Digital Commons Network^™

Cultivating An Engaged Workforce: The Roles Of Leader Personality, Motivation, And Leadership Style, Amy Marie Taylor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the links between leadership style, leader personality, and motivation to lead, with employee engagement. Transformational leadership, transactional leadership, and abusive supervision styles were examined in relation to levels of employee engagement via a sample of n=195 employees and n=130 managers. Consistent with findings from Christian, Garza, and Slaughter (2011), transformational leadership showed a positive link to employee engagement (r= .38, p< .05). On the opposite end, abusive supervision was negatively related to employee engagement (r= -.27, p< .05). Contingent reward leadership showed a positive link to employee engagement (r= .32, p< .05).

Relationships between personality and leadership style were framed according to the socioanalytic framework (Hogan & Shelton, 1998). This study did not find any significant differences in the relationships between the expected leadership behaviors and the traits …

Structure And Agency: An Analysis Of The Impact Of Structure On Group Agents, Elizabeth Kaye Victor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Different kinds of collectives help to coordinate between individuals and social groups to solve distribution problems, supply goods and services, and enable individuals to live fulfilling lives. Collectives, as part of the process of socialization, contribute to the normalization of behaviors, and consequently, structure our ability to be self-reflective autonomous agents. Contemporary philosophy of action models characterize collective action as the product of individuals who have the proper motivations to perform cooperative activities (bottom-up); or they begin with the social-level phenomena and explain this in terms of individual actions and the mental states that motivate them (top-down). One general goal …

Competing Narratives: Hero And Ptsd Stories Told By Male Veterans Returning Home, Adam Gregory Woolf

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study seeks to extend the existing body of scholarly literature on returned veteran civilian reintegration by exploring "hero" and "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" narratives. The character of the hero, as a social construct located within hegemonic notions of masculinity, is widely portrayed and believed to possess highly prized, extraordinary, almost superhuman personal qualities. However, this widely disseminated belief stands at odds with some of the stories returned veterans tell. This qualitative study explores and illuminates the enigmatic intersectionality of hero and PTSD narratives.

Extant hero and PTSD narratives contain paradoxical implicit meanings embedded within them. The hero is understood …

Laboratory Schools Annual Report, 2011-2012, Laboratory Schools, Illinois State University

Annual Reports – Laboratory Schools

Illinois State University Laboratory Schools annual report

An Exploration Of The Experience And Social Construction Of Ageing: Perspectives From Older Adults In A Healthy Ageing Program And Those From Western Australian And Welsh Communities, Sasha A. Stumpers

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In recent years, a strong focus has emerged towards developing and implementing guidelines, policies, governmental strategies and research agendas that best support a growing ageing population (United Nations, 1983, 1990, 1991, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2012; United Nations Programme on Ageing/International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 2007; United Nations/Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2008; World Health Organization, 2002, 2004a). Locally in Western Australia (WA), nationally and internationally, this attention has culminated in a focus on promoting the notion of “healthy ageing” (Commonwealth of Australia, 1999; Commonwealth States and Territories, 2000; Office for Seniors Interests and Volunteering, 2006; U.S. Department of …

Security Awareness By Online Banking Users In Western Australian Of Phishing Attacks, Nattakant Utakrit

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Phishing involves sending e-mails pretending to be from the legitimate financial institutions to recipients and asking for personal information such as username and password. It also redirects network traffic to malicious sites, deny network traffic to web services, and modify protection mechanisms in the targeted computer systems. Consequences of successful attacks can include identity and financial losses, and unauthorised information disclosure.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of Western Australian bank users in using online banking. The study considered the relationship between the background of the Western Australian bank users and their experience in using online …

Visual Memory Improvement In Recognition, Allison Prandl

Theses : Honours

Fluid intelligence and working memory has been improved by training on a visual working memory n-back task (Jaeggi, Buschkuehl, Jonides & Perrig, 2008). The present study investigated whether n-back training can improve visual memory using a test of visual recognition. A sample of 47 participants were trained for 20 days on either the single n-back task (n = 26) or a general knowledge and vocabulary task (n = 21). The results showed that training using the single n-back task did not significantly increase scores on a test of visual recognition when compared with general knowledge and vocabulary training. However, when …

Full-Forward And, Macho Homos : Toward A Masculist Reframing Of Male Homosexuality, Kristian Guagliardo

Theses : Honours

The following work explores the nexus of male homosexuality and traditional masculinity.

