It was the purpose of this study to investigate the relationship among three personality variables--self-acceptance, authoritarianism, and defensiveness; and, further, to determine what, if any, differences exist between Negro and white college students on these variables.

The problem of the study was to compare racial prejudice and self-acceptance in Negro and white college students. An attempt was made to determine the degree to which acceptance of self compared with acceptance of people of different races.

The purpose of the present study is to further investigate whether or not those children who are highly accepted by their peers differ in scholastic achievement from those who are not accepted by their peers.

This paper identifies factors that are associated with higher levels of public acceptance for recycled and desalinated water. For the first time, a wide range of hypothesized factors, both of socio-demographic and psychographic nature, are included simultaneously. The key results, based on a survey study of about 3000 respondents are that: (1) drivers of the stated likelihood of using desalinated water differ somewhat from drivers of the stated likelihood of using recycled water; (2) positive perceptions of, and knowledge about, the respective water source are key drivers for the stated likelihood of usage; and (3) awareness of water scarcity, as well as prior experience with using water from alternative sources, increases the stated likelihood of use. Practical recommendations for public policy makers, such as key messages to be communicated to the public, are derived. (authors' abstract)

In law as well as in ordinary life, it matters what rules societies have; but what does it mean for a society to have a rule? HLA Hart’s famous answer is that for a society to have a rule is for there to be a certain social practice in that society, consisting of an external, behavioural aspect and an internal, attitudinal aspect. Hart’s ‘practice theory’ dominates thinking in jurisprudence about social rules, but, I argue, there are serious problems with it. It would be better to adopt what I call the ‘acceptance theory’. In the early chapters of this thesis, I argue that the practice theory is both overinclusive and underinclusive. It is overinclusive because Hart’s description of the ‘internal aspect’ is too general. It is underinclusive because the ‘external aspect’ is unnecessary. Once these criticisms are taken into account, what remains of the practice theory is the idea that a society has a rule because its members have a certain attitude. I spend much of this thesis determining the features of this attitude. Ultimately, I focus on the attitude known as “acceptance” in the philosophy of action. Acceptance of a proposition simulates belief in that proposition, though it may be held independently of that belief. I argue that a person or society has a rule when that person, or that society’s members, accept that some action ought to be performed, whatever their beliefs about the matter. This theory incorporates the plausible core of the practice theory, while avoiding its problems.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behaviorally-based intervention that promotes values-driven behavior change. ACT teaches skills such as acceptance, present-moment awareness, commitment to values-based actions, and new ways to interact with stressful and anxiety provoking thoughts and feelings. Mindfulness is a popular component of present moment awareness that is often taught within an ACT model of intervention. The purpose of this study was to determine if mindfulness alone or ACT could influence the psychological flexibility and attention of children with autism and related disabilities aged 7-18. Ten participants received 4 weeks of either ACT or mindfulness training in a group therapy setting twice a week. A series of psychological flexibility and mindfulness questionnaires were administered to the participants along with computerized and physical attention tasks prior to and after completing the series of ACT and mindfulness activities sequence. The overall result of the study indicated that ACT may be a way to provide more wholistic services to children and adolescents with autism compared to mindfulness only, but that both interventions have value within this serviced population.

