While most ecotourist definitions and typologies have relied on concepts ingrained in traveler behaviours or destinations, none has benefited from a consideration of personal ethics. The study of ecotourism has virtually ignored theoretical considerations of ethics, other than making comparisons with the broader tourism sector. An additional shortcoming is the general lack of methodological sophistication, where the bulk of research concerning ecotourism has remained exploratory and descriptive, and has not sought to understand and explain the role that ethics have played, or not, in ecotourist behaviour and developmental practices. The assumption that ecotourists possess a higher level of ethical beliefs than mass tourists, and in fact exhibit ethical behaviour, has not been contested to a sufficient degree. Consequently, this dissertation addresses a need for more conceptually-based research to identify core ethics underlying ecotourist behaviour, with the potential to reveal where quite diverse groups, including those with different cultural orientations, are positioned on these Western philosophical stances. Upon building a conceptual understanding of ecotourist ethics, I have developed a conceptually-driven, multi-dimensional scale – the Ecotourist Ethics Scale (EES) – based on a conceptual framework that draws on classic theories of ethics (Deontology, Teleology, and Existentialism) and on dominant components of ecotourism definitions, frameworks, and typologies (Nature, Culture, Education, and Conservation). This first phase of scale development was followed by a second phase of testing the EES for its validity and reliability with a sample of 1,544 students, and additionally, testing its concurrent validity in relation to four other established scale measures conceptually related to ecotourist ethics. The results of employing the EES indicate ethics based on Deontology and Teleology define the prevalent ethical stances held by individuals where the focus appears to be on rules or principles and consequences, and not on the authenticity of the experience or activity. The development of a profile of travelers based on ethics, as opposed to typologies based simply on settings, behaviours, or occasionally psychographics, could not only advance our understanding of these travelers, but also provide a means for ecotour companies to implement management strategies for a more sustainable operation in response to the array of positive and negative beliefs and behaviours driven by core ethics. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of findings and their implications from analyses of an assortment of the factors related to the sample’s travel and demographic characteristics.

Canadian ideology promotes the concept of a “cultural mosaic,” which encourages groups to maintain their unique cultural heritage in a pluralistic society. However, despite being a popular metaphor, to date, there are only two academic articles on the concept (Chao & Moon, 2005; Eilam, 1999), and the extent to which the cultural mosaic truly represents the Canadian society is undocumented. Furthermore, the challenge facing multicultural organizations is achieving a balance among cultures in the workplace that benefits both individuals and their organizations. To address this challenge for the workplace and work groups, I developed and explored the concept of the Cultural Mosaic—defined as a multicultural work group in which members’ distinct cultural heritages, values, and practices are mutually recognized and accepted by the group, and are leveraged in the group’s activities—and created the Cultural Mosaic Scale (CMS) to measure the construct. In three studies, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine the factor structure of the CMS, and convergent and discriminant validity were demonstrated. The final components that make up the Cultural Mosaic are “Group Diversity,” “Culture Acceptance/Expression,” and “Culture Utilization.” Finally, limitations, future directions, and practical implications are discussed.

The purpose of this study s to construct a questionnaire about Self-action control of Academic Performance for college students based on Kuhl and Kraska (1989) action control theory. The sampling method of this study used purposive sampling, randomly selected from the freshman or sophomore students to various departments of Sun Yat-sen University, with a total of 409 examinees. After four expert validity, experts on the appropriateness of the questionnaire with content review and suggest modifications to draw the contents of the pre-test about 78 items . Measuring method is adopted online computer systems connection randomly selected to scale the three dimensions of 10 questions given to the college students. The contents of the Scale have three dimensions, pre-analysis of the results of the RSM mode in the ConQuest software, there are 11 questions beyond the adaptation target range, and finally the good adaptation of Formal items are 67 items. The overall item difficulty is too easy. The results of the three sub-scale reliability are 0.62, 0.65 and 0.53. Based on the findings, it is recommended more difficult items can be included to the questionnaire in the future. developed.

