Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die primêre doel van die huidige studie was om kruis-kulturele verskille ten opsigte van direkte en indirekte aggressie tussen Xhosa, Zulu, Kleurling en Blanke Suid-Afrikaanse studente te bestudeer. 'n Totaal van 832 studente het die Richardson Conflict Response Questionnaire (RCRQ), 'n vraelys wat direkte en indirekte aggressie meet, voltooi. Die Kleurling-deelnemers het beduidend-hoër vlakke van direkte aggressie gerapporteer as enige van die ander groepe. Die Zulu-deelnemers het beduidend-hoër vlakke van indirekte aggressie as beide die Xhosa- of Kleurling-deelnemers gerapporteer. Geen beduidende geslagsverskille kon vasgestel word nie. Daar is tot die slotsom gekom dat kultuur 'n groter bepaler van verskille ten opsigte van aggressiewe gedrag was as geslag van die deelnemers. Daar word vertrou dat die resultate van die huidige studie 'n bydra sal maak tot die effektiewe bestuur van aggressie in Suid-Afrika, asook tot die bevordering van internasionale begrip vir die kulturele diversiteit van die land. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT : The primary aim of the present study was to examine cross-cultural differences in direct and indirect aggression between Xhosa, Zulu, Coloured and White South African students. A total of 832 students completed the Richardson Conflict Response Questionnaire (RCRQ), a measure of direct and indirect aggression. The Coloured participants reported using significantly higher levels of direct aggression than any of the other cultural groups involved. The Zulu participants reported using significantly more indirect aggression than their Xhosa or Coloured counterparts. No significant gender differences could be established. It was concluded that culture was more predictive of differences in aggressive behaviour than was sex of the participants. It is hoped that these results may contribute towards the effective management of aggression in South Africa and assist in promoting international understanding of the cultural diversity in this country.

The Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal axis (HPA-axis) with its end product cortisol mediates the physiological response to stress thereby promoting mobilization of energy. The cortisol levels follow a diurnal rhythm with a distinct awakening response. Regulation of the HPA-axis differs among persons with certain psychiatric disorders when compared with controls. Some reports concern Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) but findings are inconclusive. The main aim of the present thesis was to investigate diurnal levels of saliva cortisol in school aged children with ADHD and age matched non-affected comparisons, also taking early adversity, perceived stress and ADHD-medication into consideration. Children with ADHD had lower cortisol levels at awakening, 30 minutes later and before going to bed than comparisons. When the study group was split into three different age groups similar results were found only for children above 10 years of age. Within the ADHD group, subtype of ADHD or co-occurring symptoms did not affect the cortisol levels. Furthermore, children in the ADHD group had to a higher degree been exposed to foetal and childhood psychosocial adversity than comparisons. Since exposure to early adversity has been associated with both ADHD and HPA-axis functioning, such exposures could theoretically explain the low cortisol levels in ADHD via early programming of the HPA-axis. However, no relation was found between exposures to psychosocial adversity and diurnal cortisol levels. Neither did continuous medication with stimulants or atomoxetine explain the low cortisol levels. Possibly, medication may rather increase the levels. Finally, children with ADHD scored higher on perceived stress, measured by the Pressure-Activation-Stress (PAS) scale, than the comparison group. Female sex was also associated with higher stress in both groups, as well as increasing age in the comparison group. As with psychosocial adversity, no association was found between the higher PAS-scores and the lower cortisol levels, indicating the complexity of the stress regulating system. The results indicate a down-regulated or displaced HPA-axis with lower cortisol levels in children with ADHD. Stress related fragility – with more exposure to early stressors, higher perceived stress and lower diurnal cortisol levels – seem to accompany ADHD during childhood.

