The purpose of this study was to find differences, in degree of "skepticism" about the manufacturing and marketing of drugs, among groups of medical doctors categorized according to training and experience, "Skepticism" was measured by a questionnaire prepared by the Department of Pharmacology with the collaboration of the Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia. The questionnaire was composed of eighteen statements representing issues about the manufacturing and marketing of drugs; "skepticism" was measured by degree of agreement or disagreement with each statement, expressed on a four-point response scale accompanying each statement. Eleven different ways of classifying doctors according to training and experience were employed, and each of these eleven involved a plurality of groups. Altogether 906 groups were considered. The "Skepticism" questionnaire together with a "Personal Data" section to supply data for classifying according to training and experience were sent to the 2413 B.C. doctors registered by the B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons. Of the 2413 sent, 1193 were returned. Chi-square comparisons were made in order to determine which groups of doctors were relatively "skeptical" or "naive" according to each of the eighteen questionnaire statements. The great majority of comparisons failed to show differences significant at the .05 level. Comparisons which were significant showed instances where groups of respondents were relatively "skeptical" or "naive"; these were the findings it was the purpose of this study to obtain. These findings were discussed with reference to the particular groups of doctors, and questionnaire statements involved. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The problem of this study was to ascertain the relationship of students' differential perception of a campus environment to some personality characteristics. The following correlates of perception were considered: personality traits, length of stay in college, sex, college entrance scores, academic marks, and leadership roles. The major conceptual framework of this study included Kelly's (1955) psychology of personal constructs and Snygg and Combs' (1959) phenomenological determinant of behavior postulate. The subjects of this study included 594 students enrolled at the Bukidnon Normal College, Philippines, during the school year 1970-71. The College and University Environment Scales of C. Robert Pace (1966) and the new Edwards Personality Inventory (1966) were the two major instruments used in the study. In addition, the class advisers evaluated the students' leadership qualities using the Leadership Rating Form. Means, standard deviations, analysis of variance, the F test of significance, Duncan's New Multiple Comparison Test, and the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient were the statistical techniques used in the analysis of data. The results showed that the freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior students had a consensus of the various dimensions that make up the school environment. It was found that the negative perceivers of campus environment tended to have some aggressive personality traits, while positive perceivers of campus environment tended to have some passive personality traits. In general, students tended to rate the campus environment lower as they stayed longer in the campus. Males were found to rate the campus environment lower than females. Furthermore, it was found that the students' perception of a campus environment was negatively related to individual academic performance and leadership roles. Implications from the findings were made for counselors, faculty members and school administrators for the improvement of various educational programs at the college. The major conclusion of the study is that students in the college have a consensus perception of the campus environment and that those with positive and negative perceptions of the environmental press have some personality characteristics related to their manner of evaluating the institutional image. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

The purpose of this investigation was twofold. First, to investigate the attitudes and feelings of a group of normal women expecting their first child. Second, to evaluate the effectiveness of a family centred maternity programme in promoting a positive feeling towards the infant and in terms of preparing the mothers for their new role. The subjects were 94 married women who attended prenatal classes with their husbands. They were white, Caucasian, with a mean age of 27 years and a mean level of education of 14 and one half years. The women were raised in North America or the British Commonwealth. All women delivered a single full term infant and experienced no major medical complications of either themselves or their infant during pregnancy, delivery or the postpartum period. Each woman completed a series of questionnaires relating to attitude towards pregnancy, labour and delivery, childbirth, the new baby and the hospital experience. These measures were completed at four points in time; in the ninth month of pregnancy, while in hospital and after one and five weeks at home. In addition, she completed the Depression Adjective Checklists, the Beck Depression Index and the Pleasant Events Schedule in the ninth month of pregnancy and in the sixth week after delivery of her child. The Depression Adjective Checklist was also completed each day that the woman was in hospital. Major comparisons were (a) type of maternity hospital programme experienced — a family centred maternity programme versus a more traditional maternity programme and (b) type of delivery — whether vaginal or caesarian. Multivariate analyses conducted on the set of variables at each time period revealed a significant difference between the two groups of women depending upon which hospital programme they experienced, both while in hospital and after they had been home for one week. Univariate analyses revealed significant difference between the two groups on their responses to the following variables: The women in the family centred maternity programme had a more positive attitude towards their babies while in hospital; considered that they received more experience in how to care for their babies in hospital and perceived that they obtained more help from the hospital in preparing them for their mothering role. There was no difference in attitude towards the baby once the women had been home for one week caring for and interacting with their babies. A repeated measures analysis of variance indicated that there were no differences in the level of depressive affect between the women in the two types of programme over the time periods involved. Multivariate, analyses of the sets of variables at each time period indicated a significant difference between those who had a vaginal delivery and those who had a caesarian section. Those women who had a caesarian section had a less positive attitude towards their labour and delivery. There was no difference between these two groups of women in either their attitude towards their infant or their feelings of self-confidence. A repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that those women who had caesarians were more depressed after the birth of their baby than those women who delivered their baby vaginally. Although the women in the present study were not clinically depressed there were significant correlations between levels of depressive affect and other variables. For example, in the ninth month of pregnancy depressive affect was related to a less positive attitude towards pregnancy; in hospital depressive affect was related to a less positive attitude towards labour and delivery and towards the baby; at six weeks postpartum depressive affect was related to a less positive attitude towards the baby. The discussion centred around the implication of the findings for hospital programmes and prenatal class curricula, current behavioural theories of depression and the myth of maternal instinct. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

