Altering driver's goals and motives for at-risk driving is likely to reduce the frequency of at-risk driving behaviors and their associated crashes and injuries. However, most driving occurs when people are alone with little supervisions or accountability. Thus, a self-management for safety (SMS) intervention may be the most appropriate technique to decrease at-risk driving behaviors. The current research evaluated an SMS process with college students on a simulated driving task. Participants included 93 university students (41 males, 52 females) randomly assigned to one of three groups (31 participants per group). Participants in the Control group did not receive any of the intervention materials; they were instructed to drive as they normally drive on each trial. Participants in the Self-Monitoring + Objective Feedback group received objective feedback from the experimenter about their actual performance on the target driving behavior as well as personal feedback from their self-monitoring forms. These participants recorded their individual improvement goals on the targeted driving behavior. Participants in the Self-Monitoring group recorded their individual improvement goals on the targeted driving behavior, but received only personal feedback from their self-monitoring forms. Similar to past self-management interventions directed at increasing safety-related driving behavior (Hickman & Geller, in press; Krause, 1997; Olson & Austin, 2001), SMS led to clear improvement in subsequent safety performance. Based on the recorded driving behaviors of 93 participants, SMS was effective in increasing the mean percentage of total driving time traveling below the posted speed limit compared to a Control group that did not receive any of the SMS components. Across the four trials, participants in the SM and SM + OFB group significantly increased the percentage of total driving time traveling below the posted speed limit by 13.4 (18.3%) and 14.5 (19.8%) percentage points, respectively, compared to participants in the Control group. / Ph. D.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relative effectiveness of two different ways of operationalizing a mastery experience in an e-mail based fitness walking program. Mastery experiences are considered the best way to increase exercise self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997), which is strongly associated with regular physical activity, but little research has systematically explored how effective mastery experiences can be developed. Fifty-nine sedentary adult women were randomly assigned to a mastery experience group (n=29) that operationalized mastery experiences in a manner consistent with Bandura's social cognitive theory, or to a standard care group (n=30) that operationalized mastery experiences in a manner consistent with standard care. Both intervention conditions received the same physical activity prescription and were designed to promote equivalent levels of contact with the experimenter over the 12-week program. The effects of the program were examined on overall adherence to the program, one-mile walk test times, estimated VO2max, social cognitive outcomes, and program evaluation ratings. Both the mastery experience group and the standard care group had similar levels of adherence to the program. The mastery experience group demonstrated a significantly greater improvement in one-mile walk test time than the standard care group. Although the mastery experience group also showed a larger increase in estimated VO2max than the standard care group, this difference did not reach significance. The mastery experience group had significantly greater increases in goal-setting relative to the standard care group, but the intervention did not show any differences between the two groups on three measures of self-efficacy. In program evaluation ratings, the mastery experience group demonstrated greater satisfaction with the program than the standard care group. / Ph. D.

The effects of setting goals on goal commitment and goal achievement in the context of an alcohol use intervention were examined using an experimental design in which participants were randomly assigned to participatively-set goals, assigned goals, and no goal conditions. The current study provides information regarding the links between degree of participation in goal setting, goal commitment, self-efficacy for one's goal, subsequent alcohol use, and goal achievement. It was hypothesized that: 1) Goal setting and participation in goal setting would significantly predict alcohol use outcomes: a) having a goal for alcohol consumption would cause lower quantity and frequency of alcohol use relative to not having a goal; b) participation in goal setting, rather than being assigned a goal, would influence goal achievement such that participation in goal setting would cause greater success in achieving one's goal. 2) Participation in goal setting would influence goal commitment such that participation in goal setting would cause greater goal commitment. 3) Goal commitment would influence goal achievement such that greater goal commitment would be predictive of greater success in achieving one's goal. 4) The facilitative effect of participation in goal setting on subsequent goal achievement would be mediated by goal commitment. 5) Self-efficacy for one's goal would influence goal achievement such that greater self-efficacy for one's goal would be predictive of greater success in achieving one's goal. One hundred and twenty-six binge-drinking college students received a single cognitive-behavioral assessment/intervention session and completed measures of goal commitment, self-efficacy for goal achievement, and alcohol use. Results were consistent with, and expanded upon, previous research by demonstrating that having a goal for alcohol consumption was predictive of lower quantity and frequency of alcohol use relative to not having a goal; however, participation in goal setting did not result in significantly better alcohol use outcomes or greater goal achievement relative to when goals were assigned. Participation in goal setting yielded greater goal commitment and self-efficacy for goal achievement than assigned goals. Lastly, goal commitment and self-efficacy contributed unique variance to the prediction of goal achievement across follow-up as well as changes in quantity and frequency of alcohol use at follow-up after controlling for baseline use. / Ph. D.

