Summary in English / Research was conducted to determine whether the 16-PF can be used as an objective measurement for the selection of prospective educational psychologists. A wellgrounded literature study was performed about the task of the educational psychologist and skills and personality features which make the task of the educational psychologist easier. The task of the educational psychologist is not of an individual nature, directed at individual problems any more, but covers a wide field which demands that the educational psychologist comes forward with new initiatives. The traditional task of diagnosing, assisting, administrating and conducting research must be extended to one which also emphasizes proactive programmes, mental health, prevention of problems and human development. The nature of the task makes high demands on the educational psychologist and requires the mastering of a variety of skills. A large variety of factors have been found in literature which could make the task of the educational psychologist easier. These factors can be grouped together as cognitive factors, factors which contribute to the creation of an educational climate and accompanying interpersonal relations and rapport, factors which indicate the use of an external reference framework, and factors which indicate mental health. These identified factors were related to the factor patterns of the 16-PF and were derived to personality factors. These latter factors which were thus obtained, were used to compile a personality profile for educational psychologists. The following personality profile for educational psychologists was derived from the literature study: outgoing (affectothymia; A+), high intelligence (B+), higher ego strength (C+), higher superego strength (G+), socially venturesome (H+), shrewdness (N+) and self-assuredness (0-). According to literature, withdrawal (A-) and dominance (E+) are regarded as negative features of the educational psychologist. The personality profile was assessed by experts with the use of the Delphi technique. From the results of the Delphi investigation it appears that the experts support the suggested personality profile. The personality features are regarded as extremely important, and comment on the personality profile was positive. The findings of the research contribute to the solution of the problem around the selection of educational psychologists since an objective assessment of the prospective student's abilities can be obtained by means of the 16-PF. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Sielkundige Opvoedkunde)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions street children have about the most important referents in their life worlds and to propose guidelines to their helpers on the most appropriate intervention. The street children's perceptions of their families, schools, society, peers and themselves were examined through a literature study on the phenomenon of street children and their intervention and, an empirical study consisting of a questionnaire survey and case studies. It was found that the street children generally perceived themselves and these referents negatively, which can be related to experiences of severe physical, emotional and social deprivation. These perceptions influence their involvement with all referents in their lives negatively, as their main tendencies in response to problematic situations are flight, avoidance and withdrawal. Guidelines given to their schools, social-and care-workers, and educational psychologists focused on inter- and intra-personal areas of development. / Psychology of Education / M.Ed. (Guidance and Counseling)

This study explored the influence of irrational beliefs on adolescent secondary school learners’ Mathematics achievement in Zimbabwe. Learner, home and school factors which influence secondary school learners’ Mathematics achievement were discussed and relevant studies were scrutinised. The theoretical views of Albert Ellis regarding the characteristics, effects, acquisition and maintenance of irrational beliefs were discussed together with the major irrational beliefs and their possible relationship with learners’ Mathematics achievement. A sample of 306 randomly selected adolescent Mathematics learners comprising 182 girls and 124 boys in the 14 to 18 year age range participated in the study. A composite questionnaire with subscales on learners’ irrational beliefs, socio-affective variables and perceptions was used during the empirical investigation. Six major hypotheses were tested. The study established that learners’ irrational thoughts about Mathematics correlate negatively with their Mathematics achievement. Learners’ irrational thoughts about Mathematics correlated negatively with motivation, self-concept, parental involvement, and teacher-learner relationships and positively with stress, anxiety and faulty perceptions. Regression analysis proved that learners’ irrational beliefs, socio-affective variables and perceptions jointly explain a greater proportion of the variance in Mathematics achievement than any one of these factors on its own. Therefore, learners’ Mathematics achievement is affected by irrational beliefs together with their socio-affective variables and perceptions. Practical recommendations were given to Mathematics education stakeholders such as teachers, school counsellors, parents and learners to minimise poor Mathematics achievement attributable to irrational beliefs and the allied variables explored in this study. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:44:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2353.pdf: 1825552 bytes, checksum: 42c0ba32f0a2b93a8843a7750f3cc642 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-20 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / Children who do not have a positive, secure and affectionate relationship with their fathers, or whose fathers use rigid disciplinary practices, provide inadequate supervision and have infrequent or poor quality interactions with their children, are at greater risk for developing socio-emotional problems and for remaining at lower levels of academic achievement. However, the majority of fathers have little understanding of the importance of their involvement with their children. As such, the primary objective of this study was to evaluate a program designed to improve father involvement and to stimulate the use of parenting practices that foster children s pro-academic behaviors, using measures obtained before and after the intervention as well as one year later (follow-up). The specific objectives included: (a) the comparison of indicators of work conditions, personal and family wellbeing, father involvement and the parents social skills on the pre, post and follow-up tests among the Experimental Group 1 (EG1 composed of fathers who were randomly selected to participate in the intervention program), Experimental Group 2 (EG2 composed of randomly selected mothers who participated in the intervention program) and a Control Group (the remaining, waitlisted parents); (b) comparison of the academic achievement, self concept, behavior problems and social skills of their children at the time of the pre, post and follow-up tests, for those in the EG1, EG2 and CG; (c) examination of the strength of the correlations among these variables, and (d) analysis of parent evaluations of the topics that were addressed and the procedures used in the intervention program. At the times of the pre and post-tests, parent participants included 97 father-mother pairs (29 in the EG1, 34 in the EG2 and 34 in the CG) and 82 of these father-mother pairs at the time of the follow-up tests (24 in the EG1, 29 in the EG2 and 27 in the CG). At the time of the pre and post-tests, data were also obtained from 99 children (there were two sets of twins) 29 from the EG1, 36 from the EG2 and 34 from the CG. At the time of the pretest, these children were eight years old, on average, and 78,8% of them were in Grade 2 while the others were in Grade 1. At the time of the follow-up tests, 84 of these children were re-evaluated (24 from the EG1, 31 from the EG2 and 27 from the CG). In addition, in the first year of the study, 20 teachers (85% of whom had completed university studies) participated in the pre and pos-test phases and a second set of 12 teachers (all of whom had completed university studies) participated in the follow-up phase, given that the children had advanced to the next grade between the post-test and the follow-up. Data were collected with children from three different, public elementary-schools. The intervention program was conducted with the parents during 12 weekly sessions that were 90 120 minutes long, with the GE1 fathers and GE2 mothers. To address the objectives of this study: (a) the parents evaluated their work conditions, their personal and family wellbeing and their social skills repertoire; (b) both parents and their child evaluated the father s level of involvement as a parent; (c) the children s academic achievement, self concept and social skills were assessed; (d) both parents evaluated their child s behavior problems and social skills repertoire; (e) the teachers evaluated the children s academic achievement, behavior problems and social skills, and (f) the fathers from the EG1 and the mothers from the EG2 evaluated the intervention program. Statistical testes (ANOVA and MANOVA) were used to compare the data obtained in the three different phases of the study, for each of the three different types of informants (parents, children and teachers). Pearson correlations were used to examine the bivariate relationships among these variables. With respect to the first objective, comparisons of the results on the pre and post-intervention tests revealed that the fathers in the EG1 were significantly less stressed and there was a significant decrease in the number of disagreeable behaviors that their children presented; both the GE1 and GE2 fathers presented greater satisfaction with respect to their family-role performance, higher frequency of communication with their child, greater frequency of participation in school, cultural and leisure activities with their child, greater participation in school meetings concerning their child, more frequent contact with their child s teacher and listed a greater number of their child s behaviors that pleased them. In terms of the children s gains, a