The effect of autonomy and locus-of-control on the academic achievement of black male community college students.
Item
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Title
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The effect of autonomy and locus-of-control on the academic achievement of black male community college students.
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Identifier
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AAI9315460
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identifier
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9315460
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Creator
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Faison, Adrienne Carole.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Vera Paster
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Date
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1993
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Psychology, Social | Education, Community College | Black Studies
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Abstract
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This study sought to determine whether autonomy and internality were associated the academic achievement of lower income, black male college students. The primary study subjects were 98 black male freshmen enrolled in remedial courses at an urban community college. Nineteen black males employed as teaching assistants at the same college served as an achieving comparison group. The following instruments were utilized in this study: Rotter's I-E Scale; the Deference and Autonomy subscales of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule; and the Pseudoautonomy and Peer Group Dependency Scales (Lapan and Patton, 1986). It was hypothesized that greater internality, greater autonomy, and lesser peer group dependence would be associated with higher achievement. Thus, relative to remedial subjects, teaching assistants were expected to score lower (more internally) on the locus of control measure, higher on the Autonomy subscale, lower on the Deference subscale, and lower on the Peer Group Dependency Scale. Findings were as follows: Remedial subjects and teaching assistants differed as hypothesized on Autonomy. Remedial subjects with higher reading pre-test scores scored more internally on the locus of control measure and scored lower on Peer Group Dependency. Remedial subjects' Autonomy scores were not related to their achievement, and their Deference scores were correlated with achievement in contradictory ways. These findings coupled with analysis of locus of control scores utilizing the categories identified by Schneider and Parsons (1970) suggest that lower-achieving inner-city black male college students are more likely to harbor feelings of powerlessness vis-a-vis the political system and to exhibit a peer group, rather than an individualistic, orientation. Higher achieving black males, on the other hand, exhibit a sense of personal autonomy. Further, it is suggested that black males encounter special problems within the educational system because of negative reactions to their race and sex and that academically successful black males make behavioral adaptations that facilitate achievement whereas less successful students are less responsive to the academic situation or make less advantageous adaptations.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
