The research investigated consumers' decision-making process during pre-adoption and consumption stages of consumer-based technologies via the context of mobile apps. In an attempt to integrate consumer resistance in predicting the end-decisions to adopt/not adopt or continue/discontinue the use of a technology, the study presented some interesting findings. Employing the theoretical framework of cognitive appraisal theory, the study integrated the TAM, paradoxes of technology, and coping strategies to propose and empirically validate a process-based model of decision-making.Data were collected via a self-administered web-based survey. Two versions of the questionnaire were used to elicit consumers' responses from adopters and non-adopters of mobile apps. A total of 646 smartphone owners responded to the survey, of which, 375 respondents had downloaded apps in the past and 271 respondents had not downloaded any apps. The proposed hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling.Results demonstrated that most part of the TAM3 framework is replicable in a consumer-based setting. Additional findings provided evidence for the strong role of goal relevance in the TAM framework. The study also supported the effect of perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use on different technology paradoxes. The factor structure of the technology paradoxes suggested three distinct dimensions. Consumers' evaluation of control, freedom, newness, assimilation, and fulfillment of need as derived from the use of mobile apps was captured by Perceived Benefits. The construct, Perceived Apprehension, comprised of consumers' assessment of the chaos, enslavement, obsolesce, isolation, and creation of needs as a result of using mobile apps. Finally, the factor, Perceived Obscurity, investigated the confusion and/or ambiguity within individuals by measuring their perceived inefficiency and incompetence in using mobile apps.Most importantly, separate investigations of the pre-adoption and consumption stages highlighted consumers' use of varying degrees of resistance as influenced by their appraisal of the technology. The non-adopters resisted the use of mobile apps by either being indifferent towards it or postponing the decision to adopt. The adopters of mobile apps were also found to reject its use by distancing, abandoning, or neglecting the apps. The role of positive coping investigated the positive behavioral tendencies employed by consumers to overcome the challenges of using mobile apps. Managerial implications are discussed.

Objectives: This thesis addresses patients’ conceptualising of the experience of admission to and discharge from an inpatient mental health unit, and the role of measurable psychosocial constructs in this conceptualisation. Design: An embedded mixed-methods design was employed. Themes developed using thematic analysis were compared and contrasted with standardised assessment ratings. Methods: Twelve adult patients of an acute mental health unit took part in two separate interviews about their experience of admission and discharge, and completed standardised measures of anxiety and depression, social support, attachment style and illness beliefs. Interview data were analysed using social constructionist thematic analysis. Relationships between participants’ contribution to constructed themes and their responses to standardised assessments were discussed in the context of extant literature. Results: A total of fourteen themes were constructed, organised around a central theme of choices, planning and decision making. Many themes were comparable to existing constructs in attachment theory and the literature addressing illness appraisal, including mentalisation, the safe haven, internal working models, self as illness and shame. Standardised assessments supported and enhanced these interpretations. Conclusions: Understanding of the process and adaptation to the inpatient experience can be enhanced by reference to the concepts of attachment theory and social cognition. Incorporation of these concepts into current care practices and future service development may improve the inpatient experience.

Female sexual pain is a common problem affecting women worldwide yet remains a poorly researched area of women’s sexual health. Dyspareunia and vaginismus are two types of sexual pain disorder each having psychological and physical health consequences for women and their partners. Part 1: A literature review of the qualitative research literature exploring women’s experiences of sexual pain disorders and their treatment was conducted adopting a narrative synthesis approach. Searches of psychological and medical electronic databases highlighted the paucity of research exploring women’s experiences of sexual pain disorders. Ten studies met the inclusion criteria for the review. The type of qualitative method and quality varied. Findings highlighted the complexity of women’s experiences of sexual pain. Positive experiences of treatment identified alternative benefits of treatment in addition to the traditional outcome of vaginal penetration and penetration without pain. Existing literature has focussed on dyspareunia, and further research is needed on vaginismus. Part 2: The research study used an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) of women’s experiences of vaginismus. Three women were interviewed about their experiences of vaginismus and the treatment they received. Interview transcripts were analysed using IPA. The findings identified the complexity of experiencing vaginismus, the struggle the women faced when trying to make sense of their vaginismus and the wider impact of these experiences on their identity. The findings highlight the value of psychological therapy with this client group and of the need to raise awareness amongst primary care professionals whom women with vaginismus are likely to consult in the first instance. Part 3: A critical appraisal of the research process is presented with focus on the experience of conducting qualitative research as a trainee clinical psychologist. A discussion of the findings is presented in the context of critical reflections on both the strengths and limitations of the study.

