Scholars have connected cognitive distortions to adolescents’ externalizing behaviors. Other scholars have offered that higher levels of cognitive autonomy, which develops during adolescence, may be a protective factor for problem behaviors in adolescence. To date, no studies have explored how these two cognitive processes function and potentially interact to predict adolescent problem behaviors. This study’s purpose was to see if cognitive autonomy affected the relationship between cognitive distortions and externalizing behaviors in a clinical population of adolescents. Past research has suggested that cognitive distortions are greater and more prevalent in clinical populations. Because of this, the processes of cognitive autonomy could be affected by cognitive distortions (that can form prior to adolescence), and worsen the relationship between cognitive distortions and externalizing behaviors. This study analyzed 146 adolescents, from a residential treatment facility. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine if links between cognitive distortions, cognitive autonomy, and externalizing behaviors existed, and to determine if elements of cognitive autonomy affected the relationship between cognitive distortions and externalizing behaviors. As expected, analyses showed that cognitive distortions and externalizing behaviors were related. Additionally, results indicated that aspects of cognitive autonomy were protective of externalizing behaviors. Results did not reveal that cognitive autonomy affected the relationship between cognitive distortions and externalizing behaviors. Discussion highlights potential reasons and alternative explanations for the results that were inconsistent with expectations. Limitations and future directions also are discussed.

A Study of the Relationships Among Employees' Personality Trails, Organizational Commitment and Job Involvement in Non-Profit Organizations. Since Taiwan has rescinded martial law, the Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) are blustery, vigorous development, regardless of all has the obvious growth in quantity or in the social influence. How to maintain the good organization achievements in multitudinous NPOs? Makes good use of the management concept and the management technology should be indispensable. The social welfare organization belongs to the crowd service work, also is the manpower highly crowded occupation. If they do not have fully the manpower, the work is difficult to carry out, and then will affect the service quality which provides. Therefore, regarding the human resources integrity plan and the management is extremely important in the NPOs. The research motive is to discuss how will the social welfare organization organize suitable ¡§the employee¡¨ to place on the suitable seat in order to sufficiently display function, and how will the employees¡¦organization mission and the organizational commitment affect job involvement. The anticipation findings might take the superintendent in the future in the human resources policy the reference. The target of this study is the members of the Non-Profit Organizations¡¦(NPO) employees in Taiwan. The study is focused on the relations between the personality traits ,organizational commitment and job involvement of the institute. The purpose is to provide the NPO managers and employees with reference materials of boosting organizational commitment and job involvement. To fulfill the purpose, survey research is selected as the main method of this study after a serial related studying. On the other hand, through evaluating the content validity and analyzing the items and factors of the pre-test result, we can promote the Reliability and Validity of the questionnaire. The result shows that the Reliability and Validity of the study method is efficient. The statistical method includes the description analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis,the different analysis, the correlation analysis, and stepwise regression analysis, the research result mainly include four followings: 1.Different individual attribute employees have the part differences on personality traits, job involvement, job satisfaction and organization commitment. 2.The personality traits and job involvement have extremely positive correlation; the job involvement and personality traits have extremely positive correlation; the job involvement and organizationcommitment have extremely positive correlation. 3.The factor of influence job involvement is personality traits; the fators of influence organization commitment is personality traits; the factor of job involvement is organization commitment. 4.Organization commitment have mediating effect between the Job involvement and personality traits.

