There is currently an increasing trend among the American working population to voluntarily join the gig economy. New terms like the gig economy, sharing economy, internet freelancing, and eLancing have been created to understand this emerging trend among today's workforce. There is a small, yet highly relevant, body of scholarly literature in human resource management that is focused specifically on the eLancing economy as a subset of the gig economy. The purpose of this research is to acknowledge and contribute to this timely literature, which has adequately recognized the enormous potential of this new trend of working. Grounded in the psychology of working theory, a theoretical typology of eLancers is proposed based on the workers' level of volition to be able to choose eLancing as their employment. Further, various predictors such as demographics and personality characteristics were explored on the basis of which eLancers can be classified into types. The study also proposes that different types of eLancers differ in their attitudinal and behavioral work and life outcomes. Prior research has shown that career decisions made by individuals with high work volition relate to higher levels of overall well-being. Hence, classifying eLancers on the basis of their varying levels of volition can help organizations understand which type of eLancer might experience what level of attitudinal and behavioral outcomes.

In contemporary Chinese higher education, classroom lectures combined with a web-based learning support system are broadly applied. This study investigated what kind of feedback strategy could be effective in improving students' self-efficacy and course satisfaction in a blended learning context. Standard volitional messages were constructed and—along with traditional feedback content (knowledge of results and knowledge of correct response)—distributed to a large undergraduate class in China. Sixty-seven freshmen participated in this pure experimental study. Results indicated that students' learning self-efficacy and course satisfaction were significantly correlated. In addition, participants who received the knowledge of correct response plus volitional messages (KCR+V) showed greater course satisfaction than those who received other types of feedback messages. No significant difference emerged in self-efficacy. Future research directions are discussed. / Ph. D.

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While we have a sense of why institutionally marginalized individuals or dominant actors become change agents, it is less clear what motivates privileged insiders - those who have reaped advantages from existing institutional arrangements because of their education, their socio-economic background, their citizenship, their gender, or their race. I combine a symbolic interactionist perspective on social conduct with a structural perspective on frames to explore the process of institutional volition and the conditions under which privileged insiders may become engaged in different types of institutional change work to address societal issues. Institutional volition is the reflective process leading people to engage in purposeful efforts to shape or transform dominant institutional arrangements. My study reveals variances in the institutional volition of privileged insiders that explains why some of these actors engage in work to repair institutions, while others engage in work to transform them, either disrupting or creating institutions. My study draws attention to the distinct role of feelings rather than emotions in determining whether and how privileged insiders engage in institutional change work. It also suggests that these actors commit to transformative change when they acknowledge their complicity in the perpetuation of institutional injustices. Finally, I show that privileged insiders need to reframe their role in order to use it as a resource to engage in institutional disruption or creation work.

The dynamic behaviors of a complex organism are explained via voluntary and involuntary action. One underpinning of this system is organized and facilitated by the autonomic nervous system, integrating information from conscious and non-conscious centers in a seemingly hierarchical fashion. As a result, voluntary actions have the ability to inhibit reflexive actions via an inhibitory circuit. 111 subjects performed four diverse autonomic tasks consisting of voluntary and involuntary combinations. Analysis supports the proposed hierarchical model. Each task evoked specific autonomic states. Voluntary tasks influenced autonomic actions more than involuntary tasks. And working memory capacity mediated voluntary control. / Master of Science

Numerous theories of motivation have been formulated over decades, but only in the last 25 years has the field of motivation research been dominated by powerful and more sophisticated theories organised around personal agency beliefs and goal-related processes. Goal setting is a motivational technique that is routinely recommended for enhancing task performance. If goals for performance are established that are specific and challenging, substantial increases in performance have been reported. The basic assumption of goal-setting research is that goals are immediate regulators of human action. If goal setting is viewed primarily as a motivational mechanism, it is relevant to ask how it affects performance. Similarly, are there ways to enhance the processes of goal setting and goal attainment, and are there strategies that can be implemented to prolong and maintain motivational levels until the desired outcome has been reached? First and foremost, can theories of goal setting be applied successfully in a psychological therapeutic setting? In psychotherapy, goal setting is usually used to give direction to a treatment plan, and emphasis is seldom placed on the goal-setting process as such. A goal-setting model, with the emphasis on strategies to enhance the goal-setting process, as a motivational mechanism, seems to have application relevancy in therapeutic settings. The application and incorporation of the goal-setting process into the therapeutic process represents a symbiotic relationship, where the two processes function on a parallel level, but are also intertwined. The present study endeavours to apply such a model, as a motivational technique, in the context of therapeutic intervention. The method of research is a qualitative investigation, using a case study strategy of inquiry. / Dissertation (MA (Counselling Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Psychology / unrestricted

The present study is considered to be the first extensive work on the Christology of Swiss theologian Adolf Schlatter (1852–1938). As the title of this study suggests, we argue that Schlatter’s Christology reveals a distinctly relational trajectory. From this claim emerge two hypotheses to be probed, namely, first, whether the aspect of ‘relationality’ (Beziehung) is a correct reading of Schlatter and, if so, one has to demonstrate, secondly, to what extent Schlatter’s relational approach offers a sustainable Christology that adequately describes and explains the person and work of Jesus Christ in relation to God and to humanity. Instead of pursuing the classic two-nature treatment, Schlatter, based on his empirical realist method, develops a relational account of Jesus Christ against the backdrop of a distinct Trinitarian framework. Father, Son and Holy Spirit share a communion of will and of love which creates, shapes and upholds the life-story of the Christ. Based on his New Testament ‘seeing-act’, Schlatter pictures the Son as dependent upon the Holy Spirit and in continual obedience to the Father, who, through his salvific work, invites us to participate in the Trinitarian communion of love. The prime locus to probe the validity of Schlatter’s relational motif is his theologia crucis. Schlatter regards Jesus’ action on the cross as the significant relational movement of Jesus Christ first and foremost towards the Father, as ‘service to God,’ and on this basis, also to human beings, as ‘service to humanity.’ Jesus reveals his divinity on the cross as he is able to maintain fellowship with God in spite of God-forsakenness, mediated by the Holy Spirit, and he reveals his humanity by remaining in close communion with sinners, thus transforming them and gathering the redeemed into the new community of faith. Schlatter’s relational perspective provides not only a balanced view of Jesus Christ’s divinity and humanity, but also offers a highly creative way of investigating Jesus’ being in relation and his being in essence. This work suggests that Schlatter’s Christological approach offers much by way of promise both in its faithfulness to the New Testament witness and in its attempt to achieve a harmonious understanding of Christology and soteriology.

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