This study examined problem recognition ability and its importance to strategic managers. Few studies have empirically investigated problem recognition as a separate activity preceding strategic problem solving. The overall goal of this research was to develop a measure of problem recognition ability and to explore the relationship of a manager's ability to identify strategic problems with his/her personal and organizational characteristics. / The problem identification instrument developed was pilot tested among a student sample. Managers were then surveyed in a two-phase study to collect demographic information, the sensing-intuition scale of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), managerial style, and scores on the ability of managers to identify problems from written case scenarios. / Analysis of covariance tests yielded support that problem recognition ability is related to the personality type of the manager, as measured by the MBTI, with intuitive (N) managers have significantly higher skill at recognizing problems than managers with a sensing (S) preference. Conclusions of other tests for differences on managerial style, structure, and size variables did not lead to significant results. / Further research into this area should be conducted in an attempt to overcome some of this study's limitations. The findings suggest that individual personality preferences are related to problem recognition ability, yet organizational variables such as span of control, line vs. staff position, level in the hierarchy and size of the organization do not influence the ability to identify strategic problems. Other personal or organizational variables may need to be examined to provide firms with more valuable predictors of skill at recognizing strategic problems, a critical first step to successful strategic management. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-10, Section: A, page: 3083. / Major Professor: William A. Shrode. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

<p> Willingness to expend effort has received increased attention over the past decade, and for good reason &ndash; effort is crucial to life's successes, and many of us wish we could harness and control it more optimally. In particular, cognitive effort is central to academic and vocational achievements. Though effort is important, it is also costly. If it were not, no projects would be left unfinished, and no treadmills would be abandoned early. Because it is costly, self-control is often required to exert and maintain effort. Reduced willingness to expend effort has also come into focus as a clinically relevant variable related to amotivation, most notably in schizophrenia. Additionally, both incentive motivation (immediate monetary reward availability) and effort have been linked with cognitive performance, suggesting that our measures of cognitive ability are inexorably linked to and to some degree confounded by cognitive effort.</p><p> In this dissertation, I present a novel paradigm developed for the assessment of perseverant cognitive effort in the absence of monetary incentive. The Cognitive Effort and DisEngagement (CEDE) task is a cognitive test that increases in difficulty and measures perseverant effort disengagement in a simple but novel way: participants are permitted to skip trials without penalty. The present work introduces the task, situates it within a framework of self-control divided into inhibitory and actuating mechanisms, and provides evidence of its association with stable traits, context, and psychosis.</p><p> The first set of studies (Chapter 1) tests the reliability and validity of the CEDE task in an undergraduate sample and a community sample. We find evidence of high internal consistency using a split-half method. We also find that skips on the CEDE show convergent validity in terms of correlation with self-reported perseverance and work ethic, as well as discriminant validity, showing lack of significant relationships with several theoretically distinct aspects of self-control. We also show evidence of tolerability of the paradigm and of face validity of skipping as an index of effort disengagement.</p><p> In Chapter 2, we test the effect of observation on perseverant effort on the CEDE task. We find that participants skip significantly more trials when they are observed by an experimenter with access to information about their performance via sound effects, compared with than when they have privacy (when the experimenter leaves the room, or when the participant wears headphones). We also find that self-reported internal motivational style predicts more perseverant effort when in private, whereas external motivational style predicts more effort when observed, suggesting that motivational styles exert influence differentially depending on features of the context. We also show that self-reported stress during the task negatively predicts performance, and that this relationship is fully mediated by skips. These results suggest that observation has a potent effect on cognitive task effort, affecting people differently according to motivational style, and that test anxiety also promotes effort disengagement. </p><p> In Chapter 3, we test for group differences in skips between individuals with first episode psychosis (FEP) and community controls, as schizophrenia is associated with both a cognitive and a motivational impairment. We show reduced perseverant cognitive effort on the CEDE in FEP. We find that this group difference specifically emerges during difficult trials, suggesting specifically a deficit in perseverance in reaction to difficulty rather than continuous attention throughout the test. We also show that reduction of effort in the form of skips is correlated with self-reported amotivation among patients. These results suggest clinical relevance of perseverant cognitive effort in schizophrenia as a component or reflection of motivational impairments.</p><p> Together, these findings provide novel insight into cognitive effort perseverance, its relationship to non-monetary motivations in terms of motivational style and observational context, and its reduction in psychosis. Our findings also highlight the relevance of cognitive effort perseverance to cognitive testing. Willingness to expend cognitive effort appears to be sensitive to numerous factors in the context of difficulty, when the demands on effort are higher, whereas it is relatively steadfast during easier tasks.</p><p>

