M.Ed. / A person constitutes his world and determines to a large extent his happiness by means of choices. The individual find himself in a society with a network of relationships wherein several values and views of life are representative. In this complex structure of views and relationships a person can easily feel unfettered in the midst of choices in respect of which he does not feel ready to take a view. It is against this background that a study was made as to the education of responsible choices as a means of coping. The goal of the study was to investigate the making of choices as a means of coping against the background of a fundamental-agogic perspective. It shall also be endeavoured to highlight the educational implications of the findings and to express same in functional terms. To determine what the underlying basis of a person's daily choices is, it is necessary to determine a person essential characteristics from a universally valid perspective. This essential characteristics are then brought in connection with the ground motives which regulate a person's daily existence. In futherance of the universally valid perspective the motives relating to personal aspects and to other people within the ideological context and how such motives are manifested within the specific context are investigated. In futherance of the fenomenologistic view on choices, it will be shown what the educational requirements are when the exercise of choices takes place. It will also be shown concisely how a lack of choice-awareness may be a contributing factor in socioeducational problem areas for instance misbehaviour and suicide amongst the youth. The most important findings from the above mentioned study are the following: It is the task of the educator to make the educant aware that he has, as a human being, a choice potential and to encourage him to make use of such potential. An awareness of choices as a life-skill should underlie the rational making of choices. A persons options are determined by his specific time-space situation and the parameters of his responsibility. Because of the uniqueness of every person's circumstances rigid directives of choices cannot be fundamentally or universally valid. There are however certain singular core matters which are generally present in the education of choices namely: The possibility of education toward choices exists because the exercise of choices is a conscious mental process. Through choices the educant obtains a share in his growth process and will his helplessness be gradually reduced. A person should exercise choices from within the safe basis of a value structure to experience order and security. When the educator makes the educant aware of his choice-potential, he should also unfold the sense of life to him, because choices one makes in relation to meaning of his existence also determines to a great extent the goals of the other choices which he will make. The educant should obtain the opportunity for making choices in a climate of responsible discipline. By utilizing choices as a life skill, a person can answer to his basic motives and anthropological needs. Because of choices a person can establish himself as somebody and can enter into relationships with the others of his existence being the divine, his fellowman and objects.

The present investigation was conducted to evaluate the hypothesis that in the context of assertion training, client anxiety will interact with treatment modality in such a fashion that high anxiety individuals will benefit more from a cognitively oriented treatment than traditional skills training procedures, whereas low anxiety individuals will obtain equivalent therapeutic gain from the two treatment approaches. Twenty-eight male and female college undergraduates seeking assertion training were dichotimized into low and high anxiety categories on the basis of the discomfort scale of Gambrill and Richey's Assertion Inventory. Subjects within both categories were then randomly assigned to two treatment conditions: behavioural skills training (ST), and cognitive behaviour modification (CBM). The ST condition included components of instruction, modelling, social feedback, and behavioural rehearsal. The CBM procedure was derived originally from the self-instructional training procedure employed by Meichenbaum in the treatment of test anxiety. It included components of didactic presentation, training in the discrimination and systematic observation of self-statements, training in the modification of maladaptive cognitive processes, and the implementation of cognitive coping strategies and task-relevant self-statements. Both treatment conditions were run in a group format and consisted of six, two hour sessions. All subjects were assessed prior to and after treatment on self-report and behavioural measures of assertion and anxiety. Experimental support was obtained for a modified version of the original hypothesis. While high anxiety subjects tended to benefit more from CBM than from ST in the phenomenal realm, this trend was reversed on the behavioural measures where ST was more effective. Results of the study are explained in terms of a theoretical analysis of the nature of anxiety, and implications for future treatment programmes are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Bibliography: leaves 123-136. / Recognition of the need to develop black employees' interpersonal skills in order that they cope with the demands of the western business environment formed the backdrop to this study. The use of currently available self-report measures of assertiveness to assess behaviour change was questioned in terms of their psychometric properties and relevance to the black employee working in South African organisations. The aim of this study, therefore, was to develop a self-report instrument to measure assertiveness of black employees in work organisations. Another objective was the assessment of criterion-related validity. Information gathered from 12 in-depth interviews was used in the writing of new items and assisted in the modification of items from available self-report assertiveness measures. A preliminary questionnaire, consisting of 55 items was subsequently developed. After a number of changes, the questionnaire, consisting of a four-point Likert scale, was distributed to 80 potential respondents for the pilot study. A response rate of 37.5% enabled the analysis of 30 pilot study questionnaires. After further changes, 450 questionnaires were distributed through training and personnel managers from 10 major South African organisations sampling both the commercial and manufacturing business sectors. A response rate of 57% (240 questionnaires) allowed for the analysis of 234 usable questionnaires. The statistical analysis of responses was done by using both item and factor analytic techniques. After two phases of analysis a 20 item instrument with a three factor structure emerged. The first factor was labelled "anxiety behaviour in interpersonal situations", the second, "collaborative and complimentary behaviour", and the third factor "confronting behaviour". A sub-sample (n = 48) of peer-and self-ratings were correlated for each of the three factors to establish criterion-related validity. Results of this study supported the multidimensional and situation specific nature of the assertiveness construct. The value of developing measuring instruments suited to local conditions was also emphasised. However, the inadequate construct validity and reliability of the instrument indicates the need for further research before - application of the measure in decision making regarding the assertive behaviour of black employees.

