This preliminary research study examined the impact of Strengths Gym, a character strengths-based... more This preliminary research study examined the impact of Strengths Gym, a character strengths-based positive psychological intervention program, on adolescent life satisfaction. Using a quasi-experimental treatment-control condition design, the study compared student outcomes for life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, and self-esteem for 319 adolescent students aged 12–14 (M = 12.98): 218 adolescent students who participated in character strengths-based exercises in the school curriculum, and 101 adolescent students who did not participate in character strengths-based exercises in the school curriculum. Results revealed that adolescents who participated in character strengths-based exercises experienced significantly increased life satisfaction compared to adolescents who did not participate in character strengths-based exercises. Overall, results provide encouraging preliminary support for the application of character strengths-based exercises in the school curriculum as a means of increasing life satisfaction and well-being among youths.
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2010
Objective: To determine whether more self-controlled children are protected from weight gain as t... more Objective: To determine whether more self-controlled children are protected from weight gain as they enter adolescence. Design: Prospective, longitudinal study. Setting: Ten sites across the United States from 1991 to 2007. Participants: The 844 children in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development birth cohort who had height and weight information at 15 years of age in 2006.
We propose a model of impulsivity that predicts both domain-general and domain-specific variance ... more We propose a model of impulsivity that predicts both domain-general and domain-specific variance in behaviours that produce short-term gratification at the expense of long-term goals and standards. Specifically, we posit that domain-general impulsivity is explained by domain-general self-control strategies and resources, whereas domain-specific impulsivity is explained by how tempting individuals find various impulsive behaviours, and to a lesser extent, in perceptions of their long-term harm. Using a novel self-report measure, factor analyses produced six (non-exhaustive) domains of impulsive behaviour (Studies 1-2): work, interpersonal relationships, drugs, food, exercise and finances. Domain-general self-control explained 40% of the variance in domain-general impulsive behaviour between individuals, r effect =.71. Domain-specific temptation (r effect =.83) and perceived harm (r effect =À.26) explained 40% and 2% of the unique within-individual variance in impulsive behaviour, respectively (59% together). In Study3, we recruited individuals in special interest groups (e.g. procrastinators) to confirm that individuals who are especially tempted by behaviours in their target domain are not likely to be more tempted in non-target domains.
Although children and adolescents vary in their chronic tendencies to adaptively versus maladapti... more Although children and adolescents vary in their chronic tendencies to adaptively versus maladaptively reflect over negative feelings, the psychological mechanisms underlying these different types of self-reflection among youngsters are unknown. We addressed this issue in the present research by examining the role that self-distancing plays in distinguishing adaptive versus maladaptive selfreflection among an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of fifth-grade public schoolchildren. Children were randomly assigned to analyze their feelings surrounding a recent angerrelated interpersonal experience from either a self-immersed or self-distanced perspective. They then rated their negative affect and described in writing the stream of thoughts they experienced when they analyzed their feelings. Children's stream-of-thought essays were content analyzed for the presence of recounting statements, reconstruing statements, and blame attributions. Path analyses indicated that children who analyzed their feelings from a self-distanced perspective focused significantly less on recounting the "hot," emotionally arousing features of their memory (i.e., what happened to me?) and relatively more on reconstruing their experience. This shift in thought content-less recounting and more reconstruing-led children in the self-distanced group to blame the other person involved in their recalled experience significantly less, which in turn led them to display significantly lower levels of emotional reactivity. These findings help delineate the psychological mechanisms that distinguish adaptive versus maladaptive forms of self-reflection over anger experiences in children. Their basic findings and clinical implications are discussed.
