Prior researchers have identified stigma as a significant barrier to mental health treatment for military service members as many members in need of mental health treatment fail to seek it. Researchers have evaluated the relationship between certain forms of stigma (specifically, self-stigma, which encompasses an individual's belief that having a mental health disorder may reflect diminished character, and public stigma, which encompasses an individual's perception that others stereotype people with mental health issues) and service members' attitudes toward mental health treatment. However, a gap exists in research on the relationship between experienced stigma (i.e., the subjective experience of discrimination) and individuals' attitudes toward mental health treatment. The purpose of this nonexperimental, quantitative study was to extend prior research completed by assessing the relationship among experienced stigma, public stigma, self-stigma, and soldiers' attitudes toward seeking mental health care. Ajzen's theory of planned behavior constituted the theoretical framework. A sample of military service members and veterans (N = 78) obtained from social media completed a questionnaire containing items from 3 existing scales. Multiple regression and mediation analysis revealed that public stigma and self-stigma were associated with less favorable attitudes toward mental health treatment. Self-stigma partially mediated the relationship between public stigma and attitudes toward treatment. Experienced stigma was not a significant predictor of participants' attitudes toward treatment. Study findings may help clinicians to develop more effective mental health programming for military service members and veterans, resulting in potential positive social change.

An attitude is a mental state that influences the way an individual responds to relevant objects and situations. Attitudes toward the elderly have a potential impact on all Americans, as the population is growing older. These attitudes constitute an important area of study because their nature is unclear and their impact extensive. The Kogan Attitudes Toward Old People Scale (OP) was examined to establish reliability and validity estimates. A questionnaire, consisting of this scale and four others, was administered to a sample of adults. Factor analysis of the OP revealed two factors, which were somewhat ambiguous. Internal consistency estimates for these factors and the total OP ranged from .72 to .92. Validity estimates were in the expected direction and ranged from -.13 to .36. Gender, age, education level, and degree of tolerance for others immerged as predictive variables for reported attitudes toward the elderly. It was concluded that the use of the OP is of questionable utility. If one must use it, the total OP score or only the items from Factors 1 and 2 should be utilized, as long as the discussed weaknesses, such as the sampling and validation procedures, are taken into account

The objective of this study was to explore the attitudes toward antisocial personality disorder among clinicians. The researcher created a 15 question survey to interview clinicians in hopes of eliciting information about their attitudes toward this population. The survey consisted of seven open ended questions and eight Likert scale questions. The researcher analyzed the data by transcribing the interviews and looking for common themes among the responses. Likert scale questions were tallied and compared in SPSS to determine the spread of the answers. The results of the study showed there are negative attitudes among clinicians currently in direct treatment settings; attitudes were more neutral among clinicians who are currently not involved in direct practice. In applying the theory of reasoned action it is suggested clinicians in direct practice who hold negative views display behaviors that affect the treatment process and outcome. The researcher’s recommendation for future study is to explore the attitudes of other helping professionals in comparison to social work practitioners.

Pedophiles are the most stigmatized population in society (Jahnke, Imhoff, & Hoyer, 2015; Sanghara & Wilson, 2006). Social worker’s responsibility is to maintain standards and treat individuals with dignity and respect (NASW, 2017). It is important to explore bias against pedophiles because studies have shown bias is linked to offender recidivism rates (Jahnke, Schmidt, Geradt, & Hoyer, 2015). Social workers may unintentionally inhibit pedophiles from seeking treatment if they hold strong biases against them which could potentially negatively impact child abuse rates. The purpose of this study was to identify bias reduction techniques so that they could possibly be implemented in the social work field. Experienced social workers and social work students were interviewed so that the origins of and methods to combat bias could be explored. Themes among interviewee responses were identified and the importance of Opening a Dialogue eclipsed the need to utilize bias reduction techniques.

