As youngsters become adults, the development of their personality becomes the focus of their attention. However, neither Christian youthwork nor adult education within the Protestant Church in Germany is geared towards accompanying and advising them in the midst of their religious questions and changes. There is virtually no scholarly or church literature that would focus on the age group of 18 to 30 year olds. Thus far, the Protestant Church has not yet published non-commercial programs for personality development. This dissertation focuses on evaluating a personality training program that was specially developed for young adults. The structures and the content are analyzed in order to gain insights into how such a training can be implemented in the local church. The empirical results will be complemented by insights from different studies on youth, theological and anthropological perspectives on personality and personhood, and two popular models of courses on the Christian faith. / An der Schwelle zum Erwachsenwerden steht die Entwicklung der eigenen Persönlichkeit im Mittelpunkt des Denkens von jungen Menschen. Aber weder die Jugendarbeit noch die Erwachsenenbildung sieht eine Aufgabe darin, junge Erwachsene in ihren religiösen Fragen und Veränderungen zu begleiten und zu beraten. Wissenschaftliche und gemeindepädagogische Literatur, speziell für die Altersgruppe der 18- bis 30-Jährigen, liegt kaum vor und innerhalb der evangelischen Kirche gibt es bislang keine nichtkommerziellen Persönlichkeitsprogramme für diese Personengruppe. Der Fokus dieser Arbeit ist auf die Dokumentation und die qualitative Evaluation eines Persönlichkeitstrainings gerichtet, das speziell für junge Erwachsene entwickelt wurde. Untersucht werden die Strukturen und die Inhalte des Programms, um konkrete Gestaltungshinweise für die Durchführung in einer örtlichen Kirchengemeinde zu gewinnen. Die empirischen Ergebnisse werden durch Exzerpte aus verschiedenen Jugendstudien, aus theologisch-anthropologischen Erörterungen zu Persönlichkeit und Person sein und die Bewertung von zwei christlich populären Glaubenskursen ergänzt. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

This study investigated the impact that a number of variables within the short-term mission experience had on the beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of Anabaptist young adult mission participants in 24 concepts related to their relationship with God, the Church and world around them. Study participants were drawn from five different Anabaptist denominationally connected short-term mission programs ranging in length from one month to one year. This study used a quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test, follow-up design with non-equivalent groups as well as a non-randomized control group. The 116 study participants filled out a quantitative questionnaire prior to their short-term mission experience, after they returned from their mission experience and again one year after they returned. This longitudinal aspect of the research design measured the relative impact of variables within the short-term mission experience on participants over time. Methodological triangulation was employed that allowed for a variety of quantitative and qualitative tools to be used in better understanding the comparative impact of the short-term mission experience. The questionnaire, short essay response and interviews all incorporated concepts related to the international and cross-cultural impact of the short-term mission experience that have not been systematically analysed in this kind of study before. Response rates remained very high throughout the three stages of data collection and produced a number of significant findings. These findings included the positive impact during the mission experience of: an extensive pre-trip training experience, longer assignments, cross-cultural assignment location, relationally focused assignments, supportive families and churches, and correlation between repeat assignments and strong interest in future full-time mission work. While the positive impact of the short-term mission experience was significant, the post-trip regression in participants' beliefs, attitudes and behaviours one year after returning from the mission experience was also significant. This regression indicates that inadequate attention is being paid to participant re-entry, debrief and follow-up. Short-term mission agencies, participants and local churches need to view the discipleship impact of the short-term mission experience as ongoing. It is counter-intuitive to invest discipleship resources on returning short-term mission participants; however, the data indicates that is where the most significant discipleship challenges are found. / Theology / D.Th.

Text in German / No abstract / Practical Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology)

