Social Psychology Commons^™

Determinants And Distinguishing Variables Of Pro-Disarmament Behaviour And Responsible Environmental Behaviour, Lisa Sara Nemiroff

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The possibility of nuclear holocaust and the destruction of our environment are two issues that threaten all of humanity. As one would expect, disarmament proposals and proposals aimed at improving the quality of the environment have received overwhelming public support. However, while the public often engages in behaviour congruent with their attitudes toward environmental problems, they do not demonstrate attitude-behaviour congruence with regard to nuclear arms race issues. In addition to attempting to substantiate past research results concerning the determinants of peace and environmental activism, the purpose of this thesis was to identify the variables that bring about this discrepancy. …

The Refugee Filtering Process And Host Country Resettlement Issues In Canada: A Critical Theoretical Analysis, R. Gary Edwards

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the present study, an attempt is made to integrate the diverse literature pertaining to host country resettlement and refugee mental health in Canada. A historical perspective is provided, reviewing the checkered Canadian responses to international refugee movements and the various influences on the humanitarian aims of refugee policy. A model is then developed, drawing on the literature of multiple academic disciplines. The models constitutes a critical generative theory whereby the resettlement issues of assimilationism, racial prejudice, employment difficulties, and domestic political pressures are respectively linked to the filtering processes of ideology, race, economics, and international diplomacy. A test of …

Training Parents Use Of The Zpd And The Acquisition Of Story-Telling Skills In Children, Susan L. Robins

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Research has demonstrated that tutorial use of Vygotsky‘s Zone of Proximal Development during dyadic problem-solving enhances the subsequent, independent performance of the learner. It has also been demonstrated that use of the ZPD can be increased through tutorial use of the contingent pattern of intervention identified by Wood and Middleton (1978). The present study was designed to develop and evaluate one procedure for training mothers to use the contingent pattern of intervention during a dyadic story re-telling task. It was hypothesized that an increase in maternal use of the contingent pattern would result in increased use of the children's ZPD, …

The Home-School Interface Parental And Teacher Beliefs About Homework From A Multicultural Perspective, Tania Sebastian

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present exploratory study investigated the beliefs and practices of parents of various cultural groups, as well as teachers, regarding educational issues. The central focus was upon homework, the day to day link between school and home. A main objective of the research was to determine how individual and subcultural variations in parenting style (Baumrind, 1973) are linked with attitudes and practices towards the school. Interviews were conducted with 36 parents of 7th and 8th graders in three different ethnic groups, drawn from an urban junior high school in Toronto. There were equal numbers of sons and daughters in each …

Stress And Social Support The Burden Experienced By The Families Of Autistic Children, Andrea A. Kamin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of the present research was to examine the stress experienced by families of autistic children and the relationship between this stress and the factors of social support. The participants were 23 parents of autistic children drawn from chapters of the Ontario Society for Autistic Citizens (OSAC) in the Waterloo-Wellington, Windsor, Hamilton, London and Toronto areas. Significant correlations were found between scores on the Objective and Subjective burden scales; between Subjective burden and the Network Density Score; and between Objective burden and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Significant correlations were not found between the social network list and …

Religiosity And The Belief In A Just World, James Albert William Lea

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present study attempted to account for previous contradictory findings with regard to the relationship between religiosity and the belief that the world is a just place. There were 252 participants who each completed a questionnaire containing the manipulations of a 2 X 2 X 3 factorial experiment and a number of measures used for a correlational analysis. Part 1 found that varying the salience of religion influenced victim derogation (a common index of the belief in a just world) in high and low religious participants differently. Low religious participants only derogated an ill person relative to a healthy person …

Stress And Social Support A Comparison Of Single And Partnered Adolescent Mothers, Lillian J. Burke

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Knowledge of stress and support experienced by adolescent parents may allow for the development of more appropriate or useful interventions. As some adolescent parents are single, and others are in a partnered relationship, it would seem that the examination and comparison of these two groups would yield information that could assist in making inventions more specific to the needs of each group. The current study was designed to examine the stresses being experienced by the adolescent mother and the supports which she perceives as being available to her. Thirty-two adolescent mothers participated in the research: Each had one child between …