comparison of the pre and post-test results indicate that children in the EG1 presented: (a) higher scores on the Academic Achievement Test (AAT) with respect to the reading sub-test and their overall score, along with higher teacher evaluations of their academic performance; (b) a lower number of internalizing behavior problems (according to their fathers), externalizing and total problems (according to both parents); (c) social skills that were more adequate with respect to self control (for both self and father ratings) and self defense (according to the teachers), and (d) more positive teacher evaluations, across various indicators. Similarly, in comparison with the pre-test, on the post-test, children in the EG2 presented: (a) higher scores on the Academic Achievement Test (AAT) with respect to the reading sub-test and their overall score, along with higher teacher evaluations of their academic performance; (b) a lower number of externalizing and total problems (according to both parents); (c) social skills that were more adequate with respect to Cooperativeness and Self control (according to their fathers) Assertiveness in their coping strategies (according to their mothers), and Cooperation with peers (according to the teachers), and (d) more positive teacher evaluations, across various indicators. The majority of the gains obtained by the fathers and their children by the end of the intervention program were maintained or further improved at the time of the follow-up tests, with the exception of the children s self-evaluations of their social skills on the Self control factor, for which there was a significant decline between the post-test and follow-up test. With respect to the third objective, father involvement was significantly correlated with the children s academic performance, self concept, externalizing behavior problems and social skills, and measures involving the children were significantly inter-correlated. Finally, in general, the intervention program helped the fathers (EG1) and mothers (EG2) in bringing up their children. For example, some parents (22,2%) commented that it became easier for them to deal with the difficulties of parenting, while others (19%) were better able to handle their children s behavior problems, occurring either at home or at school. The parents attributed various important contributions to the intervention program: 27% changed their parenting behaviors, 19% were giving greater importance to their child s opinions and 15.9% commented that their child was more obedient. With respect to the parents acquisition of new social educational skills, 31.7% said that they learned about the importance of respecting their child s opinion and 30.2% said that they learned to set limits for their children. These results indicate the importance of educational interventions for maximizing parental involvement and, as a consequence, improving their children s social emotional development and classroom behavior. / Crianças que não possuem uma relação positiva, segura e afetuosa com o pai ou cujo pai usa práticas disciplinares rígidas, oferece supervisão inadequada e mantém baixa qualidade ou freqüência de interação com seu filho, possuem elevado risco de apresentar problemas no seu desenvolvimento socioemocional e de ter menor desempenho acadêmico. No entanto, a maioria dos homens tem pouco conhecimento da importância do seu envolvimento com seus filhos. Este estudo teve por objetivo principal avaliar uma intervenção que visava aprimorar o envolvimento do pai e estimular seu uso de práticas parentais favorecedoras de comportamentos próacadêmicos por parte dos filhos, comparando medidas obtidas antes e depois da intervenção e um ano depois (follow-up). Os objetivos específicos foram: (a) comparar alguns indicadores das condições de trabalho, do bem-estar pessoal e familiar, do envolvimento paterno e do repertório de habilidades sociais dos pais, nas fases do préteste, pós-teste e follow-up, entre o Grupo Experimental 1 (GE1 composto pelos pais que foram aleatoriamente selecionados para participar da intervenção), Grupo Experimental 2 (GE2 composto pelas mães que participaram da intervenção, com possibilidade de impactos indiretos sobre os pais) e o Grupo Controle (GC composto pelos demais pais interessados, mantidos num grupo de espera); (b) comparar o desempenho acadêmico, o autoconceito, os problemas de comportamento e o repertório de habilidades sociais das crianças, no pré-teste, no pós-teste e no follow-up, entre o GE1, GE2 e GC; (c) avaliar a força das correlações entre essas variáveis e (d) analisar a avaliação dos pais sobre os temas abordados e os procedimentos adotados na intervenção. Participaram deste estudo 97 pares de pais e mães (29 do GE1, 34 do GE2 e 34 do GC) no pré-teste e no pós-teste e 82 destes pares no follow-up (24 do GE1, 29 do GE2 e 27 do GC). Na época dos pré- e pós-testes, dados também foram coletados com 99 crianças, contando com dois pares de gêmeos (29 do GE1, 36 do GE2 e 34 do GC). Na época do pré-teste, estas crianças estavam com média de idade de oito anos, sendo que 78,8% estavam na 2ª série e as demais na 1ª série. Na época do follow-up, 84 destas crianças participaram novamente (24 do GE1, 31 do GE2 e 