Thesis (MComm (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Numerous individuals daily partake in injurious consumption, such as excessive or unhealthy food choices. Individuals’ incorrect food choices can have a negative effect on their weight, health and general quality of life. Marketers could and should play a pivotal role in influencing consumers’ food choices, which will ultimately contribute to healthier individuals and societies as a whole. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between self-concept and food choice, self-efficacy and food choice, emotional states and food choice, and weight perception and food choice, and to highlight implications for marketers based on these findings. These relationships were investigated in a Generation Y sample. A sample of 383 college-aged1 students of Generation Y completed a self-administered questionnaire that was designed based on previous studies. Respondents’ weight perception was also investigated as many students from Generation Y try to change their weight perceptions through their food choices. Respondents’ food choice was compared to the recommended food choice of the South African Department of Health (Department of Health, 2009). Based on this comparison, it was proposed that marketers of food products should promote a decrease in respondents’ meat consumption and an increase in milk, fruit, vegetable and starch consumption. Small yet significant relationships between respondents’ specific food choices and self-concept, self-efficacy, emotional states and weight perception were found. Marketers can incorporate these relationships into their advertising campaigns and brand slogans in order to positively influence Generation Y to make healthier food choices. Another significant finding was that male respondents indicated a higher ideal weight than their actual weight, while female respondents indicated a lower ideal weight than their actual weight. A relationship was also found between self-concept and weight perception for both men and women from Generation Y. The significance of this study lies in the expansion of knowledge regarding the food choice behaviour of a Generation Y sample and the recommendations made to marketers based on relationships found between food choice and the constructs at hand. These recommendations can ultimately improve consumers’ food choice. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Verskeie individue neem daagliks deel aan nadelige verbruik, met inbegrip van oormatige of ongesonde voedselkeuses. Individue se foutiewe voedselkeuse kan hul gewig, gesondheid en lewensgehalte negatief beïnvloed. Bemarkers kan en behoort 'n belangrike rol te speel om individue te oortuig om gesonde voedselkeuses te maak. Die doel van hierdie navorsing was om die verhouding tussen self-konsep en voedselkeuse, selfekwiteit (‘self-efficacy’) en voedselkeuse, emosionele toestande en voedselkeuse en gewigspersepsie en voedselkeuse te ondersoek en om die implikasies hiervan gebaseer op hierdie bevindings aan bemarkers voor te lê. ʼn Steekproef van 383 lede van Generasie Y het ’n vraelys ingevul wat ontwerp is op grond van vorige navorsing. Respondente se gewigspersepsie is ook bestudeer aangesien verskeie studente (universiteitsouderdom) van Generasie Y poog om hul gewigspersepsie te verander deur middel van hul voedselkeuses. Respondente se voedselkeuses is vergelyk met die voedselkeuses wat aanbeveel word deur die Suid-Afrikaanse Departement van Gesondheid (Department of Health 2009). Op grond van die vergelyking is bevind dat bemarkers ʼn afname in individue se vleisinname, en ʼn toename in individue se melk-, vrugte-, groente- en styselinname behoort te bevorder. Die ondersoek het getoon dat daar klein, maar beduidende verhoudings aangetref is tussen respondente se spesifieke voedselkeuses en self-konsep, self-effektiwiteit, emosionele toestande en gewigspersepsie. Bemarkers kan hierdie verhoudings in hul bemarkingsveldtogte en handelsmerk-slagspreuke inkorporeer. Nog ʼn beduidende resultaat was dat die manlike respondente ʼn hoër ideale gewig as hul huidige gewig aangedui het, terwyl vroulike respondente ʼn laer ideale gewig as hul huidige gewig aangedui het. Die resultate toon ook dat daar vir beide mans en vroue van Generasie Y ʼn verhouding tussen self-konsep en gewigspersepsie is. Deur middel van hierdie studie is kennis rakende die voedselkeuses van ʼn steekproef van Generasie Y uitgebrei. Aan die hand van die verhoudings tussen voedselkeuse en respondente se self-konsep, self-effektiwiteit, emosionele toestande en gewigspersepsie, is daar aanbevelings vir bemarkers gemaak. Hierdie aanbevelings sal uiteindelik bydra tot die verbetering van Generasie Y se voedselkeuses.

The purpose of this study was to better understand sexual development during the transition to adulthood. Previous research was extended by testing models that examined direct effects of romantic attachment and social support on emerging adults’ sexual outcomes, as well as models that examined the mediating role of sexual motivations in those associations. Undergraduate students (n = 290, 66% female) completed questionnaires that assessed romantic attachment, social support, sexual motives, risky sexual behaviors, and health-promoting sexual beliefs. Results indicated romantic attachment strongly predicted sexual functioning, such that higher levels of attachment insecurity were associated with fewer health-promoting sexual beliefs and more risky sexual behaviors. Attachment anxiety was most closely associated with sexual outcomes for females, while attachment avoidance was a stronger predictor of sexual outcomes for males. Furthermore, coping but not intimacy motivations were found to partially mediate the link between attachment anxiety and health-promoting sexual beliefs for females. Although overall relationships between social support and sexual outcomes were not significant as hypothesized, links between specific support sources and sexual outcomes emerged during further analysis. Conclusions underscore the usefulness of attachment theory as a framework for understanding sexual behavior and provide further support for the importance of considering gender differences when examining the interplay between the attachment and sexual systems. Practical implications for sexual health prevention and intervention efforts are discussed.