The increasing prominence of standardized achievement tests in educational policy and practice mo... more The increasing prominence of standardized achievement tests in educational policy and practice motivated the current investigation. We propose a model in which report card grades differentially assess certain competencies (e.g., completion of homework and longterm assignments and positive classroom behavior) determined more by self-control than by intelligence, whereas standardized achievement tests are more sensitive to other competencies (e.g., capacity to solve novel problems in unfamiliar formats; independent acquisition of skills and knowledge outside of school) determined more by intelligence than by self-control. In three longitudinal, prospective studies of middle school students, self-control was a stronger predictor of changes in report card grades than was IQ. In contrast, IQ was a stronger predictor than self-control of changes in standardized achievement test scores. In a fourth study, a survey of teachers' grading practices provided further support for the proposed model. Implications for pedagogy and public policy are discussed.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2010
The predictive validity of personality for important life outcomes is well established, but conve... more The predictive validity of personality for important life outcomes is well established, but conventional longitudinal analyses cannot rule out the possibility that unmeasured third-variable confounds fully account for the observed relationships. Longitudinal hierarchical linear models (HLM) with timevarying covariates allow each subject to serve as his or her own control, thus eliminating betweenindividual confounds. HLM also allows the directionality of the causal relationship to be tested by reversing time-lagged predictor and outcome variables. We illustrate these techniques through a series of models that demonstrate that within-individual changes in self-control over time predict subsequent changes in GPA but not vice-versa. The evidence supporting a causal role for self-control was not moderated by IQ, gender, ethnicity, or income. Further analyses rule out one time-varying confound: self-esteem. The analytic approach taken in this study provides the strongest evidence to date for the causal role of self-control in determining achievement.
In this investigation, we test whether temporal discounting is domain-specific (i.e., compared to... more In this investigation, we test whether temporal discounting is domain-specific (i.e., compared to other people, can an individual have a relatively high discount rate for one type of reward but a relatively low discount rate for another?), and we examine whether individual differences in the types of rewards one finds tempting explain domain-specificity in discount rates. Adults discounted delayed rewards they found particularly tempting (defined as the visceral attraction to and enjoyment of a reward) more steeply than did adults who did not find the rewards as tempting, contrary to what might be expected from the magnitude effect. Furthermore, we found significant group by domain interactions (e.g., chip lovers who do not like beer have relatively high discount rates for chips and relatively low discount rates for beer, whereas beer lovers who do not like chips showed the opposite pattern). These results suggest that domain-specificity in temptation partially accounts for corresponding domain-specificity in temporal discounting.
This preliminary research study examined the impact of Strengths Gym, a character strengths-based... more This preliminary research study examined the impact of Strengths Gym, a character strengths-based positive psychological intervention program, on adolescent life satisfaction. Using a quasi-experimental treatment-control condition design, the study compared student outcomes for life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, and self-esteem for 319 adolescent students aged 12–14 (M = 12.98): 218 adolescent students who participated in character strengths-based exercises in the school curriculum, and 101 adolescent students who did not participate in character strengths-based exercises in the school curriculum. Results revealed that adolescents who participated in character strengths-based exercises experienced significantly increased life satisfaction compared to adolescents who did not participate in character strengths-based exercises. Overall, results provide encouraging preliminary support for the application of character strengths-based exercises in the school curriculum as a means of increasing life satisfaction and well-being among youths.
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 2010
Objective: To determine whether more self-controlled children are protected from weight gain as t... more Objective: To determine whether more self-controlled children are protected from weight gain as they enter adolescence. Design: Prospective, longitudinal study. Setting: Ten sites across the United States from 1991 to 2007. Participants: The 844 children in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development birth cohort who had height and weight information at 15 years of age in 2006.
We propose a model of impulsivity that predicts both domain-general and domain-specific variance ... more We propose a model of impulsivity that predicts both domain-general and domain-specific variance in behaviours that produce short-term gratification at the expense of long-term goals and standards. Specifically, we posit that domain-general impulsivity is explained by domain-general self-control strategies and resources, whereas domain-specific impulsivity is explained by how tempting individuals find various impulsive behaviours, and to a lesser extent, in perceptions of their long-term harm. Using a novel self-report measure, factor analyses produced six (non-exhaustive) domains of impulsive behaviour (Studies 1-2): work, interpersonal relationships, drugs, food, exercise and finances. Domain-general self-control explained 40% of the variance in domain-general impulsive behaviour between individuals, r effect =.71. Domain-specific temptation (r effect =.83) and perceived harm (r effect =À.26) explained 40% and 2% of the unique within-individual variance in impulsive behaviour, respectively (59% together). In Study3, we recruited individuals in special interest groups (e.g. procrastinators) to confirm that individuals who are especially tempted by behaviours in their target domain are not likely to be more tempted in non-target domains.