The thesis concerns a topic of work engagement of individuals on managerial positions within a context of selected factors that positively influence such an engagement. Factors that keep those individuals on a imaginary line further from potential negative consequences, e.g. burnout syndrome, are elaborated. A theoretical part aims to elaborate a field of personality of manager, a theoretical background of work engagement, its theories and concepts and eventually concrete moderating factors stated in literature. An empirical part introduces a research mapping those moderating factors of managers within the Czech population. The goal is to find out which factors positively influence their work engagement. In regard of a connection between the work engagement and stress there is an additional research goal aiming to find out which strategies help managers to decrease their stress level. Based on gathered data 6 factors positively influencing the work engagement were arised: social support, job autonomy, variety of tasks, goal achievement, feedback and work meaningfulness; and four factors helping to decrease the stress level: analysis of situation, problem- focused coping, distance and physical activity. Key words: Work engagement, manager, moderating factors

The functional abilities of 319 elderly individuals with dementia were assessed using an objective, performance-based measure (the Direct Assessment of Functional Abilities) and caregiver’s report (through the Assessment of Daily Activities and Dementia Severity Rating Scale). The association between the objective measure and caregiver report was examined. Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that caregivers’ reports of instrumental activities of daily living and basic activities of daily living were significantly associated with an objective measure of these functional abilities. Additionally, potential moderating variables were examined. None of the caregiver variables of gender, age, education level, caregiver-care recipient relation, prior and current relationship closeness, and frequency of contact were significant moderators of the association between caregiver report and the objective measure. Caregiver depression, anxiety, emotional status, and distress did not moderate this association. Additionally, none of the care recipient variables of cognitive status, depression, psychiatric symptoms, or dementia duration moderated the association between caregivers’ reports and the objective measure; however, the care recipients’ sensory motor impairments (hand, vision, or hearing impairments) significantly moderated the association between the objective measure and caregiver reports on one measure of functional ability. That is, when the caregiver report indicated mild/moderate functional impairment, the care recipient was 6.52 times as likely to be classified in the more severe group on the objective measure when sensory motor impairments were severe (p < 0.02), whereas the caregiver report and the objective measure were not associated for those care recipients whose caregiver report score indicated severe impairment when sensory motor impairments were mild/moderate (p = 0.24). These results provide some support for the use of proxy reports of functional abilities, with caution advised when the care recipient displays sensory motor impairments.

Yes / This study aimed to examine the key factors predicting Jordanian consumers’ intentions and usage of three types of self-service banking technologies. This study also sought to test if the impacts of these main predictors could be moderated by channel type. This study proposed a conceptual model by integrating factors from the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), along with perceived risk. The required data were collected from a convenience sample of Jordanian banking customers using a survey questionnaire. The statistical results strongly support the significant influence of performance expectancy, social influence, and perceived risk on customer intentions for the three types of SSTs examined. The results of the X2 differences test also indicate that there are significant differences in the influence of the main predictors due to the moderating effect of channel type. One of the key contributions of this study is that three types of SSTs were tested in a single study, which had not been done before, leading to the identification of the factors common to all three types, as well as the salient factors unique to each type.

In this research, two studies were conducted in order to examine the psychological, social, somatic and educational effects of chronic traumatic experience on Palestinian children over the six years of the Al-Aqsa Intifada (2000-2006). Firstly, a quantitative study was conducted which aimed to explore the long-term effects of war and occupation on the Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip. The sample consisted of 1,137 children aged between ten and 18 years randomly selected from all parts of the Gaza Strip to participate in the study. The participants completed a Checklist of Traumatic Experiences (CTE), a Symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Scale (SPTSDS), a Network of Psycho-Social Support (NPSS) and a Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ). This study found that every child in Palestine is likely to have been exposed to at least three traumatic events. Importantly, this study also found that 41% of the participants suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD). This indicates that there are potentially more than 300,000 children in the Gaza Strip in need of psychological, social,and medical services in the areas of rehabilitation and therapeutic treatment. The study revealed that the support of family, friends, relatives, teachers, and spiritual leaders can be of great help. In addition to this, positive traits of personality can reduce the effects of PTSD. Secondly, a qualitative study aimed to explore, in more depth, the moderating factors relating to Palestinian children who have been exposed to chronic traumatic experiences, particularly the children who show low levels of PTSD. The sample consisted of six children interviewed in Arabic by using a semi-structured interview. They were aged between 13-18 years. The participants were selected according to the amount of traumatic events and level of PTSD experienced by the children who took part in the first study. This study found that the moderating factors and levels of influence which protected them from developing PTSD are positive personality traits and ideological commitment, psychosocial support, entertainment and adaptation or acclimatization. This research concluded that having a normal childhood in Palestine is unlikely in the current circumstances and the future psychological well-being of Palestinian children is at risk of being compromised by on-going traumatic experiences.