27 do GC). Além disso, no primeiro ano foram participantes desta pesquisa 20 professoras (85% com 3º grau completo), nas fases do pré-teste e pós-teste e um segundo conjunto de 12 professoras (todas com 3º grau completo) no follow-up, uma vez que as crianças haviam mudado de série entre o pós-teste e o follow-up. A coleta de dados ocorreu com crianças de três escolas públicas de ensino básico. Realizou-se a intervenção com os pais em 12 sessões, com encontros semanais de 90 a 120 minutos de duração, participando os pais do GE1 e as mães do GE2. Para responder aos objetivos: (a) os pais avaliaram suas condições de trabalho, seu bem-estar pessoal e familiar e seu repertório de habilidades sociais; (b) ambos os pais e seu filho avaliaram o grau de envolvimento paterno por parte dos pais; (c) as crianças foram avaliadas em relação ao seu desempenho acadêmico, autoconceito e repertório de habilidades sociais; (d) ambos os pais avaliaram os problemas de comportamento e o repertório de habilidades sociais de seus filhos; (e) as professoras avaliaram o desempenho acadêmico, os problemas de comportamento e o repertório de habilidades sociais das crianças e (f) os pais do GE1 e as mães do GE2 avaliaram o programa de intervenção. Para comparar os dados obtidos nos três momentos do estudo, para cada um dos três tipos de informantes (os pais, as crianças e as professoras), foram utilizados testes estatísticos (ANOVA, MANOVA); para verificar as relações bivariadas entre estas variáveis, usou-se correlações de Pearson. Em relação ao primeiro objetivo, ao comparar os resultados dos pré e póstestes, verificou-se que os pais do GE1 tiveram uma diminuição no nível de estresse e apontaram um menor número de comportamentos do filho que os desagradavam; os pais do GE1 e do GE2 apresentaram maior satisfação quanto ao desempenho no papel familiar, maior freqüência de comunicação com o filho, maior freqüência de participação nas atividades escolares, culturais e de lazer do filho, maior participação nas reuniões escolares do filho, maior freqüência de contato com a professora do filho e listaram um maior número de comportamentos do filho que os agradavam. No que diz respeito aos ganhos obtidos pelas crianças, ao comparar os resultados entre o pré e pósteste, verifica-se que as crianças do GE1 apresentaram: (a) melhores resultados no Teste de Desempenho Escolar (TDE) em relação ao sub-teste de leitura e à pontuação total, junto com avaliações melhores do seu desempenho acadêmico, por parte das professoras; (b) menor índice de problemas de comportamento internalizantes (segundo os pais, mas não as mães), externalizantes e total (segundo ambos os pais); (c) um repertório de habilidades sociais mais adequados em termos de Autocontrole (segundo as crianças e os pais) e Autodefesa (segundo as professoras) e (d) avaliações mais positivas por parte das professoras, em vários indicadores. De forma parecida, em comparação com o pré-teste, no pós-teste, as crianças do GE2 apresentaram: (a) melhores resultados no Teste de Desempenho Escolar (TDE) em relação ao sub-teste de leitura e à pontuação total, junto com avaliações melhores do seu desempenho acadêmico, por parte das professoras; (b) menor índice de problemas de comportamento externalizantes e total (segundo ambos os pais); (c) um repertório de habilidades sociais mais adequados em termos de Cooperação e Autocontrole (segundo os pais), Asserção de enfrentamento (segundo as mães) e Cooperação com pares (segundo as professoras) e (d) avaliações mais positivas por parte das professoras, em vários indicadores. A maioria dos ganhos adquiridos pelos pais e pelas crianças, após o programa de intervenção, se mantiveram ou aumentaram mais ainda na fase de follow-up, com exceção da avaliação das crianças, quanto ao próprio repertório de habilidades sociais, no fator Autocontrole, em que houve uma queda significativa de repertório entre as fases de pós-teste e follow-up. Respondendo ao terceiro objetivo, o envolvimento paterno estava significativamente correlacionado com o desempenho acadêmico, o autoconceito, os problemas de comportamento externalizantes e o repertório de habilidades sociais das crianças e as medidas envolvendo as crianças estavam correlacionadas entre si. Por fim, de modo geral, o programa de intervenção ajudou os pais (GE1) e as mães (GE2) na educação dos filhos. Por exemplo, alguns (22,2%) comentaram que passaram a tratar com mais facilidade os problemas enfrentados na educação dos filhos e outros (19%) estavam lidando melhor com os problemas de comportamento dos filhos, ocorrendo em casa ou na escola. Os pais atribuíram várias contribuições importantes ao grupo de intervenção: 27% deles mudaram a maneira de educar o filho, 19% passaram a respeitar mais as opiniões do filho e 15,9% apontaram que o filho estava sendo mais obediente. Quanto ao aprendizado de novas habilidades socioeducativas, 31,7% comentaram que aprenderam a importância de respeitar a opinião do filho e 30,2% que aprenderam a impor limites aos seus filhos. Esses dados mostram a importância de realizar intervenções educativas para maximizar o envolvimento parental e, conseqüentemente, melhorar o desenvolvimento socioemocional e comportamento dos alunos em sala de aula.

