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This research was undertaken from an ecosystemic perspective, the aim of which was to explore and understand what perceptions Afrikaner adolescents have of the HIV & AIDS pandemic. The research was undertaken at an Afrikaans medium Secondary school in Kwa-Zulu Natal. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

AIM The purpose of the research study was to explore and to describe stereotypes associated with serious mental illness and the effects of familiarity on the serious mental illness stigma process in potential employer informants in the greater Durban area, eThekwini district, KwaZulu-Natal. Methods A quantitative non-experimental cross sectional survey relational research design was used to describe firstly, the stereotyping and individual discriminatory behavior (desire for social distance) of potential employers to a person with a SMI, and secondly, the effect of familiarity and other person variables (culture, age and gender) on the stigma components of stereotyping, emotional reaction and individual discriminatory behavior (desire for social distance). The population included potential employers of the SMI person in the greater Durban area, eThekwini District, KwaZulu-Natal. The target population was all students enrolled for a part-time management course at two academic institutions in the Durban central area. Non-randomized, non-probability purposive sampling was used. Demographic data and four self report tools were compiled into one self report questionnaire to collect data. Results The sample was evenly distributed amongst male and female within the various age groups. All cultural groups were represented but this representation was not a perfect fit with national or provincial population statistics. Just less than half of the participants (48% n=55), both genders and across all cultural groups, had intimate and or personal contact with persons with a serious mental illness. Demographic associations suggest that male participants had greater perceptions of dangerousness, unpredictability and incompetence and a greater desire for social distance. The statistical results indicated limited correlations between emotional reactions and desire for social distance, stigmatizing attitudes and desire for social distance, and evidence of no significant relationship between familiarity and other components within the stigmatizing path. Fear was associated with a desire for social distance and with perceptions of limited potential for recovery. Stigmatizing attitudes were most negative towards persons who had a previous admission to a psychiatric hospital and the least negative towards 'bipolar mood disorder'. Stigmatising attitudes were recorded for all serious mental illness labels (including that of bipolar) with 75% of participants scoring closer to the negative polar adjective of stigmatizing attitude. Conclusion and Recommendations In conclusion, the supposed lack of desire for social distance, the dependent variable in this study, may reflect political policy and current ideology but the strength of the negative stereotypes suggests that changing policy is easier than changing attitudes. It is suggested that the stigmatizing stereotype of limited potential for recovery may have more salience in developing countries such as South African than the developed western world. Limited potential for recovery has financial and emotional implication within a developing country and to this extent, desire for social distance and fear are correlated to perceptions of limited potential for recovery. Recommendations include additional research include measures of social desirability bias to clarify the relationship between familiarity, emotional reaction and social distance. Secondly, intervention studies, specifically with potential employers, are required to obtain empirical data related to the combine effectiveness of disconfirming information and contact with people with a serious mental illness. Further, that health departments actively engage in evidence based anti-stigma initiatives. Lastly it is recommended nursing curricula recognise the importance of student psychiatric nurses developing a balanced view of mental health care users assigned the serious mental illness labels through a balanced clinical exposure to recovered, as well as acutely ill mental health care users. That the new undergraduate nursing degree curricula strengthen content related to recovery and psychosocial rehabilitation, specifically nursing interventions / strategies to facilitate rehabilitation in all the areas of study, socialization, community living, and specifically in the area of work. / Thesis (MN)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

This thesis examines Quebec public opinion towards the Spanish Civil War. It is based on a systematic analysis of editorials and articles from ten Montreal-based newspapers, representing divergent points of view. It suggests that, contrary to the popular interpretation, Quebec francophones did not unanimously support General Franco during the war; nor did all of the province's anglophones endorse the cause of the Spanish Popular Front. Support for General Franco and the Spanish Republic in Montreal transcended linguistic lines, and cleavages other than language, such as religion, ideology and social class, influenced public opinion towards the war.

Notre hypothèse consiste à affirmer que Platon souhaite transformer le mythe pour des raisons épistémologiques. Constatant la difficulté de parler d'un sujet sans le limiter à la sphère de l'intellect, il voit en la mythologie l'occasion d'utiliser un autre type de discours qui admet une forme de contraction. Toutefois, il est nécessaire que ce type de mythologie soit différent de la forme habituelle. Nous constatons que certains mythes font l'objet d'un traitement particulier de la part de Platon et échappent en quelque sorte aux critiques qu'il adresse par ailleurs à la mythologie. Selon nous, ces mythes représentent la réflexion de Platon au sujet de la mythologie qui aboutit à la constatation qu'un " eikos muthos " est le meilleur discours possible dans un contexte qui ne se limite pas à une analyse intellectualiste. En effet, nous défendons l'idée que ces mythes vraisemblables, bien qu'ils ne puissent prétendre à la certitude, ont un degré de véracité supérieur aux mythes habituels. En d'autres mots, nous défendons l'idée que l'opposition entre logos et muthos n'est pas aussi catégorique et que Platon tente d'y introduire un troisième type de discours. Notre étude se consacre à trois de ces mythes; le mythe de Diotime, le mythe historique du livre III des Lois et le mythe de Timée qui, par la nature de son sujet, représente le paradigme de ce changement.

