Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2003. / Prepared for: Dept. of Management. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 141-152). Also available to VCU users online via the Internet.

Social support has been associated with reduced mortality and morbidity from a number of causes. To assess possible mechanisms of action relating to cardiovascular (CV) responsiveness, 90 male and female university students delivered a five-minute speech on a controversial topic to a same-sex laboratory confederate. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three conditions in which the confederate either (a) agreed with the subject, (b) remained impassive (neutral), or (c) disagreed with the subject. Blood pressure (SBP and DBP) and heart rate (HR.) were monitored throughout the experiment. Self-report measures of state self-esteem and affective state were taken pre- and post-task, and reactions to the task were assessed with post-task self-report measures. Subjects reported strong differences in supportiveness of the confederate in the three conditions. Self-report data indicated increase in arousal during the speech (a finding synchronous with CV data), and they reported the Disagree condition to be less pleasant than the Agree condition. CV data were analyzed as a 2 x 3 (sex by experimental condition) repeated measures ANOVA assessing changes from baseline to speech task. Sex differences on CV measures matched patterns generally reported: Men had higher SBP and lower HR than women. All CV measures increased significantly and substantially during the speech task. HR was higher in the Disagree and Neutral conditions than in the Agree condition. SBP and DBP did not differ by condition. There were no sex by condition interactions; however, there was a trend towards men’s HR increasing more in the neutral condition and women’ more in the disagree condition. These data partially support earlier findings in similar experiments while suggesting that subtleties of context, task selection, and content of supportive interaction may have significant impact on the degree to which social support attenuates CV response to social stressors. Unanswered questions for future research are delineated, and implications for designing and implementing interventions that enhance social support are discussed.

Social support has been associated with reduced mortality and morbidity from a number of causes. To assess possible mechanisms of action relating to cardiovascular (CV) responsiveness, 90 male and female university students delivered a five-minute speech on a controversial topic to a same-sex laboratory confederate. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of three conditions in which the confederate either (a) agreed with the subject, (b) remained impassive (neutral), or (c) disagreed with the subject. Blood pressure (SBP and DBP) and heart rate (HR.) were monitored throughout the experiment. Self-report measures of state self-esteem and affective state were taken pre- and post-task, and reactions to the task were assessed with post-task self-report measures. Subjects reported strong differences in supportiveness of the confederate in the three conditions. Self-report data indicated increase in arousal during the speech (a finding synchronous with CV data), and they reported the Disagree condition to be less pleasant than the Agree condition. CV data were analyzed as a 2 x 3 (sex by experimental condition) repeated measures ANOVA assessing changes from baseline to speech task. Sex differences on CV measures matched patterns generally reported: Men had higher SBP and lower HR than women. All CV measures increased significantly and substantially during the speech task. HR was higher in the Disagree and Neutral conditions than in the Agree condition. SBP and DBP did not differ by condition. There were no sex by condition interactions; however, there was a trend towards men’s HR increasing more in the neutral condition and women’ more in the disagree condition. These data partially support earlier findings in similar experiments while suggesting that subtleties of context, task selection, and content of supportive interaction may have significant impact on the degree to which social support attenuates CV response to social stressors. Unanswered questions for future research are delineated, and implications for designing and implementing interventions that enhance social support are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

There is an increasing trend in this globalized economy for Asian corporations to utilize Western management practices. However, studies have shown not all western management practices can be imported into Asian corporations without accounting for the values and beliefs of Asian employees. This study will explore the effects of Confucianism on the respondents¡¦ evaluation of their trainers/instructors. The specific purpose of this study is to examine the differences between Taiwanese and North Americans respondents in (1) Confucius influence, (2) conflict handling style, and tendency of (3) acquiescence response, when evaluating trainers/instructors. The relationships among these major variables were examined statistically. Results strongly suggest that Confucianism has a significant and positive impact on the tendency of acquiescence response. This response may skew the evaluation results in Taiwan, where the influence of Confucianism is significant as compared to North America. The data and analysis provided by this study is a useful reference for Asian corporations looking to import western management practices, and for international corporations looking to standardize their management systems across differing cultures.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1979. / Bibliography: leaves [100]-104. / Microfiche. / v, 104 leaves 29 cm

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Basel, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 155-167).