Estudo descritivo, correlacional e longitudinal que teve como objetivos estudar a validade e a confiabilidade da Burns Specific Pain Anxiety Scale-BSPAS que avalia ansiedade frente a procedimentos dolorosos e a Impact of Event Scale-IES que avalia o estresse pós-traumático. Participaram do estudo 91 indivíduos maiores de 15 anos de idade, internados na Unidade de Queimados do Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto. Seguiramse as seguintes etapas: 1ª etapa: coleta de dados relacionados à internação e ao tratamento. 2ª etapa: seguimento de manifestações dolorosas, durante sete dias, com a aplicação da Escala Visual Analógica para Dor, em três momentos diferentes do dia: a) imediatamente antes do banho e curativo (DIABC); b) imediatamente depois do banho e curativo (DIDBC); e c) dor no período de descanso, por volta das 20 horas (DDPD). 3ª etapa: no oitavo dia, aplicação da BSPAS - Versão Português, da IES - Versão Português e do Inventário de Ansiedade-Estado de Spielberger (IDATE). 4ª etapa (composta por fases A e B): entre o 4º e o 6º meses (fase A) e entre o 9º e o 12º meses, após o acontecimento da queimadura (fase B), aplicação da IES-VP, da Escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg (EAER), do Inventário de Depressão de Beck (IDB) e do SF-36. Nas três primeiras etapas, participaram do estudo 91 pacientes (64 homens e 27 mulheres). A superfície corporal queimada (SCQ) média foi de 18% (1-60%), sendo os locais anatômicos mais atingidos membros superiores (66; 72,5%), tórax (61; 67%) e cabeça/face (43; 47,3%). Os agentes causadores de queimaduras mais comuns foram os líquidos quentes (15,4%) e os agentes inflamáveis, principalmente o álcool, (38,5%). Na 4ª etapa, participaram 77 pacientes, na fase A, e 76, na fase B. Na avaliação da validade de construto convergente, a BSPAS-VP apresentou correlações fortes e positivas com a IES-VP (0,52; p<0,01), fortes e moderadas com as subescalas que avaliam pensamentos intrusivos (0,54; p<0,01) e reações de evitação (0,37; p<0,01) e correlações moderadas com as avaliações de dor: DIABC (0,32; p<0,01), DIDBC (0,31; p<0,01) e DDPD (0,31; <0,01). A IES-VP total apresentou correlações moderadas e positivas com o IDB (0,63; p<0,01), moderadas e negativas com a EAER (-0,58; p<0,01) e moderadas a baixas e negativas com os domínios Dor (r=-0,24; p<0,05), Aspectos Sociais (r=-0,34;p<0,01) e Saúde Mental (r=-0,27; p<0,05), entre o 4º e o 6º meses e baixa e de pouca aplicabilidade para a prática com o domínio Estado Geral de Saúde (r=-0,24; p<0,05), entre o 9º e o 12º meses, do SF-36. Na aplicação da BSPAS-VP e da IES-VP, observaram-se valores médios mais altos para o sexo feminino (55,15 e 63,96, respectivamente), entre os indivíduos com SCQ maior que 20% (54,90 e 62,98, respectivamente) e para os indivíduos que referiam as cicatrizes visíveis (52,53 e 61,40, respectivamente), porém, quando testadas as diferenças por meio do Teste t de Student para amostras independentes, essas não foram estatisticamente significantes. Na análise dos componentes principais por meio da Matrix de Rotação Varimax, a IES-VP apresentou-se como uma escala bidimensional e a BSPAS-VP, unidimensional, conforme a proposta original de cada escala. O Alfa de Cronbach de ambas as escalas foi alto, 0,90 para a BSPAS-VP e 0,87 para a IES-VP, mostrando forte consistência interna entre seus itens. Quando aplicado o Teste t para amostras dependentes, a IES-VP apresentou-se sensível para detectar mudanças no tempo. Conclui-se que a BSPAS-VP e a IES-VP são instrumentos confiáveis e válidos para a avaliação de ansiedade-estado relacionada à dor no paciente queimado e para a avaliação do impacto do evento, respectivamente. / This descriptive, correlation and longitudinal study aimed to study the validity and reliability of the Burns Specific Pain Anxiety Scale-BSPAS, which assesses anxiety about painful procedures, and the Impact of Event Scale-IES, which assesses post-traumatic stress. Study participants were 91 individuals over 15 years of age, hospitalized at the Burns Unity of the Ribeirão Preto Medical School Hospital das Clínicas. The following steps were followed: 1st step: data collection about hospitalization and treatment. 2nd step: follow-up of painful manifestations for seven days, applying the Visual Analogue Scale for Pain at three different times each day: a) immediately before bathing and wound dressing (DIABC); b) immediately after bathing and wound dressing (DIDBC); and c) pain in the rest period, around 20:00h (DDPD). 3rd step: on the eighth day, application of the BSPAS Portuguese Version, IES Portuguese Version and Spielbergers State Anxiety Inventory (SAI). 