This study examined equity in the context of the allocation of park and recreation resources within a community. The contributions made by this study include: extending the original taxonomy of equity models proposed by Crompton and Wicks (1988); development of a theoretical framework for their original model; providing a current synthesis of equity based literature; advancing the Equity Implementation Model (Wicks & Crompton, 1989) by developing an instrument capable of measuring residents’ perceptions and preferences of park and recreation resource allocation in their community; empirically confirming the legitimacy of alternate dimensions of equity through Structural Equation Modeling; applying information gained from using the instrument to determine the usefulness of selected variables in predicting equity preferences; and comparing data on equity preferences with those of prevailing perceptions to illustrate the utility of the instrument in guiding resource allocation decisions. Five of the original operationalizations of equity were validated (Compensatory, Taxes Paid, Direct Price, Efficiency and Advocacy). An additional operationalization, Professional Judgment, was included and also validated, while one of the original dimensions suggested by Crompton and Wicks, Equal Outcomes, could not be distinctively conceptually differentiated and so was discarded. The operationalizations of Equal Inputs and Equal Opportunity could not be differentiated to reflect distinctively different equity concepts. However, further efforts should be invested in operationalizing these two equity concepts, since they do appear to be conceptually different. Using confirmatory factor analysis, a model consisting of all seven operationalizations (Compensatory, Taxes Paid, Direct Price, Efficiency, Advocacy, Professional Judgment and Equality) was an acceptable fit and all paths were significant at the .05 level, suggesting that the proposed 23-item, seven-dimension scale, P&R-EQUITY, effectively measures seven facets of residents’ perceptions of equity in the allocation of park and recreation resources. Two additional operationalizations (Demonstrated Use and Coproduction Opportunities) emerged during the research which suggested that Demonstrated Interest was inadequately operationalized, so future efforts could be focused on operationalizing those three. The scale developed in this study is intended to help officials make appropriate decisions when allocating park and recreation resources.

Based on the change-production-employee model proposed by Ekvall and Arvonen (1991), the present study developed a theoretical framework of creative leadership and constructed the Creative Leadership Scale for Elementary School Teachers. Eighteen elementary school teachers and education graduate students were recruited to receive semi-structured interviews. Content analysis indicated that the notion of creative leadership in elementary school teachers was congruent with the Ekvall and Arvonen¡¦s model. After content validity, the initial 37-item scale was administrated item analysis with a pretest sample consisting of 263 elementary school teachers. Item analysis reduced the initial scale to a 17-item formal scale. Exploratory factory analysis demonstrated a three-factor oblique model. In term of internal consistency aspect, Cronback¡¦s Alpha coefficient for the entire scale was .93. The coefficients of internal consistency for three subscales were .81 to .85. Later, the large sample which consisted of 1013 elementary school teachers was used to conduct confirmatory factor analysis and criterion-related validity. First-order orthogonal model, first-order oblique model, and second-oblique model were employed to conduct model comparisons in confirmatory factor analysis. The results indicated that the first-order oblique model was the most appropriate among the three models in terms of model fitness, in which the construct reliability coefficients were .82 to .85. The organizational innovative climate, creative teaching performance, and effectiveness of class management were used as criterion for validation. Findings in criterion-related validity revealed that the concurrent validity of the scale was satisfactory, showing creative leadership correlated positively with the criterions. Besides, sex differences and differences of advantageous hand were not observed. The scale was marginally associated with social desirability. Finally, future directions for scale validation and applications were discussed.

These studies define a Buddhist conceptualization of compassion and describe the development of the Compassion Scale. The definition of compassion was adopted from Neff's (2003) model of self-compassion that proposes that the construct entails kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. The six-factor structure was adopted from the Self-Compassion Scale (2003) representing positively and negatively worded items of the three components proposed to entail compassion. The six-factors for compassion are named: kindness vs. indifference, common humanity vs. separation, and mindfulness vs. disengagement. Study 1 was conducted to provide support for content validity. Study 2 was conducted to provide initial validation for the scale. Study 3 was conducted to cross-validate findings from the second study. Results provide evidence for the structure of the scale. Cronbach's alpha and split-half estimates suggest good reliability for both samples. Compassion was significantly correlated with compassionate love, wisdom, social connectedness, and empathy providing support for convergent validity. Factor analysis in both samples indicated good fit using Hu & Bentler (1998) criteria. Results suggest that the Compassion Scale is a psychometrically sound measure of compassion. Given that Buddhist concepts of compassion are receiving increased attention in psychology (e.g. Davidson, 2006; Gilbert, 2005, Goetz, 2010) this scale will hopefully prove useful in research that examines compassion from a non-Western perspective. / text

The goal of this study was to develop an instrument to assist public park and recreation agencies in successfully repositioning their offerings in order to garner increased allocations of tax dollars. To achieve this, an agency must be perceived as providing public benefits, those that accrue to all members of its constituency. The scale sought to identify the importance of various community issues and perceptions of the agency's performance in contributing to those issues. A valid and reliable 36-item instrument was developed that encompasses nine distinct dimensions: Preventing Youth Crime, Environmental Stewardship, Enhancing Real Estate Values, Attracting and Retaining Businesses, Attracting and Retaining Retirees, Improving Community Health, Stimulating Urban Rejuvenation, Attracting Tourists, and Addressing the Needs of People who are Underemployed. These dimensions represent community issues that a park and recreation agency can contribute towards, and can therefore use as a basis for its repositioning efforts. Using a screening process by expert judges, a pretest sample of undergraduate students, and a sample of municipal residents, each of the importance and performance dimensions in the scale was judged to possess content validity, internal consistency, construct validity, and split-half reliability. A shortened version of the instrument was also demonstrated to possess internal consistency and construct validity. In a practical application, the scale proved useful in identifying repositioning options for the park and recreation department, both in isolation and relative to a public agency'competitor'. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are offered.

