Barnes, P. W., & Lightsey, O. R. Jr. (2005). Perceived racist discrimination, coping,
stress, and life satisfaction. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 33(1), 48-61.
The study focuses on the relationship between perceived discrimination, stress, coping strategy, and life satisfaction. 114 African American college students volunteered to take part in the study. Questionnaires completed include the Schedule of Racist Events (which measures the frequency of experience with various forms of perceived discrimination), the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Coping Strategies Indicator (determines whether problem solving, seeking social support, or avoidance strategy was used), the Perceived Stress Scale (measures how a stressful situation is perceived), and a demographic questionnaire. The author analyzed coping as a better predictor of stress than perceived discrimination. Results show lower life satisfaction and self-esteem with higher avoidance coping behaviors.
Bettencourt, B. A., Charlton, K., Eubanks, J., Kernahan, C., & Fuller, B. (1999). Development of collective self-esteem among students: predicting adjustment to college. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 21(3), 213-222. Retrived 12 Sept 2006 from EbscoHost.
Collective self esteem is the extent to which individuals evaluate their social groups positively. Collective self-esteem scale (Luhtanen and Crocker 1992). Collective SE seems to predict psychological adjustment and well-being. Adjustment to college is predicted by academic involvement and strong collective self-esteem development. Compared collective self esteem to attitudes toward academic work, student self-application to work, success of college functioning. Participation in on-campus groups have the benefit of facilitating successful adjustment to college. Also related to a positive change in personal self-esteem as well as the quality of the students’ college relationships. Suggests that practitioners dealing with individuals who cannot adjust recommend extracurricular involvement due to its ability to foster positive collective self-esteem in individuals.
Coladarci, T., & Cobb, C. D. (1996). Extracurricular participation, school size, and achievement and self-esteem among high school students: A national look. Journal of Research in Rural Education, 12(2), 92-103. Retrieved on 12 Sept 2006 from FreeArticles.
As of 1996, there was little research connecting extracurricular participation to anything other than academic performance. Data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988. Dependent variables are academic achievement and self-esteem, independent variables are school size and participation in extracurriculars in three areas: academics, sport, and the performing arts. The model used was that achievement, SES, school size, and esteem contributed to extracurricular involvement, which in turn resulted in academic achievement and self-esteem. Regardless of school size, students who spent more time in EC’s “enjoyed more self-esteem as seniors.” No interaction was found between school size and time in EC’s, resolving the issue of a larger school having a higher demand for EC’s. School size was the greatest determinant of EC involvement, and had more of an effect than SES, academic achievement or self-esteem. Strength between prior self-esteem and extracurricular involvement is only .11.
Darling, N., Caldwell, L. L., & Smith, R. (2005). Participation in school-based extracurricular activities and adolescent adjustment. Journal of Leisure Research, 37(1). 51-76. Retrieved 12 Sept 2006 from EbscoHost.
Leisure activities encourage students to manage their own experiences, to exert control over their environments, and to act autonomously. Highly structured activities (such as athletics, marching band, theater) have many benefits, including social development, skill enhancement and acquisition, school bonding. Criticisms of research include cross-sectional nature and also a truncated range of students who meet the GPA, cost, or talent requirements for participation. Benefits found in this study included: (p64) less marijuana use, higher grades, positive attitudes. These benefits did not depend on the participants’ demographic information. Participation in sports was correlated with a higher alcohol use and moderate marijuana use. Researcher suggests that relationship between participation and adjustment effects are existent, but small. Participation would perhaps provide the most benefits to students of disadvantaged backgrounds, but more research is needed.
Dworkin, J. B., Larson, R., & Hansen, D. (2003). Adolescents’ accounts of growth experiences in youth activities. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32(1), 17-27. Retrieved from GaleGroup on 20 Sept. 2006.
A series of focus groups discussing things that have contributed to their personal, social, and academic development. There may have been a social desirability bias due to this fact. Adolescents reported that EC’s helped them develop in many ways. These include: identity work (trying new things, gaining self-knowledge, learning personal limits), development of initiative (setting realistic goals, time management, personal responsibility), emotional self-regulation (anger and anxiety management, preventing emotional obstacles to performance, stress management, and using positive emotions constructively), developing peer relationships (meeting people outside of their networks, increased empathy and understanding, loyalty and intimacy with peers), teamwork/social skills (working as a group, leadership and responsibility, taking and giving feedback, communication skills), and adult networks and social capital (how the community operates, experiencing support from community leaders).