M.A. (Industrial Psychology) / This study attempted to measure the public image of an organisation, and to determine the applicability of a Semantic Differential scale for use in telephone surveys. The public image of an organisation plays an important role in the success of that organisation, as the environment continually provides inputs in the form of favourable or unfavourable actions towards the organisation. It is also important for management to know the public's image of that organisation, and which scales and surveys can be used in the determination of that image. Data were collected from two random samples of N = 220 and N = 190 whites respectively. The first sample's image of Company X was measured with a Likert type mail questionnaire. The second sample's image of Company X was measured using a Semantic Differential type telephone questionnaire. The data was then analysed using parametric statistics. Results on both the Likert scale and semantic differential indicated that the white public exhibited relatively favourable attitudes towards Company X, Afrikaans speakers were, on the whole, more positive towards Company X, than English sneakers. Only two aspects of the public image namely the utilization of employees, and employer - employee relations, were evaluated negatively.

The present study examined whether a relationship exists between level of rigidity and prejudicial attitudes and whether prejudiced attitudes could be modified as a function of exposure to a competent black model. It was predicted that individuals with a high level of rigidity would display more racial prejudice than low-rigid individuals and that individuals with a low level of rigidity would demonstrate less prejudice than high-rigid individuals after exposure to a competent model. After exposure to a competent model, a significant main effect for rigidity was found which indicated that low-rigid individuals became less prejudiced than high-rigid individuals,

Aim: The overall aim of the study was to determine the extent of general knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and practices of Gauteng adolescents towards cancer. Objectives: The specific objectives were to: 1) ascertain cancer¬related knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and practices of school-going adolescents; 2) obtain previous information on cancer and reported family history of cancer; 3) investigate the relationships among knowledge, attitudes and behaviour; 4) investigate the effects of gender and of type of schools on cancer knowledge. Population and Method: This study was a cross-sectional survey of Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs and Practices (KABP), personal health behaviours and of demographic and psychological characteristics of a specific group of adolescents in Gauteng. A questionnaire survey was conducted, and a total of 2278 pupils in Grade 10, from 681 schools in Gauteng, participated. The questionnaire was designed to obtain information from the pupils on the following: gender, list of known cancers, family cancer history, previously received information on cancer, true and false statements regarding the aetiology, signs and symptoms of skin cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, head and neck cancer and lung cancer. It also consisted of 10 statements regarding pupils' attitude towards cancer and questions on practices related to risks of developing cancer (smoking, sunblock use and breast-feeding) to which pupils were asked to respond. Descriptive statistics were the first step in data analysis. Thereafter, integrated multivariate statistical procedures (e.g. analysis of co¬variance and factor analysis) were used to analyse the data further. Results: Demographic Information: There were 2278 pupils who completed the questionnaire of those who indicated their gender 1267 (55.6%) were females and 958 (42.1%) males. The pupils' age ranged from 13 to 24 years (average age = 16.5 years, standard deviation (sd) = 1.5). Pupils were from different types of schools formerly known as the Department of Education and Training (DET = 1120); Transvaal Education Department (TED = 663); House of Representatives (HOR = 53); House of Delegates (HOD = 40); and Independent Ordinary (10 = 340). Some pupils had previously received cancer information (48.6%) while others indicated that they had a family related history of cancer (23.6%). Significantly more females reported having received cancer information or having a history of cancer in the family than males (p < 0.001). Television (34.8%) and parents (19.2%) appeared to be the main sources of cancer information. Knowledge About Signs, Symptoms and Aetiology of Cancer: Average knowledge scores among the pupils were low. Females were more knowledgeable than males with regard to breast cancer (p < 0.001). Pupils who received cancer information or who reported a family history of cancer were more knowledgeable than those who did not (p < 0.001). The knowledge scores were significantly different between different types of schools; Transvaal Education Department (TED), also known today as public schools, tended to have better knowledge of the signs, symptoms and aetiology of the five cancers included in the questionnaire. Attitudes Towards Cancer Risks: Pupils indicated a favourable attitude towards possible cancer risks, meaning that they would avoid doing things that were seen as possible cancer risk factors. Factor Analysis demonstrated a negative correlation between Factor I (socially acceptable behaviour) and Factor II (socially unacceptable behaviour), meaning that pupils were able to identify the risk factors associated with cancer development even if they were stated in a positive way in the questionnaire. Pupils separated the attitudes into two groups either socially acceptable behaviour or socially unacceptable behaviour. Practices: Smoking - More males (26.9%) than females (10.9%) indicated that they smoke (p < 0.001). The number of pupils who indicated that smoking was important to them was 27%. Sunblock - More females (41.7%) used sunblock than males (34%) (p < 0.001). The amount of pupils who used sunblock were 38.2%. Pupils who used sunblock demonstrated higher knowledge scores regarding the signs, symptoms and aetiology of cancer. Conclusions: Pupils in grade 10 living in Gauteng are not well informed on the aetiology, signs and symptoms of cancer or cancer risks. Females are more informed than males with regards to cancer. Types of schools types differ with regards to cancer knowledge. School from the public sector (TED schools) showed higher knowledge scores than private schools (10 schools). Pupils who received cancer information previously or who reported a family history of cancer were more knowledgeable than other pupils. Recommendations: The implementation of Cancer Educational programmes should be considered by the Gauteng Education Department. Future development of educational programmes are needed to include cancer education into the current 'life-skills' training programmes. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH) / Unrestricted

