Arbetsmiljön kan enligt Karasek och Theorell (1990) karaktäriseras i två dimensioner, psykologiska krav från arbetet och i vilken utsträckning individen möter dessa med hjälp av egenkontrollen. De har utvecklat krav-kontroll modellen som mäter den psykosociala arbetsmiljön. Modellen används i denna studie för att undersöka huruvida några förklaringsvariabler relaterar till individens upplevelse av krav och kontroll på arbetet. Deltagarna fick besvara en enkät besående av olika variabler och självskattningsskalor som mätte krav och kontroll. Även känslan av sammanhang mättes med 13 frågor (Antonovsky, 1993). Deltagarna bestod av 116 anställda på två arbetsplatser i Västmanlands län. Resultatet visade att vissa dimensioner av förklaringsvariablerna (demografiska, arbets-, hälso och KASAM) bidrog till viss förklarad varians med avseende på krav och kontroll. Den psykiska hälsan hade ett positivt samband med kontroll och negativt samband med krav. Enligt Theorell (2003) mår individer med hög kontroll vanligtvis bättre än individer som uppleverlåg kontroll.

The Groenkloof Nature Reserve to the immediate south of the city is potentially an environmental treasure on Pretoria’s doorstep. Apart from the indigenous flora and fauna and rich history of the reserve, there are existing but poorly-used facilities for recreation, education and adventure sports. At present the huge potential of this area is by no means fully realised. This ambitious design project aims to change this by creating an Interactive Centre in the reserve. Its objective is to design an exciting blueprint for enhancing existing facilities and introducing new ones. The focus of this bold, holistic approach is one of blending, and at times juxtaposing, elements of design in order to harmonise the interior and exterior architecture with the natural landscape. / Dissertation (MInt(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Architecture / unrestricted

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If you belong to the dominant culture of your society, it is relatively easy to build an identity and conform. You understand how things run, what is expected of you, and how to meet those expectations. You have freedom to decide whether or not you will fit in. But have you ever considered what it must be like to belong to a minority culture? I certainly didn't, even though the primary school I work in is multicultural. Sixteen years ago, when I arrived, I assumed that it was up to the Samoan students at our school to assimilate into the Anglo-Saxon education system I had grown up with, despite the fact that many of them had been born in Samoa. But something happened over the years. An almost instinctive awareness grew amongst the Samoan parent community about the importance of the maintenance of their children's first language and culture. As a result of much hard work, my school has a Samoan bilingual class, where students learn, and learn in, two languages. The goal of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of the bilingual class from the point of view of students who had left the class at least two years previously, and now attended secondary school. They shared insights into the life of the class, and what they believed were the long term effects for them. Most of what they shared about the class was very positive and affirming, and they attributed feelings of confidence and self esteem to the warmth and cultural nurturing of the class. The ability to speak fluently, and learn in, their first language promoted a sense of identity and self worth. They felt proud of their Samoan identify and equated their abilities in Samoan as crucial to that. This report, then, is about the journey from assimilation of a minority culture into the majority one, to the realization of the rights its members have to maintain their own identity, and the benefits that result.

This qualitative research study used a theoretical framework of third-wave feminism and reader response theory to examine two research questions: How do girls and women relate to the female protagonist in dystopian young adult literature (YAL)? and How are the responses to dystopian YAL similar and different for the targeted teen audience and the adult audience? A group of four teenaged girls and another group of three adult women read and discussed the YAL dystopian text Uglies. For this project, I collected participant journals and transcripts from individual interviews and book club discussions. I selected quotations from each data source that highlighted the participant’s reactions to the protagonist. Data were analyzed in two phases. In phase one, I used discourse analysis, and in phase two I used constant comparative analysis. The analyses revealed that participants from both groups identified with the protagonist’s attempts to improve society, which aligns both groups’ responses with inclusive aspects of third-wave feminism. However, other aspects of feminism were incorporated into their answers as well. The women participants demonstrated a broader societal concern, such as those shared by second wave feminists. The girls, in contrast, were firmly situated within individualist aspects of third-wave feminism. Whereas, the women related to the protagonist on both a personal and broader societal level, the girls related only on a personal level. Findings from this research extend reader response theory by showing that responses to literature are strongly shaped by generational position.

Little is known about the role that personality and emotional readiness factors may play in participation and outcomes of premarital education programs in varying formats. Data collected via the RELATionship Evaluation Questionnaire (RELATE: Busby et al., 2001) was used to analyze how personality and emotional readiness factors affect perceived change and helpfulness in self-directed and workshop formats of premarital education for 384 individuals who participated in such interventions. Depression was significantly and negatively related to participant perception of positive change and helpfulness in a workshop setting. Kindness was positively and significantly related to perceived positive change in both workshop and self-directed formats, and income was negatively and significantly related to perceived positive change in workshop settings. Anxiety was significantly and positively related to perceived helpfulness in workshop settings. Implications of these findings are discussed. More research is needed to compare these results to other formats of premarital interventions, such as classes and counseling formats, and to more diverse population samples.