Organizational memory has significant potential for companies’ competitive advantage, with mentoring considered a particularly effective method of transferring this knowledge. Older workers are often considered ideal mentors because of their experience and alleged willingness to pass on their knowledge. There is an associated assumption that these workers anticipate and experience positive outcomes from mentoring others. This thesis tested if these assumptions hold up in 21st century workplaces - some discriminatory practices towards older workers and a career contract that no longer guarantees employment, may discourage knowledge sharing. An organizational memory scale was constructed to help test the assumptions and an exploratory factor analysis involving 143 employees from eight companies resulted in 21 items and five correlated factors including socio-political knowledge, job knowledge, external network, history, and industry knowledge. Two confirmatory factor analyses, the first involving 287 employees and the second 115 retirees, found support for five correlated first-order factors and a second order factor, organizational memory. In a third study involving 134 employees, support was found for a model of organizational memory and empowerment. Age was found to relate to organizational memory but this relationship was mediated by organizational tenure. In turn, organizational memory was found to relate to psychological empowerment and the frequency with which participants were requested to share knowledge at work. Organizational memory, empowerment and request to train and mentor others also positively related to organization-based self-esteem. In the fourth study, an organizational case study involving 78 employees, support was found for a model of organizational memory and the intention to mentor within the context of an aging workforce. Generativity and the expected cost of the time and effort involved in mentoring mediated the relationship between organizational memory (specifically, socio- political knowledge) and the intention to mentor. Furthermore those participants with high scores on both organizational memory and occupational self-efficacy anticipated more cost in time and effort, and indicated less intention to mentor, than those with high organizational memory but low occupational self-efficacy. These findings challenge the assumption that experienced workers are, as a matter of course, willing to mentor others. In a final study involving 96 retired individuals, there were no significant differences found between retirees with and those without experience as a mentor, in career satisfaction and unwelcome work ruminations. However notably, the study showed that participants did experience unwelcome work ruminations even (as in the case of some) well into retirement. The thesis concludes with a summary of findings as they relate to the assumptions under examination, an outline of the overall implications of the findings for future research and for organizational practice, and closing remarks about the overall research contribution of the thesis.

The article develops a multidimensional scale that measures to what extent different moral philosophical dimensions influence auditors’ decision-making in their managerial role. An additional aim was to explore if auditors perceive differences in the ethical decision-making process as managers and as auditors. The scale was developed based on eight ethical dimensions from a priori theory. The scale was converted into a webbased questionnaire and sent to Swedish authorised auditors. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to test the scale, since it is a suitable method for scale development and early stages of research. The EFA indicates a five-dimensional scale; however, the eight-dimensional scale is to some extent supported, since two of the five dimensions, both connected to duties, are multidimensional in themselves. Hence, the study implies that the concept of duty is a wider concept in the auditing context than in moral philosophical theory, which could be explained by the nature of the profession and that auditors do not perceive a difference between the managerial and auditing role. However, since the study is limited to the Swedish auditing context, the scale needs to be tested in other geographical and cultural contexts. Other implications and suggestions for further research are also presented.

Canadian ideology promotes the concept of a “cultural mosaic,” which encourages groups to maintain their unique cultural heritage in a pluralistic society. However, despite being a popular metaphor, to date, there are only two academic articles on the concept (Chao & Moon, 2005; Eilam, 1999), and the extent to which the cultural mosaic truly represents the Canadian society is undocumented. Furthermore, the challenge facing multicultural organizations is achieving a balance among cultures in the workplace that benefits both individuals and their organizations. To address this challenge for the workplace and work groups, I developed and explored the concept of the Cultural Mosaic—defined as a multicultural work group in which members’ distinct cultural heritages, values, and practices are mutually recognized and accepted by the group, and are leveraged in the group’s activities—and created the Cultural Mosaic Scale (CMS) to measure the construct. In three studies, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to determine the factor structure of the CMS, and convergent and discriminant validity were demonstrated. The final components that make up the Cultural Mosaic are “Group Diversity,” “Culture Acceptance/Expression,” and “Culture Utilization.” Finally, limitations, future directions, and practical implications are discussed.