AN ASSESSMENT OF ADLERIAN LIFE STYLE AND READING ABILITY OF NINTH GRADERS.

Abstract

The purposes of this descriptive study were to examine: (a) the general approaches to life tasks of sample groups of good and poor ninth grade readers; and (b) the specific intrinsic motivations of such readers toward or against participating in the process of learning to read better within the context of the approaches taken to life tasks. The theory, instruments, and analytical procedures of Adlerian (Individual) Psychology were used as a framework for gathering the data and analyzing the findings. The subjects, fifteen good readers and fifteen poor readers, were administered the Life Style Assessment interview, an informal projective technique for deriving the following outcome measures for each subject: (a) positive and/or negative Life Style themes, assigned weights to show prominence in the private logic; (b) positive, negative, or mixed attitude toward reading as perceived by the interviewer; (c) a Reading/Life Style statement, a set of responses representing the subject's self-view, view of reading, and internal motivations toward or against participating in the process of learning to read better ("I am ..., reading is ..., therefore learning to read better is ..."). The Reading/Life Style statement was used to explain each subject's application of Life Style themes to reading, attitude toward reading when it was not consistent with achievement, and motivation toward or against reading. The conclusions drawn in the study were: (1) There are no sets of predominant Life Style themes which characterize good and poor readers and separate them clearly. (2) Neither positive nor negative Life Style themes are predictive of reading achievement. (3) The attitude of good and poor readers toward reading achievement depends on the self-perceived usefulness of reading in attaining goals. (4) The motivation of good and poor readers toward or against improving reading ability may be one application of more general motivations toward the socially-oriented goals of completing life tasks. Implications and suggestions for further research are presented.