Thesis (Ph. D.)--Northeastern University, 2008. / Title from title page (viewed March 27, 2009). Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Mathematics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 286-287).

The present study integrated social exchange theory and motivational perspective to explore the mediating role of felt obligation and boundary condition of personal motives in the relationship between psychological contract fulfillments (PCF) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB). We hypothesized that (a) PCF exerts influences on OCB through felt obligation; (b) the PCF-OCB relationship would be stronger when employees are high in altruistic and high in egoistic motive. Accordingly, an integrative model of exchange theory and motivational theory would be proposed to simultaneously examine the mediated effect and interactive effect on organizational citizenship behaviors. We tested the hypothesized model by using data of supervisor-subordinate dyads. Data are collected through employees¡¦ self-reports and employees¡¦ supervisors, so two questionnaires are use. Obtaining measures of the predictor and criterion variables from different source is one of the procedures used to control common method bias, a critical limitation in cross-sectional correlational research (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, and Lee, 2003). A sample of 485 supervisor-subordinate dyad was obtained from supervisory MBA graduates and their randomly-selected subordinates. All survey measures process the back translation procedure recommended by Brislin (1980) to assure the equivalence before administration. Confirmatory factor analysis is employed to examine the psychometric properties of all measures used. Finally, to test hypotheses, structure equation modeling using statistical package Liseral 8.5 and hierarchical moderated regression were employed. Resulted showed that social exchange theory and motives significantly explained the PCF-OCB association in different way, as we expected. First, we found that felt obligation is influenced by balance and relational PCF and then in turn has impact on etic OCB, while transactional PCF had no effects on either felt obligation or two forms of OCBs. Additionally, results strongly suggested that the negative effect of transactional PCF on OCB occurred for people low in altruistic motive to help, but would be positive associated for people high in altruistic motive. The findings signify that altruistic motive interacted in such a way that a strong altruistic motive was needed to buffer the negative effect of transactional PCF on etic OCB. It¡¦s important to note that transactional PCF had no direct effect on any forms of OCB, thus it appeared that altruistic motive played a role of ¡§switch¡¨ to activate the relationship between transactional PCF and every forms of OCB. Finally, we found altruistic motive, instead of egoistic motive, is the key determinant for OCB.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1951 L8 / Master of Science

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The present study aimed to investigate elementary school teachers&rsquo / motives to pursue a teaching career. Teachers&rsquo / motives to follow a teaching career were analyzed in terms of their gender, year of experience, graduate higher education institution, graduate high school, subject, and the presence or absence of other teachers in their families. The participants were 905 teachers from 38 public elementary schools in six central districts of Ankara. A forty-three-item, five point Likert scale questionnaire, developed by the researcher, was used for data collection. SPSS was utilized for the descriptive statistical analyses. Responses to open-ended question were qualitatively analyzed. The results of the study revealed that elementary school teachers agreed on mostly intrinsic and altruistic motives as their reasons to enter teaching. A liking for children, a desire to make a contribution to their development, and a wish for setting good models for them were among the motives teachers mostly agreed on. However, elementary school teachers mostly disagreed on extrinsic motives and miscellaneous reasons. Of the extrinsic motives the motives with the lowest mean scores were the one suggesting the financial advantages of teaching. Lastly, of the miscellaneous reasons teachers mostly disagreed they entered teaching because they did not know what else to do or they had no other choice. In other words, teachers disagreed they entered teaching because of an obligation or lack of opportunities. In conclusion, the results of this study can contribute to fill the gap in the literature on teachers&rsquo / motives to pursue a teaching career.

This essay is a psychoanalytical reading of the Scottish author Muriel Spark’s novel The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. The protagonist is a charismatic teacher, who is popular among her pupils, but who appears to use her power and position merely in order to manipulate her pupils. It appears that Miss Brodie’s main interest is not her pupils’ academic achievements, but she has a different agenda on her mind. This essay examines the unconscious motives behind the protagonist’s peculiar treatment of her pupils by learning more about what takes place in the human mind, when the individual starts to listen to the sound of defensive mechanisms instead of to the sound of logic.

No description available.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 99-100).

Motives for alcohol use are associated with distinct antecedents and consequences. Drinking alcohol to cope with negative affect is consistently associated with the most problematic patterns of use. Interventions targeting drinking to cope are needed. This randomized controlled treatment trial evaluated the impact of a brief coping motive feedback-based intervention on motives and problematic outcomes associated with drinking. In addition, a more comprehensive model of the antecedents and consequences of drinking to cope was tested. The study randomized 170 participants to receive either a brief Standard Feedback Condition (SFC; n = 83) or a Motives Feedback Condition (MFC; n = 87) that added education and feedback on drinking to cope as well as alternate coping strategies. Significant reductions in drinking to cope with depression were greater in the MFC at the 2-month follow-up, but the intervention's effect on drinking to cope with anxiety did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance. Significant reductions in drinking and negative consequences were observed but did not differ significantly by condition. Change in coping with depression motives mediated the effect of the intervention on outcomes of drinking and negative consequences. Partial support was found for a structural model linking antecedents of use, coping motives, and consequences associated with substance use. This study is a promising new direction in motives research, providing support for brief interventions incorporating motives-related feedback and for furthering our understanding of the origins and consequences of drinking to cope with negative affect. / Ph. D.

The quatrefoil is a pan-Mesoamerican symbol with considerable time-depth. For the Maya, use of the symbol peaked during the Classic Period, reaching its highest frequency and largest geographical spread. Consequently, understanding its meaning has the potential to illuminate information about Precolumbian Maya worldview. While there have been several studies that focus on Preclassic Period quatrefoils, a similar study is lacking for Classic Period. Furthermore, the evaluations of the quatrefoil that do exist for the Classic Period are limited, often focusing on a select few examples. This thesis attempts to rectify the gap in extant research through an examination of the quatrefoil motif utilized by the Classic Period Maya. Specifically, the goal of the thesis was to determine whether the current interpretation of the quatrefoil as a cave is and also to investigate how the symbol communicated broader ideas about worldview and ideology. The approach that was utilized focuses on both archaeological and iconographic contexts. As an iconographic symbol, I attempt to understand the quatrefoil through the use of semiotics with particular emphasis on contextualization and analogy. The results of this study suggest that, while there were some patterns related to spatial distribution, the meaning of the quatrefoil motif was dependent on context and had considerable variations. I conclude that the analysis of the symbol, when based on specific usages and contexts, reveals that there is not enough evidence to support the current interpretation of quatrefoil as cave. Rather, the quatrefoil can be more accurately interpreted as a cosmogram that delineated information about how the Maya conceptualized, ordered, and iii accessed space that was appropriated by elites to reinforce and even legitimize political authority