Lead users are proposed as a valuable resource for marketers in terms of the (1) development, (2) adoption, and (3) diffusion of new products. We present the first consumer study to provide evidence that the latter two suggestions are justified. First, we find that lead users demonstrate stronger domain-specific innovativeness than more "ordinary" users. Second, lead users perceive new technologies as less "complex" and might therefore be better prepared to adopt them. Third, we find that lead users demonstrate stronger opinion leadership and weaker opinion seeking tendencies. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for the marketing of new products. (authors' abstract)

Wherever we go, marketing is all around us. Sport events are no exception. Sport events have during the last years become a platform and a communication tool for marketing companies. The major reason for the increasing attraction of sport games is because of its’ enormously attraction of audience. A company that uses sport games in order to market itself is usually a sponsor for a sport association or team. A sponsoring company is provided with the opportunity to associate itself with a team and/or a game. Sponsoring and non-sponsoring companies utilize the amount of audience to reach as many customers as possible. The sponsoring companies need to pay a sponsorship fee. The non-sponsoring companies free ride at the expense of the sponsors, by not paying any fees. The ambushing companies aim, is to draw the consumers’ attention away from the sponsors and onto themselves. The purpose of this research is to study the consumers’ acceptance regarding marketing from non-sponsoring companies in sport games. It is interesting to study a consumer perspective of ambush marketing since the research field is not very explored. A qualitative study with quantitative elements has been used in order to capture the consumers’ opinions. The method used resulted in comprehensive findings. The results show distinct differences within the quantitative and the qualitative findings. The conclusion of this research is that consumers somehow accept the free riding strategy. Consumers believe that they do not lack knowledge regarding sponsoring companies. However, the consumers may lack knowledge concerning the harm ambush marketing causes the sponsoring companies.

The present study investigated the applicability of the theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980) to attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Specifically, the investigation sought to examine individuals' intentions to request or not to request a new, heterosexual roommate given that they have been assigned a gay (or lesbian) roommate. The purpose of the investigation was to test the mediating role of respondents' perceptions of the expectations of important persons in their lives (termed subjective norm) and their attitudes toward the specific behavior of requesting a new roommate (termed attitude toward the act). An alternative to the Ajzen-Fishbein model was tested to determine whether the variables of acquaintance with a member of the target group, sex, and attitude toward the target predict request. Phase One assessed the modal beliefs and the normative beliefs of 98 students in a university population through self-report data gathered in a free response format. Phase Two investigated the relationship between the attitudes and subjective norm of 238 university students and their intention to request a new roommate with a questionnaire format developed from the responses in Phase One. The AjzenFishbein variables mediated the variables of acquaintance with a gay or lesbian, sex of the respondent, and a general attitude toward the target when predicting the request of a heterosexual roommate. / Department of Psychological Science

The primary purpose of this study was to design an instrument, the Professional Support Survey (PSS), to assess one's extent of world view thinking relating to wellness programming. The secondary purpose was to use the Perceived Wellness Survey (PWS) and the PSS to determine if a relationship exists between HR professionals' personal wellness and their support for wellness programs in the work place. Face and content validity was established for the PSS, test-retest analysis confirmed significant reliability («T, = 0.9239 and «T2 = 0.9464), and a significance test found - = 0.846 and adjusted - = 0.8662. The study found that HR professionals' levels of personal wellness are reflected in their decisions to support wellness programs. Further, the more exposure HR professionals have to wellness management issues (i.e., the company having a formal program, the number of activities, and budget allocations for programming), the more likely they are to support wellness programs from a programmatic standpoint. / Fisher Institute for Wellness

The purpose of the study was to determine if perceived severity of the consequences of physical inactivity is an important component for exercise motivation in college students. The participants of the study were 581 college students who had enrolled in HSC 160, Fundamentals of Human Health, at Ball State University during the spring semester of 2001. Using a cross-sectional data collection process, participants completed a survey instrument consisting of the stages of change for exercise scale, the perceived severity of the consequences of physical inactivity scale, and demographic questions.The data were analyzed using both univariate and bivariate analyses. Specific descriptive and inferential statistic analyses were used to: 1) determine the degree of association between the participants' perceived severity and their identified stages of change for exercise, 2) examine the relationship between the stages of change for exercise and the participants' demographic characteristics, and 3) determine the difference between perceived severity of consequences of physical inactivity and the Participants' demographic characteristics. / Department of Physiology and Health Science