For more than three decades, citizen engagement in the political process in South Korea was strictly hampered by the harsh control of the public sphere by authoritarian regimes and mainstream media's failure to provide a democratic public forum. With the penetration of online and social media, the participatory culture of South Korea has significantly and qualitatively changed. During the last 10 some years, citizens actively used Internet media, such as online and social media, in mobilizing people for social and political causes. In recent elections, the use of Internet media has been considered one of the decisive factors of turnout and election results. The wide availability of information, the supply of unfettered discussion forums, and constant connectedness beyond space and geographical boundaries of the Internet are believed to work efficiently in leading citizens to the political process. However, unlike in Western countries, research to investigate the mechanism through which citizens engage in political affairs has been scant in South Korea. Drawing on the participatory democracy theory, this study examines how old and new media use in South Korea possibly change citizens' political attitudes and perceptions and how such changes subsequently trigger civic engagement in political affairs. Among various possible factors of political communication, this research pays special attention to the mediating roles of political efficacy and deliberation behaviors of the electorate during an election period in South Korea. A multitude of studies have proven that political efficacy is one of the most immediate attitudinal explanations of political action. As one acquires feelings of heightened political efficacy, one becomes more likely to get involved in the democratic process. Also, deliberation behaviors, such as political conversation and reflection on news played an important role in citizens' political life. This study explores how political efficacy and deliberation jointly affect the pathway that connects news consumption with political participation, drawing on prior political communication frameworks, such as the cognitive mediation model, the communication mediation model, and the O - S - R - O - R model. This study suggests a two-step mediation model which centers on the roles of deliberation and political efficacy in political communication. Particularly, the hypothesized model incorporates the interpersonal discussion component of the communication mediation model and the political efficacy component of the cognitive mediation model into one, in order to theorize a holistic information processing framework that channels the influences of news consumption on political engagement. The current study provides empirical evidence to the hypothesized model by carrying out two cross-sectional analyses and one auto-regressive analysis from the data of a two-wave panel survey that was conducted during the 2012 presidential campaign in South Korea. Findings reveal that political efficacy mediated the relationship between news attention and political participation. Political efficacy also played a mediating role between deliberation behaviors and political participation. In addition, deliberation behaviors mediated the relationship between news attention and political efficacy. Most important, the deliberation behavior and political efficacy jointly mediated the impact of news attention on political participation, supporting the hypothesized model of this study. Such results imply that interpersonal political discussion and intrapersonal reflection on political issues help citizens make sense of the information obtained from the media, and at the same time, boost the level of competence of their political beliefs. The results also suggest that deliberation and political efficacy play a pivotal role in connecting citizen's information seeking behaviors with political participation. The findings also show that, among diverse news channels, social media have the biggest performance power in explaining citizen engagement in the political process. In addition, the results of path comparisons demonstrate that the paths from news attention via online and social media to deliberation, political efficacy, and political participation were stronger in the Wave 2 model than in the Wave 1 model. The findings imply that online and social media are providing South Koreans a more effective pathway toward democratic participation than traditional media by motivating their deliberative and by shaping political attitudes. The present study makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the ways in which South Korean citizens take advantage of recent new media technologies to engage in political affairs. Considering that many South Koreans have long been excluded from the actual political process, this study's findings provide practical meanings in understanding how we can boost citizen engagement in the democratic process in this digital age. Additionally, the hypothesized model of the present research helps organize a large body of theories on news consumption and political participation in political communication. It also suggests larger social and cultural implications for a healthy democracy across countries beyond South Korea.

