abstract: Integrating research from life history theory with investigations of construal-level theory, the researcher proposes a novel relationship between life history strategy and construal-level. Slow life history strategies arise in safe, predictable environments where individuals give up current reproductive effort in favor of future reproductive effort. Correspondingly, high-level construals allow individuals to transcend the current context and act according to global concerns, such as the type of future planning necessary to enact slow life history strategies. Meanwhile, fast life history strategies arise in harsh, unpredictable environments where the future is uncertain and individuals need to pay close attention to the current context to survive. Correspondingly, low-level construals immerse individuals in the immediate situation, enabling them the flexibility needed to respond to local concerns. Given the correspondence between aspects of life history and construal-level, it seems possible that individuals adopting slow life history strategies should more frequently use high-level construals to assist in transcending the current situation to plan for the future, while individuals adopting fast life history strategies should more frequently use low-level construals to assist in monitoring the details of their harsh, unpredictable environment. To test the relationship between life history and construal, the researcher investigated whether or not a childhood cue of environmental harshness and unpredictability, childhood SES, and a current cue of environmental harshness and unpredictability, local mortality rate, influenced construal-level. In line with past research, the researcher predicted that childhood SES would interact with current cues of local mortality rate to influence construal-level. For individuals growing up in high SES households, a high local mortality rate will lead to an increase in high-level construals. For individuals growing up in low SES households, a high local mortality rate will lead to an increase in low-level construals. Overall, results did not support the hypotheses. Childhood SES did not interact with prime condition to influence either categorization or trend predictions. Examining how the prime interacted with another measure of life history strategy, the Mini-K, yielded mixed results. However, there are several ways in which the current study could be altered to reexamine the relationship between life history strategy and construal. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Psychology 2011

Overweight and obesity are serious health concerns facing American children today. The number of children (2 to 19 year olds) who are overweight has increased from 13.9% in 1999-2000, to 15.4% in 2001-2002, and 17.1% in 2003-2004. The prevalence in overweight and obesity rates is increasing. Since it is well documented that physical activity attenuates the overweight and obesity crises, physical activity has been deemed as a leading health indicator for improving our nation's health, and is an effective approach to preventing and/or reducing overweight and obesity. In a 2003 study, it was discovered that 72.3% of middle school children participated in vigorous intensity physical activity at least three days of the previous week and 33.6% participated in moderate intensity physical activity at least five days the previous week. Yet, it is recommended that middle school age children participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity every day. The primary purpose of this study was to determine if differences in after-school physical activity participation existed among middle school children from different socioeconomic statuses (SES). The secondary purpose was to identify which predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors predicted after-school physical activity participation among middle school children. The PRECEDE-PROCEED planning model was utilized in a cross-sectional, descriptive, survey research design. The study sample consisted of 158 middle school children (24.9% participation rate). The gender breakdown of the sample was almost even, 81 females (51.3%) and 76 males (48.1%). The socioeconomic status of the sample were 39.2% low SES and 58.9% were not-low SES. Almost two-thirds of the children (60.8%) were physically activity for one hour or more after-school each day. Somers' d tests revealed that there was a significant difference (p = .035) in children's after-school physical activity level and their socioeconomic status. Low SES children were more active than not-low SES children. Ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed that of the fourteen predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors that were tested, physical activity self-efficacy (p = .03), attraction to physical activity (p = .01) (predisposing factors), and access to sports equipment (p = .01) (enabling factor) were statistically significant predictors of middle school children's after-school physical activity level. Children who held a higher level of physical activity self-efficacy were 3.4 times more likely to be physically active after school that children with a lower level. Children who were attracted to physically active games, sports, and activities were 3.48 times more likely to be physically active after school that children with lower levels of physical activity attraction. Children who felt that they had active toys, games, equipment, and supplies at home were 2.46 times more likely to be physically active after school than children who did not perceive adequate access to equipment. Middle school children have approximately 6 ½ hours of time after school each day to devote to a variety of pursuits. Although almost two-thirds of children in this study met the daily physical activity recommendation, research shows that as children grow older, their physical activity levels decrease. Furthermore, most research also shows that low socioeconomic status adults engage in less physical activity that their not-low counterparts. Consequently, the area in which this study was conducted was rural and poor Eastern Kentucky; health educators must continually strive to cultivate children's physical activity behavior. This study also found that the average time children devoted to watching television and playing computer/video games was 3 hours and 43 minutes per day. Communities will see long-term health benefits when strong foundations for physically active lifestyles are established and sedentary activities are minimized.

