PREDICTING COLLEGE STUDENTS’ POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY ATTRIBUTES WITH ...



PREDICTING COLLEGE STUDENTS' POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY ATTRIBUTES WITH DIMENSIONS OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School at Middle Tennessee State University

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts In School Psychology

Murfreesboro, TN December 2013

Thesis Committee Members: Dr. Seth Marshall, chair Dr. Jim Rust Dr. Monica Wallace

I dedicate this research to my two little munchkins, Cole and Owen. Never stop working hard and chasing your dreams.

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ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate how, and to what extent, dimensions of executive functioning (EF) predicted college students' positive psychology attributes, namely grit, optimism, positive affect, and life satisfaction. Seventy-nine participants were administered a self-report EF measure, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Adult Version (Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000), which assesses EF behavior regulation and metacognitive skills. In addition, four self-report positive psychology surveys were completed by each participant. Results indicated that EF behavior regulation and metacognitive skills successfully predicted grit and optimism. In addition, EF metacognitive skills predicted positive affect and life satisfaction. In general, findings extend previous EF and positive psychology research by investigating dimensions of EF that appear to contribute to life well-being factors.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Executive Functioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 EF and the Brain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

EF Deficits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

EF Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Positive Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Positive Psychology Variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

EF and Positive Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Hypothesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Research Approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Measures of EF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Measures of PP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Planned Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

CHAPTER FOUR: DISCUSSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

EF and Grit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

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EF and Optimism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 EF and Positive Affect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 EF and Life Satisfaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Limitations and Future Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Appendix 1: BRIEF-A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Appendix 2: Grit Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Appendix 3: LOT-R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Appendix 4: PANAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Appendix 5: SWLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Appendix 6: IRB Approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

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