While there has been a relatively large number of studies conducted to investigate associations between financial problems and marital outcomes, little research has been done to examine possible relationships between materialistic attitudes, perceived financial problems, and marital outcomes. This study has been designed to examine a conceptual model linking materialism, perceived financial problems, and relationship satisfaction among married couples. Data obtained from 600 married heterosexual couples who took the RELATE test fit the model well. Findings indicate that wives' materialism is negatively related to husbands' marital satisfaction. Husbands' and wives' materialism is positively related with increased perception of financial problems which is in turn negatively associated with marital satisfaction. As expected, income was positively related to marital satisfaction, however, income had no relation to perception of financial problems. Materialism had a stronger impact on perception of financial problems than income. Distinct gender findings indicate that although husbands' variables had no significant relation with wives' outcomes, wives' variables were significantly related to husbands' outcomes. Specifically, wives' materialism is positively related with husbands' increased perception of financial problems, and wives' perceived financial problems is negatively associated with husbands' marital satisfaction. These findings support the notion that materialism is indirectly related to marital satisfaction, and in some ways directly related to marital satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to identify the partners' traits and skills that predict relationship satisfaction in committed, premarital relationships in which one person has neurotic traits, as well as to examine the degree of consensus about neuroticism for both individuals. Data from 198 never-married, young adult, premarital couples who had completed the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE) questionnaire were used in the analyses. Measures of perceived partner traits and skills included levels of empathic communication, clear sending, flooding, kindness, flexibility, criticism, and contempt and defensiveness. Relationship satisfaction as measured by RELATE was the criterion variable. Results showed little agreement between self and partner perceptions of the specific neurotic traits manifested by neurotic individuals; that is, levels of anxiety, depression, anger, and low self-esteem. A negative relationship between partner-rated neurosis and each person's relationship satisfaction, however, was present for both genders. The significant positive predictors of the neurotic female actor's relationship satisfaction were her perceptions of her partner's: 1) empathic communication, 2) flexibility, and 3) clear sending, as well as 4) the length of the relationship. The only significant predictor of the non-neurotic male partner's relationship satisfaction was the neurotic female actor's perception of his empathic communication. The significant predictors of the neurotic male actor's relationship satisfaction were his perceptions of his partner's: 1) criticism (a negative relationship), 2) kindness, 3) flooding (a negative relationship), and 4) empathic communication. The significant predictors of the healthy female partner's relationship satisfaction were the neurotic male actor's perceptions of her: 1) kindness, 2) flexibility, 3) criticism, 4) flooding, and 5) empathic communication, as well as 6) the length of the relationship. These results suggest that certain partner traits and skills may help to increase the relationship satisfaction for both partners in relationships in which one partner possesses neurotic traits. Implications of these results for therapists working with premarital couples in which one partner has neurotic traits are outlined.

The importance of valid and reliable couple assessment has been increasing with growth in research on couple and family relationships as well as in therapeutic and educational interventions for couples and families. However, self-report instruments–the most popular type of couple assessment–have been criticized at least partly due to limitations in Classical Test Theory (CTT) which has been used solely in developing and evaluating couple assessments for decades. In an effort to address the limitations in the sole use of CTT in developing self-report couple assessments, the present study integrated a modern test theory called Item Response Theory (IRT) and evaluated the properties of subscales in the RELATionship Evaluation (RELATE) using the existing data from 4,784 participants. Using the Rasch rating scale or partial credit model which is one of the IRT models, the author demonstrated that some of the RELATE subscales had items and response categories that functioned less optimally or in an unexpected way. The results suggested that some items misfit the model or overlapped with other items, many scales did not cover the entire range of the measured construct, and response categories for many items malfunctioned. The author made recommendations on possible remedies that could be adopted to improve the function of individual scales and items.

The problem this study addresses is the relationship among the constructs content knowledge, beliefs, and previous experiences of prospective elementary teachers. The 36 participants in the study, 35 females and one male, were recent graduates from a five-year Elementary Education licensure program at a major university located in the Mid-Atlantic region. A correlational research design was used to investigate the relationships that might exist among the three constructs using Praxis I Pre-professional Math test scores, Beliefs Survey scores, and Previous Mathematics Experience Questionnaire [PMEQ] scores. Scores from the Praxis I Pre-professional Math test were self-reported and verified by the Licensure Coordinator in the Center for Teacher Education [CTE]. Scores for the Beliefs Survey and Previous Mathematics Experience Questionnaire [PMEQ] were collected from the survey and questionnaire completed by each participant and the data were analyzed using SPSS software. A frequency distribution was constructed for the Praxis I Math Test scores, the Beliefs Survey scores, and the PMEQ scores. A Pearson correlation was constructed to analyze the relationship among the following variables: Praxis I Math Test, beliefs, and previous mathematics experiences (feelings, teaching tools, and quantity of math courses taken). An alpha level of .05 was used for all statistical tests. A significant positive correlation was found to exist between Praxis I Math Test scores and feelings about mathematics using a two-tailed test indicating that prospective elementary math teachers who have higher Praxis I math test scores tend to report having more positive feelings about mathematics. A significant negative correlation was found to exist between beliefs and teaching tools using a two-tailed test. This indicates a tendency by prospective teachers to favor more relational beliefs when their previous experiences included the use of a wide variety of teaching tools. The prospective teachers' responses to the essay question and interview questions support their stated beliefs about the importance of teachers emphasizing relational understanding. On their essay responses, all 36 participants indicated a desire to provide a relational oriented learning-environment in their future classrooms. The findings in the study support the notion that the prospective teachers in this group with stronger content knowledge tended to report more positive feelings about mathematics. They also tended to favor a relational teaching/learning environment if they had experiences using a wide variety of teaching tools. No significant correlation was found to exist between any of the other variables that were tested. / Ph. D.