The present four field studies explored the effectiveness of multiple prevention techniques designed to increase the frequency of cashiers' identification (ID)-checking behaviors from a customer-focused and cashier-focused approach. Studies 1 and 2 examined customer-focused approaches, whereas Study 3 examined a cashier-focused approach. Study 4 examined a combination of the cashier-focused and customer-focused approaches. From a customer approach, Study 1 investigated the use of four prompts (a no-prompt control, an antecedent only, an antecedent with a positive consequence, and an antecedent with a negative consequence) at encouraging cashiers to ask customers for their ID during a credit purchase. Research assistants (RAs) visited various stores and made credit purchases, while displaying one of the four prompts covering their card's signature line to the cashier during check-out. The results showed RAs were checked for ID the most when using the prompts containing the antecedent and consequence, which was checked for ID significantly more than the no-prompt control. Study 2 (also a customer approach) attempted to replicate Study 1 in a non-college community. Using a similar methodology as Study 1, the results showed RAs were checked for ID the most when using the prompt with the antecedent and positive consequence, which was checked for ID significantly more than the no-prompt control. From a cashier approach, Study 3 investigated the use of a goal-setting and prompt intervention led by the restaurant manager to increase the frequency of cashiers' ID-checking behavior. Using an A-B-A (Baseline-Intervention-Withdrawal) reversal design at one of two restaurants, the results showed the intervention restaurant's percentage of ID-checked purchases increased from Baseline to the Intervention phase. But, it decreased slightly during the Withdrawal phase, showing functional control but also some maintenance over the target behavior. The percentage of ID-checked purchases at the control restaurant was almost nonexistent throughout the study. Study 4 investigated the impact of using two intervention approaches (i.e., the customer and cashier approach) as opposed to one (i.e., the customer approach) to increase the frequency of cashiers' ID-checking behavior. While the A-B-A phases were occurring in the restaurants used in Study 3, RAs entered the restaurants and displayed an antecedent and positive consequence prompt to the cashiers during a credit purchase. The results of Study 4 partially supported the hypothesis. The cashiers in the intervention restaurant significantly checked more RAs for ID when two intervention approaches were combined than when only one intervention approach was used during Baseline, but not during the Withdrawal phase. / Ph. D.

Despite widespread efforts to reduce inequities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) job market, huge disparities remain for both African Americans and women in those sectors of employment. Extant literature affirms that Black women encounter various challenges when pursuing STEM careers. More specifically, the research on Black women in engineering focuses primarily on their experiences in academia and does not include their experiences as undergraduates transitioning into the industry workforce. To address these gaps in the literature, this study explored the career goal-setting (CGS) processes of Black woman engineering majors (BWEMs) through qualitative inquiry. Using a phenomenological approach, the researcher implemented a two-interview sequence with five Black/African American women enrolled in their final year of a baccalaureate engineering program at a predominantly White institution (PWI) in the southeast. Possible selves theory (Lee and Oyserman, 2009; Strauss, Griffin, and Parker, 2012) served as the framework for the guiding research questions and interview protocol, which were designed to capture the essence of the participants' experiences as they respectively engaged in setting career goals. The findings revealed that the participants' CGS processes encompassed a series of cognitive steps, which included their thoughts about goal-setting in general, exploring engineering careers, making adjustments academically, finding an area of career specialization, and dealing with anxiety related to the challenges they encountered as engineering majors. In addition, possible selves theory was used to explain how the participants' understanding of their experiences in current contexts influenced who they wanted to become in future work conditions. / Doctor of Philosophy / This qualitative study explored the career goal-setting (CGS) processes of Black woman engineering majors (BWEMs). The researcher used phenomenological methods to specifically describe the participants' experiences as they took part in CGS. Five participants were included in the study who all identified as Black/African American women enrolled in their final year of an undergraduate engineering program at a predominantly White institution (PWI) in the southeast. Possible selves theory (Markus and Nurius, 1986; Strauss, Griffin, and Parker, 2012) helped to guide the main research question and the research sub-questions, which were based on Lee and Oyserman's (2009) three individual and contextual factors of past experiences, developmental contexts, and social contexts. The researcher conducted two interviews with each of the five participants. The findings revealed that the participants' CGS processes consisted of several mental steps, which included their thoughts about goal-setting in general, exploring engineering careers, making adjustments academically, finding an area of career specialization, and dealing with anxiety related to the challenges they encountered as engineering majors. In addition, possible selves theory was used to explain how the participants' understanding of their experiences in current contexts influenced who they wanted to become in future work conditions.

