The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the impacts of Management by Objectives (MBO) on upper secondary school education in Sweden. In particular the goal is to increase our understanding of how the implementation of MBO affects the schools and the role of head teachers. In addition this work seeks to generate new knowledge about the factors that influence the performance of head teachers. This dissertation includes four separate, but interconnected articles, each addressing a different aspect of the impact of MBO on schools and head teachers, it begins with an overview of all material. A multi-theoretical approach is taken here, using insights from diffusion theory, goal setting theory and role stress theory to guide the research. Even though qualitative methods are used the quantitative methods dominate the dissertation and most of the data is collected from a mail survey of head teachers. The results confirm the findings of other research that the diffusion of new ideas (in this the context MBO) stalls when it is introduced into local environments within which day to day work takes place. Goal setting and role stress theory are integrated, which makes it possible to show that role commitment had both functional and dysfunctional effects. It shows that efficacy plays a mediating role between stressors and performance and that the relationship between stressors and self-efficacy is not linear. Finally, the nature of the different stressors are described and role design has an impact on the level of them. All of these findings have practical implications for those responsible for education and school policy. The first article in the dissertation looks at how well MBO has been implemented in the upper secondary scools and its impact on student performance and school effectiveness. The results of the stydy are that head teachers report that the effects of MBO have declined over time. Its implementation appears not to have influenced student performance. On the other hand, it seems to have rediced teacher stress, but increased head teachers´ sense of frustration. The second article argues in contrast to previous research that goal commitment can have both a positive and negative effect on rple performance and conceptualizes self-efficacy as a mediator between commitment and performance. The findings of the study show that self-efficacy does act as a mediator and that high commitment can have both positive and negative consequences. In particular, high commitment can improve performance by reducing role ambiguity, but it also drives role overload, which can reduce performance. The third article builds on the findings of article two in order to deepen our understanding of the impact of self-efficacy on head teacher performance. In contrast to most of the literature it shows that stressors might have positive effects and that self-efficacy is involved in these relationships. The research presented in the article confirms that both role conflict and role ambiguity influence self-efficacy in a non-linear way. The focus of the final article focuses on the design of the role of the head teacher and how this impacts stress levels. The results show that when the head teacher´s role includes significant economic responsibility and more space to maneuver, or less, they experience role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload differently. Overall, the results suggest that it would be beneficial to take the factors that this study has shown to be important for head teacher´s performance into consideration when the role is designed.

By focusing on gender differences in structural relationships rather than differences in levels of constructs, this study extends Babin and Boles' [Babin B. J., Boles J. S. Employee behavior in a service environment: a model and test of potential differences between men and women. Journal of Marketing 1998;62:77-91.] research examining the effects of role stress on customer-contact employees' various job outcomes to a new context (frontline bank employees in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus). Results indicate that gender has a moderating role on the relationships between role ambiguity and self-efficacy, and role conflict and job satisfaction. Cultural norms may play a role in the way gender moderates these relationships.

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Research suggests that the associations between femininity, body image and eating disorders are intricate. How these constructs are linked to each other still needs to be determined. The purpose of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of these links, examining the mediational relationship among these constructs. Also, the prediction that bulimia and binge eating disorder symptoms have a similar origin was tested and compared. Some researchers have suggested that the pathways leading to these disorders are equivalent and the main difference between the two is the dietary restriction, while others see them as distinct disorders with different etiology. A total of 355 female college students (ages 18 to 26) completed a set of questionnaires that assessed femininity, feminine gender role stress, body dissatisfaction, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. Results showed that body dissatisfaction mediates the relationship between femininity or feminine gender role stress with bulimia symptoms, as well as the relationship between feminine gender role stress and binge eating disorder symptoms. Results indicate that body dissatisfaction related to femininity or to feminine gender role stress may contribute to higher levels of bulimia symptoms. The findings also suggest that body dissatisfaction related to feminine gender role stress may contribute to higher levels of binge eating disorder symptoms. Results did not support the mediational role of body dissatisfaction between femininity and binge eating disorder. However, the mediational role of feminine gender role stress between femininity and body dissatisfaction was partially supported, suggesting that feminine gender role stress might only be one pathway by which femininity may have an impact on body dissatisfaction. / Master of Science

Increased levels of stress in the workplace have led the American Psychological Association to predict a looming public health crisis. Critical care nurses (CCNs) are highly exposed to stressors in the workplace, more than other nurses. Tens of billion dollars were reported lost in productive work time yearly due to ill health from depression alone. An important gap remains in understanding the relationships of stressors with the amount of stress. Supported by the biopsychosocial stress theory, the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between frequencies of perceived stressors (IVs) as a source of perceived levels of stress (DV) or allostasis. The mixed-methods study included an online questionnaire and an e-mail interview of 400 hospital-based CCNs from professional nurses' associations in the United States. The Nursing Stress Scale was used to determine the kinds and frequencies of IVs, while the Psychological Stress Measure was used to assess the DV. Multiple regression analysis assessed the strength and direction of the relationships between IVs and DV. Interviews fell short of the minimum sample size for saturation and were not analyzed. Quantitative findings indicated workload as the most frequently perceived stressor, correlating positively with allostasis (p = .0005). Death and dying, conflict with other nurses, and lack of support for CCNs were also statistically significant (p < .05). Implications to practice and social change include promoting changes in policy with management support to reduce workload, death and dying, conflict with other nurses, and lack of social support for CCNs. Personal behavior changes like relaxation and physical exercises as coping methods may also reduce levels stress.

