The effects of note-taking on self-disclosure during a clinical interview among prisoners were investigated. Participants consisted of 60 male and female inmates incarcerated in a minimum security prison. Subjects within each gender were randomly assigned to either high note-taking, low note-taking or no note-taking conditions. Subjects were asked to discuss intimate information during an interview while varying levels of notes were taken. Self-disclosure was assessed using items from the Rotter Incomplete Sentences Blank. A 3 x 2 ANOVA was conducted. No significant main effects were found. However, a significant interaction was found. Further analysis revealed that females in the high note-taking condition disclosed less than females in the no note-taking condition. Some theoretical and clinical implications are suggested.

In the United States, stigma surrounding mental illness is ever present. With a large misrepresentation from the media, those suffering with mental illnesses, like eating disorders, often face different types of social rejection. Due to the stigma surrounding mental illness, and eating disorders, the disclosure of such an illness to another person can result in a negative impression of the sender. There is little research looking at how mental illness disclosures can affect the formation of a romantic relationship, specifically from the perspective of the receiver of a disclosure. Looking specifically at the format of mobile dating apps, this study looks at how a receiver’s initial attraction to a person changes, based on the presence of an eating disorder disclosure. Results found a correlation between stigma and attraction, however, disclosure type had no effect on attraction, or stigma.

The concept of “family” has rapidly changed over the past few years. The prevalence of more and more children raised in same-gendered families has brought to mind the question of disclosure. This qualitative case study explored the disclosure practices of adolescents raised in same-gendered families in an attempt to understand how adolescents negotiate their unique family structure throughout their daily lives. The data in this study was analysed using thematic content analysis. It was found that both positive and negative experiences influence the adolescents raised in samegendered families decision to disclose and that disclosure of family structure usually takes place after careful negotiation based on the grounds of either a close relationship, common ground or a perceived urgency. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

Background: Online marketing tactics designed to have a minimized impact on consumer experience have emerged recently whereas native advertising is one concept. Native advertising is an approach designed to decrease interruptions in consumers’ online experience by matching the form and functions of the platform in which the advertisement appears. It occurs online, with the one characteristic in common that it should not disrupt or negatively affect consumer experience. The desire to minimize consumer disruption has led to that native advertising in its most effective nature can be difficult for the reader to identify, which leads to the discussion of whether the tactic is deceptive. It is found that ad disclosures are frequently the only thing that separates native ads from commercial content. Unexplored areas in the literature exist, which include if native ad disclosures can be made more efficient with the use of brand disclosures.  Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if brand disclosure in native advertisements affects consumers’ native ad recognition ability.  Method: Data was collected through an eye-tracking experiment, exploring if brand disclosures affect the native ad recognition ability. The experiment was created in Tobii Pro Lab which tracked participants’ real-time physiological reactions. Results were complemented with a questionnaire and data was analyzed in SPSS. The sample consisted of 60 students at Jönköping University.  Findings: The analysis illustrates that the experimental test group which received brand disclosures of high prominence showed an increased ability to recognize and identify native advertisements as promotional content compared to the control group. By implementing Mann-Whitney U tests and a Chi-Square test in order to test the hypotheses, results were found significant. The hypotheses were supported and could not be rejected, which resulted in the conclusion that brand disclosures increase the native ad recognition ability.

The purpose of this study was to identify company characteristics associated with the presence of disclosures regarding internal control in the annual report. Gibbins, Richardson and Waterhouse [1990] have developed a framework from which to examine financial disclosure,. These authors define two dimensions of a company's disclosure position; opportunism and ritualism. I examined the association between variables representing the dimensions identified by these authors and a company's decision regarding disclosure of a management report on internal control. I compared specific characteristics of companies disclosing this information to those of companies not disclosing. The dependent variable represented the presence or absence of disclosure. I used logit analysis to test the significance of the chosen characteristics relative to the decision to include or exclude a management report on internal control in the annual report. My results were consistent with the existence of ritualism with respect to this issue. Reporting on internal controls was associated with membership in the Financial Executives Institute, auditor choice, certain industry designations and prior inclusion of such a report. FEI membership was closely related to initial reporting decisions as well'. I found evidence of opportunism as well. The likelihood of reporting on internal controls was related to company size (and presumably control strength), and growth rates. I also found an association between reporting and the issuance of publicly traded securities in the succeeding year and more moderate levels of debt relative to an industry average. In addition, I found that initial reporting decisions were associated with external events relating to potential legislation of the reporting issue. This research provides insight into the corporate response to reporting on internal controls.

