Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory Research Articles

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL BASIS OF STUDENTS’ SELF-REALIZATION AT THE INTEGRATED EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

In the space of modern Ukrainian higher education, the tasks of vocational training development and improvement, integration and creating conditions for disabled students’ creative self-realization become really important. In order to create the structure of adapted environment at universities and to promote personal and professional development of all participants at the integrated educational environment, a comprehensive psychological study of the psychological foundations of students' personal self-realization should be done. The research objective: to study psychological characteristics of students’ self-realization studied at integrated groups with investigation of disabled students’ self-attitudes and their correlations with self-actualization, meaningful life orientations and psychological hardiness. Research methods: the test-questionnaire of self-attitudes (S. Pantileev, V. Stolin); Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory in adaptation N. Kalin, A.Lazukin; the Test of Meaningful Life Orientation of D.L.Leontev; S.Maddi's Hardiness Scale in adaptation of D.Leontiev, Ye.I. Raskasova; the methods of statistical analysis for empirical data: comparative analysis of average indicators, correlation analysis. The performed empirical study revealed such psychological characteristics of disabled students’ self-attitudes as unrealistic ideas about themselves, their abilities and skills, a tendency to self-blame, low level of self-understanding, which can become obstacles to their effective self-realization. The success of students' self-realization in the integrated educational environment of universities is provided by their internal resources: positive self-attitude, awareness of goals, meanings in life, strength and stability of Self, cooperation with other people, society as a whole.

THE DYNAMICS OF PERSONAL SELF-ACTUALIZATION INDICES IN THE TRANSITIVE SOCIETY

The aim of the study is to reveal the influence of psychosocial factors, which are known under the umbrella notion "perestroika (rearrangement) of the Russian society" in modern science on personal characteristics of young people and to give the quantitative assessment of this influence. First of all, we have assessed the dynamics of self-actualization values as a crucial factor in the formation of personalities in youth days. Methods: the E. Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory (the POI) and R. Cattell's Personality Factor Questionnaire (the 16-PF). We have compared two groups of subjects: the second year medical students born in 1973 (n = 88, the "pre-perestroika generation") and in 1997 (n = 140, the "post-perestroika generation"). Results. We have revealed that the indices of accepting self-actualization values (the SAV scale of the POI test), empathy to the feelings and needs of other people (the Fr POI scale), freedom in spontaneous responding (the S POI scale) as well as some other indices were significantly higher in the "post-perestroika generation". The number of correlations between the SAV scale of the POI test and the scales of R. Cattell's Personal Questionnaire has doubled. However, we have found the signs of soft maladaptation in the problems of time relationships (the Ti/Tc POI). Conclusions. The values of personal self-actualization in the "post-perestroika generation" have strengthened its strategic role and became more "ecological" with respect to personality (more accelerated in the structure of personality traits). Assurance degradation in the experience of the whole time perspective as well as impairment in ability to accept one's points of weakness have become a kind of payment of for these changes (the Sa POI scale). Overall, we have revealed the positive influence of the "perestroika" processes in the Russian society on the formation of young people's personality.

Identity and identity crisis in adolescence

The purpose in a study of 263 secondary school students at age 16-17 was to assess the level of identity development in the middle adolescence. Methods used were an identity status questioning (EOMEIS-2) and Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory (POI). In comparison with ideological sphere, interpersonal sphere occurred as more achieved in identity development. The results show statistically meaningful differences in identity development level between two spheres. Interpersonal sphere in a high degree is distinguished by adolescent crisis as period of explorations. The correlation of identity achievement statuses with POI scales scores suggests that, identity achievement is related to the personal need to be inner-directed and self-actualizing.

Relationships Among Students' Self-perceived Competency, Knowledge- and Performance-Based Competencies in Foodservice Management

The research study focused on the issue: To what extent is the student's self-perceived competency or self-evaluation a reliable indicator of the effects of program instruction? The study investigated the proportion of variance in students' self-perceived competency associated with (a) knowledge-based competency as measured by paper-and-pencil test, (b) performance competency as measured by observation of actual performance, and (c) self-actualization as measured by Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory. Thirty-eight students in two meal management classes were studied. Results showed no relationship between self-actualization and selfperceived competency in foodservice management. A high correlation of .58 was shown between knowledge and self-perceived competency, and a correlation of .5O was shown between performance and self-perceived competency. Multiple regression analyses showed that a combination of knowledge and performance accounted for 52% of the total variance in self-perception. It appears...

Using the personal orientation inventory to measure change in student self-actualization

In this study, Shostrom's (1963, 1974) Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) was administered to a group of 74 disadvantaged students undertaking a university preparatory studies programme. Results showed that at the commencement of the course, the group profile was typical of what Shostrom would describe as a non-self-actualized group. At the end of the programme, which contained sections designed to improve feelings of competency and self-confidence, the profile had shifted towards normal with significant improvements in the areas of Self-acceptance and Spontaneity. The findings indicate that, despite criticisms of its psychometric properties, the POI does appear to be measuring dimensions which are related to self-actualization.