The study reports on the development of a photo therapy tool for educational psychologists within the South African context. A literature study explores the nature, advantages, characteristics and the application of photo therapy with clients in a therapeutic setting. The developmental intervention research design guided the practical development of an electronic photo therapy tool that can be applied by educational psychologists in a therapy setting with clients. The empirical research is qualitative in nature, as the effectiveness of the newly developed photo therapy tool is evaluated by emerging adults and educational psychologists as an intervention strategy. In order to accomplish this purpose, emerging adults, as well as educational psychologists shared their perceptions of the newly developed photo therapy tool. Thus the usefulness of the photo therapy tool was investigated as an intervention approach. Qualitative data generation techniques, focus group interviews and photographs were utilised. The research results show that the newly developed electronic photo therapy tool has the potential, as a modern therapeutic tool, to be used by educational psychologists as an intervention strategy. The developmental intervention research design is a continuous process, and as the life world is forever changing, improvements to the photo therapy tool can always be added according to new suggestions and ideas. The findings allow theorisation about the significance of the photo therapy tool. The study further determines that there is definite potential in the electronically created photo therapy tool, as both the young adults and the educational psychologists perceived the photo therapy tool as a possible and valuable tool in the therapeutic intervention process. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Educational Psychology)

The aim of this postgraduate dissertation, entitled Sexual abuse, its depiction in literature for child and young adults and its potential to use it in school, is to introduce a reader to general informations about sexual abuse of children, to draw up general principles used in fiction literature and try to offer a concrete oportunity to work with these texts in literature classes. The thesis should point to importance and seriousness of these problems, make an appeal to timely prevention and familiarization of children/students with this problem and provide concrete materials and idea show to work with this topic. The theoretical part of the work deals generally with the taboo, its forms, historical shifts and its present form. Furthermore the issue of sexual abuse in terms of professional literature is discussed, which will help us in the practical work with the understanding and assessment of the fictional literature. The practical part deals with the analysis of particular books of fiction, specifically a book by Ann Dee Ellis This is what I did…and a book by Bryan Talbot The Tale of One Bad Rat and their didactic potential at literary education classes. KEYWORDS child, sexual abuse, taboo, literature, didactic analysis, rapists, victims

Today in the United States, herbal supplements are growing increasingly popular, however, little is known about the safety and efficacy of these products. This study contributes to the growing body of information about the prevalence of herbal supplement use among young adults (18 to 24 years) and the beliefs young adults hold about herbal supplements in relation to their dietary attitudes and behaviors. A self-administered, four-part questionnaire was mailed to a geographically representative sample of 298 young adults (18 to 24 years) residing in Oregon; 205 questionnaires were usable (69% response rate). There was an equal ratio of male and female respondents, half students and half non-students, the majority being Caucasian (93%), with a mean age of 21.5 years. Nearly 60% of the sample reported using herbal supplements (n=122). Thirty-seven percent were sometime users (less than weekly) and 22% were regular users (at least weekly). More female respondents reported using herbal supplements (69%) than did male respondents (49%). Respondents who were White or Asian/Pacific Islander were the only ethnic groups that reported using herbal supplements regularly. Users were more educated than non-users, however use was very similar among students and non-students. Herbal supplement use also was very similar between respondents having different residencies. Familiarity with different herbs was positively related to level of herbal supplement use. Regular users were familiar with the greatest number of herbs, followed by sometime users. Herbal supplement users tended to have more healthful lifestyle characteristics than non-users. Frequency of fast food patronage was negatively related to level of herbal supplement use. The median number of times a fast food restaurant was patronized was lower among regular users of herbal supplements than among those who did not use supplements or used them less often. The median number of times breakfast was eaten also seemed to be slightly higher among regular users than other groups. Other healthful lifestyle characteristics, such as BMI and drinking in moderation, did not tend to be more healthful among herbal supplement users. The results were mixed on smoking behavior. Regular users of herbal supplements were no more or less likely than non-users to smoke, but non-users were less likely than sometime users to smoke. Regular users of herbal supplements tended to think herbal supplements are useful for certain health parameters more often than sometime users and non-users. Most regular users of herbal supplements agreed herbs are useful for maintaining good health (89%) and preventing/treating common illnesses like colds (85%). Almost two-thirds also thought herbs are useful for preventing serious chronic illnesses (61%) and insuring a well-balanced diet (65%). Attitudes toward the effectiveness, convenience, and expense of taking herbal supplements in comparison to eating a balanced diet as ways of staying healthy were related to herbal supplement use. Herbal supplement users did not appear to have positive attitudes towards herbs when comparing herbs to a well-balanced diet. Only 11% of users thought that herbs are more effective than diet as ways to stay healthy, and users were more likely than non-users to think herbs are more expensive ways to stay healthy. However, both levels of users were more likely to think herbal supplements are more convenient than diet. Attitudes about the effectiveness, safety, expense, naturalness, potency, and personal control of taking herbal supplements in comparison to prescription medications was related to level of herbal supplement use. In general the trend was for users to be more likely to have positive attitudes toward herbs and less likely to give a "don't know" answer. Eating the recommended number of food guide pyramid servings of fruits and vegetables as well as eating a greater number of nutrient rich vegetables was not related to herbal supplement use. However, a somewhat higher percentage of herbal supplement users tended to meet the fruit and vegetable recommendations than nonusers of herbal supplements. Stage of change in relation to vegetable intake was related to herbal supplement use. As respondents' herbal supplement use increased, so did the likelihood of classifying themselves into one of the action stages of change for vegetable consumption. Stage of change for fruit consumption was not related to herbal supplement use. Choice to stop using herbs if they were pronounced unsafe by a governmental agency was not related to level of herbal supplement use. However, 17% of sometime users and 16% of regular users reported that they would continue to use herbs even after they were pronounced unsafe by a governmental agency. The results of this study clearly show that there is a high prevalence of herbal supplement use among young adults in Oregon, and those who are using herbal supplements seem to have a strong belief in the herbs they are taking. With the limited knowledge on herbs' safety and efficacy, young adults need to be educated about the herbs they are using. Hopefully, the information from this study can help health professionals identify which young adults might be using herbal supplements in order to educate them on making smart choices about herbs, and smart choices about their overall health. To inform young adults about the herbs they are using, additional research on herbal supplements' potential benefits and harmful side effects is needed. / Graduation date: 2002

