Psychological Constructs

identify a psychological construct you would like to know more about, such as life satisfaction, stress, happiness, optimism, etc. Then, identify a research question- what do you want to know about this construct. For example, a research question might be “does work impact life satisfaction?” This is an important step. It is critical to identify a research question before finding your articles. This question will guide your search.

Based on the research question, you are going to search for scholarly journal articles about your construct of interest. While Google scholar can be helpful, you have access to journal databases via the online library. A commonly used database for finding psychological research is APA PsycArticles. For this assignment, use PsycArticles to search and retrieve research articles to study your construct. This assignment is not meant to be a simple Google search. Your articles should be related to a research question and focused on an area of interest. Here is a link to APA PsycArticles through the APUS Online Library:

If you need help navigating the database, our Online Librarians are always available to help and love to hear from students. Email them using the following link: Library

Selection Criteria for Articles

When selecting articles, be sure to include the following:

• One article must be from a peer reviewed journal
• One article must contain your construct in the title
• One article must be within the date range 1990 to 1999

A. Introduction of Construct and Research Question (250-300 words)

Identify the construct of interest and research question. Provide a detailed description of the construct and explain what search terms you used to locate literature.

B. Article Review (250-300 words, APA citation does not count toward the word count requirement)

For each article, include the following information:

1. APA formatted citation of the article
   • Author last name, First and Middle initials. (Year). Article title. Journal title, volume number (issue number), pages.

Example

Smith, P. A. (2018). On finding journal articles: A made up citation. Journal of Made Up Psychology, 100(2), 203-214.

2. Identification of the research question(s) and description of how the authors investigated the construct of interest, including how they measured the focal and related constructs.

3. Description of the key finding(s) of the focal construct.

4. Attachment of the PDF or electronic copy of the article

Be sure to allow enough time to read through the articles. You are not expected to understand all the methods and analyses.