The creative work examines the ways in which both patriarchal and popular, purportedly feminist or queer theorist cultures arbitrarily assign allegedly immanent feminine qualities to homosexual males even when these characteristics are not congruent with the male subject. This facet of western, and specifically Australian, culture is explored through the prism of a hegemonically masculine ‘country boy’ who finds that despite his own comportment and identity, he becomes culturally and socially feminised by virtue of his homosexuality alone. He experiences isolation, angst, anger and cognitive dissonance as he …

Association Of Maximum Weight With Hyperuricemia Risk: A Retrospective Study Of 21,414 Chinese People., Bin Gao, Jie Zhou, Jiapu Ge, Yaping Zhang, Fei Chen, Wayne B Lau, Yi Wan, Nanyan Zhang, Ying Xing, Li Wang, Jianfang Fu, Xiaomiao Li, Hongxia Jia, Xin Zhao, Qiuhe Ji

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Obesity has been demonstrated to be associated with increased serum uric acid (SUA); however, little is known regarding the relationship between maximum weight, or maximum weight fluctuation, and uric acid concentration. Through retrospective means, we determined the association of maximum weight with SUA risk.

METHODS: Data of 21,414 participants (8,630 males and 12,784 females) from the 2007-8 China National Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders Study were analyzed for parameters including lifestyle habits, biochemical blood analysis and self-reported maximum weight.

RESULTS: Elevated SUA subjects shared a cluster of demographic features. After adjustment for age, gender, education, smoking, drinking, physical activity, WHR, …

Preschool Teachers' Perspectives On Caring Relationships, Autonomy, And Intrinsic Motivation In Two Cultural Settings, Xiaoling Tian

Dissertations and Theses

This study explored preschool teachers' perspectives on caring relationships and their perceptions of how such relationships affect children's autonomy and motivation in preschool in two cultural settings: one city in China and another in the U.S. Data was collected from preschool teachers in both locations using a qualitative interviewing research strategy. The study found that consensus exists among preschool teachers from the two cities about the importance of caring relationships, in which trust, acceptance, equality, and mutual respect were viewed as these relationships' primary characteristics. There were also shared values regarding teachers' roles and their effective strategies for establishing social …

Human Trafficking And Slavery: Towards A New Framework For Prevention And Responsibility, Dana S. Hathaway

Dissertations and Theses

Human trafficking and slavery are horrific crimes that require strict penalties for perpetrators and effective protections for survivors, but these crimes are in part facilitated by a system of laws and norms that effectively marginalize certain populations--the "unskilled" migrant. In this thesis I aim to reexamine and reinterpret the problem of human trafficking and slavery in a way that highlights the background conditions to the problem. I argue that the framework used as a conceptual foundation for addressing the problem limits the scope of responsibility. Specifically, the framework fails to acknowledge structural contributing factors I show to be relevant: law, …

First-Generation Student Success After Academic Warning: An Exploratory Analysis Of Academic Integration, Personal Adjustment, Family And Social Adjustment And Psychological Factors, Gabrielle Shoshana Zeisman

Dissertations and Theses

As many as a quarter of undergraduate college students are placed on academic probation at least once during their college career. In addition, first-generation college students are even more at-risk for stopping out or dropping out due to being less academically prepared than their non-first-generation peers. In order to examine factors that influence first generation student academic risk and success, this exploratory study examined the intersection of academic standing and four primary conceptual contributors: academic integration, personal adjustment, family and social adjustment, and psychological factors. Survey data were collected from first generation undergraduate students at an urban research university who …

Scale Invariant Object Recognition Using Cortical Computational Models And A Robotic Platform, Danny Voils

Dissertations and Theses

This paper proposes an end-to-end, scale invariant, visual object recognition system, composed of computational components that mimic the cortex in the brain. The system uses a two stage process. The first stage is a filter that extracts scale invariant features from the visual field. The second stage uses inference based spacio-temporal analysis of these features to identify objects in the visual field. The proposed model combines Numenta's Hierarchical Temporal Memory (HTM), with HMAX developed by MIT's Brain and Cognitive Science Department. While these two biologically inspired paradigms are based on what is known about the visual cortex, HTM and HMAX …

Curriculum Matters: Learning Science-Based Fitness Knowledge In Constructivist Physical Education, Haichun Sun, Ang Chen, Xihe Zhu, Catherine D. Ennis

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

Teaching fitness-related knowledge has become critical in developing children's healthful living behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a science-based, constructivist physical education curriculum on learning fitness knowledge critical to healthful living in elementary school students. The schools ( N = 30) were randomly selected from one of the largest school districts in the United States and randomly assigned to treatment curriculum and control conditions. Students in third, fourth, and fifth grade ( N = 5,717) were pre- and posttested on a standardized knowledge test on exercise principles and benefits in cardiorespiratory health, muscular capacity, …

Introduction: The Politics Of Hate, Robert L. Tsai

Faculty Scholarship

This is a special issue dedicated to the topic of hate and political discourse. Collectively, the peer-reviewed articles in this volume are concerned with the political aspects of hatred, i.e., psychology, motivations, organization, tactics, and ends. The articles approach the problem from a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, history, law, literature, philosophy, political science, psychology, and sociology. Among the subjects analyzed: group hatred as a heritable trait; hate as an irrational system of thought; Italian fascism's construction of the Communist other; the rise of the English Defence League and its anti-Islam activities; the persistent myth of blood libel; judicial handling …

Interpersonal Conflict And Employee Well-Being: The Moderating Role Of Recovery Experiences, Caitlin Ann Demsky

Dissertations and Theses

Recovery during nonwork time is essential for restoring resources that have been lost throughout the working day. Recent research has begun to explore the nature of recovery experiences as boundary conditions between various job stressors and employee well-being. Interpersonal conflict is an important work stressor that has been associated with several negative employee outcomes, such as higher levels of psychosomatic complaints, anxiety, depression, and frustration. This study contributes to recovery research by examining the moderating role of recovery experiences on the relationship between workplace interpersonal conflict and employee well-being. Specifically, it was hypothesized that recovery experiences (e.g., psychological detachment, mastery, …

Physical Activity: The Forgotten Tool For Type 2 Diabetes Management, Sheri R. Colberg

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Faculty Publications

Individuals who are currently sedentary, unfit, or overweight can benefit metabolically from simply taking breaks from sitting. Since avoidance of sedentary behavior appears to have a large impact on glycemic management, all individuals with type 2 diabetes should be encouraged to minimally engage in greater daily movement to better manage their diabetes and body weight. In addition, engaging in physical activity of any intensity (including low-intensity ones) likely positively impacts insulin action and blood glucose control acutely. Moreover, as long as total caloric expenditure during exercise is matched (i.e., total exercise dose), daily exercise may be done every other day …

Motivation In The Portland Chinuk Wawa Language Community, Abigail Elaina Pecore

Dissertations and Theses

Throughout the world, languages are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. Perhaps half of the 6,000-7,000 languages worldwide will go extinct in the next 50-100 years. One of these dying languages, Chinook Jargon or Chinuk Wawa, a language found in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, is in the process of being revitalized through the concerted efforts of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde (CTGR). Reasons to revitalize endangered languages often seem irrelevant to our modern daily lives, and revitalizing these languages is a difficult process requiring much dedication, commitment, and persistence. In light of this significant struggle, understanding …

Teacher Stress And Coping: Does The Process Differ According To Years Of Teaching Experience?, Jeffry Childs Beers

Dissertations and Theses

Teaching is stressful. The demands placed on teachers can result in emotional exhaustion and burnout, causing many to leave the profession. Teachers early in their careers seem to be at special risk, with desistence rates estimated as high as 40% in the first five years. This study was based on the notion that constructive coping can be a resource for teachers, and that teachers later in their professional lives may provide a model for adaptive ways of dealing with professional demands. The goal of the study was to examine whether the coping process utilized by teachers (including reported demands, appraisals, …

Using Myplan As A Tool For College Students In Maing Their Career Decisions., Reema Lamichhane

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Making a right career choice and preparing accordingly to achieve that career goal is a key to success for every individual. In this study, the researcher evaluated the effectiveness of students using MyPlan, a career assessment tool, to help them make career related decisions. The pretest-posttest analysis showed that MyPlan helped students make an informed career decision to some extent. Chi-squared and correlation analysis of students' responses before and after taking MyPlan suggested a positive correlation between students taking MyPlan and choosing a college degree major. Also, students agreed strongly when they were asked if MyPlan was helpful in deciding …

The Effect Of Password Management Procedures On The Entropy Of User Selected Passwords., John D. Enamait

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Maintaining the security of information contained within computer systems poses challenges for users and administrators. Attacks on information systems continue to rise. Specifically, attacks that target user authentication are increasingly popular. These attacks are based on the common perception that traditional alphanumeric passwords are weak and susceptible to attack. As a result of attacks targeting alphanumeric passwords, different authentication methods have been proposed. Nonetheless, traditional alphanumeric-based passwords remain the most common form of user authentication and are expected to remain so for the foreseeable future. This study provided empirical data to determine if the entropy of user-selected passwords was affected …

A Comparison Of Elementary Mathematics Achievement In Everyday Math And Saxon Math Schools In Illinois, Clayton Roan

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study compared mathematics achievement in Illinois elementary schools using the Everyday Math and Saxon Math curricula. The Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) was used as the measure of student achievement. Multiple correlation analyses showed that the type of curriculum used was a significant predictor of mathematics achievement at the third and fifth grade levels. Everyday Math was found to support greater student achievement in these grades. When holding other variables constant, Everyday Math schools can be expected to have an average of 2.1% more questions correct on the multiple choice portion of the ISAT than Saxon Math schools at …

