Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Using Video And Contact To Change Attitudes Toward Gay Men And Lesbians, Jonna J. Cooley, Gary J. Burkholder

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Prejudice against gay men and lesbians has continued to fuel negative attitudes that are perpetuated by stereotypes and by validation from those within one’s own social group. While there has been some research regarding the impact of contact on attitudes, the present study expands the theoretical approach of Allport and the empirical work of researchers such as Herek to examine the impact of adding media to interactive contact with lesbian and gay individuals. Participants were placed into one of three treatment groups: control, video only, and video plus contact with gay men and lesbians. The sample included 106 undergraduate students …

Four Distinct Generations Of Workers Makes Leadership Challenging, Joyce K. Kutin

Joyce K Kutin RN, MSN, MOL

The Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year 2000 stated that Baby Boomers (age thirty-six through fifty-four) represented fifty percent of the United States labor force while Generation X (age twenty to thirty-five) represented some thirty-three percent, a significant decline in workforce. This demographic, time bomb indicates the urgency for many organizations in developed countries to prepare for and cope with the imminent retirement of their aging workforce.

Religious Affiliation And Attendance As Predictors Of Immigration Attitudes In Nebraska, Courtney Lyons Breitkreutz

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study examines the relationship between religious affiliation, church attendance, and attitudes towards immigration. Following the ethnoreligious perspective, I predict that those who identify as Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, or Catholic will hold more positive attitudes than those who do not affiliate, which would reflect the teachings of their churches. I also predict that Catholics may have particularly positive attitudes because of social identity theory. Attending church services should be associated with more positive attitudes, according to religious restructuralism. Using 2006 telephone survey data of 1,135 Nebraskans from the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS), I use binary logistic regression …

Disclosing An Invisible Disability During The Interview Process: A Qualitative Study, John Elias Sassin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rehabilitation professionals, persons with disabilities and employers were asked to participate in a focus group interview exploring the phenomena of disclosing invisible disabilities during the interview process. This Qualitative study examined disclosure of disability from each stakeholder's perspective in an effort to understand its impact on the interview. After transcribing the focus group interview and analyzing the data; five themes emerged reflecting each stakeholder's views on disclosure. The themes revealed the persistence of attitudinal barriers that people with disabilities face in seeking employment; if and when a person should disclose; what are the positive and negative aspects of disclosure and …

General Practice Registrars: Attitudes Of Older Patients, Andrew D. Bonney, Sandra C. Jones, Lyn Phillipson, Donald C. Iverson

Sandra Jones

Previous research indicates that older patients may be less willing to consult general practice registrars (GPRs), reducing training opportunities in chronic/complex care. This survey explores older patients’ attitudes in order to inform models of interaction that would be acceptable to patients. METHODS Ten training general practices distributed questionnaires for self completion to 50 patients aged 60 years and over. Chi-square, Spearman’s rho and logistic regression were used for analysis. RESULTS The response rate was 47%. Ninetysix percent wanted ongoing contact with their general practitioner if they saw a GPR. Twenty-four percent were comfortable with GPR chronic/complex care, increasing to 73% …

Preparing For An Ageing Population: A Survey Of Older Patients' Attitudes To General Practice Registrars, Andrew D. Bonney, Sandra C. Jones, Lyn Phillipson, Donald C. Iverson

Sandra Jones

The ageing population makes it imperative to provide appropriate training for general practice registrars (GPRs) in the community-based care of older patients. However, data suggest that older patients may be less willing to consult GPRs for chronic/complex care; adversely affecting training opportunities and potentially the satisfaction of older patients in training practices. This cross-sectional study was undertaken to investigate this concern in the Australian context and develop models of older patient-GPR interaction that are acceptable to patients.

A Subjective Evaluation Of Attitudes Towards E-Health, S. Banna, Helen Hasan, J. Meloche

Helen Hasan

E-health, the provision of healthcare services via the Internet, has the potential to address the limited capacity of the healthcare system and thereby improve health outcomes. While there is considerable development of e-health services in practice, research in this important area often lags practice and takes a restricted view of user needs. The study presented in this paper undertakes a holistic evaluation of perceptions of e-health services and tools by addressing the activities of diverse stakeholders from healthcare practitioners to the general public. The research uses Q-methodology to explore the opportunities, challenges, barriers, and potential benefits of e-health to guide …

Determinants Of Adoption Of Improved Maize Varieties And Chemical Fertilizers In Mozambique, Eunice Cavane, Cynthia Donavan