Aim Despite the country's explicit political goal to establish equivalent living conditions across Germany, significant inequality continues to exist. We argue that premature mortality is an excellent proxy variable for testing the claim of equivalent living conditions since the root causes of premature death are socioeconomic. Subject and methods We analyse variation in premature mortality across Germany's 402 districts and cities in 2014. Results Premature mortality spatially clusters among geographically contiguous and proximate districts/cities and is higher in more urban places as well as in districts/cities located further north and in former East Germany. We demonstrate that, first, socioeconomic factors account for 62% of the cross-sectional variation in years of potential life lost and 70% of the variation in the premature mortality rate. Second, we show that these socioeconomic factors either entirely or almost fully eliminate the systematic spatial patterns that exist in premature mortality. Conclusion On its own, fiscal redistribution, the centrepiece of how Germany aspires to establish its political goal, cannot generate equivalent living conditions in the absence of a comprehensive set of economic and social policies at all levels of political administration, tackling the disparities in socioeconomic factors that collectively result in highly unequal living conditions.

This study examined socioeconomic status (SES) and perceived social class as predictors of career adaptability and educational aspirations in a sample of American high school students. SES was measured using caregivers' occupation and education, and the MacArthur Scale of Subjective Social Status--Youth Version (Goodman et al., 2001) assessed subjective social class. Career adaptability was be measured using the Career Futures Inventory-Revised (CFI-R; Rottinghaus, Buelow, Matyja, & Schneider, 2012) and the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) Form C (Savickas & Porfeli, 2011). Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regressions. SES and perceived social class independently predicted educational aspirations and expectations, while SES independently predicted occupational aspirations and expectations. Expected correlations between CFI-R and CMI Form C scales were found, providing convergent validity evidence and supporting the use of the CFI-R with adolescents. This study represents a step toward developing empirically informed vocational interventions that take SES and social class into account.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between college students' social class and their academic outcomes. A structural equation model was proposed, hypothesizing that a student's socioeconomic status (SES) is related to their motives for attending college, thus influencing their perception of fit at the university, their satisfaction with the university, their academic self-efficacy, and their grades, attendance, and likelihood for retention.. The results from a sample of 500 undergraduate students show that overall, the hypothesized model was a borderline good fit of the data. While SES was negatively related to interdependent motives for attending college, it was not related to independent motives for college. Independent motives for attending college were positively related to perceptions of fit at the university, while interdependent motives were not. Finally, fit at the university was positively related to satisfaction, which was related to intention for retention, class attendance, and academic self-efficacy. Academic self-efficacy was significantly related to students' grade point average. These results suggest that students from low SES backgrounds are more interdependent. Further, those who are more independent feel a greater sense of fit with the university and are more likely to be satisfied, express commitment to continuing at the university, and attend their classes. These results provide support for a proposition that higher education institutions should value students who have different types of motives and to consider what is communicated to students through programs and expectations that are focused on independent values.

Creating an educational program that results in positive post-secondary and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)-oriented outcomes for all students is a national goal and federal policy directive. Recent research has shown that in addition to measures of academic proficiency, intra- and interpersonal skills are important factors in college and career readiness. Likewise, mathematics proficiency is an important skill for successful STEM outcomes and post-secondary success, but these achievements and outcomes frequently vary based on demographic characteristics. This study utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 to examine the relationships between mathematics achievement growth in Grades K-1 and Grades 3-8, mathematics self-efficacy development in Grades 3-8, and demographic factors including sex, socioeconomic status (SES), and race/ethnicity. Various models of mathematics achievement growth were tested, and the relationships between both early and middle grades mathematics achievement growth and self-efficacy development were also explored. Sex, SES, and race/ethnicity differences in both mathematics achievement growth and self-efficacy development were discovered, and findings were consistent with familiar achievement gaps favoring white and Asian males from above median SES households. In particular, SES was found to be a ubiquitous factor in both mathematics achievement and self-efficacy development, and sex moderated some of the relationships between mathematics achievement and self-efficacy. Implications for future research, instructional design, and intervention development are discussed.