A Study Of Attitudes Of Faculty And Administrators Towards Interprofessionaleducation, Catherine Christine Delnat

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Faculty and administrator's attitudes are believed to be important in planning and implementing successful interprofessionalEducation in the academic environment with the goal of increasing health sciences students' competencies in interprofessional collaborative practice. The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes toward interprofessionalEducation and identify attributes that may have an impact on those attitudes. A survey was distributed to all faculty and administrators in the health care sciences field at this institution. Using scales adopted from peer-reviewed literature, respondents were asked questions designed to rate their attitudes toward health care teams, interprofessionalEducation, and interprofessional learning in the academic setting. Information …

Attitudes Toward Complementary And Alternative Medicine In College Students As A Function Of Nationality, Familiarity, And Personality Traits, Joanna S. Ho

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Personal and cultural forces leading to health care choices that deviate from conventional medicine have been minimally investigated. Success with treatment of illnesses is reliant on an adequate understanding of factors that influence attitudes and beliefs about medicine. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) among college students as a function of American or Asian nationality, Familiarity/Exposure to CAM, and the personality construct of Openness to Experience. A web-based survey instrument was administered to 72 Asian international and 76 American college students at Indiana State University. No significant differences …

Assessing Risk Of Violence In Caucasian And African-American Male Forensic Patients, Brandy Lynn Herriott

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Violence risk assessment, or the ability to predict the likelihood of a criminal offender's to commit a violent act in the future, is an essential role of psychologists in the criminal justice system. One of the most widely used violence risk assessment instruments is the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (VRAG). The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) is the most widely used measure of psychopathy and is often used as part of violence risk assessment, including in the the VRAG. The PCL-R is lengthy and time-consuming process, which has led to the development of the Childhood and Adolescent Taxon Scale (CATS), which is …

Causes Of Correctional Officer Stress And Its Consequences, William Daniel Mccarthy

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to explore the different factors that caused stress for correctional officers, its consequences, and the coping techniques officers used to combat stress. The goals were to discover the antecedents that created stress, uncover the results, disclose the primary strategies used to cope with stress, and determine the helpfulness of these coping strategies. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses were used to accentuate the factors that caused stress for correctional officers. Data were collected through survey administration at three correctional institutions, representing multiple security levels (minimum, medium and maximum) in a southern state. The final sample included 197 completed …

Behaviors And Perceptions Concerning Online Nutrition Information Among Young Adult Midwest University Students, Brenda Moeckly

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the inception of the Internet, Americans have become increasingly dependent upon this medium for gleaning information, with each new generation being more apt to seek information online. This general trend has affected, among many other things, the search for health and nutrition information. While the Internet can provide a wealth of beneficial information for users, it can pose a myriad of dangers, as well, if users do not know how to look for credible information. The objectives of this study were to determine where university students search for nutrition information and what criteria they use when seeking nutrition information …

Assessment Of Health-Related Quality Of Life (Hrqol) In A Sample Of Children Referred For An Adhd Evaluation, Maria M. Riccardi

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the reliability and validity of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory—Version 4.0 (PedsQL 4.0) generic core scales as a measure of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) among children referred for an ADHD Evaluation. Additionally, a multiple regression analysis was used to determine which of certain parent and child variables (number of psychiatric diagnoses, child's adaptive skills, child's externalizing and internalizing behavior difficulties, child's functional impairment, and parental stress) are significantly associated with HRQOL as measured by the PedsQL. Results revealed strong internal consistency for all but the school functioning subscale as well as good test-retest …

Collegiate Student Athlete Perception Of Satisfaction And Comfort With Athletic Training Students, Keith Tebbe

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Title . Collegiate student athlete perceptions of satisfaction and comfort with athletic training students Context . Athletic training students (ATS) and student athletes have a large amount of interaction with one another. Many other medical professions study the interaction that their students have with a patient population. Objective . Investigate student athlete's perception, satisfaction, and comfort with ATSs. Design . Online survey. Setting . Student athletes at CAATE-accredited institutions. Participants . 66 student athletes (20 male, 46 female) from 22 universities Data collection . The survey consisted of 3 yes/no questions, 5 demographic questions, 1 multiple-answer question asking the participant …

Immigration, Politics, Social Discord And Criminality In Italy, Pietro Lorenzini

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The initial studies concerned with immigration in modern Italy emerged in the 1970s. They provided basic statistical information regarding the national origins, gender, religious identity, and racial and ethnic make-up of the migrants. As such immigration studies were commonly written within the framework of human rights, they were politicized in ways which often unveiled the political slant of researchers. Italian studies which touched upon immigration's relationship to criminality similarly demonstrated that questions regarding crime and migration are intertwined with contemporary Italian politics. Thus published studies which analyze immigration, crime and imprisonment often reflect the political bias of the researchers. By …