M.A. (Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Bakgrund: När en entreprenör startar sitt företag är tankarna ofta inte hur stort företaget kommer att bli eller hur hanteringen av management kommer att se ut. Med ett växande företag tillkommer antalet anställda och managementfrågorna bli allt större. Entreprenören är också sällan utbildad inom management och med ett växande företag kan okunskapen och ibland brist på intresse för management väcka frågan om professionalisering. Ur ett organisationsperspektiv anses professionalisering vara gynnsamt för företag, men hur ser entreprenören på processen? Syfte: Detta arbete undersöker förstagångsentreprenörens uppfattning kring professionaliseringsprocessen av management ur ett psykologiskt perspektiv, för att skapa en djupare förståelse för ämnet. Det psykologiska perspektiv som undersöks i arbetet är entreprenörens egenskaper och motivationer. Metod: Studien använder sig av den kvalitativa forskningsmetoden och sex intervjuer har genomförts. Slutsats: Efter att entreprenörerna analyserats utifrån “The Theory of Achievement Motivation” och “The Locus of Control Theory”, resulterade det i att alla entreprenörer anser processen vara nödvändig i ett växande företag. Däremot visar resultaten också att entreprenörer som uppvisar ett kontrollbehov och behov av makt att detta försvårar processens genomgång. Entreprenörer utan kontrollbehov anser det vara skönt att slippa bära på så mycket ansvar själv. Eftersom alla entreprenörer visar ett behov av prestation skulle ändå samtliga entreprenörer genomgå processen för att gynna företag, om entreprenören vill att företaget ska växa.

The primary purpose of this study was to test the attribution theory of motivation cross-culturally by comparing performance and attribution patterns on inductive rule learning in two different cultures (Canadian & Korean) within the framework of collectivism vs. individualism. Two hypotheses were formed: 1) Korean and Canadian students would show differences in attribution patterns following success or failure outcome due to different cultural emphasis. 2) Given the effort attribution of failure, Korean students would perform more accurately on the reasoning task than Canadian students, and given higher ability attribution of success, Canadian students may perform better or at least equally as well as Korean students. A Total of 120 grade seven students (60 Canadian and 60 Korean) from a middle-class community from Korea and Canada participated in the computerized experimental tasks. The research design involved two culture groups (Canadian and Korean) and three outcome feedback (control, failure, and success), as independent variables, and the number of instances, response rate and accuracy on the inductive reasoning tasks as dependent variables. Findings of this study indicate that Canadian culture may not be defined as more individualistic than Korean culture. The study results did not provide a clear cut distinction of collectivistic vs. individualistic cultures between Korean and Canadian cultures. In terms of attribution patterns, both culture groups showed similar patterns, but different from Weiner's theory of motivation, not only effort but also ability attribution influenced positively the accuracy of performance on the subsequent task upon receiving failure feedback. Given failure feedback, Korean grade seven students performed better, while Canadian counterparts' performance level on the subsequent task deteriorated with failure feedback. Further research on cross-cultural study of attribution theory has been suggested along with educational implications. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This study examined the impact of positive or negative interpersonal feedback on standard-setting, affect, and motivational concerns, within the framework of selfregulation theories of social anxiety. Thirty-two individuals who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (rev. 3rd ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria for social phobia and 32 nonclinical controls participated in a successful or unsuccessful conversation with an assistant. Subjects rated two aspects of self-regulation (self-efficacy and standards), positive and negative affect, and motivational concerns. Consistent with predictions, socially phobic subjects displayed a discrepancy between what they believed they could achieve (efficacy) and what they believed others expected of them (standard) and the magnitude of this discrepancy increased when they had succeeded at the social task. In addition, anxious subjects reported higher levels of positive affect after experiencing social success than they did after experiencing social failure but they did not relinquish protective concerns. There was no evidence that socially phobic subjects were distressed by social success but the results illuminate dysfunctional standard-setting. Specifically, socially phobic individuals perceive larger discrepancies between their ability and expectations following success than they do following failure. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / This research was undertaken as a result of the researcher dealing with bright children who were not achieving in school. Many of these children seemed to be depressed and lacking in motivation, and the researcher was unable to find recent information directly related to these psychological variables and underachievement. A sample of children were selected from a group of children who had approached the researcher and a colleague for career guidance. Very few of the parents of the children in the sample approached were willing to allow their children to participate in this study, and as a result the study only comprises a small number of subjects. The subjects who did participate in the intervention completed questionnaires related to their motivation levels and their feelings of hopelessness and depression, as these traits were 'considered important in assessing why these children were not succeeding academically. The children then each spent an hour a week for six weeks with the researcher, discussing why they were not achieving at school. These meetings took place for six weeks. The results of this study indicate that the intervention did change some of the levels of motivation, hopelessness and depression for some of the children.

M.A. (Clinical Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

In the past, literature has proposed relationships between several different factors. Multiple roles influence performance and stress, good performance increases self-efficacy, high self-efficacy increases performance, and increased amounts of stress decrease performance. While performance can be measured in different ways, the literature has supported using academic achievement as a performance indicator.

The present study investigates whether individuals who are trained in groups will benefit from a more enhanced facilitation of the information than those trained in a more traditional, individualistic, classroom setting. Participants who learn in a cooperative, group setting are expected to exhibit better performance on a subsequent knowledge test than participants who learn individually.

Understanding how emotions influence motivation among students is critical to the talent development process. Research shows that certain emotions elicit an approach motive while other emotions elicit an avoidance motive. This study explored emotional disposition and fear of failure among undergraduates enrolled in honors college (n = 63) compared to undergraduates enrolled in regular college courses (n = 296). Results suggest that dispositional shame is positively correlated with fear of failure; however, neither gender nor enrollment in honors college predict fear of failure beyond dispositional shame. Students enrolled in honors college do not differ on measurements of shame and fear of failure compared to students not enrolled in honors college. In general, female undergraduates were more likely to report experiences of shame, guilt, fear of shame and embarrassment, and fear of devaluing one's self-estimate than their male peers. The findings are discussed in light of a need to understand high-ability college students.

The effects of instructions, non-contingent reinforcement, and contingent reinforcement on the level of self-determined standards for both experimental and generalization items were assessed using a reversal design. In addition the effects of the level of self-determined standards on performance in spelling was examined. The results indicated that contingent reinforcement for raising standards was an effective means of training the 30 subjects in this study to set high standards of performance for both experimental and generalization items. High standards did not, however, result in high levels of performance. When reinforcement was contingent upon subjects raising their standards and then scoring at this higher level (matching), both the level of standards and the level of performance showed moderate increases for most subjects. Subjects also exhibited similar increases in standards and performance for the generalization items. The maintenance of these increases during the subsequent reversal phase, however, limited the extent to which the changes could be attributed to the experimental manipulation. Further research is needed to evaluate more fully the effects of a matching procedure on the level of self-determined standards and performance.