Previous research on investor preferences focused mainly on the relationship between socio-demographic variables and risk tolerance. This study extends the research in this area by focusing on three aspects of investor preferences: risk tolerance, time horizon, and estate intentions. The objective is to provide a more comprehensive model of investor preferences, including both psychological and attitudinal variables. This study addresses the following: Are socio-demographic variables sufficient to predict investor preferences? Is there a difference between males and females? How much additional variance is explained by including political ideology, positive psychology attitudes, and pro-social attitudes? Are these attitudinal variables simply additive or are they interactive? Data were collected from MBA students and senior undergraduate students in a major research university in South Florida. A scale was developed to measure estate intentions, a construct that has never been examined in management studies. The findings supported the expectation that psychological variables would be positively correlated with the dependent variables. However, I expected that pro-social attitudes would be a moderator variable, and this expectation was not realized. This dissertation contributes to the investor preferences field in several ways. First, it demonstrates the importance of psychological and attitudinal variables in explaining investor preferences. I also found differences between males and females regarding risk tolerance. This study can provide financial advisers with a deeper understanding of the importance of psychological and attitudinal variables in determining investor behavior. Finally, the results of this study augment and expand stakeholder theory. This study brings the investor into the stakeholder model, enhancing the descriptive, explanatory, and predictive capabilities of stakeholder theory. Future research could replicate this study using real investors in different locations for cultural variation, or using a panel of respondents for a longitudinal study.

The impetus for this study was my own curiosity about how seasoned entrepreneurial women were able to stay the course. As someone who has experienced the world of the employee and that of the entrepreneur, my goal was to better understand how, within their varied personal contexts, the lifelong learning experiences of seasoned entrepreneurial women were shaped by socio-cultural influences, significant individuals, gender, and learning challenges. Theories and research on lifelong and biographical learning, entrepreneurial learning, women's learning, and entrepreneurial women's learning helped to frame the study. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews and focus groups with eight women entrepreneurs between the ages of 40 and 60, with 16 to 30 years' experience in running their service-oriented enterprise were conducted. These women's stories illustrate how serendipitous their careers were, that is, they did not begin their working lives thinking they would become entrepreneurs, rather, it became the path that best supported their desires, independence and creativity. They were shaped by and sometimes resisted parents' messages about the role that education, work and marriage with children should play in women's lives. How they faced and learned from adversity and from the support of business mentors and friends were also significant. As they reflected back on their lives, they have a strong sense of mastery. Success for them did not focus on finances, rather, their autonomy, freedom, and control over the direction of their lives and the development of strong caring relationships with others, were key. Their learning was dynamic and experiential, it was both self directed and drew on others' knowledge. Women contemplating an entrepreneurial path may find this study of interest as they can learn how others, particularly family, shape their dreams, how they might meet challenges and learn from adversity, and overall, how central lifelong learning is to the development of their entrepreneurial careers. Educators and policymakers need to appreciate the serendipitous nature of entrepreneurship, how they can create entrepreneurial experiences for students, and expose the learners to not only essential skills required to run a business, but also to the stories regarding the self-development of successful entrepreneurs / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Establece los conocimientos sobre salud sexual y reproductiva y su relación con su comportamiento sexual de los estudiantes en las edades de 18 a 25 años de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad Técnica de Babahoyo. Año 2014. Del mismo modo se identifica la relación de las determinantes, individuales, sociales, culturales, y emocionales. Estudio no experimental, descriptivo, comparativo. La población está conformada por 140 estudiantes de las escuelas de enfermería y obstetricia. Los hallazgos encontrados en el presente estudio en el cual la mayoría de los estudiantes percibe sus conocimientos en salud sexual y reproductiva como bajos o regulares, es decir niveles de conocimientos y comportamientos medios bajos en las cuatro dimensiones de la encuesta realizada. Concluye que se debe mejorar el conocimiento de la salud sexual y reproductiva, sexualidad, sexo seguro y el VIH/SIDA, debido a que pueden incidir en actitudes que propician prácticas y conductas sexuales de riesgo. / Tesis

Establece los conocimientos sobre salud sexual y reproductiva y su relación con su comportamiento sexual de los estudiantes en las edades de 18 a 25 años de la Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad Técnica de Babahoyo. Año 2014. Del mismo modo se identifica la relación de las determinantes, individuales, sociales, culturales, y emocionales. Estudio no experimental, descriptivo, comparativo. La población está conformada por 140 estudiantes de las escuelas de enfermería y obstetricia. Los hallazgos encontrados en el presente estudio en el cual la mayoría de los estudiantes percibe sus conocimientos en salud sexual y reproductiva como bajos o regulares, es decir niveles de conocimientos y comportamientos medios bajos en las cuatro dimensiones de la encuesta realizada. Concluye que se debe mejorar el conocimiento de la salud sexual y reproductiva, sexualidad, sexo seguro y el VIH/SIDA, debido a que pueden incidir en actitudes que propician prácticas y conductas sexuales de riesgo. / Tesis

La asertividad sexual posee un rol determinante en la salud sexual, ya que se refiere a la capacidad de las personas para iniciar la actividad sexual, rechazar la actividad sexual no deseada, el empleo de métodos anticonceptivos y desarrollo de comportamientos sexuales más saludables. En este estudio instrumental se analizan algunas propiedades psicométricas de la Escala de Asertividad Sexual (SAS) en una muestra de 832 estudiantes universitarios (408 mujeres y 424 varones) de la Universidad Nacional del Centro del Perú y la Universidad Continental de la ciudad de Huancayo. Cuyas edades oscilaban entre 18 a 29 años (M = 21.9, DE = 2.48). / Tesis