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

In Mozambique, adoption of improved maize seed and chemical fertilizers is still limited. This study assessed farmers’ attitudes towards hybrid maize SC513, Nitrogenous (N) Phosphorous (P) Potassium (K), (NPK 12-24-12) and urea fertilizers in highlands and lowlands of the Manica District. The study determined the influence of farmers’ characteristics, attitudes, sources of information, and agro-ecological conditions on adoption of these technologies during 1995 through 2005. A questionnaire was administered during April and May 2006 with a randomly selected sample of 293 households. In general, farmers held positive attitudes towards improved maize varieties and chemical fertilizers, but the strength of attitudes …

The Role Of "Sense Of Place:" A Theoretical Framework To Aid Urban Forest Policy Decision-Making, Kimberly Louise Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

Urban forest management is being increasingly recognized as a viable policy vehicle for improving the overall quality of life in urban regions, promoting economic well-being as well as mitigating some of the environmental impacts of urbanization. As a complex system of ecological merit, the urban forest is ultimately dependent upon community-directed efforts to protect and maintain its health, largely through tree ordinances. An understanding of how values and other social factors trigger public concern for and management of the local urban forest is important because of ramifications of community urban forestry policy on regional ecosystem functional capacity. This dissertation investigates …

Carving Cognition At Its Joints: Insights From The Interaction Between Explicit And Implicit Social Cognition, Kurt R. Peters

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The distinction of cognition into kinds of cognitive process has proven theoretically fruitful and empirically compelling, but there remain significant challenges in deciding how best to carve cognition. First, it is unclear how to design measurement procedures that select distinct kinds of cognitive processing as exclusively as possible and, conversely, how to interpret the results of different kinds of measurement procedure. Second, the distinction between kinds of cognition must be specified with enough precision to derive empirically testable and falsifiable predictions. Third, there must be a reasonable explanation, ultimately compatible with phylogenetic evidence, for the existence of the specified distinction …

Attitudes Towards Library Patrons With Physical Challenges: A Survey Of Members Of The Public Library Division Of The Alabama Library Association, Jackie Brodsky, Muriel K. Wells

The Southeastern Librarian

By surveying members of the Public Library Division of the Alabama Library Association, this study sought to determine attitudes toward patrons with physical challenges. The continued growth in the population of persons over age 65, coupled with the fact that nearly one in five Americans report some level of physical challenge, suggests the need for libraries to provide resources and services to this growing constituency. The advent of new technologies and resources for libraries to provide access to information by persons with physical challenges, allows more users to fulfill a more participatory role within their information-seeking activities. The application of …

Taking Stock Of Ten Years Of Research On The Relationship Between Assets And Children's Educational Outcomes: Implications For Theory, Policy, And Intervention, William Elliott Iii, Mesmin Destin, Terri Friedline

Center for Social Development Research

This paper has two main goals. First, we provide a review of 38 studies on the relationship between assets and children’s educational attainment. Second, we discuss implications for Child Development Accounts (CDAs) policies. CDAs have been proposed as a potentially novel and promising asset approach for helping to finance college. More specifically, we propose that CDAs should be designed so that, in addition to promoting savings, they include aspects that help make children’s college-bound identity salient, congruent with children’s group identity, and that help children develop strategies for overcoming difficulties.

Integrating Values And Ethics Into Wildlife Policy And Management—Lessons From North America, Camilla H. Fox, Marc Bekoff

Conservation Collection

Few animals provoke as wide a range of emotions as wolves. Some see wolves as icons of a lost wilderness; others see them as intruders. As the battle continues between wolf proponents and opponents, finding solutions that resolve conflicts while supporting the integrity of nature is challenging. In this essay we argue that we need to make room for wolves and other native carnivores who are re-colonizing areas from which they were extirpated. Strategies that foster coexistence are necessary and wildlife agencies must consider all stakeholders and invest adequate resources to inform the public about how to mitigate conflicts between …

Attitudes, Behavior, And Social Practice, Harris Chaiklin

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The relationship between attitudes and behavior is not symmetrical. A literature review is used to organize a summary of methodological and practical problems in this area. In turn, these findings are used to comment on how sociology and social work practice can take this into account.

Does Anyone Really Like Horror Movies? Personality And Automatic Affective Reactions To Frightening Films, Michael E. Battista

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

I sought to explain why many people willingly expose themselves to apparently unpleasant media, such as horror movies. Participants (N = 133) completed a modified version of the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP; Payne et al., 2005), which assessed initial affective reactions to screenshots from movies that were either frightening or neutral. The time between exposure to the screenshots and assessment of affect was either short (100 ms) or long (1000 ms). Explicit attitudes about the movies and about the horror genre were also assessed, in addition to the following personality variables: The Big Five, Machiavellianism (from the Supernumerary Personality …

Millennials And The Adoption Of New Technologies In Libraries Through The Diffusion Of Innovations Process, Heidi Blackburn

Criss Library Faculty Publications

Purpose – Literature on the features of new technology in libraries of every type and size is readily available, but looking at the factors playing a part in the process (relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability) will bring an understanding of how Millennials integrate technology into libraries. This paper seeks to discuss some of the issues involved.

