Major Life Decisions Research Articles

Why Susie sells seashells by the seashore: Implicit egotism and major life decisions.

Why Susie sells seashells by the seashore: Implicit egotism and major life decisions.

Stories of Re-Reading: Inviting Students to Reflect on Their Emotional Responses to Fiction

M than twenty-five years ago, in Readings and Feelings, David Bleich called for a pedagogy that invited students to disclose their emotional responses to literature. For a variety of reasons, I have been hesitant to adopt such an approach in my literature classes, but I have changed my mind during the past ten years. The major reason is that I have come to believe that the habitual censorship of emotions in the academy enforces a gender-based ideology that has negative consequences for everyone. As Jane Tompkins argues in “Me and My Shadow”: “Because women in our culture are not simply encouraged but required to be the bearers of emotion, which men are culturally conditioned to repress, an epistemology which excludes emotions from the process of attaining knowledge radically undercuts women’s epistemic authority” (123). For me, one consequence of this exclusion of emotion is that for years I struggled with issues of authority as a writer, unaware that my gender socialization would help to explain why. Not until I entered a doctoral program at the age of 37, and under the guidance of feminist professors, did I begin to analyze how gender socialization had shaped my identity. Sadly, only after having made major life decisions, such as marriage, did I find teachers who encouraged me to explore and write about how the act of reading might affect my life choices. Only in retrospect did I recognize that my schooling had actually been designed to prevent me from thinking critically about the effects of my gender socialization on my life. Unwilling to perpetuate this kind of schooling, I have begun designing courses and assignments that encourage, rather than inhibit, the practice of introspection. My assumption is that the habit of introspection—the practice of looking within to examine one’s thoughts and feelings—does not simply emerge with maturity, but can be taught, or at least encouraged, in some students. Unfortunately, many literature teachers miss an opportunity to encourage the habit of introspection because, for one thing, we rarely ask students to reflect on their personal responses to assigned readings. Instead, traditional writing assignments require students to analyze a literary work while avoiding any use of the word “I.” Such pedagogy, I am convinced, forces students to suppress any examination

Environmental opportunities and supports for exercising self-determination in community-based residential settings

Information was collected on the environmental opportunities for exercising self-determination among 281 adults with mental retardation receiving community-based residential supports. The results indicated that: (1) the majority of participants had little or no opportunity to exercise self-determination over major life decisions (e.g., with whom and where to live, the recruitment and retention of care staff); (2) even in more mundane areas, such as where and when to eat, the majority of participants were not supported to exercise effective control; (3) variation in environmental opportunities to exercise self-determination was strongly related to a range of factors including participant ability, previous residential history, and structural and procedural aspects of the residential supports currently provided.

Peer Effects with Random Assignment: Results for Dartmouth Roommates

This paper uses a unique data set to measure peer effects among college age roommates. Freshman year roommates and dormmates are randomly assigned at Dartmouth College. I find that in this group, peer effects are very important in determining levels of academic effort and in decisions to join social groups such as fraternities. Residential peer effects are markedly absent in other major life decisions such as choice of college major. Several forms of peer effects are considered. The data support a model in which peer effects are driven by roommate behavior after the freshmen arrive. Social learning based on a roommate's observable pre-Dartmouth information or skills appears to be less important. Peer effects in GPA occur at the individual room level whereas peer effects in fraternity membership occur both at the room level and the entire dorm level. I also find that a freshman with high social ability is likely to remain with his or her roommates in sophomore year, but high academic ability actually decreases roommate retention.

Generation X and Religion: Evaluating and Improving Existing Distribution Strategies

ABSTRACT This manuscript reviews the challenge of increasing the participation in organized religions among members of Generation X. Given the pervasiveness of Consumerism in American society, this Generation is particularly likely to apply their consumer problem-solving skills to major life decisions, such as joining a church or faith community. And, the distribution methods and channels traditionally used to deliver religious programming are fraught with structural obstacles to drawing this group to participate. These obstacles are identified and solutions proposed.

Peer Effects with Random Assignment: Results for Dartmouth Roommates

This paper uses a unique data set to measure peer effects among college roommates. Freshman year roommates and dormmates are randomly assigned at Dartmouth College. I find that peers have an impact on grade point average and on decisions to join social groups such as fraternities. Residential peer effects are markedly absent in other major life decisions such as choice of college major. Peer effects in GPA occur at the individual room level whereas peer effects in fraternity membership occur both at the room level and the entire dorm level. Overall, the data provide strong evidence for the existence of peer effects in student outcomes.