The strength of the relationship between various measures of self, such as self-esteem, self-concept, self-acceptance, and achievement has been studied extensively with varying results (see Hansford & Hattie, 1982). This variation may be attributable to the use of different self and achievement measures, ranges in the age of those studied, and not controlling for socioeconomic status, ethnicity/race, gender, or school effects. The main goal of my thesis was to estimate the strength of the relationship between self-esteem, and achievement when gender, ethnicity/race, socioeconomic status, aspects of the parent-child relationship and school contextual effects were controlled. Analyses were conducted on two large data sets. The first was taken from the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS) - 1988 and consists of 21,039 grade 8 students sampled from the United States. The second data set was taken from the School-Based Prevention Project (SBPP) - 1995 and consists of 6,795 grade 8 through 12 students from 20 schools in British Columbia, Canada. For both data sets, 7 of 10 items from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1965) were used to measure self-esteem. Analyses of the NELS data set yielded three notable findings: (1) the strength of the self-esteem/ achievement relationship is not equivalent across gender-ethnic/racial groups, (2) the self-esteem/ achievement relationship varies when grades versus tests scores are used as achievement measures, and (3) the variability in self-esteem is largely within-schools. Variables controlled in these analyses were gender, ethnicity/race and socioeconomic status. Analyses of the SBPP data yielded four notable findings: (1) the strength of the self-esteem/ achievement relationship varies across a new measure of coping styles, (2) relational factors reduce the strength of the self-esteem/achievement relationship, (3) relational factors explain much more of the variance in self-esteem than does achievement, and (4) almost all the variance in self-esteem is within schools. Variables controlled in these analyses included gender, grade-level, socioeconomic status, perceptions of Mother's and Father's love, and coping styles. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed in terms of attachment theory (Ainsworth, 1969), coping styles (Horney, 1950), and the need to belong (Baumeister & Leary, 1995).

Increased smoking by attractive celebrities in films may be one source of influence on young people's increased smoking behavior. Theories of observational learning and cognitive scripting suggest that actions and perceptions may be influenced by viewing behaviors of attractive models and that observers may be more likely to imitate the observed behaviors when they are in specific contexts similar to the ones viewed. We investigated the effects of viewing characters either smoking or not smoking while having either positive or negative experiences on participants' perceptions of the characters, smoking urge, and intentions to smoke. We found that viewing characters smoking in negative scenes decreased likelihood of smoking for participants. Females were more likely than males to report a likelihood to smoke after viewing negative scenes, regardless of whether characters smoked. Female regular smokers were more likely to smoke in negative scenarios than in positive scenarios, and male occasional smokers and nonsmokers were more likely to smoke in positive scenarios than negative scenarios. / Department of Psychological Science