abstract: With the establishment of the emerging adult developmental period and the rise of helicopter parents, attachment theory provides foundation for conceptualizing the continued involvement of helicopter parents in their emerging adults’ emotion regulation processes. This study utilized dyadic data from 66 emerging adult children and their helicopter parents to examine the association of helicopter parent-emerging adult communication in mitigating the associations between experiences of affect and stress. Specifically, the purpose of the present study was to use dyadic data to examine how communication within the helicopter parent-emerging adult relationship associates with emerging adults’ ability to regulate experiences of negative and positive affect. Both associations within the emerging adult and helicopter parent individually (actor effects) and how helicopter parents impact construct associations for emerging adults’ (partner effects) were considered. Two multilevel mediation models using Actor-Partner Interdependence Models were conducted to assess the relations between affect, stress, and helicopter parent-emerging adult communication quality for negative and positive affect separately. The positive direct effect between negative affect and stress was statistically significant for emerging adults, but not for helicopter parents, suggesting that, for emerging adults, higher perceptions of negative affect were associated with higher levels of stress. The direct and indirect effects for the mediation model examining actor and partner effects between negative affect, communication quality, and stress were non-significant for both emerging adults and helicopter parents. The direct effect between positive affect and stress was statistically significant for helicopter parents but not for emerging adults; however, the directionality of the significant association was positive and not as hypothesized. Finally, the direct and indirect effects for the mediation model examining actor and partner effects between positive affect, communication quality, and stress were non-significant for emerging adults and helicopter parents. Considerations for future studies examining aspects of attachment within emotion regulation for the helicopter parent-emerging adult relationship and the importance of considering relationship characteristics, such the relational characteristics of social support and conflict, are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Counseling Psychology 2017

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Diese Promotion befasst sich in drei unterschiedlichen Studien mit der Vorhersage schulischer Leistungen in der chinesischen Kultur. Die Arbeit befasst sich demzufolge sowohl mit Konstrukten der fluiden Intelligenz (Gf), den Persönlichkeitsdomänen (Big Five), schmaler gefassten Persönlichkeitskonstrukten (Glaube an sich Selbst, Lernstrategien) sowie dem komplexen Zusammenspiel dieser Konstrukte als Prädiktoren für schulische Leistungen. Nach einer generellen Einführung und der Herleitung des Big Five Narrow Trait (B5NT) Modells werden die drei Studien dargestellt. Studie 1 untersucht bei chinesischen Sekundarschülern figurale Verarbeitungsfähigkeit als Indikator für Gf und Persönlichkeitseigenschaften als Indikatoren für Schulnoten in den Fächern Mathematik, Chinesisch und Englisch sowie mögliche Interaktionen. Die zweite Studie integriert diese Ergebnisse in das B5NT Modell, das zudem mit anderen Modellen, wie etwa dem Double Mediation model (DM), verglichen wird. Der Glaube an sich selbst sowie Lernstrategien werden in den Analysen als wichtige Mediatoren betrachtet. Studie 3 überprüft die Ergebnisse in einem längsschnittlichen Design. Während bereits in Studie 2 starke Evidenz für das B5NT Modell gefunden werden konnte, kann dies auch in Studie 3 repliziert werden. Zudem können in einem Revisionsmodell reziproke Effekte von Performanz auf Persönlichkeitsdomänen angenommen werden. Die Promotion stellt daher ein theoretisches Modell zur Verfügung, das den Einfluss von den Big Five Domänen auf die schulischen Leistungen erklärt und durch querschnittliche sowie längsschnittliche Daten gestützt wird / This dissertation deals with the prediction of scholastic performance in Chinese culture. The thesis uses the constructs of fluid intelligence (Gf), broad personality traits (Big Five), narrow personality traits (i.e., self-beliefs and learning approaches), and their complex interplay as predictors of scholastic performance. Following a general introduction summarizing the theoretical foundations as well as outlining the derivation of the Big Five Narrow Trait (B5NT) Model, three papers are presented. In the context of Chinese secondary school students, Paper 1 examined the predictive power of figural reasoning as an indicator of Gf and personality traits on school grades in three subjects (i.e., Mathematics, Chinese, and English), and further investigated their potential interactions. Paper 2 integrated the findings of Paper 1 with the aforementioned B5NT. Within the study, the B5NT is empirically tested and compared to an alternative model proposed in earlier work, the Double Mediation model [DM]. Self-beliefs and learning approaches were considered as relevant mediators within those analyses. In this cross-sectional study, the B5NT model was strongly supported, whereas the DM model did not find strong empirical support. In order to empirically verify the underlying processes from a longitudinal perspective, Paper 3 expanded on the B5NT related findings in a three-wave longitudinal panel design. The findings supported the B5NT model and further warranted a revision model in which reciprocal effects from performance to big traits are suggested. Thus, the presented thesis provides a theoretical model explaining the influence of the Big Five on scholastic performance. Moreover, empirical support for the proposed model from cross-sectional and longitudinal data was found. Finally, integrating interactions with cognitive ability rounds off the perspective.

