Philippine Journal of Psychology

December 2001, Vol. 34, No. 2

Contents

What Do Young Children Know About the Differences Between Physical and Mental Objects? A Study on Preschoolers' Ontological Abilities
Ma. Emma Concepcion D. Liwag and Hazel Grace C. Chua

This study investigated urban Filipino preschool children's understanding of physical and mental entities, and whether they can apply the intuitive criteria of perceptual accessibility and public existence in ontologically distinguishing physical from mental phenomena. Ninety–one children aged 3, 4, and 5, enrolled in 8 preschools in Metro Manila, participated in the experiment. A 3 x 3 factorial design treated Age and Ontological Status (e.g., physical, mental, and hidden objects) as between-subject variables. The results showed that only the 5-year old children were able to consistently distinguish physical from mental entities, correctly asserting that physical objects can be seen and touched and have a public existence, while mental objects are not perceptually accessible and exist only in a person's mind.
Do Asians and Americans Think Differently? Thinking Styles Among Filipino, Hong Kong Chinese, and American College Students
Allan B.I. Bernardo

Do thinking styles vary across cultures? This paper attempts to begin answering this question by comparing the results of investigations of thinking styles under Sternberg's (1988, 1997) theory of mental self-government using the Thinking Styles Inventory (TSI). In particular, the paper compares and contrasts the results of factor analysis on TSI data from Filipino, Hong Kong Chinese, and American college students. The factor models of thinking styles among Filipino and Hong Kong Chinese students were similar to each other, but were distinct from the factor model for the American students. The paper explores possible explanations to the differences between the Asian and American samples. These explanations relate to differences in specific aspects of culture that may affect how thinking styles are experienced and to different cultural constructions of thinking processes.
The Tagasalo Personality
Margaret Helen Udarbe

The study investigated Carandang's theory of 'tagasalo' in efforts to describe and explain its origins, development, and dynamics. The possibility of tagasalo being gender-specific and related to birth order, was raised. Ten families were interviewed intensively. In addition, three psychological tests were administered to the identified tagasalo child and to another child least like the tagasalo. It was found that the tagasalo personality is not systematically related to gender nor birth order, but it can develop out of the need for a child to be different from a sibling who causes emotional upheaval in the family. The tagasalo is a responsible and caring person, a listener and a mediator, intent on harmony, and also has a strong need for control and a capacity for emotional distance. Instead of the self-doubting, unloved, compulsive, dependent, and passive tagasalo who appears to be acted upon in Carandang's theory, this study found them to be responsible, caring, and dependable children who actually take charge in efforts at relieving tension and resolving conflicts in the family. The tagasalo is actually a person who influences the family's dynamics, who actually holds power, and who seeks to be in control.
Predictors and Efficacy of Coping Strategies Among Working Parents
Regina Hechanova-Alampay

The study surveyed 371 Filipino working parents in Metro Manila to determine the predictors and efficacy of their coping strategies. Educational attainment, age, gender, duality of income, and work level predicted the utilization of various coping strategies. Workers with low income and work levels, those in single-income families and those who utilized passive coping strategies jobs reported most strain.
Spiritual Activities and the Resiliency Levels of the Inmates of the Maximum Security Compound at the New Bilibid Prisons
Jesus Enrique G. Saplala

This exploratory-descriptive study compared the spiritual activities engaged in by thirty-five inmate Catholic participants and seventeen inmate Catholic nonparticipants and their resiliency levels during their incarceration at the New Bilibid Prisons' maximum-security compound. Involvement in spiritual activities and its relation to resiliency were measured by using researcher-constructed questionnaires on their involvement in spiritual activities (Spiritual Activities Questionnaire for Adult Offenders or SAQAO) and resiliency (Resiliency Questionnaire for Adult Offenders or RQAO) and a test to investigate resiliency adapted from Martin Seligman's Children Attributional Test (Attributional Test Questionnaire for Adult Offenders or ATQAO). Both groups chose to participate in spiritual activities such as attending the mass or taking active part in a church-based organization because of their own liking, the invitation of other people, or a spiritual renewal they have experienced before or after incarceration. Inmates tend to be affected by culture (kababaang loob or humility), tradition, situation, and circumstance in explaining good or bad events in the life. Their involvement in these activities may be linked to the need for them to cope with the harsh realities of prison life and that the activities may allow them to transcend the feeling of helplessness, thus, possibly becoming more resilient.
Career Advancement of Filipino Graduates and the Relationship to Their Previous Student Roles
Rosalyn A. Castro

There were five hypotheses: (1) Filipino graduates with previous student leadership roles progress more successfully and faster in their careers than those without previous student leadership roles; (2) Male Filipino graduates progress more successfully in their careers than female Filipino graduates; (3) Filipino graduates in the government offices are more task-oriented than those in the non-governmental organizations and the corporate sector; (4) Filipino graduates experience more personal stress as they progress in their jobs; and (5) Filipino graduates who work in the corporate sector experience more personal stress than those who work in the non-governmental organizations and governmental offices. The respondents for the present study were 156 Filipino graduates (57 males and 99 females), age 25 and above, who have been working in selected non-governmental organizations, government offices or business corporations within Metro Manila for more than five years at the time of the study. Using the independent group samples t-test and chi-square test, only the first hypothesis was significant.
Conceptions of Helping: A Cross-Cultural Comparison from the Helpee Perspective
Yii-Nii Lin

The effects of counseling style (Problem-Solving, Client-Centered, and Relationship-Centered) and stage (beginning or working) on 194 Taiwanese first year university women's perceived counselor effectiveness were examined with a 3 x 2 two-way factorial design. The Relationship-Centered Counseling style (RCC) was perceived as more effective than either the Problem-Solving Counseling (PSC) or the Client-Centered Counseling (CCC) style during the working stage. In addition, Relationship-Centered Counseling during the working stage was perceived as more effective than at the beginning stage. Counselors might consider incorporating the RCC theoretical framework and concepts, and integrating a variety of RCC skills and characteristics at the working stage of counseling as a result of its effectiveness.
Transmitting Information or Engaging in Problem Exploration? An Examination of the Effects of Educational Media Designs on Students' Learning Outcomes
Rotacio S. Gravoso, Arturo E. Pasa, Jerome B. Labra, and Toshiaki Mori

This study aimed to find out if design of educational media affects learning outcomes. Focusing on ecological problems, two classes studied using media that either transmitted information, or asked students to explore the problems. Another class that did not use any of the two media served as control. Learning outcomes was measured in terms of students' understanding score of the ecological problems. Results showed that the improvement of the exploration group's mean score in the problems studied was consistently higher than the two groups. Findings suggest that media's potentials to support quality learning can be harnessed to the fullest extent if these are designed for students to explore problems.