by Dominic Tak-Shing Lee. / "December 2000." / Thesis (M.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 222-245). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, MI : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

published_or_final_version / Literary and Cultural Studies / Master / Master of Arts

This study used a questionnaire designed to identify personal characteristics that successful career women have in common across career fields. Information was elicited on self-esteem, achievement motivation, self-descriptive words, ethnicity, age, income level and occupational field, among other things. Subjects were women publicly recognized as successful by their peers. Twenty three of the sample (n = 249) were randomly selected for interviews. The questionnaire responses were analyzed to identify differences in self-esteem and achievement motivation between occupational fields, age, income levels, ordinal positions and other independent variables. Collectively, the results identified a high degree of self-esteem as the strongest characteristic shared by these successful career women. Additionally, self-esteem was affected by ordinal position of the subjects and related to the level of the women's perceived success and emotional compensation satisfaction. The career women defined the major components of success as: (1) achieving one's personal goals, (2) receiving recognition from others, (3) enjoying one's work, and (4) contributing to the community, to others, etc. The career women generally described themselves as responsible, competent, and hardworking. Non-traditional career women described themselves somewhat differently, as responsible, enthusiastic and confident. There was no statistical support for a relationship to achievement motivation. This finding, combined with the career women's definition of success, shows that items used in the questionnaire did not measure achievement motivation for this group. Several conclusions were drawn from the data analysis: (1) career women who have been publicly recognized by their peers have a high level of self-esteem; (2) women have a unique pattern of career development; (3) women focused more on "contributing to society/to others" than on "earning a high salary," and (4) women defined themselves as "hardworking" rather than "achievement oriented." Hypotheses made on the basis of previous research on career women and on Individual Psychology theory were generally supported. Future research on career women would be appropriate.

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which women seeking services of a shelter for battered women in the Southwestern United States were similar to the existing picture of battered women. Supplemental questions were asked concerning the effects of substance abuse, marital status, and child abuse. Information was gathered from records of a sample of 100 women who sought shelter between September 1984 and August 1987. Results were compared with previous studies by Gayford (1975), Giles-Sims (1983), and Walker. Results suggested women in this study were similar to battered women who had been studied previously. No significant relationship was found between the use of drugs and/or alcohol and the type of abuse a woman experienced, between marital status and employment status, nor between the occurrence of child abuse and a woman's willingness to involve the police. Implications and recommendations for future research were presented.

This qualitative study explores instrumental aid as social support in family crises. Focus group interviews were conducted with six groups of women to explore their thoughts and feelings about giving and receiving instrumental aid. Women gave many examples of instrumental aid, stating it was important, but only helpful if it met a recognized need. Mutual definition of need appears to be negotiated informally within group or family memberships, as well as more formally using society's manners and customs. Individual and community resources were mentioned frequently. Affirmation of one's perceptions of an event also contributes to definition of a need. Social support is an interactive process; several women gave examples of a "state of shock" following a death and other circumstances that left a person unable to acknowledge aid.

by Li Sing-yuen. / Includes questionaire in Chinese. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-86). / List of Tables --- p.v / List of Appendices --- p.vi / Introduction --- p.1 / Method --- p.32 / Results --- p.40 / Discussion --- p.62 / References --- p.80 / Appendices --- p.87

This research examined automatic evaluation of body-related stimuli in female undergraduates using an affective priming task. Automaticity was tested by varying the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) and valence congruence of the prime and target pairs. The prime to target interval (SOA) was either short or long, and the valence of the paired items was either the same (congruent) or different (incongruent). Automaticity was indicated by faster responses to congruent pairs than to incongruent pairs at the short SOA (parsimonious criterion) but not at the long SOA (classic criterion). Individual differences in thin internalisation, appearance schematicity, body dissatisfaction, and dietary restraint were assessed as potential moderators. Automatic evaluation of body-related images, but not words, was demonstrated in Study 1B and Study 1A, respectively. In Study 2A, automatic evaluation of nonbody-related words was obtained and this was extended to body-related words (Study 2B). In Study 3, automatic evaluation of normatively-selected body words was examined and body image schema activation was tested as a function of level of appearance schematicity. There was a trend toward automaticity and schematicity did not moderate schema activation. Overall, elevated body image concerns did not influence automatic evaluation in Studies 1A to 3 (with the exception of Study 1B). The role of extreme levels of appearance schematicity on automaticity and schema activation was examined in Studies 4A and 4B for normative and idiographic primes. Automatic evaluation was demonstrated in Study 4A and a trend was obtained in Study 4B. Schematicity did not moderate affective processing or schema activation. Automatic evaluation of body-related images was replicated in Study 5 but it was not moderated by prime strength or individual differences. Overall, the research suggests that most female undergraduates, irrespective of differences in body image concerns, automatically evaluate body-related stimuli. The final chapter provides an overview of the findings and discusses the theoretical and practical implications.

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