Perceived control over personal goals in Russian and American college students.

This study investigated cultural variations in perceived control over personal goals in Russian and American college students. Several appraisal dimensions of personal goals were studied including goals' importance, their attainability, and sources of control over goal attainment, such as self, others, luck, and fate. The association between assimilative (tenacious goal pursuit) and accommodative (flexible goal adjustment) control strategies and perceived attainability of goals was also examined. The results indicated that both Russian and American students gave higher priority to work- and education-related goals and lower priority to the familial goal. In both samples, the familial goal was the most influenced and health was the least influenced by luck/chance and fate. Overall, American students were more optimistic about the perceived probability to attain their goals, which may be affected by a cultural tendency for self-enhancement and positive outlook. Russian students had a stronger belief in control by luck/chance and fate over personal goals, which coincides with a less agentic orientation of Russian culture. Regardless of culture and goal content, goal importance was associated with greater perceived success in goal attainment. However, control strategies (assimilative and accommodative) as well as internal control differentially predicted perceived attainability of goals depending on the goals' content. For both Russians and Americans, perceived attainability of education-related goals was associated with assimilative strategies and internal control; leisure was associated with accommodative strategies and health-related goals were associated with internal control. Characteristics of cultural contexts accountable for crosscultural differences in perceived control over personal goals are discussed.

Kinetics of the reactions of CH3CH2, CH3CHCl, and CH3CCl2 radicals with NO2 in the temperature range 221-363 K.

The gas-phase kinetics of three ethyl radical reactions with NO(2) have been studied in direct measurements using a laser photolysis/photoionization mass spectrometer (LP-PIMS) coupled to a temperature controlled tubular flow reactor. Reactions were studied under pseudo-first-order conditions with NO(2) always in large excess over initial radical concentrations. All the measured rate coefficients exhibit a negative temperature dependence, which becomes stronger as the chlorine substitution in the alpha-carbon of the ethyl radical increases. No pressure dependence of the rate coefficients was observed within the experimental range covered (0.5-6 Torr). The obtained results can be expressed conveniently as follows: k(CH(3)CH(2) + NO(2)) = (4.33 +/- 0.13) x 10(-11) (T/300 K)(-0.34 +/- 0.22) cm(3) s(-1) (221-365 K), k(CH(3)CHCl + NO(2)) = (2.38 +/- 0.10) x 10(-11) (T/300 K)(-1.27 +/- 0.26) cm(3) s(-1) (221-363 K), and k(CH(3)CCl(2) + NO(2)) = (1.01 +/- 0.02) x 10(-11) (T/300 K)(-1.65 +/- 0.19) cm(3) s(-1) (248-363 K), where the given error limits are the 1sigma statistical uncertainties of the plots of log k against log(T/300 K). Overall uncertainties in the measured rate coefficients were estimated to be +/-20%. The observed reactivity toward NO(2) decreases with increasing chlorine substitution at the radical site as was expected with respect to our previous measurements of chlorine containing methyl radical reactions with NO(2). A potential reason for the observed reactivity differences is briefly discussed, and a possible reaction mechanism is presented.