Although children and adolescents vary in their chronic tendencies to adaptively versus maladapti... more Although children and adolescents vary in their chronic tendencies to adaptively versus maladaptively reflect over negative feelings, the psychological mechanisms underlying these different types of self-reflection among youngsters are unknown. We addressed this issue in the present research by examining the role that self-distancing plays in distinguishing adaptive versus maladaptive selfreflection among an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of fifth-grade public schoolchildren. Children were randomly assigned to analyze their feelings surrounding a recent angerrelated interpersonal experience from either a self-immersed or self-distanced perspective. They then rated their negative affect and described in writing the stream of thoughts they experienced when they analyzed their feelings. Children's stream-of-thought essays were content analyzed for the presence of recounting statements, reconstruing statements, and blame attributions. Path analyses indicated that children who analyzed their feelings from a self-distanced perspective focused significantly less on recounting the "hot," emotionally arousing features of their memory (i.e., what happened to me?) and relatively more on reconstruing their experience. This shift in thought content-less recounting and more reconstruing-led children in the self-distanced group to blame the other person involved in their recalled experience significantly less, which in turn led them to display significantly lower levels of emotional reactivity. These findings help delineate the psychological mechanisms that distinguish adaptive versus maladaptive forms of self-reflection over anger experiences in children. Their basic findings and clinical implications are discussed.
The increasing prominence of standardized achievement tests in educational policy and practice mo... more The increasing prominence of standardized achievement tests in educational policy and practice motivated the current investigation. We propose a model in which report card grades differentially assess certain competencies (e.g., completion of homework and longterm assignments and positive classroom behavior) determined more by self-control than by intelligence, whereas standardized achievement tests are more sensitive to other competencies (e.g., capacity to solve novel problems in unfamiliar formats; independent acquisition of skills and knowledge outside of school) determined more by intelligence than by self-control. In three longitudinal, prospective studies of middle school students, self-control was a stronger predictor of changes in report card grades than was IQ. In contrast, IQ was a stronger predictor than self-control of changes in standardized achievement test scores. In a fourth study, a survey of teachers' grading practices provided further support for the proposed model. Implications for pedagogy and public policy are discussed.
Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2010
The predictive validity of personality for important life outcomes is well established, but conve... more The predictive validity of personality for important life outcomes is well established, but conventional longitudinal analyses cannot rule out the possibility that unmeasured third-variable confounds fully account for the observed relationships. Longitudinal hierarchical linear models (HLM) with timevarying covariates allow each subject to serve as his or her own control, thus eliminating betweenindividual confounds. HLM also allows the directionality of the causal relationship to be tested by reversing time-lagged predictor and outcome variables. We illustrate these techniques through a series of models that demonstrate that within-individual changes in self-control over time predict subsequent changes in GPA but not vice-versa. The evidence supporting a causal role for self-control was not moderated by IQ, gender, ethnicity, or income. Further analyses rule out one time-varying confound: self-esteem. The analytic approach taken in this study provides the strongest evidence to date for the causal role of self-control in determining achievement.
In this investigation, we test whether temporal discounting is domain-specific (i.e., compared to... more In this investigation, we test whether temporal discounting is domain-specific (i.e., compared to other people, can an individual have a relatively high discount rate for one type of reward but a relatively low discount rate for another?), and we examine whether individual differences in the types of rewards one finds tempting explain domain-specificity in discount rates. Adults discounted delayed rewards they found particularly tempting (defined as the visceral attraction to and enjoyment of a reward) more steeply than did adults who did not find the rewards as tempting, contrary to what might be expected from the magnitude effect. Furthermore, we found significant group by domain interactions (e.g., chip lovers who do not like beer have relatively high discount rates for chips and relatively low discount rates for beer, whereas beer lovers who do not like chips showed the opposite pattern). These results suggest that domain-specificity in temptation partially accounts for corresponding domain-specificity in temporal discounting.
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Papers by Eli Tsukayama