Several models have been developed for understanding and predicting innovation adoption in organizations and literature has identified several factors that impact the adoption and implementation of Information Technology (IT). This research examines the process of adoption of IT innovations in organizations. The study explores the processes involved in the adoption of IT and verifies the key factors that influence IT innovation adoption in organizations. Using a systematic literature review, the study developed a conceptual model of IT innovation adoption in organizations. The model is a theoretical combination of Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory, Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and a framework which contains characteristics of innovation, organization, environment, chief executive officer (CEO) and user acceptance. The model represents IT innovation adoption as a stage-based process, progressing from initiation to adoption-decision to implementation. The study aggregated findings of past research on IT adoption to identify key factors that influences IT adoption in organizations. The study performed a meta-analysis of innovation, organization, environment, CEOs and user acceptance determinants to assess the magnitude and the strength of these factors on IT innovation adoption. Results confirmed that relative advantage, compatibility, cost, observability and trialability are strong determinants of IT innovation adoption. In terms of organizational context, IS department size, top management support, organizational size, IT expertise, product champion, IS infrastructure, information intensity, resources and specialization was found influential in the adoption of IT. As for environmental characteristics, the meta-analysis verified the significance of external pressure, government support and competitive pressure. Meta-analysis results verified that CEO‟s innovativeness, attitude and IT knowledge as key determinants. The findings confirmed the importance of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, subjective norm and facilitating conditions for the user acceptance of IT in organizations.

Using a sample of 82 college students in dating relationships, this study is an examination of the moderating effect of parents' and friends' approval of the dating relationship on the associations between participants' individual characteristics (age, self-esteem, and own agreeableness) and relationship characteristics (love, ambivalence, conflict, conflict resolution effectiveness, and perception of the partner's agreeableness) with trust. The results of the hierarchical regression analyses showed that approval of the relationship by parents and friends moderated the relationship between individual characteristics and relationship characteristics with trust. Specifically, friends' approval of the relationship moderated the association between self-esteem and age with trust, whereas parents' approval of the relationship moderated the association between love, conflict, ambivalence, and conflict resolution effectiveness, with trust. The findings contribute to research and theory on dyadic trust, uncertainty reduction, and social network approval.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

The main objectives of this thesis are to determine if the addition of an energy wheel in an HVAC system can improve the indoor air relative humidity (RH), and perceived air quality (PAQ), as well as reduce energy consumption. An energy wheel is an air-to-air energy exchanger that transfers heat and moisture between the outdoor air entering and the exhaust air leaving a building. This thesis uses the TRNSYS computer package to model two buildings (an office and a school) in four different cities (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; Vancouver, British Columbia; Tampa, Florida and Phoenix, Arizona).<p>The results with and without an energy wheel are compared to see if the energy wheel has a significant impact on the RH and PAQ in the buildings. The energy wheel reduces peak RH levels in Tampa, (up to 15% RH), which is a humid climate, but has a smaller effect on the indoor RH in Saskatoon (up to 4% RH) and Phoenix (up to 11% RH), which are dry climates. The energy wheel also reduces the number of people that are dissatisfied with the PAQ within the space by up to 17% in Tampa. <p>The addition of the energy wheel to the HVAC system creates a reduction in the total energy consumed by the HVAC system in Saskatoon, Phoenix and Tampa (2% in each city). There is a significant reduction in the size of the heating equipment in Saskatoon (26%) and in the size of the cooling equipment in Phoenix (18%) and Tampa (17%). A cost analysis shows that the HVAC system including an energy wheel has the least life-cycle costs in these three cities, with savings of up to 6%. In Vancouver, the energy wheel has a negligible impact on the indoor RH, PAQ and energy consumption.