Bakgrund Humankapitalet är en viktig del i företaget med anledning av att det är essentiellt i den dagliga affärsverksamheten samt att det är en viktig immateriell resurs där kunskap, nätverk av relationer och kulturell styrka bidrar till företagets framgång. I och med samhällets utveckling består företag idag till allt större del av humankapital men trots detta råder det inte samstämmighet för hur humankapital ska redovisas i årsredovisningarna. Detta i samband med att högre krav ställs på redovisning av humankapital blir det intressant och relevant att undersöka hur företag väljer att upplysa om humankapital i årsredovisningarna. Syfte Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur företag inom bemanningsbranschen redovisar humankapital i deras årsredovisningar, samt undersöka hur redovisningen utvecklats över tid och hur den skiljer sig mellan företagen. Metod Studien är en longitudinell flerfallstudie utförd genom en kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Tidigare forskning om motiv bakom upplysningar ligger till grund för den insamlade empirin tillsammans med legitimitetsteorin, intressentteorin och institutionell teorin. Studien utgår från en deduktiv ansats med induktiva inslag. Slutsats Studiens resultat visar att de undersökta företagen upplyser genom tre teman; engagemang, arbetsmiljö och kompetensutveckling. Vidare dras slutsatsen att redovisning av humankapital inom bemanningsbranschen liknar varandra till väldigt stor del. Anledningen kan vara att samtliga företag ingår i samma bransch. Studien bidrar med bevis för att företag inom bemanningsbranschen upplyser om humankapital i stor mängd i förhållande till resterande information i deras årsredovisning. / Introduction Human capital is an important part of the company because it is essential in day-to-day business and is therefore an important intangible resource where knowledge, networks of relationships and cultural strength contribute to the company's success. The development of society contributes to the fact that companies increasingly consist of human capital, but despite this, there is no consensus on how human capital should be reported in the annual reports. This, in conjunction with higher requirements for accounting for human capital, will make it interesting and relevant to investigate how this is done. Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate how companies in the staffing industry report human capital in their annual reports, and also to investigate how accounting has developed over time and how it differs between companies. Method This study is a longitudinal multi-case study conducted through a qualitative content analysis. The empirical data is based on previous research of the motives behind disclosures together with the theory of legitimacy, stakeholder theory and institutional theory. This study is based on a deductive approach with inductive elements. Conclusion This study's results show that the investigated companies disclose information through three themes; commitment, work environment and qualification. Furthermore, it is concluded that accounting for human capital in the staffing industry is very similar to each other. The reason may be that all companies are part of the same industry. The study provides evidence that companies in the staffing industry disclose human capital in large numbers in relation to other disclosed information in the annual report.

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Products and technologies provide us with significant lifestyle benefits but they can also evolve into hazards and bring about concern for human health. A history of poor regulatory performances has resulted in a public displeased with and skeptical of the actors responsible for protecting the public against the unintended effects of progress. It is within this historical and social context that the study explores the following objectives: to understand people's responses to emerging health issues, of which there is considerable knowledge uncertainty and little public awareness; to identify the information needs regarding these issues, and to explore the role of government disclosure for personal decision-making around these issues. Seven focus groups were conducted in Hamilton, Ontario with community members from a range of backgrounds: youth, faith, allophone immigrants, environmental, health, recreational, and mixed. Two scenarios about potential hazards, i.e. a persistent pollutant and extreme heatwaves from climate change, were used to generate discussion about people's experiences with risk and knowledge. Results indicate that emerging health issues are framed by lay individuals as a chronic societal phenomenon. Their concerns about health and well-being, resiliency, and issue comprehension point to an overarching preoccupation about social vulnerability, irrespective of the presence of confirmed hazards. The analysis further revealed several roles for disclosure which would allow for more capacity in personal decision-making; more transparent and accountable regulatory processes, and which could lead to more trustworthy relations between citizens and government. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

In recent years, corporate textual disclosure has gained considerable attention in accounting and finance research. The textual disclosures complete the picture of a firm's economic performance in addition to the quantitative information. Many studies have investigated various determinants and consequences of textual disclosure attributes. This thesis aims to contribute to this growing strand of literature that studies the drivers of the textual attributes of narrative disclosure. The thesis consists of three essays related to political uncertainty, CEO characteristics, and corporate social responsibility. The first essay (Chapter 2) investigates the impact of political uncertainty on the informativeness of a firm's narrative disclosure. Using conference calls, the results show that firms exposed to political uncertainty provide less readable disclosure, more ambiguous tone, and rely more on scripted responses to analysts. Further analysis reveals that obfuscatory disclosure has predictive power over a firm's future poor performance, suggesting that managers use obfuscation to opportunistically mask poor future performance during high political uncertainty periods. The second essay (Chapter 3) examines the impact of the CEO's tenure on the firm's disclosure complexity. Based on upper echelon theory, the results show that early tenured CEOs with greater career concerns have more incentive to provide more readable disclosure to affect the market perception about their ability. However, long-tenured managers get more entrenched and provide obfuscated disclosure. In addition, the results indicate that the effectiveness of different governance mechanisms in improving the quality of a firm narrative disclosure depends on the CEO's tenure. In particular, board oversight (internal governance by subordinate executives) is more effective in constraining new (long-tenured) CEOs' myopic disclosure practices. The third essay (Chapter 4) explores the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) orientation and textual attributes of financial disclosures. The results show that firms with high CSR orientation provide more readable disclosures and use a less ambiguous tone in their annual reports. These findings are consistent with the notion that managers in CSR-conscious firms adhere to high ethical standards and commit to improving the transparency of their firms' financial disclosures. In addition, the study provides evidence that corporate governance mechanisms and CSR are substitutes for each other to ensure transparent disclosure. Overall, the findings of these studies provide insights to the investing community, the firm's board of directors, and standards-setters to better understand the implications of firm CSR engagement, political exposure, and CEO characteristics in financial reporting contexts beyond quantitative metrics.