Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / Clive J. A. Fullagar / Student engagement has become an important way of assessing student outcomes for college and is used to provide information to accreditation agencies, for internal accountability as well as to assess impact of college on students. However, current measures of student engagement do not assess the core process underlying student engagement, instead focusing on antecedents and consequences of engagement. The current research addressed this gap by first developing a new measure of student engagement called SAENS (Student Academic ENgagement Scale), which is strongly grounded in theory derived from the work engagement literature. Two dimensions of engagement were found: enjoyment and effort. A second study validated this measure by forming a nomological net of relationships with other variables and testing these antecedents and consequences of engagement. Results indicated that engagement effort is strongly related to student grades for their classes and the dimension of enjoyment is related to the teaching style of collaborative learning. However, engagement was not related to students’ levels of critical thinking.

The current study used a three-phase mixed-methods design to produce a new self-report measure of the strategies that college students use to cope with the death of a loved-one. College students are commonly bereaved and may be in the process of undergoing important developmental tasks related to emerging adulthood. However, the application of grief-specific stress-and-coping theories (i.e., the Dual Process Model of Coping with Bereavement) to this population has been hampered by measurement issues. The current study aimed to address the flaws asserted above through the use of a mixed-methods scale development design. To this end, the researcher made use of the discussion component of a bereavement-focused special topics course to refine a focus-group facilitation guide and generate a preliminary list of content domains. In Study 1, three bereaved students participated in a formal focus-group. Three graduate-level bereavement researchers drew from the qualitative data available from the Pilot Study and Study 1 to develop a pool of 192 items for use in quantitative analysis. In Study 2, these items were administered to a sample of 700 bereaved undergraduates. Exploratory and Confirmatory factor analyses suggested that a 5-factor model was the best fit for the data. Results suggest that bereaved students use a variety of strategies when coping with bereavement, including using drugs and alcohol, seeking support from others, accessing religious faith, exploring new relationships and identities, and experiencing depression symptoms. Preliminary support was provided for the validity of a 26-item coping strategies measure with five subscales named the GCOPE.

The 24 items of the original English version of the Social Justice Scale (Torres-Harding et al., 2012) were translated into Korean by four translators, who discussed and agreed upon consensus versions. Four different translators then back translated this version into English. The resulting Korean version of SJS (K-SJS) was completed by 537 adult native Korean speakers. Confirmatory factor analysis, exploratory factor analysis, and multi-group confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the K-SJS has high internal consistency, factors appropriately, fits the original model well, and demonstrates invariance across Korean men and women. Structural equation modeling indicated that the effects of attitude, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms on behavioral intentions were positive and significant. In short, the K-SJS showed acceptable reliability and validity based on a large sample of South Korean adults and shows promise as a new tool to study social justice attitudes among Korean speakers.

This thesis sought to develop and assess a novel scale to measure the experience of an anorexic voice in anorexia nervosa. It consists of three standalone papers. Papers one and two have been prepared for submission to two separate journals relevant to the methodology and research area for each, and comply with the journal guidelines. Paper one is a thematic synthesis of qualitative literature exploring "inner speech" for individuals with a diagnosed psychological disorder. Following a standardised procedure for thematic synthesis, six databases were searched and 10 studies were included. In total, three analytical themes were identified within the data: 1) Withdrawing to an inner world, 2) A fragmented and conflicted self and 3) Re-connecting with the outside world. The results found several similarities regarding the nature, function and negative consequences of engaging with critical inner dialogues across clinical samples. IS as both a coping mechanism and a maintaining factor of psychological distress was a key finding. The results indicated therapeutic approaches facilitating acceptance of internal experiences and disengagement from critical internal dialogues may be helpful. Paper two is a two-stage quantitative study that describes the development and assessment of a novel scale, the Experience of an Anorexic VoicE Questionnaire (EAVE-Q). Using data collected in an earlier qualitative study, Stage 1 generated scale items and tested for face and content validity using cognitive interviews with seven individuals with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa. In Stage 2, 148 individuals with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa were recruited from mental health services, eating disorder charities, the community and online to complete the EAVE-Q and measures of eating disorder symptoms, mood and quality of life. The dimensionality of the scale was assessed using principle axis factoring and associations between the EAVE-Q domains and clinical outcomes were evaluated. Factor analysis derived an 18 item scale with five domains. Two domains related to negative consequences of the AV, two to positive functions and one to the externalisation of the AV from the self. There were significant associations between individual EAVE-Q domains and eating disorder symptoms, mood and quality of life. The results highlighted the value in further research to refine the EAVE-Q, and to use this in future research to assess if changes in AV experiences are associated with clinical change over time. Paper three is a critical appraisal of this research. It includes reflections on the research process, discussion of the methodological limitations, and consideration of the implications of the findings for existing theory, future research and clinical practice.