This study extends our understanding of how information systems impact business value creation by examining the effect of digital enablement of business-to-business exchange on customer outcomes. We shed light on the connection between information technology investment and firm performance by focusing on how information technology is used (Devaraj and Kohli 2003) in an industrial services context and by highlighting the importance of indirect effects (Mittal and Nault 2009). A conceptual model is developed that combines a customer centric perspective (Sheth et al. 2000) with elements from the information systems success framework (DeLone and McLean 1992, DeLone and McLean 2003). Mediating factors are identified in the chain of effects from information technology specific business-to-business service quality characteristics to customer outcomes. In addition, we consider two contextual factors, relationship duration and customer dependence, which are known to alter the nature of buyer-supplier relationships but which have received little attention in research on digital enablement of business-to-business exchange. An empirical test of hypothesized relationships was performed using subjective and objective archival data from business-to-business exchange relationships for a logistics services vendor. All expected main effects were confirmed. Customer satisfaction was found to be a significant mediator in the chain of effects from information technology specific business-to-business service quality characteristics to customer outcomes. In addition, logistics service quality was found to mediate the relationships between system quality and customer satisfaction and between information quality and customer satisfaction. The hypothesized moderating effects, however, were not found to be significant. Robustness of the findings was confirmed by testing model hypotheses using data from exchange relationships with customers in two different industries, manufacturing and wholesale trade. Differences in analysis results are consistent with industry differences. This study contributes to the literatures on interorganizational information systems (Rai et al. 2006) and information technology business value (Melville et al. 2004) by identifying mediating mechanisms in the chain of effects from digital enablement of exchange to customer outcomes. Explication of mediating mechanisms improves our understanding about the indirect nature of impacts from information technology. This study also contributes to the literature on information systems by extending DeLone and McLean's (2003) model of information systems success to the context of business-to-business exchange relationships. In addition, this study contributes to the literature on services marketing (Zeithaml and Bitner 2003, Berry and Parasuraman 1993) by showing how system quality and information quality impact logistics service quality and customer satisfaction in a business-to-business exchange context.

Mindfulness, purposeful attention without judgment or acceptance, and related practices are increasingly popular with a large number of people and have been incorporated into many western psychotherapies (e.g., Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy). There is considerable debate over whether mindfulness is best studied as a state, trait or procedure. Although many studies have found that trait mindfulness is related to physical and mental health outcomes, less is known about the mechanism(s) through which mindfulness enhances clinical outcomes. The current study explored the role of potential mediators of the relationship between trait mindfulness and psychological outcomes, i.e., psychological distress. Specifically, we examined whether the relationship between trait mindfulness and psychological distress is indirect, with mediators such as emotion regulation (i.e., cognitive reappraisal and emotion suppression, experiential avoidance, cognitive flexibility (i.e., alternative), and psychological inflexibility accounting for the relationship. We measured trait mindfulness, psychological distress, emotion regulation, cognitive flexibility, experiential avoidance and acceptance in a large sample of undergraduate students. We hypothesized that the relationship between trait mindfulness and psychological outcomes is indirect and may be due to enhanced acceptance, flexibility, and emotion regulation. We conducted a sequential regression, simple mediational, and multiple mediational analyses to test hypotheses. Results revealed that the proposed mediators explained additional variances in psychological distress above and beyond trait mindfulness. The simple mediational analyses indicated that individually, psychological inflexibility, emotion regulation (only cognitive reappraisal), and experiential avoidance mediated the relationship between trait mindfulness and psychological distress. Finally, the multiple mediational analysis revealed that, when tested simultaneously, only psychological inflexibility mediated the association between trait mindfulness and psychological distress. Implications of results for developing treatment packages that include mindfulness practices are discussed. Limitations of the cross-sectional design, the measurements, and definitional issues of trait mindfulness are discussed as well.