4th step (including phases A and B): between the 4th and 6th month (phase A) and between the 9th and 12th month after the burn event (phase B), application of the IES-VP, Rosenbergs Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the SF-36. In the first three steps, study participants were 91 patients (64 men and 27 women). The mean burned body surface (BBS) was 18% (1-60%), with upper limbs (66; 72.5%), thorax (61; 67%) and head/face (43; 47.3%) as the most affected anatomical sites. The most common causal agents of the burns were hot fluids (15.4%) and inflammable agents, mainly alcohol (38.5%). In the 4th step, 77 patients participated in phase A and 76 in phase B. In convergent construct validity, the BSPAS-VP presented strong and positive correlations with the IES-VP (0.52; p<0.01), strong and moderate with the subscales that assess intrusive thoughts (0.54; p<0.01) and reactions of avoidance (0.37; p<0.01) and moderate correlations with the pain assessments: DIABC (0.32; p<0.01), DIDBC (0.31; p<0.01) and DDPD (0.31; <0.01). Total IES-VP presented moderate and positive correlations with the BDI (0.63; p<0.01), moderate and negative with the RSES (-0.58; p<0.01) and moderate to low and negative with the Pain (r=-0.24; p<0.05), Social Aspects (r=-0.34;p<0.01) and Mental Health (r=-0.27; p<0.05) domains between the 4th and 6th month, besides low correlation and little applicability to practice with the General Health State (r=-0.24; p<0.05) domain of the SF-36 between the 9th and 12th month. When applying the BSPAS-VP and IES-VP, higher mean scores were observed for women (55.15 and 63.96, respectively), among individuals with a BBS of more than 20% (54.90 and 62.98, respectively) and for people who mentioned visible scars (52.53 and 61.40, respectively). When differences were tested through Students t-test for independent samples, however, these were not statistically significant. In the main components analysis through the Varimax Rotation Matrix, IES-VP appeared as a bidimensional scale and BSPAS-VP as a unidimensional scale, in accordance with each scales original proposal. Both scales obtained a high Cronbachs Alpha, 0.90 for BSPAS-VP and 0.87 for IES-VP, showing strong internal consistency of its items. When the t-test for independent samples was applied, the IES-VP showed sensitivity to detect changes over time. It is concluded that the BSPAS-VP and the IES-VP are reliable and valid instrument to assess state-anxiety related to pain in burned patients and to assess the impact of the event, respectively.

O objetivo deste estudo é identificar os efeitos de diferenças individuais dos consumidores sobre a experiência de marca e a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca para produtos de consumo público (roupas) e privado (eletrodomésticos de linha branca). Para alcançar esse objetivo, foi concebido um modelo teórico para ser testado empiricamente. A partir de uma revisão de literatura acerca de experiência de marca e qualidade do relacionamento com a marca, percebeu-se o potencial do emprego de experiências de marca para construir relacionamentos com marca. Observou-se também que as variáveis de diferenças individuais têm sido negligenciadas em pesquisas sobre relacionamentos com a marca. Além disso, há divergências de resultados de pesquisas envolvendo distintas categorias de produto. Tais constatações possibilitaram a elaboração de um conjunto de hipóteses, as quais permitiram observar as relações entre constructos que definem as características individuais dos consumidores, a experiência de marca e a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca. Assim, foi realizada uma pesquisa empírica utilizando um questionário auto administrado. Neste levantamento de campo, foram entrevistados 660 consumidores a partir de uma amostragem não probabilística. As técnicas de análise incluem análise fatorial exploratória e modelagem de equações estruturais PLS. A análise exploratória demonstrou que os constructos experiência de marca e qualidade do relacionamento com a marca apresentam inconsistências em sua operacionalização. Os resultados indicam também que há um efeito significativo da experiência de marca sobre a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca. O engajamento da marca no autoconceito mostrou ser um importante preditor da experiência de marca e da qualidade do relacionamento com a marca. O envolvimento com a categoria de produto apresentou um efeito significativo sobre a experiência de marca. Curiosamente, o envolvimento com a categoria produziu um efeito significativo sobre a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca somente na categoria roupas. A propensão ao relacionamento apresentou um efeito significativo sobre a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca somente na categoria roupas. O envolvimento com a categoria de produto não apresentou efeitos de moderação significativos na relação entre a experiência de marca e a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca em ambas categorias. A propensão ao relacionamento produziu efeitos de moderação significativos na relação entre a experiência de marca e a qualidade do relacionamento com a marca em ambas categorias. O valor dessa pesquisa está em: a) evidenciar a experiência de marca como um antecedente da qualidade do relacionamento com a marca; b) Chamar atenção para a necessidade de discussão acerca da operacionalização dos constructos experiência de marca e qualidade do relacionamento com a marca; c) Discutir o papel das variáveis de