Personal epistemology: Implications for stress in college students

This research study investigated whether college students' epistemological beliefs (i.e. certain knowledge, simple knowledge, fixed ability, quick learning, and omniscient authority) could predict negative stressors and/or reactions to stress in their college experience. Based on responses to two self-assessment inventories and a demographic survey; analysis of the data suggests that over and above contributions from demographics (i.e. gender, ethnicity, age, and education level), certain dimensions of epistemological beliefs contributed significantly to the prediction of negative stress in college students. This suggests that it is essential for educators to provide opportunities for students' epistemological development; specifically, in the area of constructing knowledge. Students need opportunities to view themselves as sources of knowledge (i.e. knowledge is constructed internally), which leads to development of a higher level of cognitive processing.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Education (MEd)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health and Physical Education

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

2002

Author dc:creator

• Johnson, Robyn M

Contributors dc:contributor

• Charles Regin

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1368

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2367