in information and make decisions, and the type of environment you are most comfortable in.

In what ways do I interact with the world?

Examples: I become energized by being around people most of the time; need to spend time alone; think out loud; need time to think to prepare answers before speaking; pursue a few interests at great depth; share personal information freely, etc.

How do I take in information?

Examples: I concentrate on what I take in through my 5 senses (seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, tasting) and on what is real and concrete; value imagination; look at a situation and think about its meaning and consequences, etc.

How do I make decisions?

Examples: I use logic and objective analysis; decide based on my personal values and what is right for me and others; prefer one standard for all with no exceptions, etc.

What is my preferred environment?

Examples: I tend to live in an orderly way where life is structured and matters settled; tend to live spontaneously with all kinds of possibilities; am happier after decisions are made; avoid closure; try to understand life rather than control it, etc.

If you wish to explore your personality type further, you may arrange to complete the MYERS BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR through University Career Services.

Adaptive Skills

The Minimum:

Good attendance Complete Assignments Open-minded

Honest Industrious Optimistic

Arrive on time Conscientious Sincere

Follow instructions Informal Original

Meet deadlines Creative Solve problems

Get along with supervisor Intelligent Patient

Get along with coworkers Dependable Spontaneous

Hard working, productive Intuitive Persistent

Discreet Steady

Other Adaptive Skills: Learn quickly Physically strong

Eager Tactful

Able to coordinate Loyal Practice new skills

Friendly Efficient Take pride in work

Ambitious Mature Reliable

Good-natured Energetic Tenacious

Assertive Methodical Resourceful

Helpful Enthusiastic Thrifty

Capable Modest Responsible

Humble Expressive Trustworthy

Cheerful Motivated Self-confident

Imaginative Flexible Versatile

Competent Natural Sense of humor

Independent Formal Well organized

Transferable Skills

Key Transferable Skills: Classify data Communicate verbally

Negotiate Logical

Meet deadlines Compare or record facts Correspond with others

Plan Count, observe, compile Remember information

Speak in public Research Research

Control budgets Detail-oriented Create new ideas

Supervise others Synthesize Design

Increase sales or efficiency Evaluate Speak in public

Accept responsibility Take inventory Edit

Instruct others Write clearly

Solve problems Working with People

Manage money or budgets Administer Leadership

Manage people Patient Arrange social functions

Meet the public Care for Motivate people

Negotiate Persuade Competitive

Organize/manage projects Confront others Negotiate agreements

Written communications Pleasant Decisive

Counsel people Plan

Other Transferable Skills Sensitive Delegate

Demonstrate Run meetings

Dealing with Things Sociable Direct others

Use my hands Diplomatic Self-controlled

Assemble or make things Supervise Explain things to others

Build, observe, inspect things Help others Self-motivated

Construct or repair buildings Tactful Get results

Operate tools and machinery Insightful Solve problems

Drive or operate vehicles Teach Mediate problems

Repair things Interview others Take risks

Good with my hands Tolerant

Use complex equipment Kind Creative, Artistic

Tough Artistic

Dealing with Data Listen Music appreciation

Analyze data or facts Trust Dance, body movement

Investigate Negotiate Perform, act

Audit records Understand Draw, sketch, render

Keep financial records Outgoing Play instruments

Budget Expressive

Locate answers or information Using Words, Ideas Present artistic ideas

Calculate/compute Articulate

Manage money Inventive

Work Values

Part 1: The following list describes a wide variety of satisfactions that people obtain from their jobs. Look at the definitions of the various satisfactions and rate the degree of importance that you would assign to each for yourself, using the scale below:

1 = Not important at all
2 = Not very but somewhat important
3 = Reasonably important
4 = Very important in my choice of career

___ HELP SOCIETY: Do something to contribute to the betterment of the world I live in.

___ HELP OTHERS: Be involved in helping other people in a direct way, either individually or in small groups.

___ PUBLIC CONTACT: Have a lot of day-to-day contact with people.

___ WORK WITH OTHERS: Have close working relationships with people as a result of my work activities.

___ AFFILIATION: Be recognized as a member of a particular organization.

___ FRIENDSHIPS: Develop close person relationships with people as a result of my work activities.

___ COMPETITION: Engage in activities that pit my abilities against others where there are clear win-and-lose outcomes.

___ MAKE DECISIONS: Have power to decide courses of action, policies, etc.

___ WORK UNDER PRESSURE: Work in situations where time pressure is prevalent and/or the quality of my work is judged critically by supervisors, customers or others.