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the effect of vignettes about Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) on stigma and attitudes toward people with Alzheimer’s dementia (PWAD) in a sample of community residents of adults 65 years and older. The specific aims of this study were: (1) to determine the effect of vignettes on AD- related stigma and negative attitudes toward people with AD among adults age 65 years and over, and (2) to describe AD- related stigma and negative attitudes in ethnically and racially diverse groups of older adults. A convenience sampling design was used to recruit 50 participants from a medical office in Boca Raton. The sample included adults age 65 years and older from the community, who understood English and scored 25 or higher on Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE). Participants were randomly assigned to the control group (n=22) who received standard AD education or to the intervention (n=28) who received vignettes and standard AD education. Independent t-test was used to analyze the pretest- posttest change scores in the measures of DAS and STIG-MA survey. The significance (p value) was set at .05. In research question two, the samples were divided into 1) white non- Hispanic and 2) other diverse groups. Descriptive statistics were used to explore racial or ethnic differences in stigma and attitudes. The intervention used vignettes and AD education to decrease stigma and attitudes toward people with dementia and showed statistical significance as compared to the control group who received only the AD education. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2021. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This investigation is concerned with the development and application of a test to detect certain habits of the scientific attitude among high school science students. Preliminary investigation relative to the problem centered around the two following procedures: (1) An attempt to determine and define the scientific attitude and its relation to scientific method. (2) A consideration of the results of previous studies related to the above problem.

While much research has examined factors thought to affect patient compliance with therapeutic regimen, relatively little is known about the relationship between psychiatric patients' attitudes toward treatment regimen and their adherence to the treatment regimen. Compliance rates for psychiatric patients remain the lowest of the medical patient population, probably due to psychological and social characteristics of psychiatric patients. Because of a trend in the United States toward self-medication for an increasingly ambulatory psychiatric patient population, the ability to predict patient compliance with medication regimen has become more important than ever before. Before potential noncompliers can be identified and patient compliance predicted through the use of attitudes, an examination of the nature of these attitudes is needed. Scientific literature and theory suggest that attitude is one of several variables which corresponds to behavior. Specific attitudes are thought to develop as a result of 2 real or vicarious experience with the attitude referent. In addition, research has shown that attitudes toward specific objects correlate highly with beliefs, behavioral intentions, and behavior. Therefore, it is hypothesized that psychiatric patients with prior medicine-taking experience will have developed different patterns of attitudes toward pharmacological treatment than will medicine-naive patients. The hypothesis implies that knowing these attitudes will permit prediction of compliance of experienced and naive patients with therapeutic regimen. As the first step of investigating using attitudes to predict compliance, a 20-item Likert-type rating scale, the Psychiatric Medicine Attitude Scale (PMAS), was developed. An alternate forms reliability coefficient of .93 was obtained. Mean score for Form A for the psychiatric medicineexperienced subjects was 2.85, for the medicine-naive subjects, 3.40. Form B scores were 3.17 for the experienced subjects and 3.51 for the naive subjects. These scores show that on both Forms A and B, individuals without prior experience with psychiatric medicine tended tb express more negative attitudes toward the referent object than did the subjects who had previous medicine experience. The next steps, outside the range of this project, will be to develop norms and to ascertain if compliance behaviors will be a function of PMAS scores.

The question is asked whether or not background, education, and training of middle and upper level bureaucratic personnel affects policy outcomes. The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) serves as the agency examined. A written questionnaire sent to a random sample of BPA executives sought data on background variables with the intent of making comparisons. Most BPA executives are found to share very similar education and training backgrounds – namely, engineering studies at Northwest state universities. Also, attitudes measured are found to be more similar than different on most issues for the agency as a whole. This phenomenon is explained in terms of a self-selection process whereby individuals of similar persuasions, skills, and values seek out educational and career opportunities with which they are comfortable and which attract others of similar perspectives. The individual is seen to narrow his viewpoint while reinforcing his existing values. At BPA, the dominant perspective is that of the engineer. The effect of this engineering perspective is seen in policy outcomes in energy matters relating to growth, efficiency, environment, and economy.