Using a novel setting, I examine the relation between a CEO's career concerns and the provision of an annual earnings forecast. Specifically, I exploit staggered changes in non-compete enforcement laws in three U.S. states as a source of exogenous variation in a CEO’s career concerns. Consistent with theory suggesting that career concerns increase a manager's aversion to risk, I find that a CEO is less likely to issue an earnings forecast in periods of stricter non-compete enforcement. Further, cross-sectional analyses indicate that the lower probability of forecast issuance is more pronounced for a CEO who has greater concern for his reputation, faces more risk in forecasting, and is more vulnerable to dismissal.

The three reported studies examine the possible etiology of gambling behavior and its correlates in adolescents with respect to motivational factors, predisposing factors as assessed by personality, depression and risk-taking traits, and by testing Jacobs' (1986) General Theory of Addictions which specifies a path toward the development of an addiction. Furthermore, the validity of the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking (AISS) (Arnett, 1994) as a sensitive measure for assessing risk-taking in adolescent gamblers is assessed. Findings offer support for the premise of an addictive personality with problem and pathological gamblers differing from the norm on several personality dimensions including Excitability, Conformity, Self-Discipline, and Cheerfulness as assessed by the High School Personality Questionnaire. Furthermore, this group of adolescent problem gamblers was characterized by depression, high risk-taking, and tendencies toward dissociation. Support for Jacobs' General Theory of Addictions was ascertained, and the AISS was found to be a useful instrument for evaluating risk-taking among adolescents as it pertains to gambling behavior.

No description available.

Positive and negative outcome expectancies have been found to play a significant role in adolescents' decisions to engage in drug and alcohol use. In light of the parallel risk and protective factors among high-risk behaviors, youth gambling outcome expectancies were explored through the development of the 23-item Gambling Expectancy Questionnaire (GEQ) using a sample of 1,013 students aged 12-18. The final GEQ consists of three positive expectancy scales (i.e., Enjoyment/Arousal, Self-Enhancement, Money) and two negative expectancy scales (i.e., Over-Involvement, Emotional Impact). Significant gender, age and DSM-IV-MR-J gambling group differences were identified on the scales of the GEQ. Stepwise logistic regression among gamblers was performed separately for males and females to predict group membership into either social or problem gambling categories. The results of this study suggest that non-gamblers, social gamblers, at-risk gamblers and PPGs differ in their expectancies of the positive and negative outcomes of gambling behavior. In particular, PPGs highly anticipate both the positive and negative outcomes of gambling. Among males, these perceptions differentiate those who gamble excessively and those who do not. For females, on the other hand, outcome expectancies may have less predictive value. These findings were interpreted in terms of their implications for prevention, treatment and future research.

The dramatic increase in the masculine practice of tattooing among girls in Western societies is an area of interest for feminist researchers and visual culture educators. Girls’ tattoos are perceived as diverse practices of conformity, resistance, reclamation, and empowerment, and/or as contemporary markers of femininity, sexuality, and desire. Eleven adolescent girls with tattoos from the Central Okanagan region of British Columbia were interviewed during a 12 month period in 2007/2008. Discourse analysis was employed as a method to interpret and deconstruct girls’ narratives with respect to understanding why girls have adopted traditional Western male practices of tattooing as expressions of individuality or identity. Secondly, responses were examined with respect to girls’ knowledge of potential risks involved with tattooing. The majority of participants had strong attachments to their relatives and their tattoos signified a desire to maintain that close family relationship. Research findings indicated girls’ mothers were influential in their daughters’ decisions to get tattooed and in the type of image tattooed. Girls were adamant that popular media figures with tattoos and advertisements of models with tattoos could influence or encourage girls to engage in body art. Knowledge of potential risks was learned primarily from tattoo artists and relatives, with infection indicated as the main associated risk. Participants suggested the distribution of pamphlets in school counseling centres could inform students of potential risks and provide information related to safe body art practices. Participants believed societal norms respecting girls’ behaviors and practices were different than those experienced by their mothers. However size, placement, and image of their tattoos, their own biases, and their experiences with older relatives including grandmothers and some fathers indicate that traditional Western attitudes regarding femininity and the female body continue. In spite of this, girls believe that they have the freedom to choose how they enact femininity and assert their individuality, and they believe “if guys can do it, so can girls”. As visual culture educators we need to listen to and respect the voices of girls to achieve a greater understanding of how girls experience and perform gender through their everyday practices within the popular visual culture.

Risk-sensitivity theory predicts that decision-makers shift from risk-aversion to riskpreference in situations where low-risk options are unlikely to meet their needs. Risksensitive theory is contrasted with more traditional unbounded models of decision-making predicting that decision-makers seek to optimize utility in all decisions. In this dissertation, I review influential theories of decision-making from the various behavioral sciences, and offer an integrated approach to understanding decision-making informed by evolutionary theory. I then present evidence suggesting that risk-taking comprises a general phenomenon, inclusive of such behaviors as gambling and antisocial conduct. Finally, I demonstrate in several laboratory experiments that conditions of need, such as inequality, are important motivators of risky behavior. Together, the results suggest that risk-taking represents a functional triggering of preference for variable outcomes in response to conditions of need, consistent with risk-sensitivity theory. / xiv, 149 leaves ; 29 cm

No description available.

The number of women infected with the HIV virus through heterosexual contact is on the rise and expected to increase steadily throughout the 1990's. In order to prevent the further spread of HIV infection and AIDS, behavior change is essential. The focus of this study is on the sexual behaviors, safe sex practices, and the role that self-efficacy and self-assertiveness play in a woman's ability to put into effect preventative behaviors. The study sample consists of 40 heterosexual, English-speaking women from the Montreal area. The results indicate that just under half of this population are using condoms as a safe sex precaution, but they are being used inconsistently. Those participants who reported sometimes using condoms were also the same participants who more frequently reported modifying other aspects of their sexual behavior in order to reduce their risk of infection, as compared to those participants who did not report using condoms. It was also found that the participants' past sexual history, knowledge about HIV transmission, and awareness of risky sexual practices do not predict more cautious sexual behavior. One major factor which did seem to influence modification of risky sexual behaviors was the participants' perception of being at risk for HIV. The majority of the participants did not have difficulty in asserting their desire for safe sex. Their methods, however, in how they would choose to practise safe sex were dependent on the seriousness of the relationship, ability to trust their partner, and their current method of practising safe sex in their own sexual lives.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1984. / Bibliography: leaves 138-146. / Microfilm. / xi, 146 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, March, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.