This study examined principals' and teachers' perceptions regarding both the importance of certain leadership skills and the ratings of principals' actual skills. There are strong theoretical bases for the use of principals' and teachers' perceptions in this study. The analysis of perceptions of leadership skills can lead to: (1) an increased awareness of principals' strengths and weaknesses; (2) greater communication between principals and teachers; and, (3) hopefully, increased productivity on the part of principals and teachers. The population for this study included a group of twenty-eight principals who participated in the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators Assessment Center, and teachers in those principals' schools. These principals represented the total number of Assessment Center participants who were promoted to their positions subsequent to their participation in the Center. Assessment Center predictions ratings of these principals' skills were compared to teachers' ratings of the same principals' skills. Research questions sought information in the following areas: (1) principals' perceptions of their own skills; (2) principals' perceptions of the importance of given skills; (3) principals' predictions of teachers' ratings of the importance of skills; (4) principals' predictions of teachers' ratings of principals' actual skills; (5) teachers' perceptions of principals' skills; (6) teachers' perceptions of the importance of given skills; and, (7) Assessment Center predictions ratings of principals' skills. The methodology for this study combined survey research with information provided by the COSA Assessment Center. Mailed surveys were used to collect data regarding principals' and teachers' perceptions of leadership skills. The results of this study suggested that there is a general agreement between principals and teachers regarding principals' leadership skills. Additionally, the predictions made regarding principals' skills by the Assessment Center accurately reflected teachers' perceptions of the same principals' skills in the field. The area of greatest difference in this study was in principals' perceptions of teachers' ratings. Principals generally predicted that teachers would rate the importance of skills lower than teachers actually rated them. Because teachers' perceptions of principals' skills are generally accurate, it can be concluded that teachers' ratings of their principals can play an important role in the total process of principals' evaluations.

In August, 1968, after a series of confrontations in the city parks between young dissidents and the police, the Mayor of Portland called upon the Metropolitan Youth Commission to form a special study committee to explore the areas of conflict and to recommend ways in which municipal government might constructively respond to the young people in the community. The independent research project on the alienation of youth, the results of which are reported here, was an outgrowth of the interest generated by the request from the Office of the Mayor. Under the auspices of the Metropolitan Youth Commission (MYC), a special office within the executive branch of city government concerned with the needs of youth, a questionnaire was constructed measuring both the attitudes of young people toward established social institutions and measuring the degree of personal alienation of the respondent. A research consultant from the Department of Psychiatry of University of Oregon Medical School, Dr. John Marks, directed the development of the questionnaire. The items measuring personal alienation have been drawn from the “alienation cluster” on a scale constructed and refined by Chain and Associates in their research on juvenile heroin .research in New York City. In addition, items were included which would provide substantial information on personal background of the individual, e.g. family cohesiveness, social class, delinquent history, and drug use. In spring, 1969, data was collected in four high schools in the metropolitan area (pop. 380,000). The student members of the MYC arranged for students in each school to distribute the questionnaires in classrooms and to interpret the nature and purpose of the research project to those in the sample populations. Student rather than teacher-administration of the questionnaire was considered an important factor in assuring those participating of the confidentiality of individual responses. However, since the students were free to select the specific classes to be sampled, the population was not carefully randomized. The questionnaire was also completed by a small number of persons who were contacted at the Charix Coffee House, a popular meeting place for young people identified with the city’s hippie community. The Charix sample permits a comparison of the attitudes of those still attending school with a slightly older group of peers who have "dropped out" of the mainstream of community life. In the fall of 1969, when the present writers became involved in the project, the research sample was extended to include a fifth public high school and a special ungraded secondary school, Vocational Village, whose enrollment includes high school drop-outs and youth referred by school or juvenile court officials. The respondents from the fifth high school were a random sample of the total school population which, in turn, is a cross-section of the middle and lower income groups in this community. The composition of this school and unique features of its program will be more fully described in a later section of this paper. The sample drawn from Vocational Village is also considered unbiased because the questionnaire was administered in English classes, a required subject for all enrollees. The data collected during the two time periods, spring 1969 and fall 1969, has been analyzed separately. Since the four schools of the original sample differ in terms of the ethnic and socio-economic status of their enrollments, a comparison of responses by schools to ascertain relationships between social status and alienation has been a major focus of the data analysis. Factual information about the socio-economic characteristics of the individual schools has been drawn tram city census reports and research conducted by Portland's School District #1.