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The focus of the present study was the measurement of attitudes toward people acting in an assertive manner, compared to those who are acting in an aggressive or passive manner. Earlier studies suggest there are several mitigating factors on social judgments of assertiveness. These include: sex of the assertor (model), sex of the subject, the assertion situation, and the degree of empathy or consideration in the assertive response. The present study sought to investigate the roles of subject sex, model sex, and situation on social judgments of assertiveness. Further, an empathic assertive condition was included to allow a comparison between ratings of empathic assertive and assertive responses. The empathic assertive response paired assertiveness with extra consideration and understanding toward the other person.Each of 150 university undergraduate subjects (75 men and 75 women) reviewed one written vignette from each of four situations (i.e., work, class lecture, telephone solicitation, dating). Model sex and behavioral response style were randomly assigned. A 26 item personality inventory (Interpersonal Attraction Inventory) was completed by each subject for each vignette.Significant main effects were revealed for both behavioral response style and situation. Subject ratings of behavioral response style were as follows, from least to most favorable: aggressive, passive, assertive, and empathic-assertive. Subject ratings of situation were as follows, from least to most favorable: date, telephone solicitor, work, lecture. The only significant interaction was between behavioral response style and situation. There were no significant main effects or interactions for subject sex or model sex.The present results contradict earlier studies in which passive women were rated significantly more positively than assertive women. Given the time elapsed between the present data collection (1993) and the majority of earlier studies (1987 and earlier) it is possible that sex role change is responsible. In addition, results indicate that what was referred to as empathic assertion in the present study may be a socially distinct class of behavior from assertive behavior. Clearly more research is required in order to confirm a societal sex role change, differences between assertiveness and empathic assertiveness, and generalizability of the present results. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 8, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 47-50).

Thesis (M.Psych.Org.) - University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliography.

M. Ed. / The development of behaviour, character and social skills of people stems from and is maintained by means of interaction with other people. Actually, the most crucial stage is during late adolescence, when proficiency in work ethics, relationships and especially assertiveness should be shaped, as it has direct bearing on the situation when someone does not act in an assertive manner in the work environment. People who are able to act in a truly assertive manner are able to express their feelings, thoughts and convictions without any aggression, in a non-destructive way, and to act in a neither extremely controlling, nor inappropriately reticent fashion. It has come to the notice of the researcher that the behaviour, social skills and especially the assertiveness of a considerable number of late adolescents at a specific technical training college, given their age, appear not be appropriate when among adults, as they communicate ineffectively and are not able to verbalise their expectations regarding their needs. It seems as if late adolescents do not want to make their voices heard. With “voice” an own opinion in relation to choices is meant. The researcher was left wondering whether they would be able to communicate in an adult manner with employees, and express their needs by means of “I messages”, as well as to what extent they would be able to take a stand solely on their own behalf, when having to contend with possible problems in the work environment. The emancipation process of late adolescents often gives rise to mixed emotions in themselves. They simultaneously look forward to and fear the process of becoming adults, which then results in them withdrawing themselves. Others then tend to view them as being incompetent. As a part of their need for independence, they criticise any boundaries, which in turn involves them in conflict. They display open hostility towards others and reveal low quality problem-solving skills, relating to superficial intra- and interpersonal skills in relationships with others.

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