In this paper the authors are trying to understand what separates men from women when they save and invest their money. But also what factors that influence them in their decisions. To investigate how men and women actually act when investing their money the authors construct a survey. The authors also turn to the Swedish banks for information on how they think there customers are behaving. The authors find that men are more risk- taking than women and therefore invest more in products with higher risk, for example shares. The research also shows that women feel they have less knowledge then men when it comes to investments. It also shows that women put more trust in others when they are making investment choices. Specifically they are turning to the banks for advice on how to invest their money. Men seem to trust their own ability more and therefore make their own choices. The authors also show that men and women have different goals in their savings. Many men save their money to live on passive income while women tend to save in order to have a buffer for unexpected events. Thus, the authors find that the individual's willingness to take risk is a factor in how individuals invest their money. But even its own perceived knowledge and goals of saving. Furthermore, the authors show that the correlation between women choosing to invest in safer products with lower yields and their wealth. Because women do not take the same risks as men in their investments, their investments are expected to generate less return then men’s investments. / I denna uppsats försöker författarna förstå vad som skiljer män och kvinnor åt när de väljer att spara och investera sina pengar. Men även vilka faktorer som påverkar dem i deras beslut. För att undersöka hur män och kvinnor faktiskt agerar ändvänder sig författarna av en enkätundersökning. Författarna vänder sig även till banker i Sverige för att få en bild över hur de ser på sina kunders investeringsbeteende. Författarna finner att män är mer risktagande än kvinnor och därför investerar i produkter med högre risk som t.ex. aktier. Undersökningen visar även på att kvinnor upplever sig ha mindre kunskaper än vad män har inom investeringar. Kvinnorna lägger även mer tillit till andra när de ska göra sina investeringsval. De vänder sig oftare till banken för råd om hur de skall investera sina pengar. Författarna visar även på att män och kvinnor har olika mål i sitt sparande. Många män sparar sina pengar för att kunna leva på passiva inkomster medan kvinnor tenderar att spara för att ha en buffert. Således finner författarna att individens vilja att ta risk är en faktor som påverkar hur individen investerar sina pengar. Men även dennes egna upplevda kunskap samt målet med sparandet. Vidare visar författarna på att det finns en korrelation mellan att kvinnor väljer att investera i säkrare produkter med lägre avkastning och deras förmögenhet. Eftersom kvinnor inte tar samma risker som män i sina investeringar kan deras förmögenhet väntas bli mindre en männens.

This study is a subdivision of an inter-university research project to investigate the psychological resilience of children in the late middle childhood years. The title of the umbrella project is Psychological resilience in children in the South African context. The aim of this study was to determine whether a relationship exists between social support and self-concept, as well as to establish whether gender differences occur with regard to the experience of social support and the evaluation of self-concept. Schools in different regions were identified in order to make the sample as large and the study as representative as possible of the different provinces, racial and language groups in South Africa. The children in the samples were randomly selected from class lists. The complete test battery was subsequently administered to these children. For the purpose of this study only the Piers-Harris Children's Self-concept Scale, the Social Support Appraisal Scale and the Biographical Questionnaire were used. Due to practical problems, the final figures of the samples varied between 549 and 918 participants. The processing of the data was done by the Statistical Consultation Service of the North West University Potchefstroom Campus. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used as an effect size to determine the relationship between social support and self-concept. T-tests and Cohen's effect sizes were used to determine whether gender differences occur with regard to social support and self-concept. The statistical processing of the results revealed that a positive correlation exists between social support and self-concept. These results are corresponding with the literature (Collins, 2000; Kirkcaldy, Shephard & Stiefen, 2002; Malecki 8 Demaray, 2002; Marjoribanks & Mboya, 2001; Van Tassel-Baska & Olszewski-Kubilius, 1994). Further, the results showed that no gender differences that were both statistically significant and practically meaningful occurred with regards to social support and self-concept. These results were repeatedly inconsistent with the literature (Bee, 1992; Dubow & Ullman, 1989; Harris, Rosenthal & Snodgrass, 1986; Hirsch & Rapkin, 1987; Piers, 1984; Werner & Smith, 1982). Finally, the last section of this investigation provides recommendations for further studies in this area, as well as practical suggestions for the implementation of the findings. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005

