Explore the vast range of titles available.

This book provides rare insights into motivation among extremely successful learners of English and languages other than English (LOTEs) through the analysis of a longitudinal study and the examination of the factors involved in becoming multilingual in a non-multilingual environment. Based on sixteen interview sessions, conducted over the course of nine years while the learners progressed from high school to the world of work, this book offers the story of how two learners persist in English/LOTE learning. The study illuminates the long-term processes through which the interviewees develop ideal English/LOTE selves in an environment where multilingualism is not emphasized and where both English and LOTEs can still be described as foreign languages. Educators and researchers will learn from this study, which stretches our understanding of motivation beyond the recent theorizing of L2 motivation and contributes to the limited research in long-term motivational trajectories and LOTE learning motivation, which is particularly scarce in non-European contexts. The book will be of interest not only to readers in Japan but also to those in other contexts as it offers an example of successful learners who go beyond the pragmatic and instrumentalist view of language learning to hold a more holistic view, thus revealing the factors which can sustain multiple language learning, even in foreign language contexts.

The paper analyses instances of mimicry as they appear in Danticat’s historiographic fiction, The Farming of Bones. More specifically, it will examine why and how some characters appear accomplices in the brutal Parsley Massacre provoked by the Trujillo regime. Besides its literary dimension, the analysis can be said to be relevant from a cultural and socio-historical perspective as well because it seeks to reveal the emergence of a process which will be called inner colonisation and a new version of the native informant, which will be referred to as the neo-colonial informant.

Multi-informants are essential for capturing the full range of adaptive functioning abilities necessary for daily living and independence. However, discrepancies within parent-child dyads, specifically comparing parent-reports to child self-reports, can cloud interpretation from assessments and hinder support planning. This study examines discrepancies in parent-youth perceptions of adaptive functioning, focusing on the social domain, and investigates associations among parents, youth, and independent ratings, considering factors like IQ, autism severity, and parental education. The study included 132 individuals (66 autistic, 66 non-autistic) aged 16–24 years. Adaptive functioning was measured using the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-3 across the conceptual, practical, and social domains. Agreement between reporters was assessed using paired-sample t -tests, intraclass-correlations, and Bland-Altman plots. Spearman’s correlations examined associations between raters, while the effects of IQ, autism severity, and parental education on discrepancies were analyzed using linear regression. Autistic self- and parent-reports showed lower adaptive functioning than non-autistic dyads. Autistic youth reported higher social and less practical adaptive skills compared to parents. Autistic self-reports in the social domain correlated significantly with independent assessment. Increased autistic symptoms were associated with greater parent-child discrepancies. This study underscores the importance of multi-informant assessments to understand the full range of adaptive functioning in autistic individuals. Discrepancies in social and practical domains highlight the need for both perspectives, because parents may not observe all behaviors and may overlook autistic individuals’ perception of support needs in the practical domain. Understanding these differences is crucial for improving supports planning and enhancing quality of life for autistic individuals.

Collateral reports on psychopathology improve clinical care and research. Previous research showed moderate agreement between adults’ self- and collateral reports. Factors associated with discrepancies in different age groups, especially the crucial period of emerging adulthood, are yet to be investigated. We examined mother-child agreement and factors associated with discrepancies in N   =  256 mother-child dyads with emerging adult children ( M  = 22.3 years) who participated in a longitudinal prevention study (18-year follow-up). Children completed self-report measures on psychopathology (Adult Behavior Checklist, ASR), current psychological distress, and two individual items regarding the mother-child relationship and frequency of contact. Mothers reported on their children’s psychopathology (Adult Behavior Checklist, ABCL) and their own psychological distress. Children and mothers completed a half-structured clinical interview on mental disorders. Agreement between ASR and ABCL was moderate to high ( r  = .48 to .53). Both reports significantly correlated with children’s diagnoses based on the clinical interview ( r  = .37 to .58). When children reported higher levels of psychopathology, higher levels of current psychological distress were associated with larger mother-child discrepancies. When mothers reported higher levels of child psychopathology, higher levels of maternal psychological distress, lower relationship quality, and higher frequency of contact were associated with larger discrepancies. Mother-child agreement in emerging adulthood is comparable to agreement in adolescence and adulthood. Factors associated with discrepancies differ for higher maternal- vs. self-reported psychopathology. Maternal psychological distress is more relevant for informant discrepancies than maternal mental disorder diagnoses. Longitudinal studies are needed to enhance the understanding of informant discrepancies.