The Extent To Which The Geographic Proximity, Quantity And Quality Of Contact Predicts Dimensions Of Social Support Given To Elderly Women By Their Adult Children, Lori Ann Johnson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which the frequency of contact, geographic proximity, and the quality of the relationship between elderly women and their most supportive adult child accounted for the degree of social support obtained by these women, and to evaluate the applicability of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) (Parker, Tupling, & Brown, 1979) as a measure of the affectional and controlling aspects of the relationship between the two populations. One hundred noninstitutional elderly women from the City of Waterloo were interviewed in their homes and were asked to designate their most supportive adult …

Need Fulfillment In A Christian Setting As A Function Of Life Change Events, Social Support, And Christian Beliefs And Activities, Kathleen Fogarty

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study was designed to examine the fulfillment of specific needs of the volunteers and clients of a particular Christian organization, Operation Blessing, as these needs related to Maslow’s (1954) hierarchical theory of motivation, Alderfer’s (1972) theory of existence, relatedness and growth, and Bradburn’s (1969) affect balance theory. Sixty-five participants, 44 volunteers and 21 clients, completed a questionnaire including the following scales: Life Change Events, Social Support, and Christian activities and beliefs, and Positive Affect, Negative Affect and Purpose in Life. As predicted, the experience of Life Change Events was directly related to Negative Affect and the receipt of Social …

Social Support Networks And Sex Role Orientation After Divorce In Catholic Italian Women And Catholic Anglophone Women, Diana Maria Di Costa

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Twenty-one Catholic Italian divorcees and a matched group of twenty-one Catholic Anglophone divorcees (who were born in Canada and whose ethnic roots were in Great Britain) were studied to determine ethnic differences in family concept, family interaction, sex role orientation, and social support. Results showed that Italian fathers, but not mothers, disapproved of the divorce significantly more than Anglophone fathers. Parental approval/disapproval of the divorce was found to have a greater effect on the support received by Italian divorcees than Anglophone divorcees. Parental disapproval of the divorce was associated with less family and relative support for Italian divorcees only. Italian …

Recipient Reactions To Aid Reciprocity And Self-Esteem, Ronald Douglas Rankmore

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this research was to determine to what extent the clients of the Ontario March of Dames – Assistive Device Program experienced negative reactions to aid across three conditions: 1) no reciprocity condition, 2) voluntary reciprocity condition and 3) financial reciprocity condition. Dependent variable measures assessing negative reactions to aid were: a) self-esteem scores on the Phillips Self-Acceptance Scale (Phillips, 1951), b) length of delay to approach the program, c) feelings of approaching the agency as measured by a seven item, five point semantic differential scale and reason for delay if any was indicated, and d) choice for …

A Case Study Of A Utilization-Focused Evaluation Involving Two Community-Based Family Services, Giles Reneacute Charbonneau

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this research was to study a utilization-focused model developed to evaluate two small community-based family services. The case study method allowed for an intensive investigation of the model so that it could be determined whether or not it contributed to increased utilization of evaluation findings. The research, conducted over a period of two years, involved the participation of committees, selected by the Board of Directors of both organizations, to work with a researcher to develop a program evaluation. Results indicate that involving decision-makers from these organizations in the design and implementation of the evaluation was critical to …

Evaluation Of Family Life Education In The Secondary School A Case Study Based On Student And Teacher Report, Christine Ruth Chant

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Family life education can be defined as “any activity…aimed at imparting information concerning family relationships and providing the opportunity for people to approach their present and future relationships with greater responsibility” (Vanier Institute of the Family, 1971). The purpose of the present research was to identify the needs and interests of high school students and to determine whether their needs and interests were being met in the area of family life education. This author believes it is important to meet the needs of “consumers” of family life education, i.e., the students, because this may increase the possibility that students will …

The Effect Of Discussion Groups On A Field Placement Program Comparison Of Two Groups Of Undergraduate Students, Kathryn L. Gerstman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of the present research was to study changes that students with field placements experience with the addition of discussion groups to the regular supervision. The participants were 29 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology courses requiring field placements. These students volunteered to be in discussion groups concerning placements. Thirteen students were in the experimental condition of discussion groups and 16 were in the control group with no additional resource support or supervision. The discussion groups met weekly for approximately 50 minutes during the winter term and were led by advanced psychology honours students. At the beginning of the program, …

Stress And Social Support The Burden Experienced By The Family Of A Mentally Ill Person, Harry Potasznik

