abstract: Prior research has looked at the effects of low self-control, unstructured socializing, and risky behaviors on victimization. In previous studies, however, the differences between routine activity and lifestyle theory have been overlooked. The aim of this study is to test the unique characteristics of both theories independently. Specifically, this study addresses: (1) the mediating effects of unstructured socializing on low self-control and victimization and (2) the mediating effects of risky behaviors on low self-control and victimization. Data were collected using a self-administered survey of undergraduate students enrolled in introductory criminal justice and criminology classes (N = 554). Negative binomial regression models show risky behaviors mediate much of the effect low self-control has on victimization. Unstructured socializing, in contrast, does not mediate the impact of low self-control on victimization. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Criminology and Criminal Justice 2014

D.Ed. / Human beings make choices resulting in what they say or do, or what they won’t say or won’t do, all of which directly or indirectly influence or direct their conducts and lives. It is on these grounds that educators and learners have to be held directly accountable and responsible for the consequences of their words, actions or conducts in their lack of or failure to learn, or demonstrate self-discipline. The lack of self-discipline at secondary schools is an issue which cannot just continue to be taken for granted, ignored or wished away. / Prof. C.P.H. Myburgh

In the health psychology literature there has been a proliferation of research linking forms of self-attention to psychological distress, especially to depression. The broad conclusion that self-attention is harmful, however, challenges the central premise of self-regulation theory - a theory detailing the role of self-attention as the engine of an adaptive regulating system that enables people to achieve their goals. In an attempt to reconcile these perspectives, I conducted two studies to distinguish the forms and states of self-attention that serve an adaptive self-regulation function from those that create a vulnerability to depression. Both studies included a pretest and a daily diary component. Participants were pretested on trait self-attention, trait negative affectivity (Study 1), depression (Study 2), and a goal inventory. Study 2 included a follow-up session where participants again completed the depression inventory. For the diary component, participants described and rated the most negative event they experienced during the rating period (twice daily for 2 weeks in Study 1; once daily for 4 weeks in Study 2). Diary self-report measures of self-attention included: level of rumination (Study 1), initial self-analysis (Study 2), and multi-day-protracted attention (Study 2). After the diaries were completed, participants' event descriptions were coded for goal-relevance and level of self-focused attention (SFA). Consistent with self-regulation theory, participants' goal-related events elicited stronger self-attentional responses (higher levels of SFA, rumination, initial self-analysis, and protracted attention) than did their goal-unrelated events. These within-person effects were not moderated by the pretest measures, nor did they predict levels of emotional distress. Thus, in daily life it appears to be typical and not harmful for people to respond to goal-setbacks by engaging in elevated levels of introspection, self-analysis, and even negative, symptom-focused rumination. With respect to individual differences, people higher in pretest rumination and in chronic daily rumination, initial self-analysis and protracted attention experienced higher levels of emotional distress. Chronic daily levels of initial self-analysis and rumination predicted emotional distress after controlling for pretest levels of distress. Thus, self-attention appears to create a vulnerability to depression only when people have chronic difficulty containing initial levels of self-analysis and rumination in response to negative events. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The present study aims to explore the role of self-control, morality and lifestyle risk (core elements of Situational Action Theory-SAT) on adolescent victimization. Although previous studies produced plenty of support to the influence of self-control and lifestyle risk on victimization, no study so far measured level of morality as predictor of victimization. The study focuses especially on exploring the effect of morality in causation of victimization among adolescent. Analyses are based on data collected for Malmö Individual and Neighbourhood Development Study (MINDS) during 2011-12, when adolescents attained at the age between 16 and 17. Pearson’s correlation and binary logistic regression are run to examine relation and the magnitude of effect of each predictor. Strong relation of adolescent victimization with lifestyle risk and self-control is revealed in this study, that awarded strong support to the existing studies. A correlation between morality and victimization among adolescent also identified. Overall findings step-ahead the possibilities of application of the core elements (morality, self-control and lifestyle risk) of SAT in explanation of victimization. Gender remains as a strong predictor of adolescent victimization, where significant gender differences in level of morality is identified.