Classical psychometrics held that scores on a personality measure were determined by the trait assessed and random measurement error. A new view proposes a much richer and more complex model that includes trait variance at multiple levels of a hierarchy of traits and systematic biases shaped by the implicit personality theory of the respondent. The model has implications for the optimal length and content of scales and for the use of scales intended to correct for evaluative bias; further, it suggests that personality assessments should supplement self-reports with informant ratings. The model also has implications for the very nature of personality traits.

Discrepancies are often found between self-reports and reports by others regarding psychopathology. Both the person being assessed and various informants may contribute crucial data concerning a person's functioning. Comprehensive assessment requires data from multiple informants. Such data can be easily obtained with parallel self-report and collateral-report forms. The multi-informant data can be compared, aggregated, and used in many ways. Optimal use of multi-source data is essential for clinical assessment and for discovering causes and cures of psychopathology.

Family functioning is often impaired in families with a parent with mental illness and is linked to child mental health. This study aims to gain a better understanding of family functioning in affected families by comparing ratings among family members and by analyzing associations with clinician-rated family functioning. The cross-sectional sample comprised 210 families with ratings of 207 patients, 139 partners, and 100 children. Parents with a mental illness as well as their partners and children completed the German version of the Family Assessment Measure (FAM). Clinician ratings were obtained by the Global Assessment of Relational Functioning Scale (GARF). We conducted several mixed models to compare ratings of family functioning while accounting for family cluster. Family dysfunction was consistently elevated compared to a normative sample. On several domains, parents with a mental illness perceived family functioning to be worse compared to their partners and children. Partners and children did not differ in their perceptions of family functioning. Ratings of family members were moderately associated with clinician ratings. We discuss the importance of multi-informant assessment of family functioning and the implementation of family-based interventions for families with a parent with mental illness.

Self-report questionnaires are the most commonly used personality assessment despite longstanding concerns that self-report responses may be distorted by self-protecting motives and response biases. In a large-scale meta-analysis (N = 33,033; k = 152 samples), we compared the means of self- and informant reports of the same target’s Big Five personality traits to examine the discrepancies in two rating sources and whether people see themselves more positively than they are seen by others. Inconsistent with a general self-enhancement effect, results showed that self-report means generally did not differ from informant-report means (average δ = −.038). Moderate mean differences were found only when we compared self-reports with stranger reports, suggesting that people are critical of unacquainted targets. We discuss implications of these findings for personality assessment and other fields in which self-enhancement motives are relevant.

Parents and adolescents may hold discrepant views about parents’ behaviors, which may be related to adolescent maladjustment. The goal of the present investigation was to examine associations between overprotective parenting and adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems and the frustration of their psychological needs (for autonomy, relatedness and competence), thereby considering both congruence and incongruence in adolescents’ and mothers’ reports of overprotective parenting. Our sample consisted of 402 mother-adolescent dyads (M adolescent age = 16.8 years, 63% female), who reported upon the mothers’ overprotective parenting. In addition, adolescents filled out questionnaires assessing their internalizing and externalizing problems and psychological need frustration. Data were analyzed using polynomial regressions with response surface analysis. Results showed evidence for a linear, additive relationship between adolescents’ and mothers’ reports of overprotective parenting, and adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing symptoms and relatedness and competence frustration. That is, higher scores in adolescents’ and mothers’ ratings of overprotective parenting were associated with more maladjustment and more need frustration. Moreover, results indicated that incongruence between adolescents’ and mothers’ reports related to more externalizing problems and more autonomy and relatedness frustration, and this was especially the case when adolescents perceived higher levels of overprotection than what was reported by mothers. These results underscore the importance of considering multiple perspectives when studying the dynamics involved in overprotective parenting.