Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / Royce Ann Collins / Nutrition educators traditionally rely on quantitative research to design interventions for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) audiences, such a low-income African American mothers. Such studies indicated the dietary behaviors of this population related to increased risk for chronic disease. Few studies explored the factors that potentially influenced the perceived self-efficacy and affected the dietary habits of SNAP learners. This study addressed the gap between quantitative research findings about the dietary habits of low-income African American mothers and their perceptions of factors influencing those behaviors. A qualitative bounded multi-site case study design was used to explore factors theoretically linked to social cognitive theory (SCT) that affected the dietary habits of low-income African American mothers. The theoretical framework rested on the interaction between SCT and critical race theory (CRT). The research sample included fifteen women, five from each of three public housing sites. The research design included semi-structured interviews supported by multiple data sources. A pilot study took place. Constant comparison was the technique used to analyze the semi-structured interviews and code the findings. The emergent themes aligned with the theoretical framework to answer the research questions. Triangulation helped to ensure the study’s quality. The findings supported the SCT premise that behavioral, personal, and environmental factors interacted reciprocally to influence dietary habits. The findings supported the CRT tenets that race, history, narratives, and interest convergence mattered and influenced dietary habits. The results had implications for adult educators designing effective nutrition programs for diverse learners.

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Kristy L. Pederson-Archuleta / Martin Seay / This dissertation employed a psychological framework to investigate the saving behavior of older pre-retirees through three essays using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Understanding the connection between psychological characteristics and saving behavior is critical as this population attempts to bridge the retirement saving gap. Of these characteristics, financial self-efficacy beliefs (FSE) are theoretically vital to saving behavior. With the FSE beliefs of older adults weak and vulnerable to decline, more research is needed to understand how FSE beliefs affect saving behavior and how FSE beliefs can be supported. Essay one investigated the psychological characteristics associated with FSE beliefs according to the Meta-Theoretic Model of Motivation and Personality (3M). Using a sample of 2,070 pre-retirees aged 50 to 70, essay one revealed that FSE beliefs can be supported through the frequent experience of positive affect, reduced negative affect, a stronger perception of mastery, and a higher task orientation, holding all else constant. Essay two investigated the relationship between FSE beliefs and saving behavior (i.e., change in net worth from 2008 to 2012) through the Social Cognitive Theory of Self-Regulation. Using a sample of 844 pre-retirees aged 50 to 70, results revealed that FSE beliefs are significantly and positively related to saving behavior, after controlling for the financial ability and motivation to save. Essay three employed a structural equation model to investigate an integrated psychological approach to saving behavior based upon the 3M. Using a sample of 1,370 pre-retired and partially retired adults aged 50 to 70, essay three revealed that FSE beliefs facilitated the connection between elemental traits (i.e., openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism), compound traits (i.e., positive affect, negative affect, mastery, and task orientation), and saving behavior. Overall, significant evidence was generated supporting a psychological approach to the saving behavior of older pre-retirees. Financial and mental health professionals can utilize this framework to provide holistic retirement saving advice that acknowledges the psychological roots of behavior. Moreover, results established empirical support for the role FSE beliefs play in executing saving behavior. Lastly, results supported the importance of domain specific measurement for self-efficacy beliefs in future research.

