The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of attributional style, sex roles, and sex-role self-discrepancy in the relationship between gender and depression. Epidemiological studies report a higher incidence of depression among women then men (approximately 2:1). Among the various theories suggested to explain this gender difference, sex roles, attributional style, and self-discrepancy have been conceived as possible explanations. The relationship between gender and depression may be better understood through examining the possible contribution of these three independent variables. To examine these theories, a sample of 130 subjects was drawn from clients at the USU Counseling Center, the USU Community Clinic, the Logan Regional Hospital, and students from an introductory psychology class at USU. Participation was based on voluntary informed consent of the subjects and approval of the above mentioned institutions. Each subject completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Extended Attributional Style Questionnaire (EASQ), and a revised version of the short Bern Sex-Role Inventory (SBSRI) measuring ideal versus actual self. Path analysis was used to examine the sequence of the relationships presumed by the androgyny model, congruence model, and masculinity model. Neither sex role was found to correlate significantly with depression. Overall, the directions of the path coefficients best supported the androgyny model, but these coefficients were too weak to explain the variance. Attributional style was related to depression, but no gender difference was found in the correlation between attributional style and depression. The correlation coefficient between feminine self-discrepancy and depression was positive but statistically insignificant for the females from the clinical sample and very small for females from the student sample. Overall, attributional style, sex-roles, and self-discrepancy in sex-role characteristics were not found to contribute to the higher rate of depression in women.

This study was done to determine whether maternal employment affected the child's perception of male roles. The study was designed to see if the child viewed the male in a more negative or positive way or if he perceived the male as taking more instrumental or expressive roles when the child's mother was employed. The hypotheses predicted that there would be no difference in the children's perceptions of male roles between mother-employed and mother-not-employed groups, and that there would also be no difference between the sexes on children's perceptions of male roles . The questionnaire was designed with some parts adapted from questionnaires used by Kagan and Lemkin (1960) and Aldous (1 967). The questionnaire made use of drawings of family members which the children pointed to in response to questions about adult roles and sex role perceptions. The children were from Cedar City, Utah . Twenty were children of employed mothers , and 20 were children of non-employed mothers . There were ten girls and ten boys in the employed group and the same in the non-employed group. The data did not permit rejection of the four null hypotheses. There was no significant difference found, with girls or with boys, on the frequency of negative and positive expression of attitudes on male role perception tests of children of employed and non-employed mothers . There was also no difference between the sexes on the frequency of instrumental and expressive responses between the employed and nonemployed groups. Each question was tested by chi square to determine if the distribution was due to chance. On only one question was the probability of a chance distribution rejected. The question dealt with who was the nicest between the mother and the father. When boys' mothers were employed, they viewed the father as the nicest, whereas girls viewed the father as being the nicest when the mother was not employed. When the results were analyzed With all the girls in one group and all of the boys in a different group without regard to maternal employment, some interesting differences were found. The boys perceived the father in a significantly more positive way than did the girls. This was a T-score test which was significant at the .01 level. The boys also viewed the father as taking many more expressive roles than the girls. This was significant at the . 05 level. It was concluded that sex had a greater effect on the child's perceptions of male roles than did maternal employment. (98 pages)

Marital roles have become a subject of major concern in recent years. Many critiques consider traditional marriage roles to be responsible for hindering appropriate social-emotional development of the wife, in particular, and also the husband. Past research in assessing the relationship between marital roles and the happiness and well-being of husbands and wives is limited in quantity and generally is inconclusive or controversial. This study was designed to clarify the relationship between marriage roles and two dependent variables, marital happiness and self concept. The sample population consisted of 124 volunteer couples selected from the teaching staffs of eight school districts in Southeastern Idaho and Northern Utah. Each participant provided information for this study by completing a questionnaire, the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, the Marriage Adjustment Scale, and the Marriage Role Expectation Inventory. Forty-three variables were generated from these measures which, when factor analyzed produced 12 factors for husbands and 10 factors for wives, served as dependent and independent variables for this study. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was used to identify relationships between dependent variables (self concept and marital happiness of husbands and wives) and independent variables {i.e., level of education; hours spent as an employee, religious volunteer, and in community service; freedom to choose present role; income level). Husbands and wives were assessed independent of each other. None of the independent variables explained a significant amount of the variance on marital happiness or self concept neither when considered alone nor when stepped together in the multiple regression model. Thus, no significant relationship was determined between marital roles and marital happiness or self concept. Recommendations were made for studying more diversified populations and for controlling sample bias resulting from the use of volunteers.

Community and urban forestry is a multifaceted field ranging from tree planting to removal, hazard assessment, and public relations. However, the racial and gender diversity of the community forestry workforce is remarkably low. To gain a better understanding of this lack of diversity, I surveyed professionals in two major community/urban forestry organizations. Age, income, and years in the profession were considered, along with education level, to determine if there is some underlying reason for low representation of women and minorities in the community/urban forestry field. I found that while white males dominated all work sectors (especially private organizations), women were concentrated in public or non-profit organizations holding positions in offices, education, or other jobs with extensive public interaction. Minorities held similar positions to women or were in entry level jobs and general tree care rather than in more professionally advanced positions. Attitudes regarding most aspects of the profession varied little based on sex or minority status, with only minor differences on advancement potential and salary.