Selective attention refers to the ability to enhance the processing of relevant stimuli, while suppressing the processing of irrelevant distractors. The neural mechanisms of selective attention are vulnerable in children from lower socioeconomic status families, yet these neural mechanisms can also be enhanced with evidence-based, targeted training. The series of studies presented in this dissertation investigated the individual differences in development and neuroplasticity of selective auditory attention in association with nonverbal cognitive abilities, in relation to genetic influences, and in the context of gene x intervention interactions. To this end, a multi-method approach was adopted, combining several methodologies such as event-related potentials (ERPs), behavioral measures, molecular genetics, and a randomized, controlled intervention design. In the first study, individual differences in neural mechanisms of selective auditory attention were studied, in association with nonverbal cognitive abilities. More robust ERP selective attention effects were associated with superior nonverbal IQ performance. These results indicated a noteworthy relationship between neural mechanisms of selective attention and nonverbal IQ performance in lower socioeconomic status (SES) preschoolers. In the second study, the relationship between 5-HTTLPR polymorphism and neural mechanisms of selective auditory attention was assessed. ERPs of selective attention effect were larger in children who carried at least one short allele of 5-HTTLPR, in comparison to long-homozygotes. These results associated being homozygous for the long allele with weaker neural mechanisms of selective attention in lower SES children. In the third study, these genetic influences were investigated in the context of an effective family-based training program previously shown to improve neural mechanisms of selective attention in lower SES preschoolers. The long-homozygote children, who initially displayed more attenuated ERPs of selective auditory attention than their short-carrier peers, showed robust ERPs of selective attention at posttest, but only if they were randomly assigned to the training program. These findings demonstrated that an effective family-based training could moderate the genetic influences of 5-HTTLPR on the neural mechanisms of selective attention. Taken together, the studies presented in this dissertation contribute to elucidating individual differences in development and neuroplasticity of selective auditory attention in lower SES preschoolers. This dissertation includes unpublished co-authored material.

TEIXEIRA, Ana Lúcia Gomes de Freitas.Mudanças no perfil socioeconômico e ambiental provocadas pela atividade turística no município de Guaramiranga-CE. 2005. 115 f. : Universidade Federal do Ceará, Curso de Mestrado em Desenvolvimento e Meio Ambiente - PRODEMA, Fortaleza-CE,2005. / Submitted by demia Maia (demiamlm@gmail.com) on 2016-04-01T17:03:08Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2005_dis_algfteixeira.pdf: 1235760 bytes, checksum: 1277ca336c61e0ea42d2a4168aa056cd (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by demia Maia(demiamlm@gmail.com) on 2016-04-04T11:30:38Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2005_dis_algfteixeira.pdf: 1235760 bytes, checksum: 1277ca336c61e0ea42d2a4168aa056cd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-04T11:30:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2005_dis_algfteixeira.pdf: 1235760 bytes, checksum: 1277ca336c61e0ea42d2a4168aa056cd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / This M-Sc Thesis, whose title is “Changes in the socioeconomic and environmental profile from tourist activity in the municipal district of Guaramiranga-Ce”, has main objective to accomplish a study about changes in the socioeconomic and environmental profile caused by the actions tourist activites in Guaramiranga. It is used as method for obtaining data, individual, secret and anonymous, through questionnaire with closed and open questions, accomplished in the municipal, accompanied of participant observation in having referred place. The analysis and interpretation of the primary and secondary data demonstrate that the tourism has been contributing to the socioeconomic development of the municipal in a gradual way. Guaramiranga still protects traditional production processes that base on flowers, vegetables, fruits and craft. Now, beginning to a new format in their production way with the increment of the tourist activity, generating occupation and income for the population and the local trade. Consequently the speculators appear, constructions of residences and of equipments of lodging means and of infrastructure. In most of cases, speculation propitiates actions causadrs antropc of significant damages to the natural environment, committing the sustainability of the tourism in the city of Guaramiranga. / Esta dissertação, cujo título é “Mudanças no perfil socioeconômico e ambiental provocadas pela atividade turística no município de Guaramiranga-Ce”, tem como objetivo principal realizar um estudo sobre as mudanças no perfil socioeconômico e ambiental causadas pelas ações da atividade turística em Guaramiranga. Utiliza-se como método para obtenção de dados, entrevistas individuais, sigilosas e anônimas, por meio de questionário com perguntas fechadas e abertas, realizadas no município, acompanhadas de observação participante em referida localidade. A análise e interpretação dos dados primários e secundários demonstram que o turismo tem contribuído para o desenvolvimento socioeconômico do município de forma gradativa. Guaramiranga ainda resguarda tradicionais processos de produção que se baseiam no cultivo de flores, hortaliças, frutas e artesanato. Atualmente, dá-se início a um novo formato em seu modo de produção com o incremento da atividade turística, gerando ocupação e renda para a população e o comércio local. Conseqüentemente surgem os especuladores, edificações de residências e de equipamentos de meios de hospedagem e de infraestrutura. Na maioria dos casos, esta especulação propicia ações antrópicas causadoras de danos significativos ao meio ambiente natural, comprometendo a sustentabilidade do turismo na cidade de Guaramiranga.