O universo escolar é rico de sujeitos e, consequentemente, de comportamentos que tornam essa realidade um curioso objeto de pesquisa. O comportamento dos estudantes que se associa a seu desempenho escolar na disciplina de Física é um interessante agente de estudo. Desse modo, a presente pesquisa buscou compreender o quanto os comportamentos apresentados por alunos que demonstram um melhor desempenho na disciplina de Física estão associados a seus níveis de crenças de autoeficácia (BANDURA, 1986) e ao domínio das regras que estruturam o Contrato Didático (BROUSSEAU, 1986). Assim, por intermédio de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa de estudo de caso, identificamos os níveis de crenças de autoeficácia de dois alunos do terceiro ano do Ensino Médio de uma escola pública do interior do Estado de São Paulo, que apresentam os melhores resultados de desempenho na disciplina de Física. Com o auxílio de um questionário de escala Likert, pudermos mensurar os elevados níveis de crenças de autoeficácia dos sujeitos participantes deste estudo. Além disso, fizemos uso de observações em sala de aula e de entrevistas semiestruturadas para identificar como suas crenças de autoeficácia atuam sobre seus comportamentos e também como esses sujeitos identificam e lidam com o Contrato Didático estabelecido. No decurso da análise das regras do Contrato Didático pudemos analisar como as crenças de autoeficácia influem na interpretação, condução e negociação dessas regras, bem como contribuem para o melhor desempenho dos alunos na disciplina de Física. Desse modo, o estudo nos possibilitou observar diferentes estratégias de aprendizagem, a fim de lidar com semelhantes regras do Contrato Didático que permitem a aproximação e o distanciamento desses alunos do saber físico. Tais perspectivas são reveladas em vista de uma busca constante dos sujeitos pela manutenção do Contrato Didático. O estudo demonstrou também que a motivação estabelecida pelos sujeitos para participar das dinâmicas fundamentadas pelo contrato está intimamente ligada aos seus níveis de crenças de autoeficácia que contribuem para o estabelecimento de estratégias de aprendizagem que permitem o alcance de um suposto sucesso escolar, ainda que este não esteja associado a uma maior aproximação do saber físico. Por fim, os estudantes demonstraram fazer uso de estratégias de aprendizagem relacionadas a seu antigo Contrato Didático, quando foram inseridos em uma situação didática denominada Atividade de Ruptura, na qual os alunos se encontravam em um contexto de estabelecimento de um novo Contrato Didático. O melhor desempenho dos alunos nestas circunstâncias de pesquisa está associado a estratégias de aprendizagem condicionadas a suas crenças de autoeficácia que orientam o comportamento dos sujeitos em vista de suas concepções sobre suas capacidades que estão associadas ao domínio das regras do Contrato Didático. / The universe is rich of individuals and, consequently, of behaviors, making them a curious object of research. The Physics course students behavior associated with their academic performance is an interesting issue to be studied. Thus, this research sought to understand how behaviors of students with a better performance in the Physics course are associated with their levels of self-efficacy beliefs (BANDURA, 1986) and the mastering of the rules which structure the Didactic Contract (BROUSSEAU, 1986). Therefore, through a qualitative case study research, we identified levels of self-efficacy beliefs of two students of the third year of high school in a public school in the State of São Paulo, who have achieved the best results in the Physics course.With the aid of a Likert scale questionnaire, we could measure high levels of self-efficacy beliefs of the participants in this study. In addition, we made use of classroom observations and semi-structured interviews to identify how their self-efficacy beliefs play a role in their behavior, and also how these guys identify and deal with the established Didactic Contract. In the course of the analysis of the Didactic Contract rules, we could analyze how self-efficacy beliefs influence the interpretation and negotiation of these rules, as well as contribute to the better performance of the students in the Physics course. The study enabled us to observe different learning strategies, in order to deal with similar rules of the Didactic Contract, which allows the approximation and distancing of these students from their knowledge of Physics. Such perspectives are revealed in a constant search of the individuals for maintaining the Didactic Contract. It also demonstrated that the motivation established by the individuals to participate in the dynamics based on the contract is closely linked to their levels of self-efficacy beliefs that contribute to the setting of learning strategies that enable the achievement of an alleged academic success, although this is not associated with theirknowledge of Physics. Finally, students have shown to make use of learning strategies related to their former Didactic Contract when they were inserted into a learning situation called Breaking Activity, in which students had toset a new Didactic Contract. The best academic performance under this research circumstances is associated with learning strategies that depend on self-efficacy beliefs that guide the individuals behavior in accordance with their conceptions of their own abilities associated with mastering the Didactic Contract rules.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo buscar, no discurso de Diogo Mainardi, regularidades que nos permitam reconhecer a construção de um modelo mental específico de representação do Presidente da República, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, e de integrantes do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT). O corpus compreende três crônicas, publicadas na Revista VEJA no período entre junho de 2006 e janeiro de 2007, Alicerçamos nossos estudos na Teoria Sociocognitiva e na Análise Crítica do Discurso (ACD), a partir do que indica Teun van Dijk (1983; 1991; 2004; 2005). Nossa pesquisa concluiu que Mainardi, por meio de manipulação contextual e da atribuição de características socialmente desfavoráveis, como corrupção, incompetência, incapacidade crítica e apego à noção de povo/popular, cria um modelo mental negativo do Presidente Lula e de integrantes do PT. / The aim of this work is to identify, in the discourse of Diogo Mainardi, patterns that might allow us to recognize the construction of a specific mental model of representation of the President of the Federal Republic of Brazil, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, and of members of the Workers Party (PT). The corpus contains three chronicles published in the VEJA magazine, between June 2006 and January 2007. We based our studies on the principles of the Social Cognitive Theory and the Critical Discourse Analysis, as defined in the writings of Teun A. van Dijk (1983; 1991; 2004; 2005). Through our research, we come to the conclusion that Mainardi created a negative mental model of President Lula and of the members of PT, by using contextual manipulation and unfavorable social characteristics, such as corruption, incompetence, critical incapacity and attachment to the notion of people/popular.