Agriscience is the growing study of biotechnology, business, and economics within the agriculture industry. Through 4-H, youth can experience hands on learning through different program areas. The purpose of this study was to identify the barriers, roles, and how Utah 4-H personnel preferred to learn about new programs. The study showed time and available volunteers were a barrier for 4-H Extension personnel to implement Agriscience projects. Other results included internet and workshops as the top choices for training programs. The Extension personnel agreed it was their job to involve and educate youth. Yet, need training in how to integrate Robotics; Biotechnology; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), and Agriscience into their existing program areas.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / There is a plethora of team composition and personality research, but limited research incorporating the influences of team context or teammate behaviors for a multilevel examination. Using secondary data from a pre-existing study consisting of 86 teams and 430 total participants, we investigated the multilevel relationships of personality and team role adoption. We predicted hypotheses at three levels. At the individual-level, we predicted personality traits would predict role adoption. At the team-level, we predicted team personality composition (measured as mean) would predict role composition (measured as density). We also predicted cross-level interactions, such that team personality composition would moderate relationships between individual personality and role adoption. We utilized Density scores to calculate team role composition, which captures mean ties per group member where a tie is being perceived as adopting a leadership role. At the individual-level, we found support that extraversion levels predicted adoption of all roles. At the team-level, mean conscientiousness predicted density of all team roles. We found no support for any cross-level moderations that team personality composition influenced individual-level personality to role predictions.

Magister Artium (Human Ecology) - MA(HE) / The research focused on 60 coloured, Afrikaans-speaking men and women residing in Bell ville South who completed a structured questionnaire and open-ended interview questions. Their perceptions held on the influence of male unemployment on family relations with specific reference to gender role perception, relational satisfaction, communication, decision making, finances and labour within the family were investigated. Unemployment of the male partner was found to have no statistically significant differences for the manner in which males and females perceive their gender roles, finances and labour distribution within the family. Statistically significant differences were found for the manner in which males/and females perceive decision-making and communication within the family when the male partner is unemployed. The results revealed that unemployment does not have an influence on role perception and that the respondents uphold a traditional role perception. Decision making was not male dominated, as more egalitarian decision were taken. The respondents expressed combination gender roles with regard to management of finances and appeared to be satisfied with family and partner relations. The minority of respondents who experienced problems with communication attributed this to the consequences of being unemployed. Social agencies need to offer services to empower families to deal with the affects of unemployment on family life to ensure the survival of families during these challenging periods. A multi-disciplinary approach, provided by a team of professionals is the basis for recommendations for proposed support programme development, access and further research.

In the beginning of the 20th century, there were 87 million elderly people aged 65 and older. However, by the years 2030 and 2050, elderly people in China will rapidly growth to 243–252 million and 352–398 million, respectively. (Zeng, Y., 2010) The population aging transition will take place in China with this staggering rapidity, compared to European societies. Predictably, as for this aging pressure, Chinese society still needs more time to react to it. Ageing is not only a challenge for the society but also a big challenge for design. Along with the increasing numbers of the elderly, they cannot be ignored by design any more. The discussion here aspires to move the design mindset beyond accessibility or in other words ‘Design for disability’, and introduce ‘Design for capability’ as a process of social innovation. In the paper, the design research will focus on meta-design, as well as participatory design and social innovation as auxiliary research, for designing a ‘seed’ as a change agent. The ‘seed’, as a meta-design solution, can be described as ‘a shared design endeavor aimed at sustaining emergence, evolution and adaptation’ (Giaccardi, E., 2005). It offers a framework for both designers and users to change original mindsets in the practice. (Giaccardi, E., 2005) Furthermore, the following question will be carried through the whole research: how to reposition ourselves as designers on the intersection of meta-design, design for social innovation and participatory design? What is the design approach to generate tools that can encourage inactive elderly citizens as ‘passive receivers’ to transform as ‘active participants’? How can the tools studied here contribute in a synergic relationship within stakeholders as a mean to make elderly citizens’ urban living more sustainable in terms of participating, learning and expressing actively?

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / As organizations use more and more work teams, selecting and assembling effective teams is becoming increasingly important. Past research and theory has demonstrated that informal roles serve as a critical linking mechanism between individual-level characteristics such as personality and team-level effectiveness. The present study builds upon this area of research and theory by testing the individual-level link between personality and informal roles and the team-level link between team informal role configuration and team effectiveness. These links were tested using a sample of 152 undergraduate students participating in 38 teams of four. The teams engaged in an information-sharing business simulation where the goal was to generate the highest possible profits across two simulated business years. At the individual level, the Big Five personality dimension Agreeableness positively and significantly correlated with the adoption of the Communicator role, while the relationship between Conscientiousness and the Contractor role approached significance. With regard to the team level, a positive relationship was found between the number of Completer roles performed within a team and the level of team effectiveness for the first simulated business year, and the relationship between the total number of informal roles performed within a team and team effectiveness in the first simulated year was found to be marginally significant. Using a criterion profile analysis approach, two criterion patterns were identified in which optimal informal role configuration patterns yielded high levels of team effectiveness. Overall, results from this study lend some support to the demonstrated links between personality and informal roles and informal role configuration and team effectiveness, which have important implications for organizational selection and employee development.

Sex, gender-role identity, and gender-role stress were assessed in terms of their relationship to observed gender differences in self-reported aggression. Physical and verbal aggression were explored, as well as the affective component of anger and cognitive component of hostility. The role of emotional intelligence in these relationships was also evaluated, as a possible correlate to the gender-related variables. The results indicated that both gender-role stress and gender-role identification were significantly associated with all components of aggression; however, only physical aggression was related to sex. Emotional intelligence was linked to sex and gender-role identity but not with gender-role stress. The results also suggested that emotional intelligence predicts physical aggression, anger, and hostility in addition to the variance explained by gender variables, presenting negative relationships with each of these variables.