The central conviction of this dissertation is that the tenets of the psychiatric medical category, pathological narcissism, explain, in a way other psychological interpretations have not adequately addressed, why the main characters in several important English Renaissance tragic dramas become enmeshed in difficulty and come to ruin. Evidence in the plays themselves invites the use of this particular interpretive category. William Shakespeare's Coriolanus in Coriolanus, Vindice in Cyril Tourneur's The Revenger's Tragedy, Edward in Christopher Marlowe's Edward II, and John Frankford in Thomas Heywood's A Woman Killed with Kindness are representative of tragic characters who suffer from a lack of a psychologically integrated self--the least common denominator of narcissistic disturbance. Pathological narcissism is not a hedonistic orientation toward self-gratification, nor is it self-love, but rather, it refers to an impoverished state of being that is self-misconstrued in a special way. Lacking a stable self-configuration--a mental state that is experienced painfully and fearfully, narcissists engage in patterns of defensive, compensatory behaviors which include grandiose acting out, masochistic and sadistic functioning, aggressive and vengeful conduct, mental splitting, and inappropriate psychological mirroring. The terrible irony of these defensive strategies is that, because they are so offensive and alienating to others, they isolate the narcissist from relational contact and impel him back toward the sense of self-incohesion that he seeks to avoid. In each chapter, I examine how pathological narcissism manifests itself in the four tragic protagonists under consideration. Coriolanus's exaggerated focus on himself renders him a completely unsuitable candidate for the office of consul. Vindice revives himself from mental paralysis through narcissistic defensive activities which cause him self-destructively to collapse back onto himself. Edward II possesses a self that is so narrowly conceived that it cannot survive the rigors of monarchical office. John Frankford lives in the narcissistic psychological prison of perfectionism that will be his undoing. Also in each chapter, I suggest how Ovid's treatment of Narcissus in the Metamorphoses, for whom the psychological condition of pathological narcissism is named, provides a gloss on the disastrous course each protagonist's life takes.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ratings of self-esteem and self-perception by adolescent mothers who participated in an adolescent parent program. Self-esteem and self-perception were measured prior to participation in the program and again upon completion. The population for this study consisted of adolescent mothers between the ages of 15 and 20, none of which had completed high school. The two instruments utilized in the study were the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (1985) and the Harter Self-Perception Scale for Adolescents (1988). Self-esteem and scholastic competence scores increased to a statistically significant degree after participation in the program. The values represented a 12.8% increase in self-esteem scores and an 18.2% increase in scholastic competence scores. Although not statistically significant, all other subscales increased between 5.4% and 12.2%, with an average of 9.2%.

<p> This paper is an integral inquiry that serves as an introduction into motivation and creativity from a transpersonal perspective. By focusing on intrinsic motivation, which can be defined as the enjoyment of and interest in an activity for its own sake, this paper posits that engaging in creative expression can act as a transcendent function that facilitates individualization and a progressive unfolding towards self-actualization. Supporting evidence shows that fully intrinsic-motivated immersion into non-objective tasks, such as engaging in creative expression, can result in a peak or flow experience. In turn, this experience can be a transcendent function that facilitates the processes involved with individualization and self- actualization.</p>