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of the present research was to examine the stress experienced by the families of a mentally ill person and the relationship between this stress and factors of social support. The participants were 56 parents of a schizophrenic person who were members of a self-help group catering to the families of psychiatric patients. The following five social support variables were found to relate to measures of Objective Burden and Subjective Burden. The first factor was that of social network size. A positive correlation was found between this variable and Objective Burden, indicating that smaller networks were associated with less …

Juveniles' Perceptions Of A Protective-Permissive Dichotomy In The Juvenile Justice System, Robert Paul Saltstone

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The juvenile justice system has come under increasing criticism for its traditionally paternalistic and protective posture. The literature surveyed reviews some of the major occurrences, such as the Gault decision, which have led to a new direction in legislation. It is demonstrated that while juveniles are being awarded more due process rights, they are also being held more accountable for their actions. The paternalistic versus legalistic, or protective versus permissive, dichotomy clearly emerges during the examination of the literature. It is clearly extracted and analyzed in two papers, one by Dootjes (1972) and one by Leon (1979). Leon’s is a …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Residential Mobility And Loneliness, Bruce Petelka

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research examined a number of ways in which residential mobility might be related to loneliness. It was hypothesized that high mobility separates one from one’s support network of friends and family, thereby causing greater loneliness. This hypothesis and other related questions were tested with the UCLA Loneliness Scale and two questionnaires were designed for this research: the Residential Mobility Questionnaire and the Petelka Support Network Scale. These questionnaires were mailed along with a cover letter to 500 Kitchener residents who had moved in the past year and 500 residents who had not moved in the past year. Of the …

Status After Early Retirement The Effects Of Social Network And Activity Level On Body Age And Health, Tom Malcomson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present study explored the relationship of general health and body age (measured by the Adult Growth Examination, Morgan, 1981) with leisure activity, social network and life events, for 38 noncommissioned officers; retiring in 1981 or 1976. Retirees from 1981 were expected to have experienced more change in health, leisure activity, and social network, life events and to have poorer health and body age scores. Importance and satisfaction of relationships, few life changes, high frequency and enjoyment of leisure activity were expected to be related to perceived good health and low body ages. Perceived good health and low body ages …

Threat Frequency And Contingency In A Threat-Vulnerable Game, Christine Anne Driver

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The primary purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of threat frequency and contingency on game-playing behaviour in a threat-vulnerable game. A second purpose was to determine the stability of these effects when strategies were alerted during the final 75 trials of the game. Threat was operationally defined as the use of a particular choice in a threat-vulnerable game. One hundred students enrolled in undergraduate courses at Wilfrid Laurier University played in one of nine programmed strategy conditions: all possible pairwise orderings of a passive, demanding contingent, and a demanding noncontingent strategy. The latter two strategies were …

Parent, Child, And Context Factors And Interactions As Precipitants To Child Battering, Trevor Austin Thomas

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A random sample of the literature on child battering and interviews with parents who had battered their child was content analyzed. From paragraph themes which indicated causality for child battering, the presence of seven causal dynamics in child battering was noted. The causal dynamics included three factors (parent, child and context) and the interactions between and among the factors. All of the causal dynamics were found to exist in the interviews, literature and separately identified segments of the literature which delineated events immediately preceding an incident of battering. It was concluded that a strong possibility existed that all of the …

Influence Of Behaviour Setting And Interaction On Patterns Of Successful Aging, George D. Macdonald

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study investigated the effects of behaviour setting and interaction on patterns of engagement and disengagement within a home for the aged. The purpose of the study was to illustrate that both patterns may be a function of situational and psychological factors and therefore should not be used as definitions of “successful aging.” Data were collected using an observational technique. Observations were made on five behaviour settings for a typical week. The results indicate that there is a relationship between patterns and the two factors specified. A similar finding was reported for staff patterns within the home. Implications of these …

Behavioral Manifestations Of Women Who Have A Liberated Or Traditionalist View Toward Their Role In Contemporary Society, Shirley A. Clark

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study was two-fold. Part one was to develop an attitude questionnaire which could be used to discriminate between women with a traditionalist or liberated attitude toward toward their role in society. Part two was to choose Ss on the basis of their responses to the questionnaire and find behavioral manifestations of these attitudes. The assumption was made that the underlying difference between the two attitudes was the acceptance or rejection of male superiority.

Eight groups of female Ss, 4 traditionalist and 4 liberated, participated in a physiological experiment in which their systolic blood pressure responses following …