The purposes of this study were to (1) describe the personal values and work values of nursing students in the last year of their present educational preparation, (2) to investigate the relationships between values, both personal and work, and selected demographic variables (type of educational institution, present educational preparation, job interests, and age), and (3) to examine the correlations between students' personal values and work values. Using the Profile of Life Values (PLV) and the Ohio Work Values Inventory (OWVI) , the personal and work values of 452 student nurses were examined, first as a total sample for means and standard deviations, then by selected demographic variables with MANOVA, ANOVA, and Scheffe at the .10 level of significance. In the sample were 43 students from graduate nursing programs, 143 students from baccalaureate nursing programs, and 266 students from associate degree programs, from both public and private educational institutions in two northwestern states. The order of the means for the total sample on the PLV scales from the highest to lowest were Considerate, Intellectual, Achievement, Recognition, Creative, Artistic, and Integrity. The order of the means for the total sample on the OWVI scales from highest to lowest were Task Satisfaction, Self Realization, Altruism, Security, Money, Independence, Ideas/Data Orientation, Object Orientation, Control, Prestige, and Solitude. In comparing the values on the PLV and OWVI by type of educational institution, the means were significantly higher for students enrolled in private educational institutions than for students from public educational institutions. When the values on the PLV and OWVI scales were compared by educational preparation, significant differences were found on the means, with graduate students placing more values on Intellectual, baccalaureate degree students placing more value on Recognition, Control, Independence, and Object Orientation, and associate degree students placing more value on Integrity, Security, and Money. When the means on the PLV and OWVI scales were examined by job interest, students interested in pediatrics placed more importance on Considerate, Achievement, and Intellectual; students interested in specialty areas, such as the operating room or emergency room placed more value on Object Orientation, just as students interested in critical care and pediatrics placed more value on Object Orientation than did the students interested in medical/surgical nursing, geriatrics, obstetrics, mental health, nurse practitioner or clinical specialist role. In the final comparison of the PLV and OWVI values with age, the 40-54 age group placed more value on Intellectual while the 20-29 age group placed more value on Recognition, Security, Control, Money, and Prestige. Using Chi-Square as the inferential test, educational preparation and job interests were found to be related. Graduate students were primarily interested in the nurse practitioner or clinical specialist role; students receiving a baccalaureate degree expressed more interest in critical care and pediatrics; students receiving an associate degree expressed more interest in medical/ surgical nursing and geriatrics. In examining the correlations between the PLV and OWVI, 58 of the 77 coefficients were significant at the .05 level. The correlations of the two instruments demonstrated a logical relationship exists between the instruments. These findings have implications for nursing education. The educational foundation for nursing is based on the fostering of personal well-being and continuing growth through interpersonal interactions. The nursing curriculum needs to be reviewed periodically for differentiation, interpretation, and clarification of values. In order to provide an education that is conducive to recognition of values, the faculty need to be aware of their own values, be able to recognize how their values relate to teaching, student learning, and professional practice, and periodically evaluate how they use values in the process. Teaching by relating values to subject matter, human differences, and practice enables student nurses to recognize and understand their own values as well as the values of other people. These findings have implications for further research, as values of faculty and students are in some ways related to age, specific interests, and educational preparation.

This dissertation seeks to further understand the relationship between nativism, the opinion that the American way of life needs to be protected against foreign influence, and the immigration policy preferences of the American public. It is argued that nativism is theoretically distinct from immigration policy preferences and should be operationalized and modeled accordingly. Disentangling nativism from its related policy preferences is essential for better understanding the role of nativism in driving immigration policy attitudes in comparison to other important factors such as economic threat, racism, and ideological conservatism. A variety of methods are employed in this analysis, including cross-sectional survey data analyses, an implicit association test, and a nation-wide survey list experiment. Using these methods, this project examines the determinants of nativism (including psychological factors), the nature of the relationship between nativism and immigration policy preferences, and how nativism might distinctly affect immigration policy preferences among Latinos and African-Americans. The conclusion discusses the implication of these results for the current public debate regarding the degree and effect of foreign influence on American society.