Life After Debt: Results of the National Student Loan Survey Selected Text From the Final Report

Popular opinion holds that education debt significantly affects borrower decisions. The assumption is that indebtedness may cause borrowers to drop out of college, cancel plans for graduate school, or change career plans. Former students might delay the purchase of a home or car, postpone plans for marriage or a family, or live with parents after graduating because of their repayment options. To test this hypothesis, Nellie Mae, a student loan originator and secondary market for federal and private education loans, conducted the National Student Loan Survey (NASLS). The objective of the NASLS was to determine both indebtedness levels for all education loans (federal and private) and the effect that debt has on decision making, lifestyles and consumer behavior. Because Nellie Mae also conducted similar surveys in 1987 and 1991, there are comparative data that track changes in both borrower attitudes and behavior. While the 1997 study shows significant increases in borrowers reporting that they delayed decisions and activities, the evidence does not support the idea that debt levels affect major life decisions. Rather, these decisions are determined by age, income, marital status, or possibly factors not gathered through this type of survey. Nonetheless, average student debt levels have risen dramatically, and some students are using greater proportions of their incomes for the monthly student loan payment than is considered reasonable by most financial standards. A majority of borrowers report that student loans provided critical access to higher education. For the most part, borrowers are satisfied with the education they received and feel that their investment, through loans, was worth it both for personal growth and for career preparation.

Decision Making in Nursing Home Placement

ABSTRACT This manuscript reports the results of an ethnographic study to describe the process rural families used to make nursing home placement decisions. A total of 16 rural family and elder interviews revealed that 3/4 of the decision makers and care givers were women, making decisions for (or with) elder parents or parents-in-law. It was a major life decision, often made in a crisis. Variables of greatest concern were whether the elder could get the care they needed, cleanliness of the nursing home, proximity of the home to the family, and the elder's agreement. Variables of little concern included cost and sources of reimbursement. Family dynamics were described as positive and strong, possibly stronger after placement. Variables affecting the elders' adjustment included whether the stay was permanent or temporary and the extent to which the elder agreed with the decision. Health professionals need to recognize the crisis the family may be in, offer information and referral, be futuristic with famili...

For whom the bell tolls: Parenting decisions and challenges faced by mothers who are HIV seropositive.

We delineate critical parenting issues faced by mothers who are HIV seroposttive. These issues, which must be considered within the environmental context in which most of these women live, include major life decisions (pregnancy, disclosure, future planning) and daily life challenges (day-to-day parenting, managing other burdens). Research is virtually nonexistent and, as most parenting issues faced by mothers who are seroposttive are unique, “it is not possible to draw upon work with other parents for direction and solution. Research on the parenting issues faced by these women is needed to guide interventions and policy.

How do high school students structure an important life decision? A short-term longitudinal study of the college decision-making process

This study details the processes students use and the information they consider as they confront what is likely to be their first major life decision. Over the course of a year, 322 college-bound high school students participated in up to three survey sessions in which they described their thinking about college decisions. At each session, students rated the frequency with which they had consulted various sources of information or engaged in different decision-making activities. They also listed and rated the importance of the criteria they were using, and listed the schools they were actively considering. Responses were analyzed as a function of time of survey, level of parental education, academic ability, and gender. Throughout the year, students considered roughly the same number and type of criteria. There were expected shifts in the kinds of information sought and activities undertaken. Higher-ability students listed significantly more criteria and slightly (but nonsignificantly) more schools than did students of other ability levels, especially early in the process. A variety of gender differences emerged in the information sought and the criteria used to make this decision.

Morale and mistakes

A friend was on the trolley on the way to theatre for an elective caesarean section when the dismayingly young surgeon leaned over casually and asked if she was planning to have another child, adding that he really had to know immediately, as this would affect how he cut her open. The 30 seconds he allowed her to make this major life decision under conditions of stress, pre-med, and semi naked horizontality was of course generous by modern hospital standards. However, the worry over this man's skills as far as human relations are concerned soon yielded to the conviction of a likely exemplary technical competence. Well …

Understanding major life decisions: A life history approach

Life decisions of the sort that provoke major life-structural transformations provide excellent material for the analysis of ideological processes at the level of the individual personality. Over the past two decades, cognitive and behavioral approaches to decision making have obscured the symbolic, semiotic, and sociocultural processes that govern the deciding consciousness, particularly when major life involvements are at stake. Such approaches lead logically to instrumentalistic “life management” strategies which further reduce the possibility that the fantasies, desires, and meanings of particular dilemmas and decisions will be reflected upon and understood critically. The ideological processes that structure life choices “from behind our backs” are thus given free entry into one of the important spaces where subjectivity might find expression. This article presents excerpts from depth interviews with a woman struggling with autonomy issues to illustrate a critical-interpretive approach to decision making in the context of the life history.

Tips for making the job search productive and enjoyable

Tips for making the search for a new job productive and enjoyable are presented. Identifying job opportunities requires a network of individuals who might assist in the job search. Traditional sources of job information can also be helpful. The most important element in following up on job leads is determining in advance that qualifications meet the established requirements. In preparing for a job interview, the applicant should learn as much as possible about the potential employer, the job, and the interviewer. General points to follow during and after the interview are outlined. Accepting a new job is a major life decision. Advance preparation, including a clear understanding of personal goals, motivations, and expectations, combined with strong interviewing skills can ensure that each job-specific short-range decision will contribute to the achievement of a life-long career path.

The Aura of Projected Personal Futures

This article introduces the concept of the aura to account for a manner in which decision processes are mediated by personality. The concept, developed on the basis of a life-historical investigation of major life decisions, refers to characterologically determined thematic trends in both the images and narratives produced by a subject reflecting on possible personal futures. Depending on the extent to which auras are operative in major life decisions, rationalistic models of decision making proposed in "cognitive" approaches would seem to be of limited value.