Empathy, the ability to feel and/or understand another’s emotional state, plays a significant role in interpersonal interactions, mitigating hostility and enhancing affiliation and helping. However, empathy also biases interpersonal reactions. For example, at the group level empathy can become amplified towards members of their ingroup and blunted towards individuals in outgroups, a term called parochial empathy. Currently, no validated measures of parochial empathy at the dispositional level exist, and development of such a scale would be important to understanding the role of group-based emotions in prejudice and discrimination against outgroups. I conducted five studies to develop and validate a self-report Trait Parochial Empathy Scale (TPES) that could measure tendencies to respond with parochial empathy across any set of group membership categories. Study 1 assessed the factor structure of the TPES through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses while Study 2 attempted to replicate the Study 1 factor structure and assess concurrent and divergent validity of the TPES using attitudinal measures. Study 3 assessed the temporal consistency of the TPES. Study 4 examined whether the TPES could be flexibly used across a variety of groups by assessing its relation to various outcomes across different ingroup and outgroup combinations. Finally, Study 5 assessed the ability of the TPES to predict in vivo behavior.

Dimensional models of schizotypy and associated traits have taken on current relevance in the DSM-5 (http://www.dsm5.org) proposal for personality disorder (PD), which includes a personality trait initially conceptualized as a five-facet schizotypy domain and then simplified into a three-facet psychoticism domain that has yet to be evaluated extensively. In this study, I (1) reviewed the literature to develop hypotheses about the content and boundaries of the schizotypy domain, and (2) measured this content in a mixed sample of students and patents with 657 usable protocols at Time 1 (193 Notre Dame students, 301 University of Iowa students; 163 outpatients) and 263 usable protocols (74 Notre Dame students, 76 University of Iowa students, 113 outpatients) at Time 2, at least 1.5 weeks later. I then (3) evaluated confirmatory models including DSM-5 schizotypy and psychoticism facet models and other empirically grounded models and (4) used the best confirmatory model to provide item pools for classically constructing scales of schizotypy facets. This four-factor structure provided content pools used to create four corresponding scales: Unusual Perceptions, Unusual Beliefs, Dissociation Proneness, and Cognitive and Communicative Peculiarity. Additionally, (5) I used item response theory (IRT)-based analyses to evaluate items in these facet scales, both in terms of the level of schizotypy they best measure and the strength of their relations to the schizotypy construct. I also (6) examined the short-term test-retest reliability of the schizotypy scales, as well as that of the established measures used in this study; new and existing measures were comparably stable. Finally, (7) I evaluated schizotypy's convergent and discriminant validity in relation to three other types of traits: (a) those correlated with the domain (e.g., Obsessive Compulsive Disorder [OCD] and non-delusional mistrust), (b) other higher level traits (i.e., measures of the 3 factor and 5-factor models of higher order personality/temperament), and (c) familially related traits (e.g., social anxiety). Overall, the schizotypy facet measures appeared to assess moderate amounts of variance that were unexplained by the established measures of personality, temperament, and psychopathology that were included in this study. The implications of adding a schizotypy trait to the overall personality trait taxonomy are discussed.

The focus of the current dissertation was on the construction and validation of a situational judgment test (SJT) assessing lying/dishonesty in the workplace. The scale was designed to have two dimensions corresponding to two needs based on Socioanalytic Theory: (1) the need to get along and (2) the need to get ahead. Three studies were undertaken in order to create items, pilot test items, and assess both the construct and criterion-related validity of the scale. The result of Study 1 was a pilot-tested scale with six SJT items corresponding to each of the two SJT dimension (12 items total). The dimensions of the new SJT are referred to in the paper as LAl (lying to get along) and LAh (lying to get ahead). Study 2 examined convergent and discriminant validity as well as the nomological network of other individual difference variables expected to be related to LAl and/or LAh. The results of Study 2 largely supported the construct validity of the overall scale but many of the personality constructs based on the Five Factor Model (FFM) were not related to LAl or LAh. In Study 3, LAl and LAh were unrelated to several aspects of supervisor rated performance as well turnover intentions and objective career outcomes (e.g., promotions). The primary contribution of the dissertation was the creation of a construct valid SJT measuring lying in organizations whose dimensions could be assessed reliably using coefficient alpha as opposed to test-retest reliability. Future research directions and limitations of the study are discussed in the final section of the dissertation.