Begreppet organisatorisk tystnadskultur betyder att anställda inom offentlig och privat sektor inte vågar uttrycka sig kritiskt på arbetsplatsen på grund av exempelvis osäkra anställningsförhållanden, försämrade karriärmöjligheter samt rädsla för repressalier. Studiens syfte var att undersöka hur före detta anställda och anställda uppfattar att en eventuell tystnadskultur manifesterar sig och vilka konsekvenser det kan medföra inom rättspsykiatrin. Åtta intervjuer genomfördes med personal inom den rättspsykiatriska vården. Materialet analyserades tematiskt där fem huvudteman identifierades: Tystnad kopplat till meningslöshet, tystnad relaterat till repressalier, tystnad relaterat till ett bristande förtroende, tystnadens emotionella påverkan samt tystnadens påverkan kopplat till säkerhet. Resultatet visade bland annat att den upplevda tystnaden inom organisationen främst orsakas av faktorer som en känsla av meningslöshet, rädsla för repressalier och ett bristande förtroende för arbetsledningen. Känslomässig påverkan samt tystnadens säkerhetspåverkan indikerar att det finns arbetsmiljöbrister knutna till den organisatoriska och psykosociala arbetsmiljön.

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of acquiescence on both positively and negatively worded questions, both when unidimensionality was assumed and when it was not. To accomplish this, undergraduate student responses to a previously validated survey of student engagement were used to compare several models of acquiescence, using a priori goodness-offit statistics as evidence for model fit, in order to develop a model that adequately accounted for acquiescence bias. Using a true experimental design, undergraduate students from a variety of classes at a large, urban university were randomly assigned to one of three versions of the same survey of student engagement (all positively worded items, all negatively worded items, an equal balance of both positively and negatively worded items). Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the results. Although the presence of acquiescence was confirmed for both positively and negatively worded items, it was not consistent by content scale or item polarization. This suggests that there may be an interaction between item polarization and content that may cause acquiescence to be present or absent. The scales that did not show acquiescence on the balanced survey portrayed a split factor loading based upon item polarization. Further, the splitting of factor loadings by item polarization was not due to acquiescence, suggesting that something other than acquiescence is causing the loadings to split. Further research is needed to develop models and/or methods to better assess and control for acquiescence. Although demographic groups were compared by gender and race/ethnicity to assess if different groups acquiesced differently, using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, many of the models did not converge. The findings of this study were limited by the nature of the sample size. Additional research is needed to determine if acquiescence differs by group membership.

The record failure of development aid, massive corruption, escalating poverty rates, resource-related conflicts, systematic exclusion, and general disenfranchisement across the East African Community (EAC) puzzle many development experts, as they do concerned citizens. Instead of espousing inclusive citizen participation, cyclic rounds of national leaders have governed EAC countries using retrograde ideologies, depictive of restrictive leadership interests. Underlying these interests is usually a deep-seated desire for self-entrenchment that crafty leaders impose on hapless masses. In the process, the leaders methodically personify state institutions and systems, rendering them acquiescent to their desires. Over time, destitute citizens also submit to the status quo, yielding a cadre of “acquiesced citizens”. With respect to the above, the three objectives of this study were to analyse how personified leadership styles influence governance and development policies in East Africa; to assess the degree of citizen involvement in public governance, and how this influences development in East Africa; and to develop criteria for citizen-driven development policies that transcend personified governance in East Africa. The findings of this thesis will enable citizens, academia, development practitioners and other stakeholders to unconditionally determine or guide national governance and development agenda. Most importantly, this study has unravelled a new approach for analysing national leadership, in a manner that can potentially enable a country to identify leaders who can champion effective principles of good governance and simultaneously achieve sustainable development. / Development Studies / D. Phil. (Development Studies)

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