Impulsive personality traits have been found to be robust predictors of substance use and problems in both cross-sectional and longitudinal research. Studies examining the relations of substance use and impulsive personality over time indicate bidirectional effects, where substance use is also predictive of increases in later impulsive personality. The mechanism(s) accounting for the impact of substance use on later personality remain unknown. The present study sought to explore the bidirectional relations of alcohol use with the impulsive personality traits over three time points, and to examine two potential mechanisms that could account for the impact of alcohol use on personality: the development of alcohol-related problems and social norms for substance use. Participants were 525 college students (48.0% male, 81.1% Caucasian), who completed self-report measures assessing personality traits and a structured interview assessing past and current substance use. Data collection took place at three different time points: the first occurred during participants’ first year of college (T1), and follow-ups took place approximately one-year (T2) and two-years (T3) later. Bidirectional relations were examined using structural equation modeling to control for the relations among the variables of interest within time points and the stability of the variables across time. T1 sensation seeking and lack of premeditation predicted higher levels of alcohol use at T3, and T1 alcohol use predicted higher levels of all three impulsive traits at T3. T2 friend norms for drug use were found to significantly mediate the relation between T1 alcohol use and T3 sensation seeking, and T2 alcohol problems were found to significantly mediate the relation between T1 alcohol use and T3 negative urgency. Findings provide greater resolution in characterizing the bidirectional relation between impulsive personality traits and substance use, and demonstrate that sensation seeking and negative urgency are impacted through distinct mechanisms.

Studies indicate a high level of risk taking behavior among student-athletes in the college setting. There are questions as to whether risk-taking behaviors stem from the unique social and academic environment experienced by intercollegiate athletes, or due to other factors such as sensation seeking or other personality traits, perceived norms, peer influence or an amplification of the common college experience of experimentation. However, most research has focused on student-athletes from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). This study examined (1) health risk taking behaviors, (2) sensation seeking and (3) perceived norms among gender and sport-type (contact or non-contact) in a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) population. Participants (N=63) completed a 78-item questionnaire and reported on risk-taking behaviors (alcohol, marijuana, gambling and sexual risks, for a 12 month period), sensation seeking and perceived norms. Findings from this research indicate that non-contact athletes are more likely than contact athletes to use alcohol during the season of competition. Male and female athletes showed not significant differences in alcohol use, marijuana use and sexual risk behaviors, they did however, have significant differences in gambling behavior. High sensation seekers show strong, positive correlations with alcohol frequency and quantity during the off-season. Perceptions of others (athletes/teammates and general college population) health risk-taking behaviors are higher than their own behaviors. Additional research is needed in many of these domains to further elucidate the relationships and significance of these findings. / text

The primary goal of the current study is to develop a more advanced model of information-seeking behaviors. For achieving this goal, it paid attention to two social phenomena characterizing contemporary society: informationalization and globalization. First, focusing on these two influential phenomena, this study investigated how individual-level factors—information overload, information ambiguity, and goal orientations—affected information-seeking behaviors among employees in a multinational corporation. Next, in addition to these individual predictors of information-seeking behaviors, this study explored the effects of two team-level factors—team task interdependence and team tenure—on the relationships between the main predictors and information-seeking behaviors. Last, paying more attention to the multicultural context, this study investigated how these employees in a multinational corporation seek task and feedback information from two culturally different sources: American direct advisors and Korean expatriates. In order to more thoroughly investigate the roles of the cultural backgrounds of information sources, this study explored how American employees perceived the cultural backgrounds of the two culturally different sources and how such perceptions influenced those employees’ information-seeking behaviors. / text