In Chinese orthography, phonetic compounds comprise about 80% of the most frequent characters. They contain separate phonological and semantic elements, referred to as phonetic and semantic radicals respectively. A dominant type exists in which the se-mantic radical appears on the left and the phonetic radical on the right (SP characters); an opposite, minority structure also exists in which the semantic radical appears on the right and the phonetic radical on the left (PS characters). Through statistical analyses, connectionist modelling, behavioural experiments, and neuroimaging studies, this dis-sertation demonstrates that the distinct structures of these two types of characters allow us crucial insights into the relationship between brain structure and reading processes. The statistical analyses of a Chinese lexical database show that, because of the different information profiles of SP and PS characters and the imbalanced distribution between them in the lexicon, the overall information is skewed to the right. This information skew provides important opportunities to examine the interaction between foveal split-ting and the information structure of the characters. The foveal splitting hypothesis as-sumes a vertical meridian split in the foveal representation and the consequent contra-lateral projection to the two cerebral hemispheres; it has been shown to have important implications for visual word recognition. The square shape and the condensed structure of Chinese characters make them a severe test case for the split fovea claim. Through a lateralized cueing examination and a TMS study of the semantic radical combinability effect with foveally presented characters in character semantic judgements, a flexible division of labour between the hemispheres in character recognition is demonstrated, with each hemisphere responding optimally to the information in the contralateral visual hemifield. The interaction between stimulation site and radical combinability in the TMS study also provides further support for the split fovea claim, suggesting functional foveal splitting as a universal processing constraint in reading. Even if foveal splitting is true, it is still unclear about how far the effects of foveal split-ting can extend from the retina into the process of character recognition. We show that, in naming isolated, foveally presented SP and PS characters, adult male and female readers process them differently, with opposite patterns of ease and difficulty: males responded significantly faster to SP than PS characters; females showed a non-significant tendency in the opposite direction. This result is also supported by a corre-sponding ERP study showing larger N350 amplitude elicited by PS character than SP characters in the male brain, and an opposite pattern in the female brain. The split fovea claim suggests that the two halves of a centrally fixated character are initially processed in different hemispheres. The male brain typically relies more on the left hemisphere for phonological processing compared with the female brain, causing this gender difference to emerge. This interaction is also predicted by an implemented computational model, contrasting a split cognitive architecture, in which the mapping between orthography to phonology is mediated by two partially encapsulated, interconnected processing do-mains, and a non-split cognitive architecture, in which the mapping is mediated by a single, undifferentiated processing domain. Thus, the effects of foveal splitting in read-ing extend far enough to interact with the gender of the reader in a naturalistic reading task. In short, this dissertation demonstrates that foveal splitting is a universal language proc-essing phenomenon, precise enough to project the two radicals of a centrally-fixated Chinese character to different hemispheres to allow a flexible division of labour be-tween the two hemispheres to emerge, and its effects in reading extend far enough into word recognition to interact with the gender of the reader in a naturalistic reading task. The results can also be extrapolated to Chinese word and sentence processing as well as to other languages. This dissertation thus has contributed to a better understanding of the relationship between brain structure and language processes.