Introdução: De acordo com o Censo de 2010 o Brasil possui uma população com cerca de 14 milhões de idosos, ou seja, 7,4% da população total. O aumento da expectativa de vida da população e o consequente aumento do número de idosos trazem à tona desafios a serem enfrentados no âmbito econômico, político, demográfico e social. Em contrapartida ao envelhecimento populacional tem-se o avanço tecnológico, o qual colocou a população idosa em situação de desvantagem, pois, suas experiências ao longo da vida foram moldadas por suas experiências anteriores em ambientes tecnológicos que diferem dos ambientes de hoje. Para compreender como a população idosa lida com os desafios da tecnologia e quais são as variáveis que influenciam no uso e na aceitação das mesmas é essencial que se leve em conta as características do idoso assim como das tecnologias. Objetivo: Analisar a aceitação de tecnologias por idosos e as variáveis que influenciam o uso, a aceitação e inserção destas no cotidiano. Materiais e métodos: Trata-se de um estudo de caráter transversal, qualitativo-quantitativo e analítico. A amostra foi composta por 100 idosos com média de idade de 69,38 anos. A escolha de entrevistados foi aleatória. O projeto foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa do HCFMRP-USP. Os procedimentos de coleta de dados incluíram: 1) Questionário socioeconômico, 2) Escala de avaliação das Atividades Instrumentais da Vida Diária de Lawton e Brody, 3) Escala para avaliação das aceitação de tecnologias e 4) Questionário sobre os possíveis fatores que interferem no uso de aparelhos eletrônicos. Na análise de dados foi utilizado o método de estatística descritiva e para o cálculo estatístico utilizou-se o teste do 2, o teste exato do 2 e o coeficiente de correlação não linear de Spearman. Resultados e discussão: Dos participantes, 78% eram do gênero feminino, casados (44%), com Ensino Médio completo (59%), economicamente não ativos (aposentados ou do lar, 89%) e moradores da cidade de Ribeirão Preto (75%). Quanto à capacidade funcional, 56% dos idosos foram considerados independentes para a realização das atividades instrumentais de vida diária e 44% apresentaram dependência parcial. Quanto à aceitação de tecnologias, 96,97% relataram aceitar. Do total de idosos, 54% relataram que os aparelhos eletrônicos são complicados e difíceis de serem utilizados, 69% concordaram que as tecnologias não foram desenvolvidas com foco na população idosa, 64% relataram que o idioma dos aparelhos e dos manuais dificulta o uso. Porém, 89% reconheceram a importância das tecnologias, 91% reconheceram a utilidade e 87% relataram motivação para aprender a utilizar tecnologias. Conclusão: Fatores como medo, receio, motivação, gênero, características dos aparelhos e o reconhecimento dos benefícios, da utilidade e da importância das tecnologias apresentaram influenciam no uso e na aceitação de tecnologias, porém, variáveis como idade, renda, e nível de instrução educacional não apresentaram correlações significativas com a aceitação de tecnologias, não exercendo assim, influência sobre ela. / Introduction: According to Censo 2010, Brazil has a population of about 14 million seniors, or 7.4% of the total population. The increased life expectancy of the population and the consequent increase in the number of elderly people bring up challenges to be faced in the economic, political, demographic and social scopes. In contrast to the aging population has technological advancement, which put the elderly at a disadvantage, because their experiences throughout life have been shaped by their previous experiences in technological environments that differ and many of today\'s environments. To understand how elderly people deal with the challenges of technology and what are the variables that influence the use and acceptance of the same is essential to take into account the characteristics of the elderly as well as technologies. Objectives: Analyze the acceptance of technologies by the elderly and the variables that influence the use and acceptance and inclusion of these in everyday life. Materials and Methods: This is a Cross-sectional, qualitative-quantitative and analytical study. The sample consisted of 100 elderlies with a mean age of 69,38 years. The choice of interviewees was random. The project was approved by the Ethics Committee of HCFMRP-USP. The procedures for data collection included: 1) Socioeconomic questionnaire, 2) Evaluation scale of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living of Lawton and Brody, 3) Scale to assess the attitudes of older people in relation to technology and 4) Questionnaire about the possible factors involved in the use of electronic devices. For statistical calculation was used the 2 test, the exact 2 and linear correlation coefficient of Spearman. Results and discussion: Of the participants, 78% were female, married (44%) with complete high school (59%), not economically active (retired or housewives, 89%) and residents of the city of Ribeirão Preto (75%). With regard to functional capacity, 56% of seniors were considered independent in the performance of instrumental activities of daily living and 44% had partial dependency. Regarding acceptance of technologies, 96,97% reported accept. Of the elderly, 54% reported that the electronics are complicated and difficult to use, 69% agreed that the technologies were not developed thinking in the elderly, 64% reported that the language of equipment and manuals difficult to use. Nevertheless, 89% recognize the importance of technology, 91% recognize the usefulness and 87% reported motivation to learn to use technology. Conclusion: Factors such as fear, apprehension, motivation, gender, device characteristics and recognition of the benefits, the usefulness and importance of technology presented influence in the acceptance and use of technology, however, variables such as age, income, and educational level showed no significant correlations with the acceptance of technologies, not exercising influence on it.

Thesis advisor: David Karp / The purpose of this study is to examine the way(s) that people define and perceive anxiety in light of the dominant discourses about mental illness that permeate America today. Both mental health fields, such as psychology, as well as the pharmaceutical industry have supplied the mental illness discourse that is popular today in the US. Definitions of and treatments for mental illnesses have expanded rapidly over the past several decades. The result is a mental illness discourse that allows almost anyone to be defined as mentally ill and therefore also a candidate for medication. Additionally, this dangerous discourse has been both created and embraced by the people who ordinary Americans look to as authorities on mental illness – doctors and drug companies. The research conducted in this study is intended to address two main questions: First, what are people’s ideas about anxiety? How do they define and identify it? People’s levels of awareness about the topic in general provide insight into the influence that dominant discourses have had (or not had) upon them. Second, do people’s ideas about anxiety mirror the dominant discourse that is presented by mental health fields and the pharmaceutical industry? If the language that people use and treatment options that people seek closely mirror the language and treatment options suggested in the dominant discourse, then mental health fields and the pharmaceutical industry are having a significant influence upon the ways Americans think about mental illness. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Sociology Honors Program. / Discipline: Sociology.

This thesis is an exploration of values-consistent behaviour from a contextual behavioural science perspective. The first chapter is a systematic review of the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy in enhancing values-consistent behaviour. The results from this review were inconclusive, mainly due to a lack of psychometrically robust outcome measures, and inconsistent use of available measures. Recommendations were made to improve the utility of measures of values-consistent behaviour. The second chapter reports a cross-sectional survey of adolescents, aimed at testing the psychometric properties of values measures, and assessing the relationship between values-consistent behaviour and wellbeing. The measures used in this study were the Valued Living Questionnaire 2 (VLQ-2), Portrait Values Questionnaire – Second Revision, Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure, Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth – Short Form, and the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale. Using the VLQ-2 in its current form, values-consistent behaviour was found to account for an additional 13% of variance in wellbeing, above the contributions of demographics, mindfulness and experiential avoidance. However, a recommendation was made for adaptions to be made to the VLQ-2 to make it more suitable for adolescents.

by Samson Yu Wong-kan. / Thesis (M.S.W.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1981. / Bibliography: leaves 107-117.