diferenças individuais como antecedentes ou moderadoras da experiência de marca e da qualidade do relacionamento com a marca; d) Discutir a natureza dos relacionamentos com marca no contexto de produtos de consumo público e privado, apresentando similaridades e dissimilaridades e; por fim, explicitar, por meio de um modelo de gestão de marcas, como as experiências de marca podem ser um importante mecanismo para a construção de relacionamentos com a marca / The objective of the present study is to identify the effects of the individual differences of the consumers over brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality to products of public (clothing) and private (household appliances) consumption. To achieve the objective, a theoretical model was conceived to be empirically tested. From a literature\'s revision regarding the brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality the potential employment of brand experience to build brand relationships was perceived. Was also observed that the variables of individual differences have been neglected in the researches about brand relationships. Furthermore, there are divergences in the researches\' results involving distinct products\' categories. Such findings enabled the elaboration of a group of hypothesis, which enabled to observe the constructs\' relations that define individual characteristic of the consumers, brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality. Thereby, an empirical research was realized utilizing a self-administered questionnaire. In this field survey, 660 consumers were interviewed from a non-probabilistic sample. The analysis techniques includes exploratory factorial analysis and structural equation modeling PLS. An exploratory analysis demonstrated that the constructs brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality outlines inconsistence on its operationalization. The results also indicate that there is a significant brand experience effect. Brand engagement in self-concept presented to be an important predictor of brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality. Curiously, category involvement produced a significant effect over the consumer-brand relationship quality solely in the clothing category. Relationship proneness presented a significant effect over the consumer-brand relationship quality solely in the clothing category. Involvement with the products\' category did not present significant moderation effects in the relationship between brand experience and the consumer-brand relationship quality in both categories. Relationship proneness produced significant moderation effects in the relation between brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality in both categories. The value of the present research is to evidence brand experience as consumer-brand relationship quality antecedent. Draws attention to the necessity of discussion regarding the operationalization of the constructs, brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality. Inserts variables of individual differences as antecedents and brand experience and consumer-brand relationship quality moderators. Discusses the nature of the brand relationships in the context of public and private consumption products, presenting similarities and dissimilarities. The study evidences, through a brand management model, how brand experiences can be an important mechanism to build brand relationships

Infertilitet är ett relativt vanligt hälsoproblem i dagens samhälle. Infertilitet kan uppstå som resultat av en sjukdom där en störning av reproduktiva kroppsfunktioner hindrar uppkomsten av en graviditet och födsel av ett barn. Flertalet kvinnor som senarelägger starten på barnafödandet löper en större risk att drabbas av primär och sekundär infertilitet. Barnlöshet går inte alltid att förebygga och alla kvinnor som önskar att få barn kan inte alltid få barn. Syftet med det här arbetet var att belysa kvinnors upplevelse av ofrivillig barnlöshet efter misslyckade försök att bli mamma. Litteraturöversikt är den metod som har valts för att besvara syftet med det här arbetet. Integrerad analys är den dataanalysmetod som har används. Resultatet visar att isolering från omgivningen är vanlig förekommande bland kvinnor som är ofrivilligt barnlösa. Ofrivilligt barnlösa kvinnor kunde uppleva sin kropp som ett hinder för konception, vilket gav dem känslan av att vara ofullständiga i jämförelse med andra kvinnor. Sorgen över barnlösheten var ständigt närvarande hos kvinnorna. När kvinnorna accepterar sin situation som barnlös sker en personlig mognad och de börjar lägga fokus på sig själva och mål som är uppnåbara. Slutsatsen som framkommer i det här arbetet är att kvinnorna i den här litteraturöversikten oavsett kulturell bakgrund har liknande upplevelser i sin längtan efter ett barn. Att vara ofrivillig barnlös är en stor påfrestning för den som är drabbad. Det är av stor vikt att ofrivilligt barnlösa kvinnor erbjuds emotionellt stöd under sorgeprocessen som följer barnlösheten samt att stötta dem att identifiera strategier för att hantera sorgen.