Given the paucity of research that has been conducted on aggression in girls (see Keenan, Loeber, & Green, 1999, for a review), it is important to examine different behavioral manifestations of aggression that may be more prevalent among girls than boys, such as relational aggression (see Crick et al., 1999, for a review). Relational aggression consists of behaviors that harm others through damage to their peer relationships or the threat of such damage (e.g., spreading rumors about a peer so that others will reject him/her, social exclusion; Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are a particular subset of youth who are at increased risk for exhibiting aggressive behavior (Henker & Whalen, 1999; Whalen & Henker, 1985). The purpose of the present study was to assess the prevalence of relational aggression among children with attention problems as compared to the general population. Gender differences in relational aggression were also examined. In the current study, participants included 91 3rd-5th grade public school students. Teacher ratings of aggressive behavior and attention problems were obtained. Parents also completed measures to assess attention problems and social-psychological adjustment. Contrary to prediction, results indicated children with attention problems were not more aggressive than children without attention problems, regardless of the type of aggressive behavior assessed (i.e., relational or overt aggression). With respect to gender differences in relational aggression, results indicate the well-known gender effect for relational aggression only applies to Caucasian students in this sample, as a gender effect for relational aggression was not obtained for Hispanic students. Thus, the gender effect for relational aggression should not be considered a robust finding generalizable to all ethnic groups. Finally, relationally aggressive children were reported to be as well-adjusted as their non-relationally aggressive peers, which is not consistent with previous research. Regardless of aggression status, Hispanic children exhibited higher levels of delinquent behavior and anxiety/depression compared to Caucasian children. Findings are discussed in terms of measurement issues and within a cultural context. The limitations of the current study and directions for future research are presented.

The purpose of this study was to examine the genetic and environmental influences on lifetime quit attempt in three US adolescent and young adult twin samples (N total = 6,322). The study utilized a common-contingent-causal (CCC) model to estimate these factors for lifetime quit attempts, after accounting for the factors for lifetime cigarette use and cigarettes per day. The study also examined age and sex differences, as well as the degree of relationship between these smoking phenotypes. The results demonstrated significant genetic influences for lifetime quit attempts in adolescents and young adults. No sex differences were observed for the contributions of genetic and environmental factors for lifetime quit attempts. Furthermore, separate liabilities for lifetime quit attempts and lifetime cigarette use were found for most age groups. Study findings have important implications for promoting quit attempts in adolescents and young adults.

People´s access to safe health care is not as common as one might think. Today with new and different health insurances and improved health policies people should in theory have safe health care. Although numerous of health insurances exist, targeting large parts of populations, there are still many issues with them. The Behavioural Model of Health Services Use and Separate Spheres are the two theories that are used in this study. Where Separate Spheres describes men´s and women´s separate worlds, their responsibilities in them and how it effects them and the Behavioural Model of Health Services Use, which describes factors that either impede or enable people’s access to health care utilization. This study´s purpose is to see what different perceptions men and women have about the insurance and how these perceptions can affect families’ choice to enroll to the insurance. The study uses a qualitative approach and is based on semi-structured interviews. Results in this study showed that men and women have very different perceptions about the insurance. Men want the insurance because they want to save money and decrease health expenses. While women wants the insurance for their children to always have access to health care. The roles between men and women in households are significant and their different responsibilities affect their priorities and perceptions.

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Tidigare forskning menar att det äldsta syskonet anses vara mer auktoritärt, det mellersta barnet minst familjeorienterat och det yngsta barnet mer socialt. Uppväxten kan påverka individens KASAM. Studien undersöker om syskonplacering samverkar med människors KASAM, personlighet utifrån femfaktormodellen samt ser till eventuella könsskillnader. Urvalet bestod av högskolestudenter, varav 145 kvinnor och 80 män. Enkätens material analyserades med tvåvägs variansanalyser. Studien uppvisade ingen signifikant skillnad mellan de tre syskonplaceringarna. En tendens till signifikant interaktion visades mellan könen, där kvinnliga mellanbarn har lägre KASAM än de manliga. Studien visade två signifikanta könsskillnader mellan kvinnor och män. Kvinnorna var mer neurotiska och samvetsgranna än männen. Resultatet uppvisade en tendens till signifikans, gällande att kvinnor hade högre grad av personlighetfaktorn öppenhet än männen. Slutligen konstaterades att syskonplaceringen inte samverkar med individens personlighet eller KASAM, men att det finns vissa personlighetsskillnader mellan könen. Resultatet kan bero på brister i studien, som att familjekonstellation inte tillfrågades deltagarna.