Lecture 23 - Gryffindor, Slytherin or Hufflepuff: Motivational effects of different career tracks

Question 1

Graduate School in Clinical
Psychology

Answer 1

Prof’s experience in clinical psych
Needed:
3.7 GPA
Some research
GREs

Weeding out process
Took MMPI personality test, psychopathology
All 8 of them got over 70% paranoia, depression, anxiety (neurotic triad)
Imagined could be about how scary the clinical program was
Induced

Question 2

Sheldon and Krieger’s Description
of the Life of a Lawyer:

Answer 2

Lawyers may wonder why doing what they do
Medical doctors tend to feel like work is meaningful

Depression;
Anxiety
Substance Abuse
Career
Dissatisfaction

Law seems to be an unhappy profession
Anxiety, depression, substance abuse
Parents who are lawyers tell their kids not to become lawyers
More divorces, higher suicide rates
But it’s a high paying profession, high status
-Among highest
prestige.
Average US Salary
200K

Half the people fail the bar exam

Exception:
Real estate law = money and good life

Krieger’s Hypotheses
“intense pressure and
competitive success
norms reorient
students away from
positive personal
interests and values
and towards rewards
and more image
based values, leading
to a loss of self
esteem, life
satisfaction and well
being.”

Krieger thinks the training environment of law sets in motion the troubles
Thinks lawyers often amoral and vague on ethics

What is law school like?
Videoclip from The Paper Chase movie
Competition, rank,
status;
For academic
superiority
For placements
Excessively abstract,
analytical teaching;
Teaching practices are
isolative and
intimidating

Recall the Finnish
Schools:
Cooperative
Personally Relevant
Autonomy Supportive

Question 3

A Research Design to Examine the
Motivational Effects of Law School

Answer 3

Follow over 600 students at two large law
schools from early in their first year through
until graduation.
One school is top-rated and reputed to be
intensely competitive (Slytherin) whereas the
other is moderately rated and reputed to be
more student-centered(Hufflepuff).
Assess a host of motivational, academic, and
well-being outcomes over the 3-year period

Guided by Deci and Ryan’s
Self Determination Theory

Looked at various outcomes:
GPA
Career Choices
Hi $ & prestige – corporate, tort, medical
malpractice.
Hi Idealism – legal services to poor, public
defender.
Licensing Exam
Well-Being
Positive and Negative Affect
11 Life Satisfaction

Law students had stronger intrinsic aspirations
So not self-selecting

Are law students different from other students to begin with? (want more money, status…)
No.
Higher in well being to start than other programs
More intrinsic than extrinsic
They start off great

From 1st to 2nd year
Lower well-being
More extrinsic than intrinsic
Motivation drops
Need satisfaction drops

Well-being dropped because of decrease in intrinsic value, motivation, need satisfaction
Correlations

More autonomous goals = doing better in gpa
But more autonomous goals = Career goals shifted from more community oriented goals to prestige oriented goals
-authors suggested that in law school, if you show that you excel, the professors will notice and will try to lure you into going for a prestige career
-almost a corruption process

Type of law school matters
Bigger drops in well-being from year 1 to year 3 for “slytherin” school
Mediated by control vs. support

Those who go to high prestige exam do significantly worse on the bar exam!
-Used to control but maybe when take a year off to study for bar exam, no one is pushing you anymore, so maybe worse at studying on own.

If you want to become a partner at some point in the future, can’t say no to demands (like working on the weekend despite having planned to go to a wedding…)
Hard to take time off to see children
Time is very monetized… distorts way think about their life

Difficult for women even more

Question 4

Self Determination Theory
Constructs

Answer 4

Life Goals.
-Intrinsic versus extrinsic aspirations
Intrinsic life goals:
Personal growth, relationships, community
Extrinsic life goals:
Money, fame, popularity, beauty

Motivation for Law School Goals.
-intrinsic, identified, introjected, extrinsic.

Need Satisfaction.
-Autonomy, competence and relatedness.
-“I felt my choices were based on my true interests and values”
-“I felt capable in what I did.”
-“I felt close and connected to other people who are important
to me.”

Perception of Autonomy Support.
“Most instructors provide me with choices & options.”
“Feel able to share my feelings with most of my teachers”.
“Generally listen to how I would like to do things.”

Question 5

Slytherin law schools

Answer 5

Canada:
1. Toronto
2. Osgoode
3. Queens
4. McGill
5. UBC

USA:
1. Yale (70% mental health services!)
2. Harvard
3. Stanford
4. Columbia
5. NYU

Be aware of the human qualities of a school climate

Question 6

But what do you do if you only get into
Slytherin?

Answer 6

Chapter 12 of Deci: Being Autonomous Amidst
Controls:
Causality Orientation;
Promoting One’s own development;
-Finding supports; managing your manager Professor
Snape Example
Managing One’s Own experiences
-Emotion regulation – awareness + flexibility
-Behavior regulation – feedback and flexibility My Prof
Dumbledore

Question 7

The Happy Lawyer

Answer 7

Control
Work-life balance
“Mattering
matters”
Content and timetable
Connections
“It’s the people
stupid.”
Knowing Yourself
Finding a job that
aligns with your
interests and

Lawyers with lowest pay report more happiness
-ex: public defenders or legal aid attorneys

Prevention programs
-helping students make decisions about the kind of law (if any) they want to practice
-mental health component (techniques for handling stress and remaining positive)