Kindness movements toward a kinder more compassionate world are proliferating worldwide. One of the key challenges facing these movements is attracting and sustaining members. This research identified a range of dispositional, motivational, and contextual factors significantly related to participation in a kindness movement initiated on the Virginia Tech campus after the tragic shootings on April 16, 2007: the AC4P Movement. Strongly resembling existing research on motivational functions served by volunteerism, the present research identified five motives for participation in kindness movements: social action, gratitude expression, social enhancement, impression management, and protective. Additionally, regression analysis identified a model with five significant predictors of participation: required participation, history of traumatic experience, belief that society is in danger, extroversion, and social action motivation. Findings are integrated within the context of Geller's (2016) model of empowerment. / Ph. D. / Kindness movements to inspire a kinder more compassionate culture are proliferating worldwide. These movements reflect a novel and potentially effective means for promote acts of kindness within and between individuals. To date, however, the factors that influence participation in kindness movements have not been systematically investigated. The present research aimed to determine whether key motivational, dispositional, and contextual factors influence participation in a worldwide kindness movement initiated at Virginia Tech: the Actively Caring for People (AC4P) Movement. Participation was defined as having passed an AC4P wristband on to another person as a reward for performing an act of kindness. Related to prior research on motivation and volunteerism, the present research identified five motives for participating in kindness movements: social action, gratitude expression, social, impression management, and protective. Both social action and gratitude expression related significantly to whether an individual passed on a wristband to reward another person for an act of kindness. How these motives were derived and their defining features are described in the following pages. A number of dispositional factors (i.e., extroversion, exposure to traumatic experience, religiosity, spirituality, and beliefs regarding the state of the world and the importance of recognizing others for acts of kindness) and contextual factors (i.e., the context in which the AC4P wristband was received and passed on) were also assessed. Extroversion, exposure to traumatic experience, beliefs about the state of the world and the importance of recognizing others, receiving a wristband one-on-one for an act of kindness as opposed to receiving a wristband in a group setting, and being assigned the task of passing on a wristband to another person were all significantly correlated with passing on an AC4P wristband. Once the motivational, dispositional, and contextual variables that significantly correlated with having passed on a wristband were determined, the relative influence of each variable was assessed. A model was revealed in which five of the included variables, when considered within the context of one another, predicted whether an individual would or would not pass on a wristband with a reasonably high degree of reliability. The five variables were: a group assignment to participate, history of a traumatic experience, belief that society is in danger, extroversion, and social action motivation. These findings were integrated within the context of Geller’s (2016) model of empowerment and their implications for developing intervention strategies to attract and sustain participation are discussed.

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in a movement programme (FITKIDZ) designed by the author produced statistically significant improvements in the physical fitness and locomotor co-ordination of four and five year old children. The study also examined the relationship between post-intervention levels of physical fitness and locomotor co-ordination. The subjects (N = 19), who all attended pre-primary school, were tested on physical fitness components and their execution of locomotor co-ordination using both quantitative and qualitative evaluation processes. The subjects were selected from a pre-primary school that volunteered to participate in the study. Due to the structure of the school and pressure from the parents, it was not possible to have a control group. The subjects underwent an eight-week movement programme (FITKIDZ), after which they were retested. Results showed a statistically significant improvement in abdominal strength, Body Mass Index (BMI) and flexibility (Sit-and-reach scores and trunk lifts). Qualitative results also showed a statistically significant improvement in the children's performance oflocomotor skills. Correlation matrices between the physical fitness components and locomotor skills indicated that the strongest straight-line relationship existed between strength and locomotor co-ordination. The other relationships between the physical fitness components and locomotor co-ordination were not significant. It was concluded that the performance of locomotor skills improved, as did numerous components of physical fitness of the subjects over the duration of the designed movement programme. However, it was noted that this improvement may be partially due to normal maturation of the subject group and that the results from this study would be better supported ifit were possible to include a control group. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie studie was om te bepaal of daar enige statistiese beduidende verskil was in die fisieke fiksheid en lokomotor-koordinasie van vier- en vyf-jaar oue kinders wat aan 'n bewegingsprogram (FITKIDZ) deelgeneem het, wat deur die outeur ontwerp was. Die studie het ook enige beduidende verhouding tussen pre-bemiddeling en post-bemiddeling uitslae van fisieke fiksheid en lokomotorkoërdinasie ondersoek. Die toetspersone (N = 19), almal kleuterskoolkinders, was in die fisieke fiksheidskomponente en uitvoering van lokomotor-koordinasie deur beide kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe waardebepalingstrategieë getoets. Die toetspersone was van 'n kleuterskool wat vrywillig aan die program deelgeneem het. Aangesien daar druk van die ouers was en die skool 'n sekere struktuur volg, was dit nie moontlik om 'n kontrole-groep te hê nie. Die toetspersone was op 'n agt-week bewegingsprogram (FITKIDZ) geplaas, waarna hulle weer getoets is. Uitslae het 'n statistiese beduidende verbetering in abdominale krag, Liggaamsgewigindeks en lenigheid (Sit-en-reik tellings en romp ekstensie) gewys. Korrelasies tussen die fisieke fiksheidskomponente en lokomotor vaardighede dui aan dat die skerkste reguitlyn verhouding tussen krag en lokomotor-koordinasie bestaan het. Die ander verhoudings tussen die fisieke fiksheidskomponente en lokomotorkoërdinasie was nie betekenisvol nie. Daar is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die uitvoering van die lokomotor vaardighede verbeter het, so ook veelvuldige fiksheidskomponente van die toetspersone oor die durasie van die bewegingsprogram. Daar is egter waargeneem dat hierdie verbeteringe gedeeltelik te danke mag wees aan die normale maturasie van die toetsgroep en dat die uitslae van hierdie studie beter ondersteun sou word as daar 'n kontrole-groep was.

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

The Emmanuel Movement is frequently cited by scholars of the history of religion and psychology in the United States. While the story of the movement has been told many times, scholars have missed key ideas about the movement that become clear when we compare the various historical approaches to the movement. I review the Emmanuel Movement’s ideas, taking note of its intellectual influences, its relationship to other liberal Protestant traditions, and its place in turn-of-the-century culture. By reviewing the ideas of the movement, I observe that the Emmanuel Movement brings into focus previously obscure intellectual figures in the history of the movement, foreshadows late-twentieth century cooperation between medicine and religion through mindfulness movements, and highlights a strand of liberal Protestantism that originates in a Jamesian psychology of the healing subconscious. This new look at the Emmanuel Movement thus provides new avenues of inquiry for students of religion and psychology. / text

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