Notre recherche a pour objet le processus de légalisation des écoles créées par des travailleurs paysans en ville pour scolariser leurs enfants. Contrairement aux chercheurs qui essayent jusqu’à présent de donner une explication factuelle du phénomène, nous avons souhaité en faire un laboratoire pour éclairer la question suivante : comment des initiatives privées émergent pour devenir des projets porteurs de bien commun et comment le bien commun évolue pour devenir un bien public et réformer la gouvernance de la Cité ? Plus brièvement, nous souhaitons clarifier le rôle de la personne dans les changements sociaux. Cette recherche s’est attachée à montrer ce qui se passe effectivement en Chine, notamment le rôle dynamique des initiatives privées dans les évolutions politiques et institutionnelles du pays, à travers l’exemple des directeurs d’écoles d’enfants migrants. Sur le plan théorique, la recherche a été conduite à mettre à l’épreuve une théorie socioanthropologique de la personne, dépassant l’habituelle dichotomie entre l’individuel et le collectif, et à vérifier comment celle-ci, avec ses capacités instituante et éthique, participe à l’émergence et à la construction du bien publicet à l’évolution de la Cité / This study focuses on the legalization process of schools created by migrant workers of rural origin in order to educate their children. Unlike researchers who have tried so far to give a factual explanation of the phenomenon, we aim to take this case as a laboratory to shed a light on the following question: how do private initiatives emerge to become projects embodying a common good and how does the common good evolve into a public good and reform the governance of the City? Morebriefly, we want to clarify the role of the person in social change. Our research seeks to demonstrate what is actually happening in China, in particular the dynamic role of private initiatives in the political and institutional evolutions of this country, taking as example directors of schools for migrant children. On the theoretical side, the study was conducted to test a socioanthropological theory of the person, beyond the usual dichotomy between the individual and the collectivity, and see how the person, with his or her instituant and ethical capacities, participate in the emergence and construction of the public good and the evolution of the City

In order to obtain a closer look into the psychosocial impact of chronic conditions, symptom severity, loss of resources, and demoralization were investigated through a mediation analysis. The function and implication of social support was also explored within the circumstances of chronic conditions. Lastly, symptom chronicity was probed as an influential element in the understanding of the consequences of being chronically ill. Participants were 200 men and women, with a mean age of 46 years, and the dataset came from the VOICE (Verification of Illness and Coping Experience) survey. The concepts of Conservation of Resources (COR) theory and Demoralization Syndrome were utilized to portray the underlying processes experienced by individuals with chronic condition. Analyses between symptom severity and demoralization via loss of resources as the mediator were statistically significant. Symptom chronicity did not interact with symptom severity on predicting loss of resources, but analyses showed that individuals with less symptom chronicity reported both larger loss of resources and demoralization. Social support was confirmed as a moderator, buffering the effects of symptom severity on loss of resources. Exploratory analyses with the inclusion of both symptom severity and chronicity as the predictor variable and the use of age as a moderating factor at the prediction of loss of resources was statistically significant, showing that when symptoms were more severe and chronic, younger participants experienced more losses than older participants. Additionally, when age was included as a moderator of the effect of symptom chronicity and severity on the prediction of social support, it was indicated that when symptoms were less chronic and severe, the average perception of social support was higher among younger participants, but, on the other hand, when symptoms were more chronic and severe, younger participants suffered an abysmal drop in their social support perception. In light of the aforementioned results, risk, protective, and developmental aspects are discussed, along with implications for health care providers.