Identifying correlates of urban "at-risk" college freshmen's life style decisions: A study of the impact of racial identity, vocational identity, psychological adjustment, and coping styles on decision making.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Decision making may be understood in terms of a cost-versus-benefit approach, where behavior is chosen that maximizes gains and minimizes losses (Galotti & Kozberg, 1996; Woerll & Danner, 1989). Some factors influencing decision making are racial identity development, vocational identity development, psychological adjustment, and coping styles of the individual. The question under investigation focused on the development of the decision-making process: To what degree do urban African American college freshmen's Black racial identity, vocational identity, psychological adjustment, and coping style predict early adult life style behavior?.
Participants were 144 African American college freshmen who came from low-SES backgrounds. They ranged in age from 18 to 19 years. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed to analyze the association between life decision making (dependent variable) and racial identity, vocational identity, psychological adjustment, and coping (independent variables). The results, supported by a p value of .05 for significance, showed a positive correlation between psychological adjustment and decision making and a negative correlation between racial identity and decision making. Research implications and applications show a need to provide training for African American college freshmen in the ability to make productive decisions. Mentoring programs may be useful in helping with the transition to college life.