No / Goal-setting is indispensable for effective healthcare management. Yet, literature evidence suggests many organisations worldwide do not know how to formulate ‘SMART’ goals. Evidence of how existing theories work in practice is scarce, and the practices in low-income countries are unknown. Therefore, this research explored how leprosy project goals were formulated to describe the theoretical practice framework of A leprosy-focused organisation in Nigeria. Using a case-study design, ten managers were interviewed individually concerning their goal-setting knowledge, experience and perspective; and documented goals of six projects were reviewed. A five-step constructionist thematic data analysis generated eleven theoretical frameworks from the concepts of the emergent core themes of ‘stakeholders’, ‘strategies’ and ‘statements.’ Further theorisation reduced them to one general framework. This revealed organisational goal-setting practice as a four-stage centre-led, top-down, beneficiary-focused and problem-based process. The stages were national preparation, baseline needs-survey, centralised goal formulation and nationalised planning. The outcome was the formulation of assigned, ‘non-SMART’ objective statements, which are then used for planning projects. Other theoretical models constructed included a Goal Effects Cycle, ‘SMARTA’ goal attributes and hierarchical criteria for differentiating goal-types. A theory developed from the goal-setting practice postulates that: ‘Assigned non-SMART goal formulation directly results from centralised goal-setting practice and is the predictor of unrealistic project planning.’ Therefore, I propose that goal statements will be ‘SMARTA’ and plans, more realistic and relevant if goal-setting is done collaboratively by all stakeholders at all stages of the process. Also, ‘Change-Beneficiary-Indicator-Target-Timeframe’ and ‘Change-Beneficiary-Location-Timeframe’ frameworks are recommended as templates for writing SMART objectives and aims respectively.

Very little empirical evidence exists linking the motivational traits portion of the motivational traits and skills framework to goal setting processes. The present study explored relationships between motivational traits, task-specific self-efficacy and self-set goal level during a computer-based task. Along with direct assessment of these relationships, we assessed whether task-specific self-efficacy mediates relationships between motivational traits and self-set goal level. In the current study, we also examined the ability of motivational traits to provide an increment in the prediction of motivational outcomes over currently accepted goal orientation constructs. Analyses suggest that the motivational traits personal mastery and motivation related to anxiety are consistent predictors of task-specific self-efficacy but inconsistent predictors of self-set goal level while competitive excellence entirely unrelated to motivational outcomes. Motivational traits failed to provide any significant increment in the prediction of task-specific self-efficacy over respective goal orientation constructs. Implications and future directions are discussed. / Master of Science

The present study set out to examine whether negative goal-performance discrepancy (GPD) feedback for one task could have a negative effect on goal-setting associated with an unrelated, distinct task. A series of hierarchical regression analyses were conducted. Results show that large versus small negative GPD feedback on a creativity task impacted levels of specific self-efficacy for a stock-predicting task, which indicated a motivational spillover effect. However, large negative GPD on the creativity task was not evidenced to impact performance goals for the stock-predicting task, as hypothesized. Results also indicate that the larger the magnitude of negative GPD feedback, the more individuals experienced an increase in negative mood and decrease in positive mood, however mood was not evidenced to impact performance goals. / Master of Science

Guided by the research on cognitive performance tasks (e.g., Wood, Mento, & Locke, 1987), the potential moderating effects of skill and outcome difficulty upon the relationship between specific, difficult goals and physical task performance were examined from an attribute treatment approach. Overall, different measures of performance yielded several convergent findings. Using a sample of 184 laboratory participants, a test of the primary hypothesis failed to support the expected three-way interaction among skill, outcome difficulty and goal setting. Models containing skill and outcome difficulty were found to provide the most parsimonious explanation of variance in performance, regardless of whether assigned or personal goal were used as an index of motivation. After controlling for skill and outcome difficulty, goal commitment showed a weak positive relationship with task performance. Self-efficacy was not related to performance among participants pursuing specific, difficult goals. Potential reasons for the failure to obtain evidence of the predicted three-way interaction among skill, outcome difficulty, and goals are discussed in the context of limitations to the present study. Future research directions are suggested. / Master of Science

Cashiers' identification-checking behaviors were observed at two grocery stores with the aim to actively involve cashiers in decreasing credit-card fraud. After baseline observations, cashiers at one store received a participative goal-setting and feedback intervention, whereby they collaboratively set a store goal for checking customers' identification. Over 23 days, the cashiers received one-to-one verbal feedback on their store's identification-checking percentages. The percentage of identification-checked purchases at the intervention store increased from 0.2 percent at Baseline to 9.7 percent during the Intervention. Then, it declined to 2.3 percent during Withdrawal, showing functional control of the intervention over the cashiers' target behavior. The cashiers at the other store served as the control group, and their percentage of identification-checked purchases were 0.3 percent, 0.4 percent, and 0.7 percent respectively during each of the A-B-A phases at the intervention store. It was also found the intervention affected male cashiers more than female cashiers. The present study also assessed the social validity of the current intervention by surveying both customers and cashiers from the intervention store. The results showed that customers do not mind getting their ID checked, while cashiers consider it important to check a customer for identification during a credit purchase. / Master of Science