There is a limited body of research that illuminates the various positive life-, health-, and work-related outcomes that an individual may experience through the pursuit of his or her occupational calling. An occupational calling is defined as an occupation that a person feels drawn to, finds intrinsically enjoyable and meaningful, and identifies as a central part of his or her identity. The extant literature on occupational callings, however, rarely considers the possible detrimental effects of having an occupational calling other than to explain unexpected study results. These unexpected study results hint at adverse psychological and job-related outcomes when an individual fails or does not have the ability to pursue an occupational calling, a concept this paper refers to as an "Unanswered Occupational Calling." An Unanswered Occupational Calling is specifically defined as an occupational calling that an individual perceives, but is not currently pursuing. Scholarly work is needed to explore the individual and organizational consequences of an individual's experience of an Unanswered Occupational Calling. Consequently, the purpose of this research was twofold: (1) to develop and generate preliminary construct validity evidence for a newly developed Unanswered Occupational Calling instrument; and (2) to explore the nomological network of the Unanswered Occupational Calling construct. To that end, I conducted two studies, the first of which was required for initial scale construction. The central purpose of the second was to explore the nomological network of Unanswered Occupational Callings. Overall, Study 1 and 2 supported the construct validity of the newly developed Unanswered Occupational Calling instrument. As expected, the Unanswered Occupational Calling instrument was shown to relate positively to intrinsic work motivation and negatively to work engagement, job involvement, career commitment, and answered occupational callings. Also as expected, those who more strongly endorsed an Unanswered Occupational Calling also tended to experience more physical symptoms, psychological distress, and withdrawal intentions and less job and life satisfaction. These results are consistent with previous research that suggested that there may be detrimental effects of perceiving, but not pursuing, an occupational calling.

Traditionally, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) have been conceptualized within a social exchange framework, implying that individuals perform citizenship behaviors in response to fair treatment by the organization (Zellars & Tepper, 2003). In accordance with this social exchange framework, researchers have identified a number of OCB antecedents, like perceived organizational support (Moorman, Blakely, & Niehoff, 1998; Settoon, Bennet, & Liden, 1996), job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational justice (LePine, Erez, & Johnson, 2002; Organ & Ryan, 1995), and leader-member exchange (Connell, 2005; Settoon, Bennett, & Liden, 1996; Wayne & Greene, 1993). Recently, however, research has shifted from viewing OCB as a reactionary behavior in response to positive attitudes and emotions toward the organization to perceiving OCB as functional (e.g., Finkelstein & Penner, 2004, Rioux & Penner, 2001) - opening the door to exploration of both altruistic as well as self-serving motives to engage in OCB. Applying Schwartz's (1992) values theory and expanding on Rioux and Penner's (2001) three-dimensional OCB motives model, the goal of the proposed research was to identify additional underlying mechanisms for performing citizenship behaviors through the development and validation of the Good Soldier Motives Scale (GSMS). The 46-item scale, consisting of two subscales - (1) motives to perform OCBI (MOCBI) and (2) motives to perform OCBO (MOCBO) uncovered the following motives - Prosocial Values, Organizational Concern and Obligation, Instrumental, Intimacy, Achievement, and Guilt. Construct validation data revealed significant differential relationships between OCB motive dimensions and established constructs in the literature (i.e., regulatory focus, self-identity, Machiavellianism, self-monitoring, and values). Criterion validation results supported the predictive validity of the GSMS subscales with OCBI and OCBO. Furthermore, OCB motives accounted for significant variance beyond that of established attitudinal and personality OCB antecedents, replicating and expanding upon Rioux and Penner's (2001) findings. Lastly, the research took an initial pass at empirically examining the impact of motives on the quality of OCB through the assessment of OCB effectiveness. Findings revealed significant differences in OCB effectiveness when comparing self-enhancing motives versus the more traditional altruistic motives. Establishment of a valid, theoretically-derived OCB motives scale offers researchers an avenue to further investigate burgeoning research on self-serving motivations for OCB as well as altruistic ones. Alternatively, practitioners can leverage the GSMS in a variety of human resource applications, such as performance appraisals and training in order to enhance the participation in quality OCBs.

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.