Thesis (M.S.) -- Central Connecticut State University, 2009. / Thesis advisor: Stephen M. Cox. "... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Criminal Justice." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-41). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Past research has shown that concrete ad copies perform better than abstract ad copies in enhancing consumers’ attitudes toward and purchase intentions of the product. These studies have defined the abstractness-concreteness of an ad copy as the extent to which the ad copy activates visual imagery of the product information in consumers’ minds. However, other researchers have proposed another definition of the abstractness-concreteness of an ad copy: generality vs. specificity. That is, the more general (specific), the more (fewer) particular incidents an ad copy includes. Employing the alternative definition, this study re-examined the concreteness effect that has been reported. Specifically, based on regulatory focus theory and past studies on hedonic/utilitarian consumption, this study proposed that the impact of the abstractness-concreteness of an ad copy on consumers’ attitudes toward or purchase intentions of the product would be moderated by their regulatory foci and types of product attributes. Also, several propositions were set forth regarding the underlying process of the moderation effect. However, the online experiment this study conducted failed to support the propositions. Instead, the concreteness effect was observed. Based on the finding, this study discusses several issues that may advance our knowledge about the concreteness effect as well as about regulatory focus theory and consumers’ hedonic/utilitarian consumption. Also, several suggestions are made for future studies in this regard. / text

Background: University administrator physical activity (PA) attitudes and actions may play an important role in student fitness promotion on campus but have been given little attention. Guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study explored the relationships of factors that influence Chinese university administrator PA behaviors. Methods: A survey was designed to collect information regarding participants’ PA behaviors, intentions, perceived health, body mass index (BMI) and common demographic factors. A total of 474 Chinese university administrators participated in this study with 443 completed surveys. Path analysis was used to test the predictive and mediational role of the aforementioned variables on total PA. Results: Results revealed a good model fit. Attitudes mediated the effects of BMI and perceived health on total PA; subjective norms and self-efficacy had significant direct effects and mediated the effects of satisfaction and attitudes on total PA. The effects of intentions on total PA were not significant. Conclusions: Chinese university administrator PA behaviors were significantly influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, BMI, perceived health and satisfaction with exercise facilities. The non-significant effects of intention on PA participation were not expected. More studies on university administrator’s PA are needed in the future. / text

Introduction: Back pain is very prevalent among all sectors of the population. The prevalence varies according to age, sex, occupation, and so forth. Children are regarded as less vulnerable to suffering this kind of musculoskeletal conditions. However, some studies have shown relatively high prevalence among schoolchildren and adolescents. Previous studies failed to conclude any association between back pain and sedentary lifestyle, which has already been categorized as an important factor by the WHO. A new review is required to incorporate the most up-to-date studies in order to give a more comprehensive view of this topic. Method: Several databases were used to retrieve relevant epidemiological studies, including cross-sectional studies, cohort studies and case-control studies, by using predetermined key words and objective selection criteria. The quality of each study was assessed by using several criteria. Results: A total of 12 studies were included in this review, including 5 high-quality studies. Two out of the 5 high-quality studies provided significant evidence of association between back pain and sedentary lifestyle. In total, 8 studies showed some association. There was thus limited evidence to show the effect of sedentary lifestyle on the development of back pain. Discussion: Different study designs (recall duration, age distribution, data collection and so on) were used in each study included in this review. The conclusion of this new review was consistent with some previous ones. The dose-response relation in these studies was not found. There were still not enough local studies to help the policy modification of back health of local children. Conclusion: There is currently some evidence to illustrate the association between back pain and sedentary lifestyle in school children and adolescents, but it is not conclusive. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Although information security is important to all organizations, little behavioral research has been carried out in this area. Particularly lacking is research on negative forms of behavior involved in information security. The aim of this thesis is to fill this research gap by conducting three related studies on information security deviant behavior (ISDB), which refers to the voluntary behavior of employees within organizations that differs markedly from the information security norms of the organizations and that is normally considered by other employees to be wrong. Prior research work on this topic is insufficient, and the information security deviance concept remains unclear. This thesis explores the topic by considering three fundamental research questions: 1) What is ISDB? 2) How can ISDB be measured? 3) Why do employees commit ISDB? Study I addresses the first question—“What is ISDB?”—by identifying and organizing ISDB using a typology. A four-step method, comprising content analysis, multidimensional scaling, expert judgmental analysis, and empirical testing, is proposed for the development of typologies, which can fulfill the criteria for being a theory. The findings of this study suggest that ISDB can be organized into four ideal types that are interrelated along two dimensions—severity and frequency. Four constructs are identified from this typology. They are resource misuse (“high frequency, high severity” deviance), security carelessness (“high frequency, low severity” deviance), access control deviance (“low frequency, low severity” deviance), and system protection deviance (“low frequency, high severity” deviance). Study I not only develops an organized and theoretical framework for systematic research on ISDB and constitutes a critical starting point for the development of measures of the behavior, but also makes an important theoretical contribution by demonstrating the development of a typology, which is a unique form of theory building for an underdeveloped topic. Study II focuses on the second research question—“How can ISDB be measured?”—by developing valid and reliable scales to measure ISDB. My target is to develop scales to measure commonly found types of ISDB using an empirical method. Accordingly, the two “low frequency” types of deviance, access control and system protection deviance, are omitted from consideration. A rigorous measurement development process which includes three surveys and a number of tests is adopted. A four-item scale of resource misuse and a three-item scale of security carelessness are developed. The development of these two scales makes an important contribution to future ISDB research by providing a means to measure two types of information security deviance, thus facilitating the empirical study of ISDB. Study III is aimed at answering the third research question—“Why do employees commit ISDB?”—through construction of a causal model. Rather than consider “intention” as existing behavioral research on information security commonly does, Study III investigates actual behavior and employs resource misuse (“high frequency, high severity” deviance) as the dependent variable. Data from a Web-based survey are analyzed using the partial least squares approach. Considering the dual-process approach in the theory of planned behavior, the findings suggest that resource misuse may be both an intentional type of behavior and an unreasoned action. Perceived behavioral control influences employees’ resource misuse actions via their desires or intentions, whereas attitude toward resource misuse affects these actions via employees’ desires alone. Subjective norm is found not to affect employees’ resource misuse via either desires or intentions. In terms of the theoretical contributions, Study III takes steps to consider information security deviance by incorporating the dual-process approach and the theory of planned behavior. In terms of managerial significance, the results of Study III can help managers to better understand why employees commit resource misuse. In conclusion, this thesis provides a number of significant insights into ISDB and useful guidelines for further research on the topic. In addition, the findings of the three studies can help managers to develop better company strategies and policies to reduce internal security threats. / published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Although spatial navigation is predominantly guided by allothetic visual cues, idiothetic cues can obtain control when familiar visual cues are not available. In path integration, the current position and orientation are estimated and continuously updated using idiothetic cues, which are contributed by the vestibular system. Previous studies have revealed that vestibular lesioned rats were significantly impaired in path integration. Rats assessed in the current study received neonatal treatment with either VU0240551 (KCC2 blocker) or muscimol (GABAA receptors agonist) in the vestibular nuclei. Path integration ability appears to be intact in rats receiving either treatment. However, VU0240551-treated rats displayed impairments in their ability to resolve conflicting allothetic and idiothetic cues. Therefore, it is proposed that the ability to properly resolve a cue-conflict requires the normal polarity of GABA and/or glycine action in the vestibular nuclei during the neonatal period. / published_or_final_version / Physiology / Master / Master of Medical Sciences

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