Creative Way of Living

The purpose was to explore the possible relations among a creative way of living, empathy, need satisfaction, and self-actualization. 20 students of an introductory psychology course completed four scales of Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory, the Saurt test on the creative way of living, the Mehrabian and Epstein empathy scale, and the Kalliopuska sufficiency of need satisfaction scale. Several statistically significant, low to moderate correlations suggest further work with larger samples may be worthwhile.

Four stages of adulthood: An exploratory study of growth patterns of inner-direction and time-competence in women

The present study explored the growth patterns of Inner-direction (autonomy) and Time-competence (present orientation) over four stages of adulthood. Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory was administered to 343 female helping professionals ranging in age from 19 through 55. Results suggest a gradual increase in Inner-direction from age 19 to age 55 and a slight increase over this period in Time-competence. Time-competence shows marked shifts during the stage of midlife transition. Results for Inner-direction support Maslow's original theory of self-actualization as a gradual growth process, while those for Time-competence support more recent stage theory of adulthood.

Shostrom's personal orientation inventory: Arguments against its basic validity

Psychometric characteristics and validity of the Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) are at issue in the literature, particularly sinece the reported POI's internal consistency reliabilities are below accepted levels for published tests. This paper contends that a likely root of serious problems lies in errors made in the original POI validation. It is shown that the POI fails to meet its long-standing published claim that it can discriminate between ‘self-actualized’ (SA) and ‘normal adults’, as this is shown not to be true for 75% of its scales. It is demonstrated that the original and extend validation was illogically based on mean values of test scores of validation subject groups instead of correctly using their score ranges. A substantial lack of discrimination between the SA and ‘non-self-actualizing’ norm groups is shown to arise from the overlap of their estimated correct validation ranges amounting to about 62–86% of their combined membership. A hypothesis is that the POI is not measuring the degree of SA sufficiently, but instead measures some other variable(s) that may be weak to moderate correlate. Alternatively, the differences in the three validation constructs used may have been weakly exemplified by the subjects chosen for the validation groups. Clinical and research use of the POI is questionable. Suggestions are made for a proper validation model and for POI revisions.

The Effect on Self-Actualization of a Personal Growth Programme Based on Co-Counselling

Nine male and thirteen female psychology students who participated in a personal growth training programme based on co-counselling, and a matched control group, completed Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory both before and after the programme. The inventory was also completed six months later by eleven of the original sample. There was a general tendency in both groups for self-actualization to increase. At the post-test, on the scales Inner Directedness, Time Competence, Self Actualizing Values and Self Regard, the co-counselling group showed a greater increase than the Controls. At six months follow-up, the pattern of means suggested that gains were maintained, however the six months sample was too small in size for differences between experimental and control groups to reach statistical significance.

Burnout and self-actualization in public school teachers.

Public school teachers (N = 211) in six northwestern Ohio school districts completed the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory (POI), and a brief, biographic questionnaire. The responses to the MBI produced the three factors previously named by Maslach as Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Personal Accomplishment. Each of the three scales correlated with the summed POI score (r = -.28, -.22, and .35, respectively) and produced high to moderate levels of internal consistency (alphas of .92, .85, and .88, respectively). Teachers with more students tended to produce higher scores on the Depersonalization scale.

A Jesus Community in South Africa: Self-Actualization or Need for Security?

22 members of the Jesus movement in Johannesburg, South Africa, were presented with Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory, to assess perceived changes in self-actualization as a function of their religious conversion. The control group, comprising 22 mainstream-church denominational members who had not undergone rapid and emotional conversions, was matched with the Jesus People for age, sex, home-language, and occupation of father. The self-perceptions of the Jesus People were significantly mote self-actualizing than were those of the members of the control group in the before-conversion condition. Perceived self-actualization decreased as a function of their religious experience. It is also suggested that the reported changes may be due to a “rising expectations” effect.

Construct Validity of Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory: A Systematic Summary

Construct Validity of Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory: A Systematic Summary

Effective Psychological Education: A Sample Program with Evaluation

College student personnel and mental health workers need psycholog ical-education programs whose effectiveness can be empirically verified. This report describes such a program in sufficient detail to give profes sionals a clear model for study and application to their particular popu lations. Shostrom's (1963) Personal Orientation Inventory, an instrument specifically designed to measure growth during therapy, was used to evaluate pre- to post-training change. Data gathered give strong support of the effectiveness of this program in promoting actualizing behavior.

Classroom Verbal Interaction and Self‐Actualization of Home Economics Teachers

The purpose of this study was to analyze verbal interaction in class discussions in home economics in relation to self‐actualization of the teacher. Ten Iowa ninth grade teachers who scored high on the inner‐directed scale of Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) and 10 who scored low were selected. Two classroom discussions were video taped for each teacher. The Sequential Analysis of Verbal Interaction (SAVI) was used to analyze classroom verbal interaction with inter‐ observer and intraobserver reliabilities established at .85. Although no differences were found between the two groups of teachers on use of the SAVI areas, some significant differences were found within teacher groups using a nested analysis of variance. Self‐actualizing teachers tended to vary more in verbal patterns than did the less self‐actualizing group. It is recommended that some areas of the SAVI be omitted in studies of home economics classrooms and that the validity of the POI for use with home economics teachers be examined.