Researchers and lay people alike have long held an interest in understanding the antecedents, mechanisms, and consequences of prosocial behaviours: Acts people behave in ways that benefit others, such as cooperation, altruism, care-giving, empathy, sympathy, and compassion. Numerous lines of inquiry have now documented that acting prosocially carries many benefits for not only the recipient, but also the actor. For instance, acting prosocially attracts social capital, social support, and boosts interpersonal relationships; prosociality also increases one’s well-being, happiness, and has long-term physical and mental health benefits. While much of the past work has focused on the main effects of prosociality on various positive outcomes, one area that has received limited attention is understanding the contextual factors and individual differences that moderate these relationships. In the present thesis, I focus on understanding how socioeconomic status (SES) acts as a moderator of the link between prosociality and numerous positive outcomes. In particular, I examined how prosociality is related to building social networks through weak ties, coping with daily stress, and building interpersonal skills. Across these relationships, I examined how SES moderates the link between prosociality and each outcome. My research was guided by the SES-prosociality paradox: That while the rich have access to far greater resources – and thus the ability to act prosocially – it is the poor that tend to act most generously. I theorized that one reason for this paradox is that people across different SES strata benefit differently from acting prosocially. In particular, I reasoned that the people from lower SES backgrounds will tend to have stronger relationship between prosociality and various positive outcomes than people from higher SES backgrounds. To test this hypothesis, I conducted numerous empirical studies using multiple methods – analysing data from subjective reports via surveys and existing data from social media, running natural experiments, and conducting lab experiments using genetic and pharmacological challenge methods. In Chapters 2 and 3, I found that people who act prosocially tend to attract more weak social ties – this is only true for the relatively poor. In Chapter 4, I tested how empathic traits relate to better coping strategies for both lower and higher SES individuals, and found a complex pattern of differing benefits. Finally, in Chapter 5, I found that intranasal oxytocin improves emotional theory of mind, but only for the low SES individuals.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:33:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-08-20Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:45:21Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 silva_do_dr_prud.pdf: 1780954 bytes, checksum: a445c72cd5f3b9eac7488d2dd4d6e12f (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A questão central que orientou este trabalho constitui-se em compreender as estratégias adotadas pelo produtor rural para que permaneça vinculado a terra/propriedade e se reproduza socialmente no município de Jacarezinho/PR. Estes produtores estão inseridos em uma localidade com amplo potencial para o desenvolvimento de uma agricultura empresarial, especialmente a canavieira pela presença de duas agroindústrias sucroalcooleiras no município em questão. Dentre as estratégias para que não sejam expropriados de seus meios de produção e com base no trabalho familiar, verificou-se a diversificação de atividades nas propriedades rurais, a vinculação às agroindústrias de beneficiamento animal, além da comercialização direta ao consumidor. Assim, refletimos que para os produtores familiares permanecerem na propriedade rural utilizaram como estratégia a subordinação as regras impostas pelas agroindústrias às quais se vincularam, por possuírem uma comercialização direcionada da sua matéria-prima e um retorno econômico mais rápido dos investimentos realizados. / The central issue that guided this work it constitutes in comprehend the strategies adopted by the rural producer so that it remain entailed for land and reproduce socially in Jacarezinho/PR's Municipal district. These producers are inserted in a place with wide potential for the development of a managerial agriculture, especially the sugarcane culture by the presence of two sugar-alcohols agro-industries in the municipal district at issue. Among the strategies so that they are not expropriated of their production means and with at work family base, it verified the activities diversification in the rural properties, the associated to agro-industries of animal benefit, besides the direct commercialization to the consumer. This way, we reflect that for the family producers to remain in the rural property used as strategy the subordination the rules imposed by agro-industries to which ones entailed, for own a commercialization addressed of your raw material and a faster economic return of the accomplished investments.