Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research - National Institute of Psychology

Self-esteem is generally construe as an evaluation of one’s self-worth; its manifestation however, tend to vary considerably in different cultures. This study attempts to develop a scale for the assessment of self-esteem among school children in Pakistan. A list of 44 items of self-esteem was presented as a self report measure Self-Esteem Scale for Children, (SESC) to 346 children of 13-15 years old (48% boys and 52% girls) along with Rifai Self-Esteem Scale (Rifai, 1999). Factor analysis revealed three positive domains of SESC namely; Academic, Self Confidence, Social, and a negative one named Low Self-esteem. The psychometric properties of SESC were found to be satisfactory. The findings are discussed in terms of the structure of the self-esteem within the cultural context. Implications for theoretical construct of this research were also discussed.

Parenting Styles as Predictors of Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior Problems among Children

Noreen Akhter, Rubina Hanif, Naeem Tariq,
and Mohsin Atta
Quaid-i-Azam University

The present research was aimed to study parenting styles as predictors of externalizing and internalizing behavior problems among children. The study was carried out on the sample of 200 couples including mothers (n = 200) and fathers (n = 200) with minimum secondary education level and having children between the ages of 8 to 12 years. Parenting Styles Dimension Questionnaire (PSDQ; Robinson, Mandleco, Olsen, & Hart, 1995) was used to determine personality traits. PSDQ was translated into Urdu and its psychometric properties were established. Child Problem Checklist (Tariq & Hanif, 2007) was administered on parents to rate the behavioral problems of their children. The results indicated positive relationship between authoritarian and permissive parenting styles with internalizing and externalizing behavior problems of children while there was negative relationship between authoritative parenting styles and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems of children. Furthermore, results demonstrated only authoritarian parenting style of mothers and fathers as a significant predictor of internalizing and externalizing behavior problems in children.

Self-Regulation as Predictor of Decision Making Styles among Managers of Cellular Companies

Aliya Abdul Hayee and Bushra Hassan
Quaid-i-Azam University

The present study aimed to explore the role of self-regulation in prediction of decision making styles among managers of cellular companies. Short Form of Self-Regulation Questionnaire (Carey & Neal, 2005) and General Decision Making Style Questionnaire (Scott & Bruce, 1995) were used to assess self regulation and decision making styles, respectively. The sample constituted managers of cellular companies (N = 163) of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Findings revealed that self-regulation positively predicted rational, intuitive, and spontaneous decision making styles and negatively predicted the dependant decision making style, whereas it has nonsignificant correlation with avoidant decision making style. No differences were found among three levels of management in relation to self-regulation and decision making styles. Results also showed that men preferred to opt rational decision making style as compared to women. Moreover, young managers use intuitive, dependant, and avoidant decision making styles while older managers follow rational decision making styles.

Gender Differences in Perceived Quality of Life of Patients Suffering From Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

The present research was conducted to explore gender differences in perceived quality of life of patients suffering from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). A sample of diagnosed patients of OCD (N = 60) was selected from psychiatry departments of different hospitals of Lahore city. Urdu version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF; Khan, Akhtar, Ayub, Alam, & Laghari, 2003) was administered. The female patients reported better overall quality of life as compared to the male patients. However, female and male patients reported more problems in their social and environmental domains than the physical and psychological domains of life. The findings indicated significant positive relationship between different domains of quality of life and monthly income of OCD patients.

Prevalence of Dyslexia in Secondary School Students in Lahore

Mujeeba Ashraf and Saima Majeed
University of the Punjab

Present study is a cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of dyslexia in the secondary school students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades of Lahore city in Pakistan. The sample of 500 students (250 girls and 250 boys) was taken from government schools with age between 11-17 years. Bangor Dyslexia Test (Miles, 1997), Standard Progressive Matrices (Raven, Court, & Raven, 1977), Slosson Intelligence Test (Slosson, Nicholson, & Hibpshman, 1963), and the Academic Record of the students were used to screen out dyslexia. Descriptive and nonparametric statistics were used to determine the prevalence and gender difference in dyslexia. Out of the total sample, 5.37% students were screened out with dyslexia. In 6th and 7th grades, dyslexia was more prevalent in male students than female students, while in 8th grade, the percentage did not vary much in both genders. Otherwise, gender differences were nonsignificant.

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Psychological Predictors of College Students Performance

Iftikhar Ahmad
Government College University

The purpose of this study was to find how much ability and psychological factors determined academic performance of college students. On a sample of 269 first year undergraduate students, emotional intelligence (Emotional Quotient Inventory; Bar-On,1997) and study motivation (Motivational Strategies for Learning Questionnaire; Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & McKeachie, 1991) as psychological factors explained variance in GPA by 15% incrementally next to Higher Secondary School Marks, an ability factor, for the students of Humanities (n = 130). Such an increase was around 5% only for the students of Sciences (n = 139). The overall emotional intelligence score and learning motivation score was similar between Science and Humanities students, however, within the Humanities Group only the scores significantly varied among high, medium, and low GPA scoring students. The effect of personality traits namely Extraversion, Openness to Change, and Conscientiousness (NEO Five Factor Inventory; Costa & McCrae, 1992) was least related to academic performance as another psychological factor. Since psychological factors were not as much relevant to the prediction of GPA in the Science Group as in the Humanities that underscored the salience of academic discipline in influencing the students’ performance as a contextual factor. Learning motivation varied with GPA more than performance-motivation, meaningfully enough. These findings have implications for educational program by highlighting that psychological factors influence academic achievement next to ability factors differently in specific disciplines.

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Volume 26, Summer 2011