Design/methodology/approach – This research focuses on Millennials and their adoption of new technologies in libraries through the process of diffusion and the stages of adoption as outlined by Everett Rogers: communication through certain channels; over time; and among members of a social …

Personal Beliefs And Public Print: The Influence Of Pre-Existing Attitudes And Pretrial Publicity Information On Final Verdicts, Sara Marie Locatelli

Dissertations

Pretrial publicity (PTP), defined as any news story about a case not yet in trial, has been shown to affect trial outcomes. Results, however, are mixed, with studies finding strong effects, others weaker effects, and some no effects. These differences are sometimes attributed to methodology and study stimuli. In the present research, the effect of participant attitudes was explored. Participant attitudes can have a strong influence on perceptions about a piece of information, and could explain differences in use of PTP as well as findings that judicial remedies to alleviate PTP effects are ineffective. Participants were exposed to one of …

Elementary School Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Classroom Accommodations: The Effects Of Disability And School Type, Sarah Holland

Psychology Honors Papers

The purpose of this study was to compare the attitudes of elementary school teachers toward the inclusion of a student with either a moderate intellectual, physical, or behavioral disability. Participants were from eight different elementary schools; two magnet schools, one charter school, and five public schools from one school district. Participants were provided with a vignette describing one of three disability types and then rated 25 accommodations made for that student. Teachers’ attitudes toward these accommodations were measured by the three adapted subscales of the Adaptation Evaluation Instrument (AEI; Schumm & Vaughn, 1991), which addressed how desirable teachers believe each …

Pay Attention: Children’S Understanding, Experience And Attitudes To Having A Say In Their Everyday Lives, Aileen Murphy

Dissertations

Paying attention to children’s participation rights has gained momentum during the late 20th century. The study explored the views and experiences of children between 10 and 12 years in relation to ‘children having a voice in matters that affect them and their views will be given due weight in accordance with their age and maturity’ 10 years on from the National Children’s Strategy (NCS, 2000). Focus groups were employed to carry out the research. Children in the study demonstrated a limited understanding of the concept of rights. Children in this study provided a clear message that they wish to have …

Social Workers' Knowledge And Attitudes About Treating Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Angelah Dawn Gomez

Wayne State University Theses

The current research seeks to understand how social work students and social work professionals increase their knowledge about AD/HD and how they formulate their attitudes about the disorder. The literature provided illustrates the many components of AD/HD risks, etiology, treatments, and professional opinions about the disorder. AD/HD is one of the most studied childhood mental health disorders in the nation. However, there is little research providing insight to social workers' knowledge and attitudes about the disorder. This is especially alarming because social workers are one of the largest professional populations to provide mental health services to children and their families. …

Relationship Between Graduate Students’ Statistics Self-Efficacy, Statistics Anxiety, Attitude Toward Statistics, And Social Support, Michelle Perepiczka, Nichelle Chandler, Michael Becerra

School of Counseling and Human Services Publications

Statistics plays an integral role in graduate programs. However, numerous intra- and interpersonal factors may lead to successful completion of needed coursework in this area. The authors examined the extent of the relationship between self-efficacy to learn statistics and statistics anxiety, attitude towards statistics, and social support of 166 graduate students enrolled in master’s and doctoral programs within colleges of education. Results indicated that statistics anxiety and attitude towards statistics were statistically significant predictors of self-efficacy to learn statistics, yet social support was not a statistically significant predictor of self-efficacy. Insight into how this population responds to statistics courses and …

Student Attitudes And Knowledge Change In An Introductory College Economics Course, Gregory J. Brock

Finance and Economics Faculty Publications

Students’ attitudes towards economics as well as their knowledge of economics before and after taking a college introductory economics class is examined using standardized multiple choice economics knowledge and attitude questions. Prior knowledge of economics, having a bank account, and other biographical information are used to hold constant many factors influencing pre/post performance in an economics class. Students who gained in economics knowledge appear to have a more negative attitude towards the subject compared to students who exhibited no knowledge gained. Prior experience in or outside of high school appear to have little impact on knowledge gain or attitude though …

Race Matters: Whether We Know It, Or Like It, Or Not: Implicit Racial Attitudes And Their Effect On Accounting-Based, Balanced Scorecard Performance Evaluations, David R. Upton, Cecil E. Arrington

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

One of the dominant themes in critical accounting theory over the past two decades has to do with the relation between the construction of human identities and accounting discourse and practices. Though with strong antecedents in Marxist –inspired critique of ideology, genealogical studies (e.g., Miller & O’Leary, 19XX), deconstructive studies (e.g., Shearer & Arrington, 19XX), and critical-rational studies (e.g., Power & Laughlin, 19XX) are examples of different theoretical and methodological ways to probe the constructive force of accounting over human identity and subjectivity. This paper offers a fourth approach grounded in social-cognitive concerns with ways in which implicit attitudes, or …