Volunteerism is a popular form of community engagement among youth and can involve helping organizations, such as nonprofits, as well as directly assisting neighbours or friends through informal types of helping. A large body of research has examined the different ways in which economic, social, and cultural resources impact on volunteerism. Fewer studies have considered the influence of place characteristics. This dissertation comprises three studies. The first study used secondary data to explore the moderating effects of urban/rural place of residence and certain resources (e.g., religiosity, work status) on youths’ volunteer propensity and intensity. Results revealed significant urban/rural interactions. For example, belonging to youth groups (versus not) was particularly a strong lever for rural youth volunteerism, while higher religious attendance frequency was associated with greater volunteer intensities for urban youth. The second study used a mixed methods approach to investigate urban/rural differences in motivations for and barriers to volunteering, and skills acquired. Financial costs were associated with nonvolunteer status for rural youth, while urban nonvolunteers reported lacking interest. During the interviews, youth described reasons for volunteering, challenges to volunteering, and strategies to improve volunteerism. These discussions differed by urban/rural residence. Rural youth reported more contextual barriers, whereas urban youth questioned the significance of their impact. Rural youth discussed volunteering more as a general learning experience, whereas urban youth tended to mention specific skills they acquired (e.g., technical, interpersonal). In the third study, the relationships between perceptions of the neighbourhood environment (e.g., cohesion, amenities) and volunteer outcomes were explored. Results revealed that neighbourhood cohesion was particularly important to informal volunteering. Further, different clusters emerged based on volunteer type (informal/formal) and level of intensity. The findings from this dissertation suggest that understanding youth volunteerism within a socio-ecological perspective can widen our understanding of the volunteer process, including antecedents, challenges, experiences, and outcomes. This research may have practical implications for nonprofit organizations. For example, methods of outreach should consider how the environment impacts on volunteerism when trying to recruit young volunteers. Finally, the literature on youth volunteerism may benefit by adopting a holistic approach to volunteerism that considers the different ways in which place characteristics, rather than only individual-level factors, influence youth community engagement.

Recent years have seen a growing scholarly interest in the conditions of emergence of regional trade agreements in Africa. These analyses have advanced our knowledge on a range of technical issues, from specific institutional transformation of regional economic communities such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to broad legal issues relating to the provisions of the regional trade agreements. Most literature on ECOWAS is, however, informed by legal formalism that interprets the text of the treaties strictly and without context, leading to a dominant interpretation of failure. By contrast, this thesis adopts a socio-legal approach and argues that the dominant narrative’s conceptualization of ECOWAS is narrow and under-representative of the broader contexts of the social relations in which ECOWAS Treaties and their implementation are embedded. The failure narratives do not adequately account for the complex social, historical, and political factors that shape the implementation of the ECOWAS Treaties. By combining socio-legal approach with insights from International Relations on new regionalism, the thesis reconceptualizes regionalism in ECOWAS as a social phenomenon. It approaches the ECOWAS Treaties as embedded in the socio-political relations, power struggles, and social structures of the Community. To differentiate the thesis from existing research on ECOWAS, it incorporates national, regional, and international factors in illuminating the complex and multifaceted confluence of circumstances that shape the implementation of the ECOWAS Treaties. Simultaneously, the thesis enriches our understanding of the theories of new regionalism by deepening the analysis in relation to ECOWAS. Seen from this perspective, the thesis concludes that ECOWAS cannot be regarded as a straightforward failure and that its achievements are not to be found primarily in economic integration but in other socio-political factors that it enabled. Finally, the analysis opens new opportunities for future normative analyses that interrogate the effectiveness of ECOWAS by taking into account the socio-political contexts in which it is embedded.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the perceptions of the preschool teachers, working with the preschool bus, regarding challenges and children's interactions in different learning environments offered by mobile preschool. The metod used in this study is the qualitative semi-structured interviews with four preschool teachers. The theoretical ground used to perform the analyse in the study is represented by socio-cultural perspective and hermeneutic research effort.  The study shows that the interaction between children is the same in all environments but that the interaction between children and the environment might be different depending on the development and intrests of the preschool children. The survey shows that this interaction between children and the environment begins before the bus week and that the starting point in the interaction can be expressed by intrest, bus destinations and preschool topic. The survey shows that one challenge might be that the preschool children need to be able to adapt to more environments than they are used to. The survey even shows that such challenge can be even greater if there are children with special needs in the group. The preschool bus can be also a challenge in bad weather days since the children have to share space and material.

This thesis describes investigations into the language of rejection used in the Gospel of Mark, employing the methodology of socio-rhetorical interpretation. After describing the history of interpretation of Jesus’ rejection in Chapter I, Chapter II examines how the internal structure of Mark shows the references that relate to the rejection theme and are repeated in sequence. Chapter III explores the conflict issues debated between Jesus and his opponents as the social and cultural texture, in which Mark was written. The three components, Authority, the Law, and Temple, are the main issues in the Gospel. Chapter IV deals with the data of intertexture, a significant influence for the Gospel. Mark borrows rejection language from the Old Testament and ancient Jewish literature as well. In Chapter V, the ideological texture analyzes Mark’s intent responding to his opponents. Mark uses rejection language to warn that those who refuse Jesus as the Son of God cannot avoid the final judgment.

This is a descriptive study of functional specialization in cities and its relation to certain social, economic and demographic variables.