Physical inactivity is one of the major public health problems of the 21st Century. In England it is reported that two thirds of adults ( > 16 yr) and one third of children ( < 16 yr) do not do sufficient physical activity to gain the health benefits that leading a physically active lifestyle has to offer. The benefits of physical activity and dangers of a sedentary lifestyle to health outcomes are well documented and numerous studies have investigated physical activity participation. Indeed, many interventions have been trialled to increase engagement in physical activity; however results are weak and generally do not correlate to sustained physical activity participation. Furthermore, much debate exists on how best to encourage both children and adults alike to engage in sufficient physical activity to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The purpose of this research was to address this important research gap and to assess the physical activity levels and other factors for promoting engagement in physical activity of school aged children in Devon aged 7-15 years in order to assess the feasibility of using social marketing within the school setting to increase sustained physical activity participation. A mixed methods approach was adopted to gather data and consisted of both quantitative and qualitative methods, in two phases. The initial phase was quantitative in nature and utilised a self-report survey based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (Azjen, 1991) and social cognitive theory (SCT) (Bandura, 1977) to measure the participants’ physical activity levels; it also measured their beliefs and attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and self-efficacy pertaining to physical activity participation. The second phase utilised qualitative methods adopting the socio-ecological model (McLeroy et al., 1988) to identify opportunities to promote participation in physical activity in recognising the multiple factors (individual, social environment, physical environment and policy) that influence an individual’s behaviour. This phase consisted of a series of interviews with the students, teachers and head-teachers to enable the researcher to gain in depth information into physical activity patterns and beliefs. During phase two, ethnographic research was also conducted across a number of schools in Devon to complement and enhance the data collected in the survey. The results revealed that of the 1124 participants (‘students’) surveyed, 48% were not sufficiently active to meet the government guidelines. Males were 30% more active than females. Physical activity decreased with age (e.g. 15 yr olds on average taking part in 3 hours less activity than 7 yr olds). Lifestyle/recreational activities were the most regularly participated activities (e.g. walking – 52%, running – 31%, football – 29%, outdoor play – 28%). Moreover, attitudes, subjective norms and perceptions of behavioural control affected physical activity participation both in and out of the school setting. Self-efficacy also played a role in physical activity participation. The results of the thesis show that interview and ethnographic data produced a rich source of evidence. Physical activity provision within schools played a major role in students’ physical activity. Overwhelmingly the qualitative data revealed that students want greater choice in the physical activities they participate in and suggest that the focus of PE lessons should be on having fun and enjoyment rather than skills and rules. Transition from primary to secondary school affected physical activity participation and therefore experiences in schools, may affect children’s general views on physical activity which it is suggested may impact on physical activity participation beyond the school gates and also in adulthood. This thesis provides substantial evidence to support the link between the school environment and participation in physical activity in children and adolescents. More specifically it highlights a need to incorporate a ‘whole school approach’ to physical activity participation. This research has demonstrated that there is an urgent need to combine theory based physical activity research in schools with that of social marketing. Physical activity researchers and social marketers should combine their knowledge to bring together social marketing campaigns within schools to enhance the health and wellbeing of the whole school environment for both staff and students. An innovative school based social marketing campaign should encourage physical activity both within and outside the school environment and lead to sustained levels of physical activity participation across the life stages.

Este trabalho tem por objetivo buscar, no discurso de Diogo Mainardi, regularidades que nos permitam reconhecer a construção de um modelo mental específico de representação do Presidente da República, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, e de integrantes do Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT). O corpus compreende três crônicas, publicadas na Revista VEJA no período entre junho de 2006 e janeiro de 2007, Alicerçamos nossos estudos na Teoria Sociocognitiva e na Análise Crítica do Discurso (ACD), a partir do que indica Teun van Dijk (1983; 1991; 2004; 2005). Nossa pesquisa concluiu que Mainardi, por meio de manipulação contextual e da atribuição de características socialmente desfavoráveis, como corrupção, incompetência, incapacidade crítica e apego à noção de povo/popular, cria um modelo mental negativo do Presidente Lula e de integrantes do PT. / The aim of this work is to identify, in the discourse of Diogo Mainardi, patterns that might allow us to recognize the construction of a specific mental model of representation of the President of the Federal Republic of Brazil, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, and of members of the Workers Party (PT). The corpus contains three chronicles published in the VEJA magazine, between June 2006 and January 2007. We based our studies on the principles of the Social Cognitive Theory and the Critical Discourse Analysis, as defined in the writings of Teun A. van Dijk (1983; 1991; 2004; 2005). Through our research, we come to the conclusion that Mainardi created a negative mental model of President Lula and of the members of PT, by using contextual manipulation and unfavorable social characteristics, such as corruption, incompetence, critical incapacity and attachment to the notion of people/popular.