This study included 114 Native adults and 6 Native/non-Native pairs of friends (age 18-25). Experiences and attitudes for close interethnic friendships were investigated. Friendship patterns and predictors were quantitatively assessed for the 114 Natives, with qualitative examination of the development and qualities of the six friend pairs. Results of quantitative analysis revealed that 80% of this sample reported friendship investment with Whites, and 55% reported friendship investment with same-tribe members. Over 90% of participants were open to engaging in friendships with member of any ethnicity or race. Approximately 98% of participants reported being targeted for racial discrimination, with most reporting some distress, often at a low level. Significant positive correlates of past and future friendships with Whites included: household income in childhood, identification with White culture, racial/ethnic composition of students in college, multicultural experiences, and past support from parents. Multiple regressions included as significant predictors of past friendships: past parental support (t = 6.488, p < .001), past multicultural experiences (t = 3.852, p < .001), racial composition in college (t = 3.083, p = .003), and diversity climate in high school (t = 2.468, p = .015). Multiple regressions for future friendships with Whites revealed as significant predictors: past friendships (t = 5.187, p < .001), and past parental support (t = 2.507, p = .014). Qualitative findings revealed authenticity/acceptance, communication, similarity, and trust as aspects of close friendships with non-Natives. Opportunities to share cultural teachings, and shared cultural interests helped friendships develop. Participants’ descriptions of their friendships largely coincided with contact/opportunity theories, with propinquity allowing homophily, reciprocation, and disclosure to develop within the friendship. All friendship pairs weathered periods of time during which contact between friends became infrequent, but all participants asserted that they were still close friends during those periods. Findings illuminate the prominence of interethnic friendships in the lives of Native youth, and positive intergroup attitudes expressed within those relationships.

This study examined attitudes and behavioral intentions of eight-grade students toward figures (representing hypothetical peers) of varying body weight (average, overweight, and obese). The primary aim of this study was to investigate how weight impacts students’ attitudes toward and interactions with peers. Second, impact of the rater’s gender was explored. It was hypothesized that girls would rate average-weight figures more positively than overweight figures and overweight figures more positively than obese figures. It was also hypothesized that boys would rate average-weight figures more positively than overweight and obese figures, with less discrepancy between their ratings of overweight and obese figures. One-hundred seventy primarily Caucasian, eight-grade students (72 male, 98 female; mean age = 13.61, SD = .49) were identified as part of a convenience sample from a public elementary school and were randomly assigned to view a target photo of their same gender in one of three conditions: average-weight, overweight, obese. Participants rated attitudes toward the figures on the Adjective Checklist and behavioral intentions on the Shared Activity Questionnaire-B (SAQ-B). Results showed the hypotheses to be partially supported. Students’ responses on the SAQ-B showed they were statistically significantly more willing to interact with an overweight peer (M = 16.33, SD = 4.19) than an obese peer (M = 14.30, SD = 3.83) for active-recreational activities. The overall effect size (males and females combined) was moderate (.51), with a small effect size for females (.42) and a moderate effect size for males (.64). There were no other statistically significant differences on the SAQ-B subscales of active-recreational, academic, and social, or on the Adjective Checklist. Although differences were not significant, effect sizes for social domain for average versus obese and overweight versus obese were mostly small to medium. Conversely, almost all effect sizes for academic were nonmeaningful. Therefore, it appears weight has less impact in academic interactions than the other two areas. Effect sizes were larger for males than females for overweight versus obese on the Adjective Checklist and SAQ-B social and active recreational, showing that males tended to hold more negative views of obesity than females in these areas.