The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze sales people's perceptions of performance appraisal criteria in a telecommunications corporation. The study was prompted by the perceived disillusionment of the sales people with the current performance appraisal criteria. The perceptions of 67 sales people were assessed using a questionnaire developed by the researcher. One-way analysis of variance procedures (ANOVA) were used to determine if there were statistically significant differences in premise and telemarketing sales people's perceptions of performance appraisal criteria. Findings indicated that there were no statistically significant difference in premise and telemarketing sales people's perceptions of the 38 performance appraisal criteria statements. Findings did not indicate a statistically significant difference in premise and telemarketing sales people's perceptions of the performance criteria statements, the attitude or satisfaction statements, and the peripheral issue statements. Based on this study, the sales people appear to have clear perceptions of the performance appraisal criteria.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka SFI-lärares upplevelser av sin arbetssituation under en offentlig upphandling. För att besvara syftet har i studien använts tre frågeställningar: - Hur beskriver lärarna att miljön på jobbet påverkas? - Hur beskriver lärarna att relationen mellan lärare och kommun påverkas? - Hur beskriver lärarna att privatlivet påverkas? För att besvara syftet har en kvantitativ metod där 12 lärare har svarat på en enkätstudie. Sedan har en kvalitativ metod används för att intervjua fyra av dessa SFI-lärare rörande deras arbetssituation under pågående offentlig upphandling. De svar som framkommit i enkätstudien samt intervjustu-dien har sedan analyserats enligt appraisalteorin. Resultatet för studien visar att arbetsmiljön, relat-ionen mellan lärarna samt klassrumsklimatet påverkas. Arbetsmiljön påverkas både positivt och negativt. Relationen mellan lärarna påverkas enbart negativt och klassrumsklimatet påverkas enligt lärarna inte i lika stor utsträckning. Lärarnas relation till kommunen försämras tydligt under en på-gående offentlig upphandling och privatlivet påverkas framförallt av de känslor som uppstår under osäkra arbetsförhållanden.

This study examined illness-related uncertainty and primary appraisals of threat, centrality, and challenge as predictors of acute stress disorder (ASD) symptoms in parents of children hospitalized in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Ultimately, a mediational pathway was tested to determine if primary appraisal was a mechanism that accounted for the impact of uncertainty on ASD symptoms. Ancillary study aims were to assess the degree to which parents perceived uncertainty in the PICU environment, and to determine the prevalence of ASD among parents in this setting. Self-report data was collected from 77 parents (57 mothers, 19 fathers) of children hospitalized in a PICU for a minimum of 48 hours. Descriptive analyses showed that parents perceived a high degree of uncertainty and 57% of parents met diagnostic criteria for ASD. Unexpected admission was the only objective medical status variable significantly related to uncertainty, threat appraisal, and ASD symptoms. Consistent with hypotheses, results from hierarchical regression analyses showed that perceived uncertainty and primary appraisals of threat accounted for significant variance in parents’ ASD symptoms; however, neither centrality nor challenge appraisals were related to parents’ ASD symptoms. Because threat was the only appraisal dimension found to be directly related to ASD symptoms, it was the only dimension tested in the mediational model. Consistent with the hypothesis, threat appraisals fully mediated the effect of uncertainty on ASD symptoms; results from a Sobel test confirmed the significance of full mediation. This study is the first to examine uncertainty, primary appraisal, and ASD symptoms in this population. Results clarify that it is not the mere perception of uncertainty that adversely impacts parental adjustment, but rather how it is appraised, and therefore, point to a practical area for in-hospital interventions targeting parents’ pediatric medical traumatic stress symptoms. Although a substantial body of empirical research supports a relation between uncertainty and maladaptive outcomes, studies also link uncertainty to positive outcomes. Future research should include positive indicators of adjustment and examine how appraisals vary according to sources of uncertainty.