___ POWER AND AUTHORITY: Control the work activities or (partially) the destinies of other people.

___ INFLUENCE PEOPLE: Be in a position to change attitudes or opinions of other people.

___ WORK ALONE: Do projects by myself, without and significant amount of contact with others.

___ KNOWLEDGE: engage myself in the pursuit of knowledge, truth and understanding.

___ INTELLECTUAL STATUS: Be regarded as a person of high intellectual prowess or as one who is an acknowledged “expert” in a given field.

___ ARTISTIC CREATIVITY: Engage in creative work in any of several art forms.

___ CREATIVITY (general): Create new ideas, programs, organizational structures or anything else not following a format previously developed by others.

___ AESTHETICS: Be involved in studying or appreciating the beauty of things, ideas, etc.

___ SUPERVISION: Having a job in which I am directly responsible for the work done by others.

___ CHANGE AND VARIETY: Have work responsibilities that frequently change their content and setting.

___ PRECISION WORK: Work in situation where there is very little tolerance for error.

___ STABILITY: have work routine and job duties that are largely predictable and not likely to change over a long period of time.

___ SECURITY: Be assured of keeping my job and a reasonable financial reward.

___ FAST PACE: Work in circumstances where there is a high pace of activity, work must be done rapidly.

___ RECOGNITION: Be recognized for the quality of my work in some visible or public way.

___ EXCITEMENT: Experience a high degree of (or frequent) excitement in the course of my work.

___ ADVENTURE: Have work duties that involve frequent risk-taking.

___ PROFIT-GAIN: Have strong likelihood of accumulating large amount of money or other material gain.

___ INDEPENDENCE: Be able to determine the nature of my work without significant direction from others; not have to do what others tell me to do.

___ MORAL FULFILLMENT: Feel that my work is contributing significantly to a set of moral standards that I feel are very important.

___ LOCATION: Find a place to live (town, geographical area) which is conductive to my life style and affords me the opportunity to do things I enjoy most.

___ COMMUNITY: Live in a town or city where I can get involved in community affairs.

___ PHYSICAL CHALLENGE: Have a job that makes physical demands which I would find rewarding.

___ TIME FREEDOM: Have work responsibilities that I can work at according to my own time schedule; no specific working hours required.

___ HIGH EARNING ANTICIPATED: Monetary rewards would be such that I am able to purchase those things I consider essential and the luxuries of life I wish.

___ STATUS: It is important the position I have carries respect with my friends, family, and community.

___ ADVANCEMENT: The opportunity to work hard and make rapid career advancement.

___ CHALLENGING PROBLEMS: the position does not have to be “essential to the survival of the human race,” but it should provide challenging problems to solve and the avoidance of continual routine.

___ CREATIVE EXPRESSION: Opportunity to express in writing or verbally my ideas, reactions, and observations concerning my job and how I might improve it.

___ JOB TRANQUILITY: To avoid pressure and the “rat race.”

___ WORK ON FRONTIERS OF KNOWLEDGE: a) Be involved in hard science or human research. b) Work in a company that is considered one of the best in the business and striving for better product advances.

___ EXERCISE COMPETENCE: An opportunity to involve myself in those areas in which I feel I have talents above the average person.

Part 2: Now choose the four or five Work Values that are the most important to you and write them down. If you can think of any other work values, or desired satisfactions, that are not included in the list above and which are especially important to you, add them to your list.

