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Questions 600 full-time faculty members teaching journalism and/or mass communication about job-related stress. Finds faculty members suffer from job-related stress; differences exist in the way men and women view, experience, and cope with stress; anxiety and stress are shared by teachers at all grade levels; and times when faculty and students experience peak stress differ. (PA)

A research project focused on the question: Why do students choose to major in journalism and mass communication, and are there indications that those reasons might lead to job-related stress? Four hundred-sixteen undergraduate students in journalism and mass communication (JMC) programs across the country responded to a six-page questionnaire. Question one asked students to rank the five given reasons for selecting their major. All five reasons were found to be statistically significant when analyzed by students' major sequence. Question two asked students to rate 13 statements about JMC occupations. Students had strong beliefs that their fields offered challenging assignments, but also believed that their fields did not offer a great deal of job security. Question three presented students with 12 job-related factors and asked them to rate the factors in terms of their importance and how likely they would be able to achieve them in a professional job. Students were most interested in achieving promotion opportunities but many were not too optimistic about satisfying their needs. Question four discovered where they gained information about the field, by ranking seven sources in terms of where they got the most and the best information. While students said they got most of their information from observing their fields, they also said they got the best information from JMC faculty. The students' needs vs. their expectations often seemed at odds with reality--a potentially stressful situation. (Thirty-four endnotes and five tables of data are included.) (MG)

Two telephone surveys of adults living in North Carolina were conducted to determine the effects of various demographic and psychological characteristics on attitudes toward microcomputers. Results indicated that computer experience, income, education, and having children all predicted a positive attitude toward computers. In addition, findings showed that conventional notions about the acceptance of computers only by certain groups (white males in particular) may be oversimplifications. In fact, no difference in attitude on the basis of sex was found, and nonwhites, overall, held more positive attitudes toward computers than did whites. The findings suggest that women and nonwhites will not necessarily be excluded from the process of adopting new technologies. (Auth/FL)