Kwok, Tak Yee. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-115). / Abstract also in Chinese; appendix II-IV in Chinese. / ABSTRACT --- p.i / 摘要 --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vi / LIST OF FIGURE --- p.vii / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.6 / Overview of Climate --- p.6 / Content of Climate --- p.10 / Outcomes of Climate --- p.12 / Individual Processes Linking Climate and Outcomes --- p.14 / Deriving Climate from Perception of Human Resource Systems --- p.16 / Climate for Commitment - Perceptions of Commitment Human Resource Systems --- p.74 / Overview of Goal Orientation --- p.28 / Dimensionality of Goal Orientation --- p.30 / Trait versus State Goal Orientations and their Antecedents --- p.32 / Outcomes of Goal Orientation --- p.34 / Overview of Job Performance --- p.37 / Team Role Performance --- p.40 / Predictors of Team Role Performance --- p.43 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- MODEL AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT --- p.46 / Theoretical Underpinnings of Model --- p.46 / Model Development --- p.50 / Hypotheses Development --- p.54 / Climate for Commitment and Team Role Performance --- p.54 / Mediating Role of Learning Goal Orientation in the Relationship between --- p.54 / Climate for Commitment and Team Role Performance --- p.58 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- METHODS --- p.68 / Sample and Procedures --- p.68 / Measures --- p.70 / Chapter CHAPTER 5 --- RESULTS --- p.76 / Factor Structure of the Measures --- p.76 / Descriptive Statistics and Correlations --- p.80 / Test of the Hypothesized Model --- p.82 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- DISCUSSION --- p.86 / Theoretical Implications --- p.88 / Practical Implications --- p.91 / Limitations --- p.92 / Future Directions for Research --- p.95 / Conclusion --- p.98 / REFERENCES --- p.99 / APPENDIX --- p.116 / Appendix I: Measurement Items for this Study --- p.116 / Appendix II: Questionnaire for Subordinate at Time 1 (Chinese) --- p.118 / Appendix III: Questionnaire for Subordinate at Time 2 (Chinese) --- p.124 / Appendix IV: Questionnaire for Supervisor (Chinese) --- p.130

This study explores adolescent religious commitment using qualitative data from a religiously diverse (Jewish, Christian, and Muslim) sample of 80 adolescents from California and New England. It identifies a new construct, "anchors of religious commitment," to describe what adolescents are committing to as a part of their religious identity. Seven anchors of religious commitment are discussed: (a) religious traditions, rituals, and laws; (b) God; (c) faith traditions or denominations; (d) faith community members; (e) parents; (f) scriptures or sacred texts; and (g) religious leaders. Various forms of expression are identified within each anchor of religious commitment, with issues of relationships and authority being most common among the different anchors. The findings broaden the conceptual understanding of commitment as a relational construct and not just a behavioral or attitudinal construct. Implications for the future research on adolescent religious commitment are discussed, as well as practical implications for parents and religious leaders.

This research investigated the relationship between group size and the process of trust, cohesion, and commitment formation in joint-task groups. Specifically, the theory proposes that groups with greater six members will produce lower trust, cohesion, and commitment than those smaller than six members. Theory was developed linking group size to these processes through the mechanism of anticipated mutual perception, the amount an individual considers what others are thinking about them. Two experimental studies test the impact of anticipated mutual perception on interpersonal influence and trust, cohesion, and commitment. Study 1 tested the impact of being able to see a partner and closeness to a partner on a partner's level of influence over participants. Participants were more influenced by partners they could see than by partner's who were separated from the participant by place or time. Status differences also affected influence, even when partners were absent, having left information for use by participants. Study 2 investigated how group size affected participant reports of interpersonal trust, cohesion, and commitment to other group members. Results suggest that members of larger groups had lower commitment to other group members, and that groups larger than six members were negatively associated with levels of trust reported by group members. Further, measures used to isolate aspects of anticipated mutual perception were shown to affect the development of interpersonal trust, cohesion, and commitment, in support of the theory. Group cohesion was found to vary with expectations of competence. These expectations significantly predicted measures of shared awareness capturing aspects of anticipated mutual perception, possibly offsetting negative effects of increasing group size. Study 2 also found evidence that group members prefer to work with groups made up of 4-6 members, consistent with the theory. This research has implications for the ways in which organizations structure group work. This research suggests that the size of the group as well as the characteristics of individuals and their interaction partners may affect how people form cohesive relationships. Trust is an important aspect of groups that promotes cooperation, commitment, and collective identity formation. Further, this research supports a growing literature on the ways that micro-interaction promotes commitment to organizations by promoting or detracting from attributions of positive sentiment to smaller, nested groups within those organizations.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is designed to target psychological flexibility, broadly defined as engagement with personal values regardless of the presence of difficult private events. As engagement with valued behaviors is imperative to psychological flexibility, clarification of values is an essential skill for clients to learn. Practicing of skills in treatment has historically been a difficult hurdle for clinicians to implement between sessions for clients as well. The present study examined the utility of a novel values card sort activity, as well as the utility of a rubber band to act as a reminding agent for engagement with values. 112 undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a values card sort condition, a values card sort condition with a rubber band given to the participant, and a control card sort condition. Each participant completed questionnaires assessing connection with values, lack of contact with values, negative affect, and quality of life at baseline and at a one-week follow-up. A series of ANCOVAs were conducted to determine if there were any group differences between the three conditions at follow-up, with baseline scores as a covariate. The analyses indicate no significant difference between the conditions at follow-up across any of the variables of interest. Endorsement of prior therapy experience suggested unique trends and differential reaction to the card sorting activity. These findings suggest the values card sort may not be an effective intervention for subclinical populations but may be a fruitful intervention for clinically-elevated individuals.

Compulsive pornography use (CPU) is generally defined by the inability to control the use of pornography and the resulting negative effects on quality of life or general functioning including damaged relationships, loss of productivity, impaired performance at work or school, job loss, financial expenses, guilt/shame, and personal distress. Statistics indicate that CPU may be as common as other psychological disorders and that the effects of the behavior can be just as severe. It is estimated that 1.5% to 3% of the adult population of the United States meets the criteria for compulsive pornography use. A review of the literature found no randomized controlled investigations of psychosocial treatments for this problem. This study reports the results of a randomized clinical trial of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for the treatment of compulsive pornography use comparing an active treatment condition (n = 14) with a waitlist control (n = 14). The results showed a significant 93% decrease in self-reported hours viewed per week from pretreatment to posttreatment compared to the control condition, which experienced a 21% decrease. In a 20-week follow-up assessment, the treatment group did not change significantly from posttreatment to follow-up with an 84% decrease, indicating relative maintenance of the treatment gains. The control condition received the active treatment after the waiting period and was combined with the treatment group to calculate an overall effect size from pretreatment to posttreatment of 1.86. This is supported by clinical effectiveness data that shows 54% of the participants completely stopped viewing at posttreatment and another 39% of participants reduced viewing by at least 70% of pretreatment levels by posttreatment. Additional measures of quality of life, sexual compulsivity, and negative outcomes of sexual behavior were also completed and support the behavioral self-report results. These results are significant because they provide the first randomized group evidence of an effective treatment for compulsive pornography use. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Business leaders in the accounting/auditing profession have limited knowledge of how employee engagement, employee job satisfaction, and organizational commitment relate to each other. The role of engaged, satisfied, and committed employees is important as globalization allows for unprecedented talent mobility. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the relationship between employee engagement, employee job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The theoretical framework incorporated Emerson's social exchange theory and Bakker and Demerouti's job demands-resource theory. The sample included 82 out of 295 members of the Northeast Chapter of the New York State Society of CPAs who work in Albany County, New York. The sample was recruited through a nonrandom purposive sampling method. There is significant association measured between employee engagement and employee job satisfaction (r = .717, p < .001). Additionally, there is a significant association between employee engagement and organizational commitment (r = .702, p < .001). Based on the analysis, there is a significant association between employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment (r = .853, p < .001). The regression model showed that employee engagement and employee job satisfaction, when taken together, were significant predictors of organizational commitment (F(2, 79) = 115.112, p < .0005, R2 = .745). The implications for positive social change include strategies geared towards increasing engagement and job satisfaction, which in turn influences organizational commitment, resulting in a highly productive workforce and increased profitability.

The National Education Association (NEA) has experienced negative publicity and discontent amongst its membership in recent years, thus causing some members to completely withdraw from the organization and still others to become detached. Yet some members remain completely committed. It is through examining the members' talk about identification, involvement, and loyalty that his/her level of commitment or detachment is explored. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 NEA members at two different local affiliates in the southern region of the United States. The conversations were transcribed and served as the text for content analysis. The major identification barrier for the informants was the NEA's liberal policies, specifically when it came to homosexuality. One local was more organized and committed to the national association, thus allowing their members to be more involved at the local, state, and national levels. The major barriers to involvement were overwork and life cycle issues (i.e., spouses, children, church, social obligations). There were four major themes surrounding loyalty to the NEA: recruitment, incentives for staying, future plans, and reasons for quitting. Most of the members were recruited as student teachers because they felt they needed the liability insurance. Most of them stay for the insurance. Committed members discuss their futures in the organization; detached members do not. The predominant reason members withdraw is because they disapprove of how the NEA handled a local grievance. NEA members are most likely to converse about the organization with their family members and this is usually in defense of the organization. The committed members reported avoiding conservatives when discussing the union. Topics of conversation include goals of the NEA, complaints about the organization, and the nonunion alternative. Prior to this research, identification was often the only variable considered when studying commitment of organizational research. Involvement and loyalty were virtually ignored. This research highlights that identification and loyalty are best understood by listening to the members' talk. Involvement can be easily measured with a survey. Additionally, both the local affiliate and the members' commitment need to be considered when pondering commitment or detachment of a member.

There is growing support for the use of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as a treatment for adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). No research has been published to date on the use of ACT as a treatment for adolescent OCD. To begin investigating ACT for youth OCD, a multiple baseline study was conducted. The primary measure was self-monitoring of compulsions and assessor completed (CYBOCS). Three adolescent participants, ages 12 to 17, were treated with 8 to 10 sessions of ACT (without exposure). Results showed that the intervention was successful for all participants, with a 40% mean reduction in self-reported compulsions. Near absence of compulsions was reported by two of three participants at posttreatment. CY-BOCS ratings decreased by an average of 28.2%. Treatment procedures were rated by participants and parents as highly acceptable. Experimental and clinical implications of results are discussed. Data suggest that ACT may be a viable treatment as an alternative or an adjunct to exposure-based treatments.

Previous research suggests that obesity can be stigmatizing in interpersonal relationships, including romantic relationships. Timing of obesity and weight stability are also especially important. The negative effects of obesity on interpersonal relationships appear most salient in women and Whites, while men and racial/ethnic minorities appear to experience fewer negative consequences from obesity in their relationships, suggesting that an intersectional lens is necessary in studies on the long-term effects of obesity on interpersonal relationships. In this dissertation, I employ an intersectional lens to understand how histories of obesity, gender, and racial/ethnic identity work together to influence three aspects of romantic relationships during the third decade of life: formation of romantic relationships, satisfaction with romantic relationships, and commitment to romantic relationships. Data were drawn from Waves I, III, and IV of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (n = 9,588). Obesity was measured using a dynamic measure indicating whether respondents were obese in adolescence (Wave I) and/or early adulthood (Wave III). Participants were coded as non-obese (not obese at neither point), chronically obese (obese at both points), recently obese (obese in early adulthood only) and formerly obese (obese in adolescence only). Findings suggest that the effects of obesity histories on romantic relationships in early adulthood are contingent upon timing of obesity, gender, and racial/ethnic background. Whether obesity manifested in stigma or compensated for negative main effects of gender and/or race/ethnicity on romantic relationship was considerably variable throughout. The empirical findings suggest that experiencing obesity is a multidimensional process which, for some groups, is associated with qualitatively better relationship outcomes, while for others, the effects or null or negative. This dissertation adds necessary nuance to discussions on the complexity of obesity processes on romantic relationships and indicates that future research on obesity and interpersonal relationships necessitates an intersectional lens and framing that considers that obesity may not be uniformly stigmatizing.

The current research was a randomised two group (control and treatment) study that evaluated the effectiveness of an ACT-based self-help book for people with chronic pain. Over a 6-week period, 6 participants read the book and completed exercises from it with weekly telephone support while 8 others waited. Five of these others began the intervention after a 6-week control period. Participants completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires for acceptance, values illness, quality of life, satisfaction with life, depression, anxiety and pain. Initial outcome data were collected for 8 control participants and 6 intervention participants. A total of 11 participants completed pre- and post-intervention measures. Participants' who read the book, rated the content of the book each week according to reading level and usefulness, and their comprehension of the content was also assessed. Original group data showed statistically significant improvement in acceptance and quality of life for those who completed the intervention. Once the data were pooled, statistically significant improvements in acceptance, quality of life, satisfaction with life, and values illness were found. In general, using the self-help book did not result in reduced pain, depression or anxiety, although for some individuals gains were made in these areas. Individual perceptions of the book components were varied but findings suggest that cognitive defusion and mindfulness were parts of the book that participants found hard. The current findings support the hypothesis that using the self-help book would add value to the lives of people who experience chronic pain. Thus, the book may be a useful tool for people who experience chronic pain.