These values comprise a core group to refer to when considering any career or occupation. Ask yourself, “How well does this occupation fulfill my values?” If an occupation does not match your most important values, you will probably not be satisfied with it.

Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI)

Scale Description

The Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (IMI) is a multidimensional measurement device intended to assess participantsÕ subjective experience related to a target activity in laboratory experiments. It has been used in several experiments related to intrinsic motivation and self-regulation (e.g., Ryan, 1982; Ryan, Mims & Koestner, 1983; Plant & Ryan, 1985; Ryan, Connell, & Plant, 1990; Ryan, Koestner & Deci, 1991; Deci, Eghrari, Patrick, & Leone, 1994). The instrument assesses participantsÕ interest/enjoyment, perceived competence, effort, value/usefulness, felt pressure and tension, and perceived choice while performing a given activity, thus yielding six subscale scores. Recently, a seventh subscale has been added to tap the experiences of relatedness, although the validity of this subscale has yet to be established. The interest/enjoyment subscale is considered the self-report measure of intrinsic motivation; thus, although the overall questionnaire is called the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory, it is only the one subscale that assesses intrinsic motivation, per se. As a result, the interest/enjoyment subscale often has more items on it that do the other subscales. The perceived choice and perceived competence concepts are theorized to be positive predictors of both self-report and behavioral measures of intrinsic motivation, and pressure/tension is theorized to be a negative predictor of intrinsic motivation. Effort is a separate variable that is relevant to some motivation questions, so is used it its relevant. The value/usefulness subscale is used in internalization studies (e.g., Deci et al, 1994), the idea being that people internalize and become self-regulating with respect to activities that they experience as useful or valuable for themselves. Finally, the relatedness subscale is used in studies having to do with interpersonal interactions, friendship formation, and so on.

The IMI consists of varied numbers of items from these subscales, all of which have been shown to be factor analytically coherent and stable across a variety of tasks, conditions, and settings. The general criteria for inclusion of items on subscales have been a factor loading of at least 0.6 on the appropriate subscale, and no cross loadings above 0.4. Typically, loadings substantially exceed these criteria. Nonetheless, we recommend that investigators perform their own factor analyses on new data sets. Past research suggests that order effects of item presentation appear to be negligible, and the inclusion or exclusion of specific subscales appears to have no impact on the others. Thus, it is rare that all items have been used in a particular experiment. Instead, experimenters have chosen the subscales that are relevant to the issues they are exploring.

The IMI items have often been modified slightly to fit specific activities. Thus, for example, an item such as ÒI tried very hard to do well at this activityÓ can be changed to ÒI tried very hard to do well on these puzzlesÓ or Ò…in learning this materialÓ without effecting its reliability or validity. As one can readily tell, there is nothing subtle about these items; they are quite face-valid. However, in part, because of their straightforward nature, caution is needed in interpretation. We have found, for example, that correlations between self-reports of effort or interest and behavioral indices of these dimensions are quite modest–often around 0.4. Like other self-report measures, there is always the need to appropriately interpret how and why participants report as they do. Ego-involvements, self-presentation styles, reactance, and other psychological dynamics must be considered. For example, in a study by Ryan, Koestner, and Deci (1991), we found that when participants were ego involved, the engaged in pressured persistence during a free choice period and this behavior did not correlate with the self-reports of interest/enjoyment. In fact, we concluded that to be confident in oneÕs assessment of intrinsic motivation, one needs to find that the free-choice behavior and the self-reports of interest/enjoyment are significantly correlated.

Another issue is that of redundancy. Items within the subscales overlap considerably, although randomizing their presentation makes this less salient to most participants. Nonetheless, shorter versions have been used and been found to be quite reliable. The incremental R for every item above 4 for any given factor is quite small. Still, it is very important to recognize that multiple item subscales consistently outperform single items for obvious reasons, and they have better external validity.

On The Scale page, there are five sections. First, the full 45 items that make up the 7 subscales are shown, along with information on constructing your own IMI and scoring it. Then, there are four specific versions of the IMI that have been used in past studies. This should give you a sense of the different ways it has been used. These have different numbers of items and different numbers of subscales, and they concern different activities. First, there is a standard, 22-item version that has been used in several studies, with four subscales: interest/enjoyment, perceived competence, perceived choice, and pressure/tension. Second, there is a short 9-item version concerned with the activity of reading some text material; it has three subscales: interest/enjoyment, perceived competence, and pressure/tension. Then, there is the 25-item version that was used in the internalization study, including the three subscales of value/usefulness, interest/enjoyment, and perceived choice. Finally, there is a 29-item version of the interpersonal relatedness questionnaire that has five subscales: relatedness, interest/enjoyment, perceived choice, pressure/tension, and effort.

Finally, McAuley, Duncan, and Tammen (1987) did a study to examine the validity of the IMI and found strong support for its validity.

References

Deci, E. L., Eghrari, H., Patrick, B. C., & Leone, D. (1994). Facilitating internalization: The self-determination theory perspective. Journal of Personality, 62, 119-142.

McAuley, E., Duncan, T., & Tammen, V. V. (1987). Psychometric properties of the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory in a competitive sport setting: A confirmatory factor analysis. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 60, 48-58.

Plant, R. W., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and the effects of self-consciousness, self-awareness, and ego-involvement: An investigation of internally-controlling styles. Journal of Personality, 53, 435-449.

Ryan, R. M. (1982). Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, 450-461.

Ryan, R. M., Connell, J. P., & Plant, R. W. (1990). Emotions in non-directed text learning. Learning and Individual Differences, 2, 1-17.

Ryan, R. M., Koestner, R., & Deci, E. L. (1991). Varied forms of persistence: When free-choice behavior is not intrinsically motivated. Motivation and Emotion, 15, 185-205.

Ryan, R. M., Mims, V., & Koestner, R. (1983). Relation of reward contingency and interpersonal context to intrinsic motivation: A review and test using cognitive evaluation theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 736-750.

The Scales

THE POST-EXPERIMENTAL INTRINSIC MOTIVATION INVENTORY

(Below are listed all 45 items that can be used depending on which are needed.)

For each of the following statements, please indicate how true it is for you, using the following scale:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

not at all somewhat very

true true true

Interest/Enjoyment

I enjoyed doing this activity very much

This activity was fun to do.

I thought this was a boring activity. (R)

This activity did not hold my attention at all. (R)

I would describe this activity as very interesting.

I thought this activity was quite enjoyable.

While I was doing this activity, I was thinking about how much I enjoyed it.

Perceived Competence

I think I am pretty good at this activity.

I think I did pretty well at this activity, compared to other students.

After working at this activity for awhile, I felt pretty competent.

I am satisfied with my performance at this task.

I was pretty skilled at this activity.

This was an activity that I couldnÕt do very well. (R)

Effort/Importance

I put a lot of effort into this.

I didnÕt try very hard to do well at this activity. (R)

I tried very hard on this activity.

It was important to me to do well at this task.

I didnÕt put much energy into this. (R)

Pressure/Tension

I did not feel nervous at all while doing this. (R)

I felt very tense while doing this activity.

I was very relaxed in doing these. (R)

I was anxious while working on this task.

I felt pressured while doing these.

Perceived Choice

I believe I had some choice about doing this activity.

I felt like it was not my own choice to do this task. (R)

I didnÕt really have a choice about doing this task. (R)

I felt like I had to do this. (R)

I did this activity because I had no choice. (R)

I did this activity because I wanted to.

I did this activity because I had to. (R)

Value/Usefulness

I believe this activity could be of some value to me.

I think that doing this activity is useful for ______________________

I think this is important to do because it can _____________________

I would be willing to do this again because it has some value to me.

I think doing this activity could help me to _____________________

I believe doing this activity could be beneficial to me.

I think this is an important activity.

Relatedness

I felt really distant to this person. (R)

I really doubt that this person and I would ever be friends. (R)

I felt like I could really trust this person.

IÕd like a chance to interact with this person more often.

IÕd really prefer not to interact with this person in the future. (R)

I donÕt feel like I could really trust this person. (R)

It is likely that this person and I could become friends if we interacted a lot.

I feel close to this person.

Constructing the IMI for your study. First, decide which of the variables (factors) you want to use, based on what theoretical questions you are addressing. Then, use the items from those factors, randomly ordered. If you use the value/usefulness items, you will need to complete the three items as appropriate. In other words, if you were studying whether the person believes an activity is useful for improving concentration, or becoming a better basketball player, or whatever, then fill in the blanks with that information. If you do not want to refer to a particular outcome, then just truncate the items with its being useful, helpful, or important.

Scoring information for the IMI. To score this instrument, you must first reverse score the items for which an (R) is shown after them. To do that, subtract the item response from 8, and use the resulting number as the item score. Then, calculate subscale scores by averaging across all of the items on that subscale. The subscale scores are then used in the analyses of relevant questions.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The following is a 22 item version of the scale that has been used in some lab studies on intrinsic motivation. It has four subscales: interest/enjoyment, perceived choice, perceived competence, and pressure/tension. The interest/enjoyment subscale is considered the self-report measure of intrinsic motivation; perceived choice and perceived competence are theorized to be positive predictors of both self-report and behavioral measures of intrinsic motivation. Pressure tension is theorized to be a negative predictor of intrinsic motivation. Scoring information is presented after the questionnaire itself.

TASK EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE

For each of the following statements, please indicate how true it is for you, using the following scale:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

not at all somewhat very

true true true

1. While I was working on the task I was thinking about how much I enjoyed it.

2. I did not feel at all nervous about doing the task.

3. I felt that it was my choice to do the task.

4. I think I am pretty good at this task.

5. I found the task very interesting.

6. I felt tense while doing the task.

7. I think I did pretty well at this activity, compared to other students.

8. Doing the task was fun.

9. I felt relaxed while doing the task.

10. I enjoyed doing the task very much.

11. I didnÕt really have a choice about doing the task.

12. I am satisfied with my performance at this task.

13. I was anxious while doing the task.

14. I thought the task was very boring.

15. I felt like I was doing what I wanted to do while I was working on the task.

16. I felt pretty skilled at this task.

17. I thought the task was very interesting.

18. I felt pressured while doing the task.

19. I felt like I had to do the task.

20. I would describe the task as very enjoyable.

21. I did the task because I had no choice.

22. After working at this task for awhile, I felt pretty competent.

Scoring information. Begin by reverse scoring items # 2, 9, 11, 14, 19, 21. In other words, subtract the item response from 8, and use the result as the item score for that item. This way, a higher score will indicate more of the concept described in the subscale name. Thus, a higher score on pressure/tension means the person felt more pressured and tense; a higher score on perceived competence means the person felt more competent; and so on. Then calculate subscale scores by averaging the items scores for the items on each subscale. They are as follows. The (R) after an item number is just a reminder that the item score is the reverse of the participantÕs response on that item.

Interest/enjoyment: 1, 5, 8, 10, 14(R), 17, 20

Perceived competence: 4, 7, 12, 16, 22

Perceived choice: 3, 11(R), 15, 19(R), 21(R)

Pressure/tension: 2(R), 6, 9(R), 13, 18

The subscale scores can then be used as dependent variables, predictors, or mediators, depending on the research questions being addressed.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

TEXT MATERIAL QUESTIONNAIRE I

For each of the following statements, please indicate how true it is for your, using the following scale as a guide:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

not at all somewhat very

true true true

1. While I was reading this material, I was thinking about how much I enjoyed it.

2. I did not feel at all nervous while reading.

3. This material did not hold my attention at all.

4. I think I understood this material pretty well.

5. I would describe this material as very interesting.

6. I think I understood this material very well, compared to other students.

7. I enjoyed reading this material very much.

8. I felt very tense while reading this material.

9. This material was fun to read.

Scoring information. Begin by reverse scoring items # 2 and 3. In other words, subtract the item response from 8, and use the result as the item score for that item. This way, a higher score will indicate more of the concept described in the subscale name. Then calculate subscale scores by averaging the items scores for the items on each subscale. They are shown below. The (R) after an item number is just a reminder that the item score is the reverse of the participantÕs response on that item.

Interest/enjoyment: 1, 3(R), 5, 7, 9

Perceived competence: 4, 6,

Pressure/tension: 2(R), 8

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The next version of the questionnaire was used for a study of internalization with an uninteresting computer task (Deci et al., 1994).

ACTIVITY PERCEPTION QUESTIONNAIRE

The following items concern your experience with the task. Please answer all items. For each item, please indicate how true the statement is for you, using the following scale as a guide:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

not at all somewhat very

true true true

1. I believe that doing this activity could be of some value for me.

2. I believe I had some choice about doing this activity.

3. While I was doing this activity, I was thinking about how much I enjoyed it.

4. I believe that doing this activity is useful for improved concentration.

5. This activity was fun to do.

6. I think this activity is important for my improvement.

7. I enjoyed doing this activity very much.

8. I really did not have a choice about doing this activity.

9. I did this activity because I wanted to.

10. I think this is an important activity.

11. I felt like I was enjoying the activity while I was doing it.

12. I thought this was a very boring activity.

13. It is possible that this activity could improve my studying habits.

14. I felt like I had no choice but to do this activity.

15. I thought this was a very interesting activity.

16. I am willing to do this activity again because I think it is somewhat useful.

17. I would describe this activity as very enjoyable.

18. I felt like I had to do this activity.

19. I believe doing this activity could be somewhat beneficial for me.

20. I did this activity because I had to.

21. I believe doing this activity could help me do better in school.

22. While doing this activity I felt like I had a choice.

23. I would describe this activity as very fun.

24. I felt like it was not my own choice to do this activity.

25. I would be willing to do this activity again because it has some value for me.

Scoring information. Begin by reverse scoring items # 8, 12, 14, 18, 20, and 24 by subtracting the item response from 8 and using the result as the item score for that item. Then calculate subscale scores by averaging the items scores for the items on each subscale. They are shown below. The (R) after an item number is just a reminder that the item score is the reverse of the participantÕs response on that item.

Interest/enjoyment: 3, 5, 7, 11, 12(R), 15, 17, 23

Value/usefulness: 1, 4, 6, 10, 13, 16, 19, 21, 25

Perceived choice: 2, 8(R), 9, 14(R), 18(R), 20(R), 22, 24(R)

* * * * * * * * * * * *

SUBJECT IMPRESSIONS QUESTIONNAIRE

The following sentences describe thoughts and feelings you may have had regarding the other person who participated in the experiment with you. For each of the following statement please indicate how true it is for you, using the following scale as a guide:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

not at all somewhat very

true true true

1. While I was interacting with this person, I was thinking about how much I enjoyed it.

2. I felt really distant to this person.

3. I did not feel at all nervous about interacting with this person.

4. I felt like I had choice about interacting with this person.

5. I would describe interacting with this person as very enjoyable.

6. I really doubt that this person and I would ever become friends.

7. I found this person very interesting.

8. I enjoyed interacting with this person very much.

9. I felt tense while interacting with this person.

10. I really feel like I could trust this person.

11. Interacting with this person was fun.

12. I felt relaxed while interacting with this person.

13. IÕd like a chance to interact more with this person.

14. I didnÕt really have a choice about interacting with this person.

15. I tried hard to have a good interaction with this person.

16. IÕd really prefer not to interact with this person in the future.

17. I was anxious while interacting with this person.

18. I thought this person was very boring.

19. I felt like I was doing what I wanted to do while I was interacting with this person.

20. I tried very hard while interacting with this person.

21. I donÕt feel like I could really trust this person.

22. I thought interacting with this person was very interesting.

23. I felt pressured while interacting with this person.

24. I think itÕs likely that this person and I could become friends.

25. I felt like I had to interact with this person.

26. I feel really close to this person.

27. I didnÕt put much energy into interacting with this person.

28. I interacted with this person because I had no choice.

29. I put some effort into interacting with this person.

Scoring information. Begin by reverse scoring items # 2, 3, 6, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21, 25, 27, and 28 by subtracting the item response from 8 and using the result as the item score for that item. Then calculate subscale scores by averaging the items scores for the items on each subscale. They are shown below. The (R) after an item number is just a reminder that the item score is the reverse of the participantÕs response on that item.

Relatedness: 2(R), 6(R), 10, 13, 16(R), 21(R), 24, 26

Interest/enjoyment: 1, 5, 7, 8, 11, 18(R), 22

Perceived choice: 4, 14(R), 19, 25(R), 28(R)

Pressure/tension: 3(R), 9, 12(R), 17, 23,

Effort: 15, 20, 27(R), 29

Stephanie J. Hanrahan
Schools of Human Movement Studies and Psychology
The University of Queensland

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to determine if a psychological skills training program based on sport psychology could enhance the global self-worth and perceived life satisfaction of adolescent Mexican orphans. Adolescents (N = 34) completed the Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents and the Satisfaction With Life Scale and were invited to take part in 15 sessions involving discussions and activities related to optimal activation, concentration and attention, imagery, self-talk, time-management, and self-confidence. Each session also contained active games, the majority or which were designed to develop teamwork, communication, and trust. Thirty participants attended between 5 and 13 sessions each, and 26 of those completed the questionnaires a second time at the end of the program. There was a significant increase in both global self-worth and perceived life satisfaction. Possible cultural issues relevant to the participants are discussed.

Introduction

Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) cares for orphaned and abandoned children in Latin America (see www.nphamigos.org for complete information). NPH was founded in 1954 in Mexico and currently has homes in nine Latin American countries. The main facility in Miacatlán, Mexico is home for almost 1000 children (referred to as pequeños rather than orphans) with approximately 200 additional older children attending the NPH vocational school in nearby Cuernavaca. It was with these older children that I spent the month of January, 2005.

A number of years ago my mother visited the home in Miacatlán and she mailed me a photograph of the children playing volleyball using a piece of string with plastic bags pinned to it as the net. Having spent 18 years of my life playing volleyball at an elite level, I felt compelled to improve their sporting equipment. Donations from friends and colleagues in Brisbane, Australia were collected and sent. A year or two later I was wondering if helping a team win a few extra games each season was really making a significant difference in the grand scheme of things. As a sport psychologist I have spent years teaching psychological skills to athletes, exercisers, and performing artists. In my undergraduate classes I often mention how psychological skills were not only beneficial for enhancing performance and enjoyment of participation, but also for learning skills useful in areas of life outside of sport. The arrival of an NPH newsletter in the mail one day caused a synergy of these different cognitions and spawned the idea of teaching psychological skills to the pequeños.

I was not interested in measuring specific psychological skills because it was not clear to me how meaningful it would be to know that these individuals had improved their ability to set goals or to concentrate. I also was not interested in measuring sporting performance as not all of the participants competed in sport. I decided that even though there was probably a greater chance of obtaining statistically significant improvement in the knowledge or use of targeted psychological skills, it would be more meaningful to know if psychological skills training could influence self-concept or perceived life satisfaction. Self-concept has been considered to be one of the most important indicators of psychological adjustment (Byrne, 1996). In addition, Petlichkoff (2004) has suggested that psychological skills influence psychological well-being, particularly for children and adolescents.