<p> This study explored therapists' experiences working with individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Further, it hypothesized that clinician spirituality might positively influence their experience of working with this clinical population. An embedded mixed-methods design was used in this pilot study. Participants were licensed clinicians currently working with at least two clients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Participants completed a semistructured interview, which was analyzed using thematic analysis, and were administered two quantitative scales, the Spiritual Orientation Inventory (SOI) and the Assessment of Spirituality and Religious Sentiments (ASPIRES). Quantitative data were analyzed through SPSS (Version 17) for descriptions and correlations, and were used to support themes that emerged from the qualitative semistructured interview analysis. Thematic analysis resulted in twelve main themes specific to therapists' experiences of working with individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Specifically, therapists experienced this work as challenging, rewarding, and providing a sense of meaning to their lives. Quantitative analysis suggested that therapists sampled in this study were more spiritual as compared with normative sample scores. Embedded mixed-methods analysis did not provide a significant correlation between therapists' experiences and their spirituality. Implications of this study include validating and valuing therapists' experiences in their work with this clinical population. Further, this research provided evidence that therapists found personal practices such as meditation, mindfulness, and prayer to be supportive of their experiences working with individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.</p>

<p> Virtually no research to date has investigated individual differences that might make women more or less susceptible to menopausal symptoms. This study hypothesized that high levels of the neuroticism personality trait render women more susceptible to severe menopausal symptoms. Neuroticism was assessed using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Brief Version (EPQ-BV), and menopausal symptoms were measured with the Menopausal Rating Scale (MRS). A total of 169 English speaking women <i>(M</i> = 50.74 years) were recruited through social media and flyers to complete an online survey. After controlling stressors, exercise, and income, a strong correlation between high neuroticism and more severe symptoms was found. This indicates that negative menopausal experiences can be predicted with individual difference measures. The utility of being able to predict difficult menopause experiences with individual difference measures in a clinical setting, as well as suggestions for future research of this type, are discussed.</p>

<p> Historically, love is not been specifically mentioned within the context of the study of leadership, yet there seems to be some intersection between the two. They seem to have similar roots; strong relationships, trust, integrity, charisma, character, taking care of others, but where exactly is the intersection? Several leadership theories allude to a dimension of leadership and the leader follower relationship that is seemingly unexplainable or unquantifiable.</p><p> The purpose of this exploratory study was to tie together the psychology of love and leadership behavior to potentially change the way we approach the field of leadership, leadership assessment, and leader development. More specifically, it examined love as represented by intimacy, passion, and commitment, and leadership as represented by the common components of the theories contained in the neocharismatic leadership body of literature. These components include character, courage, integrity, selflessness, empathy, collaboration, and reflection. It is significant because up to this point there has not been any scholarly research published that ties together love and leadership.</p><p> The study was conducted by administering an online survey followed by quantitative research/analysis via multiple linear regressions. The results, <i> r</i>(237) = .795, <i>p</i> &lt; .01, demonstrated that it can be determined that a significant positive correlation exists between the follower&rsquo;s perceived degree of love displayed (by their leader) and follower&rsquo;s perceived leadership.</p><p> Keywords: <i>Leadership, Love, Neocharismatic Leadership, Character-based Leadership, Transformational Leadership. Authentic Leadership, Servant Leadership </i></p>

<p> The Matrix- Predictive Uniform Law Enforcement Selection Evaluation Inventory (M-PULSE) is an actuarial instrument used to predict job performance and liability risk of police officer candidates. Leark and colleagues created the INC Scale to detect inconsistent responding on the M-PULSE. This study examined the ability of the INC Scale to detect inconsistent responding to items on the M-PULSE. This study utilized archival data provided by MHS, Inc., publishers of the M-PULSE. A random sample of 3,392 from the M-PULSE's normative full sample was used as the control group and the experimental group consisted of 500 randomly assigned subjects. An independent t-test was conducted to determine if there were statistically significant INC Scale mean score differences between the control group and the experimental group. Post-hoc analyses were conducted to determine internal reliability and validity of items on the INC Scale. Mean scores for the INC Scale were statistically significantly higher than mean scores for the normative data set indicating that the INC Scale was able to correctly identify inconsistent responses (t= 86.967, df =3890, p &lt; .01). This study indicates that the INC Scale is able to detect inconsistent responding to items on the M-PULSE, thereby improving the validity of the M-PULSE.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-05, Section: A, page: 2168. Adviser: Ruth V. Russell. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Jan. 12, 2008)."