The vast majority of persons with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias live at home and are cared for by families or close friends/neighbors. An essential element to daily care decisions is the caregiver’s appraisal of function in the family member with dementia. This dissertation comprises three separate papers exploring caregiver appraisal of functional capacity, using secondary data from a study conducted at Thomas Jefferson University of 88 patient-caregiver dyads, funded by the Alzheimer’s Association (L. Gitlin, PhD, principal investigator; Grant # IIRG-07-28686). The caregivers were primarily female (88.6%), white (77.3%), and spouses (55.7%), with a mean age of 65.8. All caregivers had a high school education or higher and had provided care from 6 months to 22 years. The majority of the participants with dementia were female (52.3%) and white (76.1) with a mean age of 81.7. Their scores on the MMSE ranged from 10 to 28 (M = 17.7, SD = 4.6, N = 87). The first paper examined construct and interrater reliability of the Functional Capacity Card Sort (FCCS), a tool designed to measure subjective caregiver appraisal. Using spearman’s rank correlations the FCCS was found to be statistically associated with the Caregiver Assessment of Function and Upset scale (r = .43, p < 0.0001, N = 86) and not statistically associated with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory scale (r = -.14, p = .16, N = 86), supporting convergent and discriminant validity respectfully. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance revealed a strong agreement among caregivers in the ranking of the six cards of the FCCS, Kendall W (5, 72) = 0.83, p = .0001, supporting interrater reliability of the FCCS. The second and third paper demonstrated the utility of the FCCS in distinguishing three groups of caregivers based on their estimation of functional capacity in the person with dementia compared to a gold standard occupational therapy assessment. Fifty-two (61%) of the caregivers overestimated function, 19 (22%) caregivers underestimated function, and 15 (17%) were concordant with the standardized assessment. Further analysis explored personal and home environment factors in relation to caregiver appraisal. The Kruskal-Wallis test showed cognitive status in the person with dementia (H (2, N = 85) = 3.67, p = .16) and caregiver depressive symptoms (H (2, N = 86) = 1.35, p = .51) were not associated with the caregiver’s appraisal of functional capacity in the person with dementia. Linear regression and proportional odds logistic regression, adjusted for cognitive status in the person with dementia, did not reveal a relationship between caregiver appraisal and the number of observed home hazards [F (1, N = 86) = .01, p = .94] or the unmet needs reported by the caregiver [Wald χ2 (1, N = 86) = .95, p = .33], respectively. Linear regression showed a trend towards the hypothesis that caregiver concordant/underestimation of functional capacity have greater home adaptations compared to caregiver overestimation [F (1, N = 86) = 3.06, p = .08]. The papers in totality demonstrate the utility of the FCCS to assess caregiver appraisal and interpret level of estimation, which can guide the therapeutic approach and treatment plan by an occupational therapist or other health professional. Further understanding of caregiver appraisal and associated factors is critical to providing best practice in dementia care. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed.

Recently, social media has become a sociopolitical hotbed for discussions of racism. However, no extant studies have questioned if social media use increases how often African Americans vicariously and/or personally experience discrimination in America. The current study sought to answer this question. By examining the relationships between social media use, general stress, race-related stress, and anger expression, and the mediating role of perceived racism, this study explored if frequent social media use influences young African American adults’: a) perceptions of racism, b) experiences with general and race-related stress, and/or c) expressions of anger. The current study conducted an online survey of 199 young African American adults between the ages of 18-29 using Amazon Mechanical Turk (M-Turk). Results showed Facebook interactive use significantly predicted anticipatory bodily alarm response and anger expression, but not anticipatory race-related stress. Facebook and Twitter use predicted anticipatory race-related stress, anticipatory bodily alarm response, and anger expression. Neither Facebook interactive use or Facebook and Twitter use predicted general stress. However, serial multiple mediation analyses revealed perceived racism and everyday discrimination fully mediated the relationship between Facebook interactive use and anger expression, such that the more young African Americans perceive racism and everyday discrimination via social media the more anger they experience. Findings also revealed perceived racism and everyday discrimination indirectly affected relations between Facebook interactive use and anticipatory bodily alarm response, anticipatory race-related stress, and general stress. Health implications and directions for future research are discussed.

M.A. (Community Development) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The aim of this thesis was to study how five students linguistically express textual power in conversation and writing about reading, as well as to investigate their possibilities to linguistically express textual power. The study was performed within some of the literacy practices in the subjects of Swedish and Social Studies at the social sciences programme in upper secondary school. “Textual power” is here defined as both ability and possibility: to position oneself in relation to the text, to read/interpret critically and to show mobility in the actual literacy sphere. Two analytical tools were used: Langer’s theories about envisionment building and Martin &amp; White’s appraisal framework for attitude and engagement. The linguistic expressions are contextualised in a model inspired by Linell. I base my discussion of the students’ mobility in the actual literacy sphere on the New Literacy theories of Barton and Street, while Anward gives the means to understand text-reproducing practices. The results indicate that the students used a limited range of positions in relation to texts, rarely expressed critical literacy and showed limited mobility in the actual literacy spheres. The students’ possibilities to linguistically express textual power were determined by the design of the teaching contexts. The students were given few possibilities to develop their ability to linguistically express textual power. To compensate for this, the students used a strategy of task solving. This caused a gap between ideally desired and actually produced text. The acceptance of the gap can be explained if the practice is considered text-reproducing. The literacy sphere where the students found themselves seems to consist of an ecological system based on a consensus-driven text-reproducing practice where critical and comparative reading and writing do not take root and thrive.