College-age women are affected by anxiety disorders at a significant rate. The data suggest that enhancing a sense of control over the negative effects of life events has a greater positive effect on women than men (Matheny, Ashby, & Cupp, 2005). While there is a literature base for stress coping among undergraduate students (McCarthy, Fouladi, Juncker, & Matheny, 2006), little data exists which explores the implications of stress coping among female graduate students in counseling programs. Using a population of university women in graduate counseling programs, this study explored the interrelationships between coping resources, gender role stress, self-efficacy, and anxiety. Specifically, the effects of coping resources (using the Coping Resources Inventory for Stress-Short Form, CRIS-SF; Matheny, Curlette, Aycock, Pugh, & Taylor, 2007), gender role stress (using the Feminine Gender Role Stress Scale, FGRS; Guillespie & Eishler,1992), self-efficacy (using the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale, SES; Tipton & Worthington, 1984), a form of emotional distress (using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory A-Trait version, STAI-A; Speilberger, 1983), and self-report measures of demographic data were examined. Results indicate that all measures are significantly interrelated, with the exception of FGRS. Furthermore, CRIS primary scale, Confidence, and FGRS scales, Physical Unattractiveness and Emotional Detachment were most predictive of trait anxiety, as evidenced in the final regression. Research and clinical implications for these findings suggest a number of promising directions in supervision and training.

The purpose of this study was to examine group perpetrated antigay violence. Specifically, the effects of MGRS, peer dynamics, and increases in negative affect on antigay aggression were examined. The differential utility of aggression toward gay and heterosexual targets in relieving a state of negative affect (e.g., anger, fear) was also evaluated. Participants completed questionnaires that included a measure of MGRS, and then were assigned to one of three group conditions(individual, stranger, and friend). Participants then viewed a video depicting male-male intimacy and competed in the TAP against either a fictitious gay or heterosexual opponent. Results showed a main effect for condition, such that higher levels of aggression were observed in the group, relative to the individual, conditions. Analyses also revealed a significant positive relation between MGRS and aggression among participants competing with a stranger against a heterosexual opponent. Neither condition nor opponent differentially predicted changes in negative affect.

The purpose of this study was to examine group perpetrated antigay violence. Specifically, the effects of MGRS, peer dynamics, and increases in negative affect on antigay aggression were examined. The differential utility of aggression toward gay and heterosexual targets in relieving a state of negative affect (e.g., anger, fear) was also evaluated. Participants completed questionnaires that included a measure of MGRS, and then were assigned to one of three group conditions(individual, stranger, and friend). Participants then viewed a video depicting male-male intimacy and competed in the TAP against either a fictitious gay or heterosexual opponent. Results showed a main effect for condition, such that higher levels of aggression were observed in the group, relative to the individual, conditions. Analyses also revealed a significant positive relation between MGRS and aggression among participants competing with a stranger against a heterosexual opponent. Neither condition nor opponent differentially predicted changes in negative affect.

Thesis (MComm (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / A study of the literature revealed that the concept of servant leadership is still in need of further empirical research. It also became clear that the leadership style employed by the supervisors of certain boundary spanning employees may have a pivotal effect on the role stress they experience and the resulting coping mechanisms they are likely to employ. Evidently, further investigation into the relationship between the constructs of servant leadership, role stress and coping could be valuable. An exploratory study to investigate these relationships was therefore planned and executed. A correlative ex post facto study of nonexperimental kind was followed making use of survey research. For this purpose a composite questionnaire was created and used as the means of data gathering. The questionnaires were directly administered by the researcher to the participants of a large national retail organisation where the survey was conducted. A total of 290 respondents from six different stores of this organisation participated in the study. The respondents occupying a specific type of boundary spanning role, known as the subordinate service role (SSR), completed the composite questionnaire which comprised of the rater version of the Servant Leadership Questionnaire of Barbuto and Wheeler (2006), the role stress scale based on the research work of Hartline and Ferrell (1996), and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire developed by Lazarus and Folkman (1984). The SSR incumbents assessed the level of servant leadership of their immediate supervisors, their own level of role stress and the coping mechanisms which they typically employ. Answers were sought to three research questions dealing with the content and configuration of the constructs as well as their interrelations.