Lack of STEM-related self-efficacy has impeded the growth of women in STEM fields. Out of school (OST) robotics programs and other STEM-related OST programs provide secondary students with opportunities to work in groups, brainstorm, and formulate ideas that require communication and teamwork. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to compare STEM-related self-efficacy scores among male and female students who participated in OST robotics programs or other OST STEM-related programming. Independent variables were type of OST STEM program and gender. The dependent variable was students' STEM-related self-efficacy as measured by the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale. Responses from 149 students in 4 southeastern U.S. metropolitan high schools were analyzed using a 2x2 factorial ANOVA. Findings indicated the relationship between STEM-related self-efficacy scores and type of OST programming was not moderated by gender. There was a significant main effect for program type. Students in the robotics OST programs demonstrated significantly higher STEM-related self-efficacy than did students in other STEM-related OST programs. Findings may be used to inform educators, community leaders, parents, and policymakers regarding the benefits of OST robotics programs, which may encourage women to obtain STEM-related degrees and pursue STEM careers.

HIV-related stigma and discrimination is a complex concept that affects HIV reduction interventions. HIV-related stigma occurs among healthcare providers resulting in reduction of quality of care of people living with HIV. Social psychological research into stigma reduction has led to the development of many stigma reduction interventions, but has not resolved the underlying problem. This study was designed to identify predictors of stigmatizing behavior among healthcare workers in Ghana using the social cognitive theory (SCT) for use in developing an evidence-based intervention. The study used a cross-sectional research design incorporating a preexisting survey, Measuring HIV Stigma and Discrimination Among Health Staff: Comprehensive Questionnaire. Survey data were analyzed using descriptive, multiple regression analysis and Pearson's coefficient to estimate the relationship between the dependent variable, HIV related stigmatizing behavior, and independent variables, personal attributes and environmental factors. The key findings from the analysis were that the personal attributes of healthcare workers predicted their stigmatizing behavior (R2= 0.674, p < 0.05). There was, however, no significant relationship between environmental factors and stigmatizing behavior and between personal attributes and environmental factors. The social change implications may be to reduce stigma among healthcare workers toward people living with HIV and in turn increase the willingness of healthcare workers to engage with people living with HIV and provide quality service to them.

Project managers are important to organizational performance and survival because of their role in managing, controlling, and steering organizational projects to success. Research has shown that project failures are globally pervasive due to the shortage of experienced and well-skilled project managers. The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to improve the current understanding of the relationships among project managers' project management experience, self-efficacy, and project success, for which the research questions were focused on in addition to the role of project management experience on self-efficacy and project success. The theoretical framework was based on the social cognitive theory. This study involved a nonexperimental research design with a survey to collect data. Purposive sampling was used to recruit 51 Canadian-based Project Management Institute certified project managers with experiences in IT projects. The assessment of the role of project management experience on self-efficacy and project success was achieved through multiple linear regression. Results indicated significant relationships among project management experience, self-efficacy, and project success and that project management experience did not mediate the relationship between self-efficacy and project success. The results may assist organizational leaders to better understand the holistic implications of project managers' project management experiences with project success as well as the role of self-efficacy on project success. The positive social change implications of this study include greater project success and decrease project risks due to ineffective project management. Improved project success may enhance the economic prosperity of organizations, employees, and the community.

Research on obesity, weight loss, and food addiction (FA) suggested a strong relationship between use of food additives and the brain's addictive response to food. Previous researchers have examined (FA) and have identified certain food additives such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as contributors to food addiction and overeating. Social cognitive theory (SCT) has also been effective in addressing addictive behaviors such as drug addiction, alcohol addiction, and smoking cessation (Bricker et al., 2010). However, researchers had not examined food addiction, social cognitive theory, and obesity in the same study. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to compare the effects of SCT-based health information and non-SCT-based health information on FA among obese and overweight women. The Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) was used to measure changes in FA and food addiction symptoms among 84 obese and overweight women who received SCT-based health information and non-SCT-based health information. Total scores from pretests and posttests were analyzed using analysis of covariance. Between-group differences on the symptom count posttest scores of the YFAS were analyzed using analysis of variance. Scores were used to determine the difference in FA and FA symptoms between nonrandomized groups. Although the results were not statistically significant, almost 60% (n = 50) of participants experienced a favorable decrease in FA symptoms and experienced weight loss. Findings may provide a basis for determining additional options for health professionals to address obesity and FA patterns.