Eccles, J. S., & Barber, B. L. (1999). Student council, volunteering, basketball, or marching band: What kind of extracurricular involvement matters? Journal of Adolescent Research, 14(1), 10-43. Retrieved from Sage Publications on 20 Sept 2006.
Just being involved matters- it keeps adolescents occupied and active in constructive activities so that they don’t have time to engage in antisocial behaviors. Examines the risks and benefits associated with participating in different types of structured leisure activities. 10th graders who participated in EC’s showed more prosocial behavior and less problem behavior. Linked to better academic performance and likelihood of being enrolled full-time in college at age 21. Team sports: puts students at risk of drinking alcohol earlier, but also higher GPA and higher likelihood of full time college enrollment. Performing arts: less likely to participate in risky behaviors, greater liking of school, males less likely to drink. School-involvement activities: related to liking school, but not to risky behaviors. Academic clubs: primary related to enjoying school. All types indicated higher likelihood of full-time enrollment and higher GPA.
Gilman, R. 2001. The relationship between life satisfaction, social interest, and frequency of extracurricular activities among adolescent students. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 31(6), 749-768. Retrived 14 Sept 2006 from GaleGroup.
Social interest is the process in which an individuals abandons individual desires for a social commitment to others, and is considered important for adjustment as well as a part of positive mental health. Little research exists on the social interest of adolescents, but has been shown to be related to life satisfaction. Structured extracurriculars (SEA’s) have been shown to contribute to life satisfaction, as well. Absolute number of SEA’s as well as social interest contributed to life satisfaction in the sample. SEA’s were associated with a positive effect in curricular goals (GPA, standardized tests), as well as much higher school satisfaction and perceived quality of school experiences. Students who consider themselves prosocial were not shown to participate in more SEA’s than students who did not. 1 or 2 activies were enough to improve life satisfaction and foster a sense of community. Students who reported high and low SEA activity showed significant difference in their life satisfaction.
Holland, A., & Andre, T. (1987). Participation in extracurricular activities in secondary school: What is known and what needs to be known? Review of Educational Research,57(4), 437-466. Retrieved 12 Sept 2006 from JSTOR Complete.
Research concerning the positive outcomes of EC involvement is needed “in an era of limited financial resources for schools.” What is the goal of a school program: to transmit formal knowledge, or to further the development of individual students? Previous research has shown, with regards to self-esteem, that participation in any kind of extracurricular results in elevated senses of self-esteem and self-worth. Some shows effects lasting beyond secondary school. Early school programs (1979) that aimed to improve race relations in integrated schools showed effects of positive race attitudes and behaviors. Strength of extracurriculars is correlated with general school efficiency. Degree of involvement (p444) is a mediator of participation to development variables. More research is needed that demonstrates the effects of extent of participation (number of clubs). Many articles have described correlates of participation, but they do not convincingly argue for the causation of them by EC involvement. Participation in itself may not be the cause, but perhaps things that happen do to participation are: social skills, organization, leadership skills may be the cause. Participation may have negative effects: “students who fail to achieve success in activities feel alienated from school, particularly when pressure to participate is high.” (p 449, Grabe 1981).
Larson, R. W., & Verma, S. (1999). How children and adolescents spend time across the world: Work, play, and developmental opportunities. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 701-736. Retrieved from PsycNET on 20 Sept 2006.
The article discusses time budgeting and its effects on children around the world. Time is divided into work, leisure, and personal maintenance. Leisure is divided into media use and active leisure, which concerns our paper. Structured active leisure: sports participation is higher for boys than girls in most popular groups. In the USA, active structured leisure is more frequently enjoyed by higher SES youth. American children spend the most time at sports. The SES disparity is related to amount of free time spent in many leisure activities, including arts and hobbies. Structured leisure is used throughout the world to instill the concepts of structure, rules, teamwork, norms, goals. Participants experience higher levels of involvement, attention, enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation than other tasks.
Leonardelli, G. J., & Tormala, Z. L. (2003). The negative impact of perceiving
discrimination on collective well-being: The mediating role of perceived ingroup status. European Journal of Social Psychology, 33(4), 507-514.
The study focuses on how perceived discrimination positively affects collective self-esteem (simply belonging to a group) in the short term, but may have a negative indirect affects long term. Perceiving discrimination may result in an individual viewing in-group status as unfavorable. Participants include 132 female undergraduate students who participated in the study for class credit. All completed questionnaires on perceived discrimination, and collective self-esteem. Results show a decrease in in-group status as perceived discrimination reports increased. So frequency of perceived discrimination negatively affects self-esteem.