過往關於同志與身心健康的研究，多著重在此身分所帶來的負面影響。本研究採取不同的觀點，探索同志族群可能的韌性，檢驗主／客觀因應彈性（韌性的行為面）以及自我清晰程度（韌性的內在面）對於正負向心理適應的影響，以及性傾向在此關係中所扮演的調節效果。兩個研究皆以調查法收集不同性傾向者（主觀與客觀）的因應彈性、自我清晰程度、憂鬱程度（負向心理適應指標）與生活滿意度（正向心理適應指標）。研究一的壓力事件為參與者自陳其近期壓力事件，研究二的壓力事件則是研究者指定給予參與者去做評量。兩個研究皆發現，客觀因應彈性與憂鬱程度、生活滿意度無關；自我清晰程度越高者，其憂鬱程度越低，且性傾向未調節以上結果。不過，性傾向則調節了自我清晰程度與生活滿意度間的關係。同志族群的自我清晰程度越高、生活滿意度也會越高；異性戀者則無此關係。研究二則發現主觀因應彈性越高，其憂鬱程度越低、生活滿意度越高；然而主觀因應彈性與正、負向心理適應之間的關係，不會受到不同性傾向的調節。兩個研究結果幫助我們瞭解主觀因應彈性、自我清晰程度與心理適應之間的關係，以及此關係在不同性傾向者身上的面貌為何。 / Lesbians, gay men, and bisexual (LGB) individuals are often observed to have poorer psychological adjustments than heterosexual individuals. I adopted a different approach to explore potential strengths in being LGB individuals by testing the impacts of objective/subjective coping flexibility and self-concept clarity on positive and negative psychological adjustments, as well as how sexual orientation may moderate these relationships. Two survey studies in this thesis measured objective/subjective coping flexibility, self-concept clarity, depression and life satisfaction among people with different sexual orientations. To measure objective coping flexibility, participants reported their recent stress events in Study 1, and were given specific stress events to respond in Study 2. The two studies showed that objective coping flexibility was not associated with depression, nor with life satisfaction, whereas self-concept clarity was associated with depression negatively. Sexual orientation did not moderate the above findings. Sexual orientation did moderate the relationship between self-concept clarity and life satisfaction: Self-concept clarity was associated with life satisfaction positively among LGB individuals, but this association was not significant among heterosexual individuals. Study 2 showed that subjective coping flexibility was associated with depression negatively and with life satisfaction positively. Again, sexual orientation did not moderate the above finding. These findings further our understanding regarding objective and subjective coping flexibility, self-concept clarity and psychological adjustments among people with different sexual orientations.

The aim of this study is to explore the assets that are available in the context of the school of industries that will promote the youth at risk’s psycho-social development using the asset based approach. The researcher followed a qualitative research approach guided by an interpretivist epistemology and employed a case study design in the natural environment. Multiple data collection methods (interviews, focus groups and documentation) were used in order to gain rich descriptions of the participants’ perceptions of assets available for the enhancement of the adolescent’s psycho-social development. Results indicate that many assets for example, human as well as physical resources, structures and procedures are currently used and can be effectively mobilized in the future at schools of industries to promote the development of the adolescent on personal, social and moral levels. Placement at a school of industries is beneficial to the youth at risk because he can continue his schooling and therapeutic counseling is available which will empower him to successfully return to the community. Dysfunctions in the system involved with the placement of youth at risk at schools of industries are currently preventing the use of the school of industries, involved in this research, as a community asset for the child- and youth care system. Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

This study reveals the impact of an exemplar narrative arts learning programme on the self-concept of Grade 9 learners in the Life Orientation classroom. The episodic narrative arts learning programme was designed in response to a suggestion in the government guidelines for Life Orientation and merged the outcomes for Arts and Culture and Life Orientation. The aims of narrative counselling were employed to allow the learners to tell their stories to themselves and others. The arts component, based on the arts therapies, allowed the learners an opportunity to give visual substance to their individual and collective narratives through arts activities that occurred within a small group. Brief video recordings were made of each group’s interactions during the narrative arts episodes in order to compile an edited video overview of the process that could be screened for the learners on completion of the programme. The aims of positive psychology were embedded in the structure and design of the arts episodes and activities. This is an interpretive study with a phenomenological focus, because the lived experiences of the participants and the teacher-researcher are paramount and the narrative element in the study necessitates the inclusion of the postmodern paradigm. This qualitative arts-based research project is based on a two-month Life Orientation learning programme that occurred during school hours on the grounds of a faith-based school. Forty-seven learners were divided into six small groups of approximately eight learners each in which they remained for the duration of the programme and were assigned to a specific teacher-facilitator. Fourteen learners volunteered to participate in four rounds of interviews, which were conducted with each participant to determine the impact of the narrative arts activities on the self-concept over the course of the programme. The transcribed interview responses were interpreted and classified according to five predetermined self-concept domains established by an examination of literature. Data analysis occurred in four cycles which align with the four rounds of interviews. Two data analysis approaches were employed and the data triangulated: a scientifically-accountable and a more intuitive approach. Findings based on the interpreted interview responses of these 14 participants indicate that the exemplar narrative arts programme primarily impacted on two self-concept domains, namely the social and personal-emotional domains. The participants’ self-descriptors revealed that the small group arts activity context allowed them to become gradually more other focused and stimulated varied measures of self-insight and self-growth. Once the limitations are recognised, the study could contribute to the inclusion of more arts-based assignments in Life Orientation programmes to aid the development of self-concept, the inclusion of this particular exemplar approach in more educational settings, openness to “team teaching” in the high school and more innovative applications of video recording within an educational or research setting. The exemplar narrative arts approach is a means for strengthening psychological support services in the school, because it reinforces the formulation of identity by allowing learners an opportunity to become actively busy writing and living their life stories / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted