Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Ecology-Personal Financial Planning / D. Elizabeth Kiss / Maurice M. MacDonald / The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants that explain and predict an individual’s propensity to perform responsible financial actions and make on-time mortgage payments. The research was guided by Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) (Bandura, 1986) and explored personal factors, environmental influences, and attributes of behavior as co-factors within a combined causal framework. Data for this study came from the publicly available, 2009, 2012, and 2015 National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) datasets. These datasets were selected for the specific questions, timeframe, and richness of the financial information provided by the respondents. Responses for each survey were weighted to be representative of Census distributions according to the American Community Survey (FINRA Investor Education Foundation, 2017). The data are weighted to be representative of each state based on age, gender, ethnicity, and education. The two variables of interest were the responsible financial actions index and mortgage payment history. To isolate the determinants of these two variables more accurately, this research adopted a multi-step approach to the analytical procedure. The analyses began with the construction of the responsible financial actions index – unifying the most fundamental responsible financial actions recommended by financial professionals into a single value. Once confirmed as a valid and reliable measure, the responsible financial actions index was explored empirically as both a dependent variable and a target variable. Further analyses involved the application of the SCT Triadic Model to develop OLS and Multinomial Logistic regression models. Utilizing a series of regression models, this study explored empirically the hypothesized relationships among variables categorized as personal factors, environmental influences, attributes of behavior, and on-time mortgage payment history. When exploring variables to predict the responsible financial actions index, the OLS regression models provided consistent findings when analyzing data from the 2009, 2012, and 2015 surveys. As predicted by the SCT Triadic Model, the following personal factors, age, subjective and objective financial knowledge, financial self-efficacy, and financial risk tolerance were significant across all three survey years. The following environmental influences were significant: income, educational attainment, and marital status. To estimate the odds of paying a mortgage on-time, a series of Multinomial Logistic regression analyses were conducted. When evaluating these results, key findings were identified across all three years of data in two models. Model 1, never late vs. late once, and Model 2, never late vs. late more than once. In Model 1, for all three years, self-efficacy was found to be predictive of on-time mortgage payment history. In Model 2, for all three years, both financial self-efficacy and the financial actions index were found to be predictive of on-time mortgage payment history. These findings contribute to the body of empirical literature related to consumer economics and personal financial planning providing insight and understanding for how financial outcomes can be improved through basic responsible financial actions. This has important implications for financial professionals, counselors, and educators given the applicable value for the responsible financial actions index. For example, these results should encourage educators to work towards identifying new pedagogical approaches for improving financial self-efficacy among students.

Determining the level of belief one has in themselves, or their self-efficacy, can be a key factor to improve certain dietary patterns and choices in the rural youth population. Sugar sweetened food and beverage consumption continues to rise and fruit and vegetable intake remains a struggle in rural areas; addressing both the food environment and adolescents’ self-efficacy could have a lasting impact on changing the nature of a generation of rural student’s food and beverage choices. This study measured self-efficacy levels of (n=425) adolescents in rural Kentucky and North Carolina using the Youth Impact Questionnaire and dietary intake using the NHANES Dietary Screener. Multiple linear regression analysis found that higher levels of self-efficacy resulted in a statistically significant ability to consume more vegetables. Further associations found that higher levels of self-efficacy resulted in increased fruit consumption, and improved added sugar food and beverage selections. These findings suggest that it could be beneficial to target adolescents’ self-efficacy as a way to modify certain health behaviors in a sparse food environment such as these rural Appalachian areas.

African American men are more likely to have diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes than non-Hispanic White Americans and are less likely to adhere to treatment. Culture in the African American community plays a key role in how this community copes with illness and the health care system. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of social and cultural determinants of Type 2 diabetes self-management among African American men. Bandura's social cognitive theory provided the theoretical framework for the study. The research question sought to identify cultural and social factors that contribute or protect how African American men manage Type 2 diabetes. The study had a qualitative research design with a phenomenological approach. A purposive sample of 11 African American men ages 48 to 76 with Type 2 diabetes volunteered to participate in in-depth interviews. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, inductively coded, and analyzed for emergent themes using NVivo 12 software. Thematic analyses led to the development of 8 themes and 8 subthemes. The lived experiences of the participants were classified into personal factors (self-efficacy, knowledge, outcomes, expectations, and attitudes); environmental factors (modeling, social norms, perceived support, facilitation, dietary choices, and accessibility); and behavioral factors, which differed in terms of consumption, goal setting, and behavior toward health care. Positive social change implications of the study may include further education on disease management, recommendations to healthcare professionals, community stakeholders, and African American families on specific factors that can enhance knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors to improve management of Type 2 diabetes among African American men.

African American women have the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, thus increasing their risks for chronic diseases. Their understanding of their health status and response to it could be triggered by messages in the media, yet few researchers have examined this topic with African American women. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how advertisement and editorial content in media contributed to perceptions African American women have about overweight and obesity. Following the theoretical foundation of the social cognitive theory, the research questions explored what messages study participants encountered and which messages prompted behavior changes. Ten African American females age 25 and older were recruited and interviewed about their understanding of overweight and obesity, chronic disease risks, and self-efficacy. Codes and themes about obesity, health risks, physical activity, eating, and body image were extracted line by line from interview transcripts. Six themes emerged: obesity as viewed by participants, perceptions of health risks, impact of media messages, perceptions of body image, encouragement from media, and steps to improve personal health. These results indicated that media messages are factors in the development of the views African American women have about being overweight or obese and motivated them to adopt health improving behaviors. Messages in the media can contribute to shifting the imbalance of overweight and obesity among African American women. Additionally, the results can inspire public health officials, health communication researchers and media professionals to develop and disseminate informative health related messages.

Career education has become an integral part of high school programming in Canada (Gibbons, Borders, Wiles, Stephan & Davis, 2006). Research on school-based career interventions is on the rise throughout North America (Hiebert, 2010; Roest & Magnusson, 2005). The current study is intended to contribute to this growing area by examining the impact of an elective career education class offered in Saskatchewan public schools called Career and Work Exploration 30 (CWE30). CWE30 combines experiential classroom activities and work placements. Experiential learning has long been regarded as an effective way of increasing self-efficacy, as described in Social Cognitive Theory (SCT; e.g., Bandura, 1977), a factor shown to play a role in encouraging career exploration and confident career-related decision-making (e.g., Blustein, 1989). Another contributor to active career exploration is intrinsic motivation, described in Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as the innate desire to seek out knowledge and growth and to therefore engage in activities that foster this development (Deci & Ryan, 1985). Given the complex and relatively nascent nature of research in this area, the chosen methodology was a case study (Yin, 2014). Multiple types of data were collected. Fourteen grade 11 and 12 high school students from Saskatchewan completed the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale - Short Form (CDMES-SF; Taylor & Betz, 1983) and a motivation questionnaire (adapted from Kerner et al., 2012) at the beginning and end of the second semester of the 2013-2014 school year. Two students and one teacher were interviewed. Further, the class curriculum, student attendance, blank copies of in-class activities, and homework that was assigned were collected. Results included significant differences in scores on the CDMSE-SF from pre to post testing and common themes on the qualitative measures such as frustration with assignments and placement time commitments; excitement about experiential learning; fears and uncertainties related to career decision-making; and suggestions for improvements emerged. Course documents provided further evidence as to the implementation of the CWE30 curriculum and the inclusion of factors thought to promote intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy as described in SDT and SCT respectively. Implications within the current literature as well as for future research are discussed.

Syftet med denna avgränsade systematiska forskningsöversikt är att studera de senaste fem årens evidensbaserade undervisningsmetoder för skrivutveckling. Syftet är också att studera hur sambandet mellan skrivutveckling, arbetsminne och självförmåga ser ut, samt dess konsekvenser för skrivundervisningen. Målgruppen är högstadie- och gymnasieelever som kämpar med skrivandet i skolan, så kallade struggling writers. Föreliggande studie består av åtta forskningsstudier som undersöker evidensbaserade effektiva skrivstrategier. Studierna är utvalda och avgränsade utifrån bestämda inkluderings- och exkluderingskriterier. Analys och tolkning sker både med utgångspunkt i Banduras social kognitiva teori samt utifrån aktuell forskning inom fältet. Resultatet visar att effektiva skrivundervisningsmetoder ger stöd för arbetsminnet och utvecklar skrivförmågan genom välstrukturerade strategier som även ger visuellt stöd. Därutöver innefattar undervisningsmetoderna medvetenhet om lärandet som social aktivitet vilket betonar goda relationer, konstruktiv feedback samt stöttande lärare som utgår från explicita metoder. Resultatet visar också att elevernas skrivförmåga förbättras när man lägger vikt vid att arbeta med deras tankesätt och självförmåga. / The aim of this limited systematic research review is to study evidence based teaching methods for writing, over the last five years. The aim is also to study the link between writing development, working memory and self-efficacy, and the consequences of such a linkage. The target group are struggling writers in late elementary and high school that experience difficulties in writing composition.   The present study consists of eight research studies on effective writing strategies, selected and limited by certain inclusion and exclusion criteria. The analysis and interpretation are carried out from the perspective of Bandura’s social cognitive theory, as well as from previous research in the field. The result shows that effective teaching methods for writing support students’ working memory and writing skills through well-defined structures and visual support. Furthermore, the methods include awareness of learning as a social activity which emphasises good relations, constructive feedback and supportive teachers using explicit methods. The result also suggests that when addressing students’ mindset and supporting their self-efficacy, writing proficiency improves.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hospitality Management / Kevin R. Roberts / Ethnic foods have gained in popularity and have become mainstream in the diet of most Americans. However, researchers have noted that ethnic food, specifically food served in ethnic restaurants, has been associated with foodborne outbreaks. Little has been done using the Social Cognitive Theory to predict food safety behaviors, especially in independent ethnic restaurants. The purpose of this study was to determine whether self-efficacy, self-regulation, outcome expectations, and environmental determinants are predictive of self-reported food safety behaviors in independent ethnic restaurants. Utilizing a thorough literature review and results of five focus group and group interviews, a questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire was translated to Chinese and Spanish and back-translated to English to ensure consistency. After pilot-testing, a multistage random sampling technique was utilized to collect data, targeting a total of 150 food handlers from independent Mexican and Chinese restaurants. A total of 204 food handlers responded, but due to incomplete data or responses from non-food handlers, 201 responses were usable for a response rate of 80.4%. A multiple regression analysis investigated the prediction of food safety behavioral intentions based on the respondents’ self-efficacy, self-regulation, outcome expectations, and environmental determinants and found the model was significant (F = 75.246, p = 0.002). The significant independent variables in the model were self-regulation (β = 0.467, p = 0.001), environmental determinants (β = 0.181, p = 0.011), and outcome expectations (β = 0.152, p = 0.018), which explained about 60.6 % of the variance in food safety behavioral intentions. Self-efficacy was not significant (β = 0.078, p = 0.219). A mediation analysis showed that behavioral intentions are a significant mediator of the relationships between self-efficacy and self-reported food safety behaviors (b = 0.24, CI [0.161, 0.336], self-regulation and self-reported food safety behaviors (b = 0.252, CI [0.155, 0.366]), outcome expectations and self-reported food safety behaviors (b = 0.355, CI [0.247, 0.469]), and environmental determinants and self-reported food safety behaviors (b = 0.269, CI [0.172, 0.393]). Implications, limitations, and direction for future research were discussed.

abstract: School and educational psychologists have a shared imperative to understand the complex inter-play of a student’s home life and perceived self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the central facet of Bandura’s social cognitive theory (SCT, 1986, 1997). The current study improved upon the extant literature by exploring how home life in Arizona, Arkansas, California, and Oklahoma impacts the self-efficacy for self-regulated learning of mid-to-late adolescents. Although it is difficult to identify how specific aspects of life (including home life) matter for particular areas of functioning, the present study explored self-efficacy for self-regulated learning through the lens of three scales of the Late Adolescence version of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment Inventory (LA-HOME) (Caldwell & Bradley, 2016). The LA-HOME documents actions, objects, events and conditions connected with the home environment of children ages 16 to 20, who are still residing at home with parents or guardians (Caldwell & Bradley, 2016). This paper addresses the following research question: How are various aspects of the home life of mid-to-late adolescents, namely (1) modeling and encouragement of maturity, (2) family companionship and investment in adolescent, and (3) warmth, acceptance, and responsiveness, associated with self-efficacy for self-regulated learning? The sample of 333 adolescents is quite diverse demographically; it includes variations in family composition, race/ethnicity, household SES, language spoken in the home, and geography (rural, urban, suburban). The study utilizes a sub-sample of adolescents from the larger study who were 15 to 19 years of age (N = 333). Descriptive statistics, means, and standard deviations are reported for continuous variables, frequencies are reported for categorical variables, and correlations are presented. A hierarchical regression model was estimated in two steps. The first step included the complete set of control variables (household income, ethnicity, gender, and adolescent general health and depressive symptoms), and the second step included the set of three home life indicators. The hierarchical regression model had good fit. Study assets and limitations, as well as alternate theories for consideration and directions for future research, are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Psychology 2018

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2016-09-01T19:26:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciano Gonçalves De Lima.pdf: 1294606 bytes, checksum: dccdca1a28a0a58223d4d0b0cd9a050a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-01T19:26:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Luciano Gonçalves De Lima.pdf: 1294606 bytes, checksum: dccdca1a28a0a58223d4d0b0cd9a050a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-06-29 / The area of entrepreneurship with the fragmented studies has inhibited some consensual aspects to explain the phenomenon of entrepreneurial behavior. The replies are sought in several subjects under the most varied aspects, but it is in psychology which is supported for the explanations in order to establish characteristics that lead to understanding the entrepreneurial behavior: need for achievement, initiative, the statement, the orientation to efficiency, systematic planning and commitment to work (McClelland, 1961). In the context of positive psychology arises the organizational behavior giving rise to the psychological capital. Thus, four important forces are formed that produces a state of psychological growth in the individual: self-efficacy, optimism, hope and resilience (Luthans, Luthans, & Luthans, 2004). Not unlike the social cognitive theory, in the perspective of human agency, the psychological capital has fundamental characteristics such as intentionality in which people form intentions that include plans and action strategies to accomplish them (anticipation). This involves more than make plans directed to the future, but to create goals for yourself predicting outcomes likely to prospective acts in order to guide and motivate the efforts in advance (Bandura, 2001). Considering the characteristic of these two theories, the general purpose of this research is to analyze the entrepreneurial behavior in light of the components of the construct of psychological capital and social cognitive theory, in the perspective of human agency. For this purpose, the phenomenological procedure as research strategy was chosen in this study. Therefore, the researcher can identify the essence of human experiences described by participants. The research emphasizes the understanding of the life story of 21 entrepreneurs, who make up the Board of Commercial and Business Association, the Council of Woman Entrepreneur and the Council Young Entrepreneur in Paranavaí city, state of Paraná, Brazil. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview. It allows security and flexibility to the researcher to the issues of research interest are addressed while giving freedom to the interviewed to express their experiences. The interviews were recorded with the consent of the participants in order to facilitate the transcription and preserve the essence of the data. The results showed that both the need for self-realization, initiative, relationship, ability to handle adversity and family basis are striking features in all the entrepreneurs of the three survey groups. One aspect that has not been investigated in the research, but that emerged in the results of this research was the solidarity. This construct is more present in the behavior of the Board of ACIAP (Commercial and Business Association) and women entrepreneurs of CME (Council of Woman Entrepreneur) to be elected the solidarity actions as a way of giving back to society by business success that was won by them over time. How the enterprises of young entrepreneurs participating in the research are at the initial stage or phase of maturation, this construct was not relevant in the study and can touch on over time during the entrepreneurial path. This way, the actions that elect an individual with entrepreneurial behavior can be explained through the optics of these two theories that supported this research. However, the psychological capital showed greater explanation because it has among other components the construct of self-efficacy that has been the basis of human agency. It is concluded that entrepreneurs bring sufficient subsidies to exhibit beliefs of self-efficacy, optimism, hope, resilience, intentionality, anticipation, self-relativity and self-reflection that can be analyzed and explained from the perspective of both the psychological capital and human agency. The three groups of entrepreneurs have psychological capital and human agency. This leads us to believe they can be characterized by their entrepreneurial behavior and stigmatized as entrepreneur. / A área de empreendedorismo face aos estudos fragmentados tem inibido alguns aspectos consensuais para explicar o fenômeno do comportamento empreendedor. As respostas são buscadas em várias disciplinas sob os mais variados aspectos, porém é na psicologia que se encontra suporte para os esclarecimentos e entendimentos com vistas a estabelecer características que levam a compreender o comportamento empreendedor: necessidade de realização, a iniciativa, a afirmação, a orientação para a eficiência, o planejamento sistemático e o comprometimento com o trabalho (McClelland, 1961). No contexto da psicologia positiva, surge o comportamento organizacional positivo, contexto que deu origem ao capital psicológico, cujo constructo é formado por quatro importantes forças que produzem um estado de acréscimo psicológico no indivíduo: autoeficácia, otimismo, esperança e resiliência (Luthans, Luthans, & Luthans, 2004). Não diferente, a teoria social cognitiva na perspectiva da agência humana possui características fundamentais como a intencionalidade, onde as pessoas formam intenções que incluem planos e estratégias de ação para realizá-las; antecipação, visto que isso envolve mais do que fazer planos direcionados ao futuro, mas criar objetivos para si mesmos e prever os resultados prováveis de atos prospectivos para guiar e motivar seus esforços antecipadamente (Bandura, 2001). Considerando-se a característica dessas duas teorias, o objetivo geral desta tese é analisar comportamento empreendedor à luz dos componentes do constructo do capital psicológico e da teoria social cognitiva, na perspectiva da agência humana. Para tanto foi eleita a pesquisa fenomenológica como estratégia de investigação em que o pesquisador identifica a essência das experiências humanas descritas pelos participantes. A pesquisa enfatiza a compreensão da história de vida de 21 empreendedores que integram a diretoria da Associação Comercial e Empresarial, o Conselho da Mulher Empresária, e o Conselho do Jovem Empresário da cidade de Paranavaí - PR. A entrevista em profundidade apoiada em um roteiro semiestruturado foi o instrumento de coleta de dados, pois ela permite segurança e flexibilidade ao pesquisador para que os assuntos de interesse da pesquisa sejam abordados, ao mesmo tempo em que dá liberdade ao entrevistado de expressar suas experiências. As entrevistas foram gravadas com o consentimento dos participantes visando facilitar a transcrição e preservar a essência dos dados. Os dados foram categorizados por meio da análise de conteúdo e tratados à luz destas teorias. Os resultados evidenciaram que tanto a necessidade de autorrealização, iniciativa, relacionamento, capacidade de lidar com adversidade e base familiar, são características marcantes em todos os empreendedores dos três grupos participantes da pesquisa. Um aspecto não investigado na pesquisa, mas que surgiu nos resultados foi a solidariedade. Este constructo está mais presente no comportamento dos empreendedores diretores da ACIAP e nas mulheres empreendedoras do CME, ao elegerem as ações de solidariedade como uma forma de retribuir à sociedade pelo sucesso do negócio conquistado por eles ao longo do tempo. Como os empreendimentos dos jovens empreendedores participantes da pesquisa estão na fase inicial ou fase de maturação, este constructo não se mostrou relevante, podendo vir aflorar com o tempo no decorrer da trajetória empreendedora. Dessa forma, fica evidente que as ações que elegem um indivíduo com comportamento empreendedor podem ser explicadas através da ótica dessas duas teorias que embasaram o estudo. Porém o capital psicológico mostrou maior poder de explicação por possuir entre outros componentes que formam o constructo a autoeficácia, que é base da agência humana. Conclui-se que os empreendedores trazem subsídios suficientes ao exibirem crenças de autoeficácia, otimismo, esperança, resiliência, intencionalidade, antecipação, autorreatividade e autorreflexão que podem ser analisados e explicados sob a ótica tanto do capital psicológico, quanto da agência humana. Os três grupos de empreendedores adotam, no seu dia a dia, ações provenientes do capital psicológico e da agência humana, evidenciando que seus comportamentos os caracterizam como empreendedores.

Bakgrund: Hamstringsskada är den vanligaste skadan inom elitfotboll och har hög återfallsrisk. I samband med hamstringsskador är arbetet intensivt då spelaren helst ska vara tillbaka snabbt för att bidra till lagets prestation. Rehabiliteringen behöver trots sin intensitet vara av långsiktig karaktär och förhindra att skadan återkommer i framtiden. Syfte: Att undersöka fysioterapeuters upplevelser av faktorer som påverkar rehabilitering av hamstringsskador hos herrfotbollsspelare i svenska elitfotbollsklubbar. Metod: Kvalitativ semistrukturerad intervjustudie med deskriptiv design. Ett ändamålsenligt urval gjordes och fem fysioterapeuter inom svensk elitfotboll intervjuades. Data analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys med en induktiv ansats. Resultat: Analysen resulterade i fem kategorier och 19 underkategorier. Kategorierna var fysioterapeutens förutsättningar, spelarens förutsättningar, yttre press, bemötande av spelare och återgångens omständigheter. Med utgångspunkt i fysioterapeuters upplevelser framhålls spelaren, tränaren och den egna kunskapen som de mest betydande faktorerna av rehabiliteringen av hamstringsskador. Slutsats: Upplevelserna kunde kopplas till fysioterapeuten som individ, dess omgivning och beteende. Fysioterapeuterna upplevde att det krävdes anpassning av sitt beteende efter omständigheter i omgivningen för att åstadkomma en lyckosam rehabilitering. Studiens resultat är svårt att generalisera då antalet fysioterapeuter som medverkade i studien var få. / Bakground: Hamstring injury is the most common injury in elite football and has a high re- injury rate. The rehabilitation of hamstring injuries are intense since the player should preferably be back quickly to contribute to the team performance. Despite the intensity of the rehabilitation, it needs to be of a long-term perspective and prevent future re-injury. Aim: To explore physiotherapists’ experiences of factors that affect rehabilitation of hamstring injuries in male football players in Swedish elite football clubs. Method: Qualitative semistructured interview study with descriptive design. A purposive sample of five physiotherapists, working with Swedish elite football were interviewed. The data collection was analyzed with qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach. Result: The analysis resulted in five categories and 19 subcategories. The categories were the physiotherapist’s conditions, the player’s condition, external pressure, approach with the player and the circumstances of the return to play. The physiotherapists’ experienced that the player, the coach and the knowledge of the physiotherapist are the most important factors in rehabilitation of hamstring injuries. Conclusion: Physiotherapists experienced that adaptation of their behavior was required according to the circumstances of the surrounding environment to achieve successfull rehabilitation. The study’s result is difficult to generalize as the number of physiotherapists involved in the study was few.