The effects of various antecedents to cognitive elaboration on the structural properties and subjective beliefs related to attitude strength were examined in 2 experiments. Participants read vaccine-related information and received arguments for and against the implementation of a vaccine program for a fictitious virus. Their ability and motivation to attend to the central merits of the arguments were manipulated using a 2 (high vs. low ability) x 2 (high vs. low motivation) between-participants design, and the effects on 21 attitude- and attitude-strength related outcome variables were observed. Ability was determined by time pressure (Study 1) and distraction (Study 2), and motivation was determined by personal responsibility (Study 1) and involvement (Study 2). A meta-analysis of the experiments revealed that whereas none of the structural properties related to attitude strength were affected, all of the subjective beliefs were affected, and ability and motivation had differential effects. Ability primarily affected beliefs that reflect the validity and consistency of the knowledge base as well as the intensity of the attitude; motivation affected beliefs that reflect the intensity of the attitude and the functional relevance of the attitude object. As well, ability and motivation interacted on a number of variables, with a consistent pattern emerging: High (vs. low) motivation was associated with increased perceived knowledge, clarity, and accessibility, and decreased ambivalence under low ability; the opposite pattern occurred under high ability. Overall, this research represents the first systematic and the most comprehensive attempt to determine which strength dimensions are affected by variations in elaboration. It also provides evidence that the subjective beliefs might operate independent of the structural properties, that various antecedents to elaboration might not be directly interchangeable, and that ability and motivation might have different strength-related outcomes. Finally, this research demonstrated that when used in tandem, the effects of ability and motivation do not necessarily operate in an additive fashion, but can interact in some previously unforeseen ways. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2010-08-23 10:51:04.52

Attitudes toward human germline engineering were assessed across three studies. In Pilot Study One, we evaluated participant familiarity ratings for a preliminary item pool consisting of potential targets of germline modification in order to screen out unfamiliar targets. The results were used to screen out 54 of 170 items. In Pilot Study Two, we used participant representativeness ratings to validate categorizations for the remaining items by removing items that were indifferently representative of specific goals (therapeutic or enhancing) and types (physical, cognitive, or personality) of germline modifications. The results also indicated that for many items, the distinction between cognitive and personality characteristics broke down, leading us to collapse these categories into a new type category based on general psychological traits. In Study One, we compared mean approval ratings for potential targets of germline engineering sorted according to the goal of modification (therapeutic or enhancing) and the type of characteristic being targeted (physical or psychological). The results indicated that approval was higher for therapeutic modifications than for enhancing modifications, and higher for modifications targeting physical traits than for those targeting psychological traits. A regression analysis showed that approval correlated positively with knowledge, Big Five Agreeableness, and negatively with perceived risk and female gender. Contrary to expectations, approval did not correlate with psychological essentialism or Big Five Openness. Implications and limitations are discussed. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2011-09-22 11:27:06.734

Two experiments examined the influence of affective vocal qualities on attitude change according to the degree of congruency between vocal qualities and the message content (i.e., the extent to which the vocal qualities matched the intent of the message content). In Experiment 1, the design was a 2 (attitude formation: affective base vs. cognitive base) x 4 (persuasive message: fully matched vs. partially matched vs. fully mismatched vs. written passage) between participants factorial. In the initial phase, an attitude was created towards a novel object. This goal was accomplished by directing each participant to read either an emotionally evocative passage or an informational passage designed to produce favorable attitudes towards a fictitious animal called a lemphur (Crites, Fabrigar, & Petty, 1994). In the persuasion phase of Experiment 1, participants were exposed to a negative affective message designed to elicit fear. The results indicated the degree of attitude change produced by the fully matched vocal quality (i.e., a fearful voice) was no different relative to the written passage. However, both the partially matched (i.e., a bored voice) and fully mismatched vocal qualities (i.e., a content voice) generated significantly more attitude change than both the written passage as well as fear. In Experiment 2, the attitude formation phase was similar to that of Experiment 1. However, in the persuasion phase of Experiment 2, the focus was on messages that were cognitive in their content. Specifically, participants were exposed to a negative cognitive message designed to convey negative characteristics of the target. The data revealed the degree of attitude change generated by the fully mismatched vocal quality (i.e., an excited voice) was significantly greater than the written passage as well as both the partially matched (i.e., a fearful voice), and fully matched (i.e., an emotionless voice) vocal qualities. No further differences between vocal qualities were found. / Thesis (Master, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-14 11:05:05.886

No description available.