Self‐Actualization of Teachers and Teacher‐Student Rapport

The purposes of this study were to determine possible relationships between selected background characteristics and degree of self‐actualization of home economics teachers of central Iowa, to refine a teacher‐student rapport instrument, and to test for differences in teacher‐student rapport between two groups of teachers differing in self‐actualization. Data on background characteristics and self‐ actualization (inner‐directed scale of Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory) were gathered by mail from 126 teachers. No relationships existed between degree of self‐actualization and the background characteristics.Two groups of the teachers, 10 who scored high and 10 who scored low on the POI, were selected for remaining phases of the study. Their ninth grade students responded to the Student Estimate of Teacher Concern (SETC), a measure of teacher‐student rapport. A 39‐item form of the SETC was developed from an 89‐item version with no loss in reliability. No significant difference in teacher‐ student rapport was found between the two groups of teachers.

Perception of Openness, Trustworthiness, and other Characteristics in Facial Photographs

25 males and 25 females (Study I) and 37 males (Study II) Q-sorted 60 facial photographs according to perceived openness (PO) and perceived trustworthiness (PT). In Study II subjects also responded to Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory. Trustworthiness was, but openness was not, perceived as stereotypically as were other traits in previous studies. Both perceived openness and trustworthiness were less highly correlated with other positively valued traits than these traits had been found to correlate with one another; but the latter was more highly correlated negatively with perceived hostility than this trait had been found to correlate with other desirable traits. Individual fs between openness and trustworthiness were found to be unrelated to scores on the Personal Orientation Inventory.

Internality vs Externality and Personal Adjustment: A Factor Analytic Study

This study compared three tests to determine the degree to which they might be measuring a single construct: Rotter's Internal-External Reinforcement Scale, Rest's adaptation of Kohlberg's test of moral development, and selected scales from Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory. All three scales were expected to show positive relationships with a measure of personal adjustment, the Tennessee Self-concept Scale. Numerous significant correlations were found among these instruments, suggesting some commonality in the personality dimensions being measured. There were enough differences to suggest continued refinement and to mitigate against substitution of one test for another without loss of information.

Level of School Counselor Actualizing and Student Perception of Guidance Services: Further Validation of the Personal Orientation Inventory

This study investigated the relationship between level of counselor actualizing and student evaluation of their high school guidance program. The samples included the counselor in each of 23 Ohio high schools who completed Shostrom's (1963) Personal Orientation Inventory and 1,658 of their respective eleventh grade students who completed Wysong's (1971) Guidance Program Evaluation Student Survey. Significant correlations were obtained between student ratings of the effectiveness of the guidance program and POI scales of Time Competence and Spontaneity. Thus the more actualizing the counselor as measured by the POI the more likely the students were to assign high ratings to the school guidance program.

Self Actualization in Marital Enrichment

The study attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Pairing Enrichment Program (PEP), a marriage enrichment program, in enhancing self‐actualization. Shostrom's Personal Orientation Inventory (POI) was administered to an experimental group of married couples immediately prior to participating in PEP. A waiting list control group completed the POI at the same time. Three weeks later, following the completion of PEP for the experimental group, the POI was again administered to both groups. An analysis of co‐variance was performed to test the effects of gender, group, and the interaction of these two factors on change in self‐actualization (Post‐POI minus Pre‐POI), adjusting for six co‐variables: Education of each, age of each, number of years married, and number of children. The results indicated that 1) being husband or wife had no significant effect on one's level of self‐actualization, and that 2) the change in level of self‐actualization was significantly greater (Positive Direction) for PEP participants than for non‐PEP participants on the “I” and ”C” scales of the POI

COMPARISON OF PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: HIGH AND LOW ABILITY STUDENT NURSES AND YEAR OF TRAINING IN NEW ZEALAND

Seventy-five student nurses at the Southland Hospital, Invercargill, New Zealand, were assessed independently by ward and tutorial staff on a 5-point scale rating the quality of their work. Comparisons of high and low ability students were then made on scores from the following instruments: Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, Wilson-Patterson Conservatism Scale, Allport-Vernon-Lindsey Study of Values, Cattell 16 Personality Factors Test, Shostrom Personal Orientation Inventory. “t” tests of significant differences between means revealed the following profiles for the high ability student nurse: (a) Comparison based on ward staff ratings of ability: conservative, religious, dogmatic, and low on political and economic values: (b) comparison based on tutorial staff ratings of ability: relaxed, higher on social values, and tends to live in the past or future rather than the present. A comparison of the three years showed that the student nurse most likely to stay in the program had the following profile: more political, less religious, less acceptant of aggression, and higher ward rating.