Educational researchers, practitioners, and policy makers have long expressed their concern that gender disparity of academic performance and participation in science and mathematics education continues to increase with educational progress of students through the pipeline. Educational and occupational aspirations, high school experience, external support from family members and significant others appear to be influential factors that develop strong self-concept among female students who aspire to study science and mathematics. Using a national sample of aspirants in science, mathematics, and engineering majors in public community colleges, that participated in the 1996 Cooperative Institutional Research Program American Freshman Survey, this study investigated the influences of students' pre-college experiences on their college choice, aspirations, and self-concept by examining three theoretical structural models. In addition, gender differences were tested by using multiple group analysis. The findings from the multiple group analysis revealed that there was no statistically significant gender difference in predicting college choice, aspirations, and self-concept. The results from the descriptive analysis indicated that the female students were already underrepresented in science, mathematics, and engineering majors. Taken together, the findings challenge researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to examine why the persistent fall off, and how can community colleges support and retain these students who already enrolled. The results from the model fit analysis revealed that the encouragement from family and others played as a contributing factor in predicting students' college choice, aspirations, and self-concept. This study confirmed that the development of self-concept among community college students in science, mathematics, and engineering is complex and unique. Several recommendations that are pertaining to policy implications, improvement of practice, and future research to increase the representations of female students in science, mathematics, and engineering in the post-secondary education were developed from the findings of this study. The results of this study contribute to the research literature by providing new theoretical models and a comprehensive understanding of aspirants in science, mathematics, and engineering at community college as well as their surrounding environment.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between seventh, tenth, and twelfth graders' participation in school choir and their perceived levels of self-concept and social support. The problems of the study were to determine (1) if there were significant differences in perceived self-concept and social support levels of choir members and non-music students, and (2) if there were significant changes in self-concept and social support of choir members from grades seven to ten to twelve. A secondary concern was school activity involvement, to guard against attributing significant differences of self-concept and social support to choir participation alone.

The purpose of this study was to gain an awareness of the behavioural characteristics, physical mannerisms and relational techniques exhibited by young adolescent girls in South Africa who may be susceptible to, or have been traumatised by being bullied. A literature study and an empirical investigation were conducted to establish whether victims of bullying have distinct personality traits, as well as to determine if specific parenting styles affect the vulnerability of their adolescent daughters. The effectiveness of bullying prevention strategies in adolescent relationships was also explored. A questionnaire was developed to ascertain how adolescents perceive victims of bullying. Eight semi-structured interviews using photographs and a cartoon as projective techniques were conducted with victims to gather data and to enrich the findings. This study has demonstrated that international research about victimisation is pertinent to South African children. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

During her theoretical training as an educational psychologist, the researcher was intrigued and fascinated by the expositions on the functioning of the self. With this study she pursued her goal to gain a clearer understanding of the formation and development of the self in a child, with the focus on the child in middle childhood (6 -12 years). In this study, she mainly focused on understanding the connection between the three crucial components of the self, self-concept and self-esteem. Her passion for art inspired her to be inventive and apply artistic creative methods of drawing, painting and clay human modelling as projective means to access the child’s unconscious mind, revealing pivotal experiences and emotions, revealing how the child relates to his or her self. According to this qualitative arts-based research study, the DAP (Draw a Person) and variations of PAP (Paint a Person) and CAP (Create a Person) with the use of appropriate DAP, PAP and CAP questionnaires, seem relevant therapeutic projective measures to assist in educational psychology in exploring the child’s self. / Further Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

The purpose of this study was to explore adolescent self-views of singing ability through both implicit theories and self-concept meaning systems. A secondary purpose of this study was to examine these self-views specifically in the context of a choral hierarchy. Using a researcher-designed survey instrument, I gathered data from middle- and high-school students currently enrolled in a choir program organized in a hierarchical structure. I analyzed descriptive statistics of survey responses to items designed to measure implicit theories of singing ability, singing self-concept, and goal orientation. I also examined differences among participants by ensemble placement in implicit theory and self-concept scores, correlation between implicit theory and self-concept, and whether implicit theory, self-concept, goal orientation, or current enrollment could predict future enrollment decisions. In addition to these quantitative measures, I coded open-ended responses to two failure scenarios and examined participant responses by ensemble and gender. Both implicit theory and self-concept scores were higher for participants at the top of the choral hierarchy than at the bottom. Open-ended responses, however, did not align with the implicit theory scale and a number of students presented a false growth mindset. Open-ended responses also indicated that failure scenarios were likely to result in an altered view of the self and shame in placement in an ensemble at the bottom of the choral hierarchy. The means scores for participants in the middle- and high-school ensembles in both implicit theory and self-concept were significantly different, with participants in the high-school ensembles having higher scores in both constructs. Implicit theory and self-concept were significantly related, and self-concept, goal orientation, and current enrollment significantly predicted future enrollment decisions.

Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a mental illnes manifesting itselg, among other signs, with impaired body schema and rejection of food. Principal focus of the thesis was to assess the discrimination treshold, ability to evaluate sensory perception and body self-concept in adolescent female patients hospitalised with anorexia nervosa. Our goal was to clarify and better understand the still not adequately described neurophysiological aspects of anorexia nervosa. The results were compared to control group; both groups comprised 18 girls, the average age of observed group being 14,7 ± 0,71 years and average age of control group being 15,3 ±0,71 years. Two-point discrimination was examined in three areas - arm, between shoulder blades and belly - with modified caliper. The Petrie test was used in sensory perception testing, while body self-concept was measured with BAT questionare. The examinations were performed in standardised conditions during similar day times. We found significant difference in two-point discrimination in the area between the shoulder blades with significance level α = 5 % and p-value p = 0,0001. A statistically significant difference was also observed in body self-concept with significance level α = 5 % and p-value p = 0,017. Thus we conclude that patients suffering from anorexia nervosa...

A managerial role place great challenges on the individual from the perspective of self- management, primarily considering the challenges of that role and individual needs and values. This dissertation discusses the potential for maintaining well-being when performing in a managerial role in a supra-national corporation. The focus is primarily on the idea of flourishing (thriving) defined by the American psychologist Martin Seligman. Flourish fundamentally includes subjective, hedonic elements (experiences of joy), as well as, eudaemonic quality built on the individual but for the wider community. Flourishing is closely linked to the self-concept of the individual; its content is subjective in character. Employment in a supra-national environment includes characteristics which may reduce the quality of this for an individual. This, mainly, involves constant adapting to change, working in a turbulent environment, collaborations encountering cultural differences (national and organisational), working in a matrix structure and/or frequent emphases on hedonism or consumerism. The research is predominantly qualitative in character; mapping pivotal topics which, in the future, will require a more empirical approach. This research focuses on a deeper understanding of functional areas and strategies which...

Les effets d’amorçage comportemental ont fait l’objet de nombreuses recherches. Ces travaux ont révélé que l’activation incidente de concepts pouvait orienter le comportement des individus et que cette influence pouvait avoir lieu en dehors de la conscience. Toutefois, des critiques ont émergé à propos de ce champ de recherche, remettant en question la robustesse de certains types d’effets d’amorçage et la véracité de ces effets. L’identification des processus sous-jacents aux effets d’amorçage comportemental s’est alors imposée comme indispensable afin de mieux comprendre sous quelles conditions ils apparaissent et ainsi pourquoi ils font l’objet de difficultés de réplication. Ce travail de thèse a pour objectif d’apporter une contribution à l’identification des processus sous-jacents aux effets d’amorçage. A travers neuf expériences, nous avons testé d’une part, l’idée selon laquelle des caractéristiques méthodologiques (e.g., la durée d’exposition aux amorces) étaient propices à l’émergence de ces effets, d’autre part le rôle modérateur de certains facteurs (i.e., le concept de soi) dont une partie de la littérature suppose qu’ils sont impliqués dans ces effets. Les résultats montrent que le concept de soi pourrait être un déterminant de l’ampleur et de la direction des effets d’amorçage comportemental, selon l’implication de la conscience de soi ou de l’estime de soi. De plus, le niveau de perception des amorces semble être un candidat privilégié des modérateurs de l’amorçage comportemental. Dans l’ensemble, ces résultats fournissent des éléments afin de poursuivre l’investigation des mécanismes sous-jacents aux effets d’amorçage comportemental. / The prime-to-behavior effects have been widely studied. Research revealed that incidental concept activation could guide subsequent behavior and that this influence could be unconscious. However, some critics have emerged about these effects, questioning the robustness and the veracity of the prime-to-behavior effects. Identifying the underlying processes is essential to better understand under which conditions these effects appear and why some researchers have failed to replicate them. This work aimed at contributing to the identification of underlying mechanisms of these effects. Through nine experiments, we tested at one hand some methodological characteristics supposed to promote the emergence of these effects and, on the other hand some supposed theoretical moderators of the prime-to-behavior effects. Results prove the self-concept could determine the magnitude and the direction of these effects, depending on the self-consciousness or the self-esteem to be involved. Moreover, the level of conscious perception of the primes seems to be a potential moderator of the prime-to-behavior effects. Together, these results provide elements to continue the investigation of the underlying mechanisms of the prime- to-behavior effects.

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Several children immigrate to South Africa every year and it has been shown that some migrant children experience challenges in their host countries. These challenges have been documented to affect their academic performance in school. A total number of 164 immigrant learners from Gauteng schools, in grade 11 and 12 participated in the study. The study first, determined the positive correlation between academic motivation, academic self-concept and perceived support and academic performance. Second, the study established whether academic motivation, academic self-concept and perceived support would predict academic performance. Third, the study determined whether academic self-concept would mediate the relationship between academic motivation and academic performance. Correlation, regression and mediation analyses were used to address the aims of the study. There was a positive relationship between academic motivation, academic self-concept, perceived support and academic performance. Only academic self-concept predicted academic performance. Academic self-concept significantly mediated the relationship between academic motivation and academic performance. The results from the study demonstrate the importance of psychological factors informing immigrant learners’ academic performance in school. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)