Research has shown that young minority children often like other racial groups as much or more than their own-group, while young majority children express dislike for children of other racial groups and prefer children who are similar to themselves in race and language. As majority children grow older, their tolerance for children of other races increases, in part, because of changes in cognitive level. / The study investigated the pattern of development of attitudes associated with cognitive maturity among a group of black children. Measures of racial attitudes and preferences were related to cognitive maturity as assessed by measures of conservation but were not related to the racial constancy task. The attainment of more mature racial cognitions did not lead to the expected changes in attitudes and preference. This would suggest that the relationship between racial bias and racial identity constancy was more complex than had been hypothesized.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the attitude of Libyan professional librarians towards their profession. The study also seeks to compare attitudes of Libyan professional librarians from culturally diverse rural and urban communities toward librarianship as a profession. The diversity here refers to the distinctive characteristics of the two communities, which include social life style, values, hierarchies of values and attitude. It is also the purpose of this research to compare the attitudes of Libyan male and female professional librarians towards their profession. Another purpose of this study is to investigate if working in different types of libraries such as academic, public and special will have a different effect on Libyan professional librarians' attitudes towards their profession. / The population of this study consisted of all Libyan librarians who at the time were employed in academic and special libraries, and all Libyan librarians who at the time were employed in public libraries that are located in the Tripolitanian area. / Thornton's scale to measure librarians' attitudes towards librarianship was selected to be used in this study. In order to determine whether the instrument (scale) items possess the desired qualities of measurement and discriminability when used in different settings (Libyan libraries) and with different subjects, (Libyan librarians) and in order to revise and debug the scale by diagnosing and correcting failings, if any, the following steps were taken: (1) Refinement of the instrument (interviewing subjects). (2) Validation of the instrument, (construct validity). (3) Reliability of the instrument. (Split half). (4) Translating the instrument into Arabic. (5) Pilot study. / A computer utilizing (SPSS) Statistical Package for Social Science was used for analyses and comparison. / The study's major findings indicated that: (1) Libyan librarians working in libraries located in urban communities have a significantly higher positive attitude towards their profession than those who work in libraries located in rural communities. (2) Libyan rural librarians' gender has no significant effect on librarians' attitude towards their profession. (3) Libyan female librarians working in libraries located in urban communities have a significantly higher positive attitude towards their profession than Libyan male librarians working in libraries located in urban communities. (4) Libyan male librarians working in libraries located in urban communities have a significantly higher positive attitude towards their profession than Libyan male librarians working in libraries located in rural communities. (5) Library location has no significant effect on Libyan female librarians' attitude towards their profession. (6) Library type has no significant effect on Libyan librarians' attitude towards their profession. (7) Libyan librarians have positive attitudes towards their profession.

A historic turnover in the teaching profession has begun. There is no doubt that worldwide demand for teachers is on the rise and will continue to increase over the next decade. Yet many new teachers leave the profession, stating reasons such as low salaries, lack of professional opportunities and career advancement, and heavy workloads. The present study examined the concerns (in-school, external and personal) of elementary and secondary school teachers. The purpose of this research was to determine if teachers in Quebec, Canada, have concerns similar to teachers in other countries where studies are more common. This study also examined if there were any differences related to teachers' stages of teaching, level of education, and gender. Four hundred and fifty-seven teachers (335 females and 120 males) from five school boards in Quebec participated in this study. The five school boards represented urban, suburban, rural, large and small English-language boards. The instrument designed for this study was a questionnaire based on the teacher concerns identified in the literature. The questionnaire, named the Public School Teacher Concerns Questionnaire, has seven sub-scales and 64 items. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of respondent thinking reveal similar concerns regarding eight factors (37 items) derived by factor analysis: student characteristics and behaviour, teacher/administration relationship, student behaviour (non-academic), material and temporal resources, teachers control of day-to-day activities, professional development and opportunities, status of profession, and degree of non-teaching duties. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are offered.

The reported research was an investigation of attitudes and beliefs associated with participation in screening programmes and clinical trials, carried out by general practitioners. Particular focus was given to cardiovascular risk-reduction. The work comprised two main studies. The preliminary study was entirely exploratory, designed to guage public attitudes towards GP involvement with preventive screening programmes and clinical research; and to identify the range of variables associated with participation in such projects. The subsequent study utilised a more formal approach in which the Behavioural Intention Model was utilised to evaluate the power of influencing factors. Both studies employed self-completion questionnaires, developed from preliminary in-depth interview data. For the first study instrument distribution was effected by personal approach, for the second study postal distribution was employed. In all, 1,037 respondents contributed to the surveys - 442 to the preliminary exploration and 695 to the follow-on study. These represented response rates of approximately 65% and 36% respectively. The main findings were that attitudes towards screening were generally favourable, though there was less conformity in attitudes expressed towards clinical trials. These findings were reflected in reported participatory intentions. No evidence was found of any factors which might pose widespread barr i ers to screen ing part ic i pa t ion, though some potent ia 1 deterren ts were identified for older women. It was also noted that other potential deterrents may have been masked by the 'middle class' bias of the sample. Major deterrents to trial entry were identified as worries about: sideeffects, acquired resistance, discontinuation of current effective medications and lack of adequate information. These all interacted with the 'guinea pig' factor. Response rates and responses associated with medical and non-medical sampling sources were also discussed; and consideration was made of the general utility of the Behavioural Intention Model for research of this kind.

This thesis analyses the development of Western relations with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO) from 1956 to 1976. It concludes that nationalist attitudes were influenced by eleven factors, of which only one--perception of Western policies--was consistently present in every time period. Even when a movement was becoming increasingly hostile to the West due to other factors, perception of a friendly Western attitude was capable of producing a positive nationalist response. Although seven factors shaped Western policies, in general governments reacted in accord with the impact of nationalist policies on interests deemed important. For cold war-focussed countries, a movement's policies were only examined to determine their influence on that international competition. Because both nationalist groups had ties with the socialist world, and because Portugal threatened to deny Western access to the Azores base if the West courted the nationalists, cold war-focussed states such as the United States avoided co-optation initiatives. Those states with wider ties to the area tended to evaluate the impact of the whole spectrum of nationalist policies on regional interests when determining strategies. Countries with broad ties to the region, such as Britain, were capable of overlooking a movement's socialist alliances and adopting co-optation policies if the group was deemed willing and able to further the Western state's interests in the region. The thesis also concludes that co-optation policies would have better protected Western interests than the coercion or neglect strategies so often selected and that such an approach would have produced stronger results in FRELIMO than in the MPLA. However, due to the interplay of other factors, even if subjected to consistently positive Western policies neither movement would have become a close Western ally.

No description available.