Time perspective refers to an individual’s cognitive orientation toward the past, present or future. Time perspective has been theorized to have implications for motivation, goal setting, and decision-making. This research examines the role of time perspective in determining whether individuals are primarily focused on short-term or long-term goals. Three studies were conducted to show that time perspective adjusts the incentive value of long-term goals and thus influences self-control. Study 1 is a pilot study confirming the expected correlations between time perspective, goal strength, and self-control. Study 2 extends Study 1 by examining additional dimensions of the future time perspective as well as testing indirect effects. Study 3 shows that manipulating time perspective produces changes in self-control as measured by a delay of gratification test. The results suggest that time perspective influences the content of individuals’ goals and thus self-control.

Although previous research has shown the efficacy of self-control techniques such as self-monitoring and self-reinforcement in changing study behavior, the adequacy of the experimental procedures utilized in many studies may be questioned. This experiment re-examined the effects these operant conditioning procedures had on the study behavior of junior college evening students by using three groups of subjects exposed to different combinations of self-control techniques. Control Group subjects recorded their new thoughts (ideas relating the course material to their everyday lives) in an attempt to control for the effects of novel procedures, motivation and other non-specific variables. Self-Monitoring Group subjects complied with the control procedure, monitored their study time {by recording study start and stop times) and monitored the number of facts learned (by self-administering quizzes). The Self-Reinforcement Group complied with the self-monitoring procedures and self-reinforced their study behavior (by listing their reinforcers, the cost per reinforcer in minutes of study time and recording the number of reinforcements received). Additional data collected consisted of concurrent weekly quiz scores, final examination scores and the extent to which subjects complied with the treatment procedures. Results showed no significant differences among the three groups on either concurrent quizzes or on the final examination. The Self-!

Currently, the etiology of obesity is conceptualized as a confluence of environmental, socioeconomic, behavioral, biological and genetic factors. With regard to behavioral factors, some have suggested that a failure of self-control may contribute to the difficulty of an overweight/obese individual because of their inability to resist food or maintain physical activity. Recent research proposed that self-control could be described as similar to a muscle that can be fatigued. Thus, if an individual engages in a self-control task they have lessened ability to utilize self-control on a subsequent task. Theory also suggests self-control may be fueled by a finite resource, identified as blood glucose. The role blood glucose plays is important to understand, especially in overweight and obese populations, as they may be more likely to be insulin resistant. In effect overweight and obese individuals are less likely to adequately process glucose. Therefore overweight/obese individuals might react to self-control tasks differently than normal weight individuals. Participants who were considered normal weight, overweight, and obese were recruited from the UNT research pool. They answered questions about their trait self-control in daily life and engaged in either a task that required them to exert self-control (e.g., resist crossing out a letter unless criteria is met) or a control task (e.g., cross out a letter without restriction). All participants then engaged in a subsequent self-control task to assess if engaging in the initial self-control task reduced performance on the subsequent self-control task compared to the control task. The current research findings were not in line with previous research, in that a depletion effect in self-control was not observed; in neither the normal weight individuals nor the overweight and obese groups. There were several limitations that may have contributed to these findings including; higher DSC than observed in the general population and a possible adaptation effect due to the duration of the self-control tasks, which is in keeping with subsequently published research.

Previous research on college students has found that cooperation in iterated prisoner's dilemma game is correlated with preference for delayed rewards in studies of temporal discounting. The present study attempted to replicate this finding in a drug-dependent population. Thirty-one individuals who intranasally abuse prescription opioids participated in temporal discounting and iterated prisoner's dilemma game procedures during intake for a treatment study. Rate of temporal discounting was determined for each participant at two hypothetical reward magnitudes, as well as proportion of cooperation in a 60-trial iterated prisoner's dilemma game versus a tit-for-tat strategy. Cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma game and temporal discounting rates were significantly correlated in the predicted direction: individuals who preferred delayed rewards in the temporal discounting task were more likely to cooperate in the prisoner's dilemma game.

The current study explored the relation between sustained attention and the social skills of assertion, cooperation, self-control, and peer competence and whether sex moderated this relation. Data from the National Institute of Child Health and Development – Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development were analyzed. Structural equation models were used to test the possibility of sex as a moderator for each relation. Results suggest sex moderates the relation between sustained attention and assertion skills. Additionally, results suggest sex moderates the relation between sustained attention and cooperation skills. However, results suggest sex did not moderate the relation between sustained attention and self-control and also suggest sex did not moderate the relations between sustained attention and peer competence. Such relations emphasize the importance of understanding social outcomes for children who struggle with attention and should be utilized by educators, parents, and families to ensure social success for children with attention problems.

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