This dissertation augmented Kahlor’s (2010) planned risk information seeking model (PRISM). According to the PRISM, people’s intentions to seek risk information hinge on their attitudes toward seeking, seeking-related subjective norms, perceived control over seeking, affective response to the perceived risk, and information need. As well, this dissertation examined the role of self-identity as an information seeker, independent self-construal, past risk information seeking, involvement, and motivation orientation in people’s intention to seek risk information about radon and poor indoor air quality. In a pilot study of a convenience sample (N = 59), I derived an information-seeking self-identity scale and a novel instrument for measuring information need. The main study of a national probability sample (N = 602) evaluated the proposed structural model, tested several hypotheses, and explored several research questions. Both the pilot and main study gathered data via online surveys. Results supported the proposed model (R2 = .62) and several hypotheses. Notably, information-seeking self-identity and past risk information seeking positively predicted seeking intention. Also, the effects of attitudes and norms on seeking intention were stronger among more independent respondents. Finally, in a series of multiple regression analyses, I detailed the roles of involvement and various motivation orientations in each model component. An unexpected finding was that perceived control over seeking did not significantly predict seeking intention. Post-hoc analysis revealed that the strength of the control-intention relationship was—at least with the current sample—inversely related to socioeconomic status (SES), where at higher levels of SES, the importance of perceived control over seeking diminished. / text

Some oil-rich countries suffer from a resource curse, a paradoxical situation in which a country with oil wealth has poor economic growth and social development. A country can escape the resource curse by selecting appropriate policies. Governments are responsible for utilizing the right policies and managing the natural resource revenue effectively to benefit their nation. In this report, various economic, political, and social measurements are used to examine the fall into the resource curse by Nigeria, Iraq, and Brazil for a period of time, and the scape of Norway from the resource curse. The report also evaluates the current circumstances of Iraq to determine which direction the resource curse will take. Several recommendations are presented to direct Iraq out of the resource curse. / text

This proposed study will explore how university racial composition impacts the relationship between cultural mistrust, campus comfort, and help-seeking attitudes in a sample of African American college students. A moderated hierarchical regression will be conducted to determine if the cultural and contextual variables predict a significant amount of variance in help-seeking attitudes, and to discover if the variables’ interaction with university type significantly increased the amount of explained variance. The results will demonstrate how one’s comfort in the university environment and degree of trust in the majority group can contribute to seeking psychological services. Counseling and university policy implications will be delineated from the results. Limitations will also be discussed. / text

This is an ALISE juried paper presented on Thursday, January 13, 2005 in Session 5.3, LIS Course Content & Instructional Issues (Juried Papers), of the 2005 ALISE Conference, Boston, MA. The goal of this study was to gain an understanding of the literature used in generalist search education in LIS programs.

This paper reports on part of a study of academic researchers' use of Internet information and communication technologies (IICTs) to support information-seeking activities. The goal of this research is to gain insight into disciplinary and cultural differences of information seeking in the Internet Era. The project is ongoing to include more participants from different cultures.

SIPP ACCESS represents an innovation in providing services for statistical data. A computer-based, integrated information system incorporates both the data and information about the data. SIPP ACCESS systematically links the technologies of laser disk, mainframe computer, microcomputer, and electronic networks and applies relational technology to create great efficiencies and lower the costs of storing, managing, retrieving, and transmitting data and information about complex statistical data collections. This information system has been applied to national longitudinal panel surveys. The article describes the reasons why SIPP ACCESS was created to improve access to these complex surveys and provides examples of tools that facilitate access to information about the contents of these large data sets.

This paper revises David Ellis's information-seeking behavior model of social scientists, which includes six generic features: starting, chaining, browsing, differentiating, monitoring, and extracting. The paper uses social science faculty researching stateless nations as the study population. The description and analysis of the information-seeking behavior of this group of scholars is based on data collected through structured and semistructured electronic mail interviews. Sixty faculty members from 14 different countries were interviewed by e-mail. For reality check purposes, face-to-face interviews with five faculty members were also conducted. Although the study confirmed Ellis's model, it found that a fuller description of the information-seeking process of social scientists studying stateless nations should include four additional features besides those identified by Ellis. These new features are: accessing, networking, verifying, and information managing. In view of that, the study develops a new model, which, unlike Ellis's, groups all the features into four interrelated stages: searching, accessing, processing, and ending. This new model is fully described and its implications on research and practice are discussed. How and why scholars studied here are different than other academic social scientists is also discussed.