This thesis is designed to examine the effects of discrimination on its target. It aims to investigate the psychological, physical, perceptual and behavioral responses that individuals exhibit when faced with racist, sexist and heterosexist as well as other types of discriminatory acts. Through meta-analytic procedures, findings from existing studies investigating the impact of discrimination on the target were gathered and their average effect sizes calculated. A total of 50 empirical studies were identified, from which 84 effect sizes were derived. Using homogeneity analysis techniques, the studies' effect sizes were compared and analyzed. The results show significant heterogeneity in the overall mean effect size (0.38) of discrimination. Subsequent moderator variable investigations indicated that among discrimination acts, sexism had the highest mean effect size (0.64), while among the responses to discrimination, the perceptual factor showed the highest mean effect size (0.65). Additional moderator variables' investigations resulted in significant differences between Canadian and American settings in terms of discrimination acts and responses.

This study examined Hanin's (1980) zone of optimal functioning (ZOF) theory. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether being in or out of a ZOF could be used to predict performance of 19 female and 16 male varsity college swimmers. Determining ZOFs required a two part strategy. In part one, subjects retrospectively revealed optimal anxiety using the SAI and CSAI-2 anxiety inventories. Standard deviations from this portion of the study were used to determine the size of individual ZOFs. Each swimmer was assigned SAI, cognitive, somatic, and selfconfidence ZOFs. In part two, swimmers rated level of anxiety prior to competition. Pre-competition anxiety scores were compared to individual ZOFs to determine if swimmers were within or outside their ZOFs prior to performance. A performance score of 1 was assigned to swimmers whose competition time was better than their mean time for previous competition, while a score of 0 was assigned to those swimmers whose performance time was worsethan their mean time for previous competition. Tetrachoric correlations were computed to determine the magnitude of relationship between location about ZOF and subsequent performance score. Results indicated that being within SAI and somatic ZOFs were related to above average performance for male swimmers. A somatic-cognitive interaction was also significant for male swimmers. No significant relationships were identified for female swimmers possibly due to questionable reliability and validity of anxiety responses for females. It was concluded that data for male swimmers supported ZOF theory. / School of Physical Education

[Truncated abstract] The transition to parenthood places a number of emotional, physical, and cognitive demands on individuals. It is also a role that many individuals choose, enjoy, and derive benefit from. This research examined how women's parenting expectations influence their adjustment to parenthood. Taylor & Brown (1988, 1994) suggest that unrealistically optimistic expectations are associated with positive psychological adjustment. However, research examining adjustment during the transition to parenthood has demonstrated that unrealistic expectations pertaining to some aspects of parenthood can have a negative effect on adjustment (Belsky, 1985; Hackel & Ruble, 1992). The primary aims of this thesis were to examine the relationship between optimistic expectations and adjustment, taking into account a broader range of expectations than previous work, and to examine how adjustment is influenced if expectations are overly optimistic relative to experiences.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1990. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [274]-288).

Diss. - Catholic University. / Published also in the Journal of Psychology v. 41, 1956.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1981.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1981.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1993. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-83).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 1999. / "May 1999." Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-110). Also available on the Internet.

Diss. - Catholic University. / Published also in the Journal of Psychology v. 41, 1956.