Method

Participants

Thirty four of the adolescents (14 girls and 20 boys) at NPH in Cuernavaca volunteered to participate in a three week daily program advertised to teach skills that would help them with sport, work, music, or any other area of achievement. Ages ranged from 15 to 20 with a mean of 17.09 years. They had been at NPH for an average of 6.97 years (range 1.16 to 16 years). Participants were studying tourism (n = 10), computers (n = 10), childcare (n = 6), electronics (n = 5), or accounting (n =3)

Instruments

Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents. Harter’s (1988) Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (SPPA) is an instrument designed to measure multiple dimensions of self-concept in the adolescent stage of development. Based on Harter’s (1985) Self-Perception Profile for Children, the SPPA measures a variety of self-concept dimensions (e.g., physical appearance, social acceptance) as well as global self-worth. Numerous researchers (e.g., Eiser, Eiser, & Harvermans, 1995; Trent, Rusell, & Cooney, 1994; Worrell, 1997) have tested the psychometrics of the English version of the SPPA, resulting in support of slightly different subscales. Of most relevance to the present study, Pastor, Balaguer, Atienza and García-Merita (2001) tested a Spanish version of the SPPA with students aged 15 to 18 years and found support for six clearly differentiated self-concept dimensions ( i.e., Scholastic Competence, Physical Appearance, Athletic Competence, Behavioral Conduct, Close Friendship, and Social Acceptance) as well as a unidimensional subscale of Global Self-Worth. Cronbach Alphas ranged from .62 to .90. The items pertaining to Job Competence from the original SPPA were omitted as they were believed to be irrelevant to the majority of the participants. As job competence was also irrelevant to the sample in this study, the Spanish translation from the Pastor et al. study was used. Items were scored on the subscales obtained in the previous Spanish study, thus ignoring the items designed to measure Romantic Attraction.

Satisfaction With Life Scale. The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) is a multi-item scale developed by Diener, Emmons, Larsen, and Griffin (1985) to measure life satisfaction without the possibly confounding factors of enthusiasm or apathy. The original English version has been found to have good internal consistency and test-retest reliability (Pavot & Diener, 1993). Atienza, Pons, Balaguer, and García-Merita (2000) had the SWLS translated into Spanish, the only change being the use of a 5-point rather than the original 7-point Likert scale. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the model fit was acceptable. The Spanish version of the SWLS was also found to have good internal consistency and construct validity (Atienza et al.). Relevant to the present study, the Atienza et al. study tested the instrument on adolescents.

Procedure

The program contained 15 sessions of approximately 90 minutes each, with separate sessions for girls and boys. Sessions were held on weekdays for three weeks. The first session began, and the final session ended, with the completion of the SPPA and the SWLS, using codes instead of names to ensure anonymity. The overarching theme for the program was “Control the Controllable”. Individual sessions contained discussions and activities related to optimal activation, concentration and attention, imagery, self-talk, time-management, and self-confidence. Each participant was given a folder in which to keep handouts and written exercises. Australian stickers were used as rewards for punctual attendance. Each session also contained active games, the majority or which were designed to develop teamwork, communication, and trust (see Hanrahan & Carlson, 2000). Many of the participants played soccer and/or basketball, so examples from these sports were used within the sessions. However, as not all of the participants were athletes, examples were also taken from the achievement domains of studying, music, dancing, and writing.

Results

Attendance

School examinations, dentist appointments, illness, soccer games, dance rehearsals, and apathy all contributed to absences. Participants attended an average of 8.82 of the 15 sessions (range 1 to 13). The four participants who attended fewer than 5 sessions were omitted from analyses. An additional four participants were also omitted as they failed to complete the post-test. Missing data meant that between 24 and 26 pequeños who attended at least five sessions had complete pre-test and post-test data for the various scales.

Paired Sample Statistics

The program resulted in significant increases in life satisfaction (t(24) = -2.92, p = .008), global self-worth (t(25) = -2.37, p = .026), and physical appearance self-concept (t(24) = -2.29, p = .031). See Table 1 for means and standard deviations. The mean increase in life satisfaction was .33 on a 5 point scale. For the four pequeños who only attended one or two sessions the mean increase was only .05 between pre-test and post-test. Global self-worth increased an average of .30 on a 4-point scale for those who attended five or more sessions, but decreased .33 for those who only attended one or two sessions.