Nettles, S. M., Wilfridah, M., & Jones, D. S. (2000). Understanding resilience: The role of social resources. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 5(1&2), 47-60. Retrieved 16 Sept 2006 from EbscoHost.
Much research exists regarding students placed at risk who still show academic, emotional, and social competence despite adversity and stress. Important social support that may be responsible for this success come in the form of support from adults (teachers and parents who encourage success and teach important social/coping skills) and supportive classroom environments (protect against adverse conditions and provide opportunities for participating in curricular and extracurricular activities). The research supports the idea that fostering resilience through adult support and classroom support can protect students placed at risk due to poverty, ethnicity, or limited English proficiency. Increasing access to resources is vital if one wants to protect an adolescent from negative consequences (both academic achievement and social adjustment), especially if he or she comes from an at-risk background.
Platow, M. J.,Byrne, L., & Ryan, M. K. (2005). Experimentally manipulated high in-
group status can buffer personal self-esteem against discrimination. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35(5), 599-608.
The study examines how discrimination can affect personal self-esteem depending on low or high in-group status. 185 female and 103 male university students completed an “Employability Questionnaire.” Authors made manipulations based upon being a university or TAFE student. Although all participants were university students, this allowed for status manipulations. For example, a participant would read a questionnaire that placed being a university student as being more/less applicable than being a TAFE student; thus making them of high/low status. The study used a 2 x 3 between-participants factorial design. Participants were randomly assigned to one condition. The questionnaire was different at certain stages to manipulate in group status and inter-group behavior. The decision maker either decided to review only in-group, out-group, or both group applications according to the questionnaire. Importance of being a university student, supportive attitude toward the decision maker, and self-esteem were also measured. Results showed that high status group members were unaffected by discrimination towards the group. Discrimination toward low-status groups, because of status, resulted in low personal self-esteem.
Redden, C. E. (2002). Social alienation of African American college students: Implications for social support systems. (Report No. CG-031-955). Park City, UT: National Convention of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 470 257)
African American students perceive their predominantly white universities more negatively than did their white schoolmates. They also experience predominantly more racism, social isolation, personal dissatisfaction, and stress. Victims of social isolation have noticeable difficulty adjusting to a college situation, and African American people to be more socially alienated at white universities in the powerlessness and normlessness senses. Social support networks on PWCUs can increase comfort and help combat social isolation and assist adjustment. There are several techniques that PWCUs can use in order to assist in the comfort and adjustment of African American students, including 1) encouraging development of support systems (can be EC’s), 2) encourage AA students to use extended family as a caring and supportive network, 3) encourage AA students to get involved with social organizations or fraternities, and 4) encourage AA students to get involved with church to promote social and spiritual needs.
Schmitt, M. T., Spears, R., & Branscombe, N. R. (2003). Constructing a minority group identity out of shared rejection: The case of international students. European Journal of Social Psychology, 33(1), 1-12.
Going beyond the rejection-identification model, the authors purpose that
perceived discrimination fosters an identity within the group rather than group identification suppressing perceived discrimination. Previous research shows identification with a group is enhanced upon knowledge of discrimination against the group. The rejection identification models shows discrimination as being painful but identification with the group mediates the pain. But this model takes into account in-groups with prior low-status compared with the out-group. The authors look at in-groups and out-groups with no previous status. So, a group is formed.
Utsey, S. O., Ponterotto, J. G., Reynolds, A. L., & Cancelli, A. A. (2000). Racial
discrimination, coping, life satisfaction, and self-esteem among African
Americans. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78(1), 72-80.
The authors are interested in coping strategies (problem solving, seeking social support, and avoidance) and which are used in relation to the type of racial discrimination encountered. The three types of racial discrimination proposed by Jones are individual, institutional, and cultural racism. The sample consisted of 213 African American college students. Questionnaires included the Coping Strategy Indicator (with time frame of discrimination extended from 6 months to 1 year), the Index of Race-Related Stress, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Participants recalled a personal experience with racism and indicated type of coping strategy used. Results showed an inverse correlation between avoidance coping and self-esteem.
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Olson, M. A., & Fazio, R. H. (2001). Implicit Attitude Formation Through Classical Conditioning. Psychological Science, 12(5). Retrieved on October 2, 2006 from the EBSCOhost database.