The Older Patient, The Doctor And The Trainee: Patients' Attitudes And Implications For Models Of Care, Andrew Bonney, Sandra Jones, Donald Iverson

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Aims & rationale/Objectives Population ageing poses major challenges for health systems. Additionally, training future general practitioners in the management of older and chronically ill patients is potentially hampered by the reluctance of these patients to consult trainees for chronic care. This paper reports a cross-sectional study investigating the attitudes of older patients to trainees, to inform strategies to improve older patient-trainee interaction. Methods The survey instrument was distributed to 1900 patients aged 60 and over from 38 training practices from five Australian states using a stratified, randomised cluster sampling process. Generalised estimating equation models were used for analysis. Principal findings …

Does Water Context Influence Behaviour And Attitudes To Water Conservation?, M Gilbertson, A Hurlimann, S Dolnicar

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Many rural and urban areas around the world are facing challenges to the supply of water. A key method of addressing water shortage is water conservation. The success of conservation measures depends on public support and behaviour change. While it is known that the public is generally supportive of water conservation measures, little is known about the dependence of water conservation attitudes and behaviour on geographical location and the water situation at specific locations. The present study investigates whether individual attitudes to water conservation, and reported participation in water conservation behaviours, differ between two Australian locations that vary significantly in …

Promoting Health And Nutrition Through Sport: Attitudes Of The Junior Sporting Community, Bridget Kelly, Louise A. Baur, Adrian E. Bauman, Lesley King, Kathy Chapman, Ben J. Smith

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study aimed to provide information on parents', children's and sporting officials' attitudes to sponsorship arrangements, and their support of potential policy interventions to reorient sponsorship to be more health promoting. Methods: Sports clubs (n=20) known to have food and beverage sponsors in Sydney, Illawarra and Canberra/Queanbeyan were selected. Parents and children at sports clubs were recruited through convenience sampling by approaching those attending the sports club at the time of the survey and those children who had a signed consent form. Sports clubs were visited between May and November 2010. At each club, one sports club official, ten parents …

Annual Influenza Vaccination: Coverage And Attitudes Of Primary Care Staff In Australia, Kirsten Ward, Holly Seale, Nicholas Zwar, Julie Leask, C Raina Macintyre

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Background Annual influenza vaccination is recommended for all Australian health care workers (HCWs) including those working in primary health care. There is limited published data on coverage, workplace provision, attitudes and personal barriers to influenza vaccination amongst primary health care staff. The aim of this study was to contribute to the limited literature base in this important area by investigating these issues in the primary health care setting in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Methods A postal survey was sent to general practitioners (GPs) and practice nurses (PNs) from inner city, semi-urban and rural areas of NSW, Australia. There were …

Relationship Between Graduate Students' Statistics Self-Efficacy, Statistics Anxiety, Attitude Toward Statistics, And Social Support, Michelle Perepiczka, Nichelle Chandler, Michael Becerra

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

Statistics plays an integral role in graduate programs. However, numerous intra- and interpersonal factors may lead to successful completion of needed coursework in this area. The authors examined the extent of the relationship between self-efficacy to learn statistics and statistics anxiety, attitude towards statistics, and social support of 166 graduate students enrolled in master’s and doctoral programs within colleges of education. Results indicated that statistics anxiety and attitude towards statistics were statistically significant predictors of self-efficacy to learn statistics, yet social support was not a statistically significant predictor of self-efficacy. Insight into how this population responds to statistics courses and …

Voluntary Relocation - An Exploration Of Australian Attitudes In The Context Of Drought, Recycled And Desalinated Water, Anna Hurlimann, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Throughout history settlements have been abandoned due to lack of water. Such a fate is of concern to public officials in settlements facing water scarcity – a condition which is anticipated to increase due to the impacts of climate change, and other factors including increasing per capita water use, and population growth. Key questions surround how to best adapt to these circumstances. A strategy little explored is relocation. This paper presents results from a qualitative study conducted in eight geographically diverse Australian locations. The willingness of individuals to relocate under three hypothetical water scenarios was investigated: (1) if the water …

Attitudes, William A. Cunningham, Ingrid J. Haas, Andrew Jahn

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

This chapter reviews social neuroscience research that links social psychological attitudes and evaluative processes to their presumed neural bases. The chapter is organized into four parts. The first section discusses how attitude representations are transformed into evaluative states that can be used to guide thought and action. The next two sections address the related processes of attitude learning and change. The final section discusses applications of these concepts for the study of prejudice and political behavior.