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<p>Children's internalization of parental values is differentially influenced by discipline and parent-child relationship quality. Beyond simply affecting values, parents can influence the development of underlying belief structures children use to make sense of behaviors and attributes. Parental values might lead children to experience domains as differentially important and then use this structure when building and judging the content of their self-concept. The intergenerational transmission of values may therefore also differentially influence appraisals of the self. Crocker and colleagues (e.g. Crocker, Sommers, & Luhtanen, 2002) present a model of self-esteem that emphasizes "contingencies of self-worth", which are domains on which individuals stake self-esteem. Although the existence of contingencies of self-worth (CSW) has been supported, their origin has not been addressed. This dissertation is a preliminary investigation into the origins of CSW. It is proposed that early adolescents' CSW will reflect parents' values in domains that carry a 'moral' weight due to parental socialization. The domains of physical appearance and academic achievements were of particular interest. Participants were 127 early adolescents (51% female) and their parents (102 mothers, 62 fathers) recruited from three populations in an effort to sample individuals for whom appearance and academics are differentially salient. Youth and parents each completed questionnaires addressing self-concept/self-esteem, CSW, parenting style, parent-child relationship, and domain-specific beliefs and behaviors. Results indicated that more negative ratings of transgressions in traditionally moral domains (kindness and honesty) as well as the non-traditional domain of academics were associated with higher ratings for these domains on the CSW. Parental discipline moderated the association between parents' and adolescents' ratings of transgressions in kindness, honesty, and academics, and parenting style and parent-child relationship quality moderated the association between parents' domain values and adolescents' domain ratings on the CSW. This suggests that the internalization of moral standards influences developing self-structure and that a domain that is not traditionally considered 'moral' can be raised to a 'moral' level. The results also indicate that parental socialization influences the importance adolescents' place on given domains when evaluating self worth and developmental theories regarding socialization of traditional values can also be used to understand the transmission of non-traditional values.</p> / Dissertation

The purpose of the study was to construct a psycho-social model for team cohesion at a financial institution. The financial institution had been in existence for 127 years, and had faced significant challenges throughout its history of acquisitions and mergers to establish working teams that would give it a competitive edge in global financial markets. The research objective was to develop a psycho-social model for team cohesion by investigating the interrelationships and overall relationships amongst the independent constructs (self-worth, personality preferences and conflict resolution styles) and the relevant outcome (team cohesion). Furthermore, the study also scientifically tested the possible moderating effect of the employees’ socio-demographic characteristics (race, gender, age, level of education, job level and tenure) on the fostering of team cohesiveness. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design approach was selected and applied to a simple probability sample (N = 463) using standardised, valid and reliable measuring instruments. The population consisted of permanent employees, and the results revealed significant relationships between the construct variables. The canonical correlation indicated a significant overall relationship between the contingencies of self-worth domains, personality preferences and conflict resolution styles, and the team cohesion-related dispositions of cohesiveness and engaged. The structured equation modelling indicated a good fit of the data between the individuals’ contingencies of self-worth domains (family support, God’s love, virtues, competition, work competence, physical appearance and pleasing others), the accommodating conflict resolution style, an extraversion personality preference, and team cohesion. Hierarchical moderated regression showed that race, age, educational level and job tenure significantly moderated the relationship between the participants’ psycho-social attributes and team cohesion. Tests for significant mean differences revealed significant differences in terms of the socio-biographical variables. On a theoretical level, the study deepened understanding of the antecedent constructs (self-worth, personality preferences and conflict resolution styles) and team cohesion construct. On an empirical level, the study produced an empirically tested psycho-social model for team cohesion. This study will add significant practical, valuable knowledge to the organisation in managing the future establishment and enhancement of team cohesion, and when integrating new team members to the environment during organisational restructuring and re-alignment after acquisitions and mergers, without negatively affecting organisational effectiveness. These findings invariably provided new insight in managing and understanding inherent interpersonal conflict among employees in the workplace and the enhancement of team cohesion practices, thus adding to the existing body of knowledge in the fields of Consulting Psychology and Industrial and Organisational Psychology, more specifically in financial organisations. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Consulting Psychology)