Due to the ageing population, an increasing number of older workers form the labour force. Unfortunately discriminatory practices against older workers are well documented and the antecedents of such discrimination are assumed to be negative attitudes towards older workers. No previous research has investigated implicit attitudes towards older workers or their behavioural consequences. Accordingly, the present research aimed to investigate both implicit and explicit attitudes towards older workers, and their predictive utility in an employment-related context. In addition, attitude malleability and the role it may play in the attitude-behaviour relationship was investigated. This thesis reports findings from 5 studies, a pilot study and 4 main studies. The pilot study determined that the Implicit Association Test (IAT; A.G. Greenwald, D. E. McGhee & J. L. K. Schwartz, 1998) was to be used in the main studies. The 4 main studies investigated implicit attitudes, and the malleability of such attitudes towards older, relative to younger, workers. The malleability of attitudes was investigated with a mental imagery intervention where the experimental group participants were asked to imagine and describe respected and valued older workers in their surroundings. The control group participants were asked to imagine holiday destinations they would like to visit. In general, it was expected that negative implicit and explicit attitudes would be found towards older workers but that such bias could be alleviated with a mental imagery intervention. In all studies, negative implicit attitudes against older workers were found and such attitudes were relatively uninfluenced by the mental imagery manipulation. Three studies included explicit measures of attitudes. Although some variation was found between the studies and the measures used, overall positive attitudes towards older and younger workers were found. The mental imagery manipulation was also found to influence the explicit attitudes to a greater degree than implicit attitudes. The final study investigated the relationship between attitudes and behaviour. Specifically, both implicit and explicit attitudes’ relationships with spontaneous and controlled-type behaviours towards an older and a younger target were examined. Overall, some evidence for youth-bias in the participants’ behaviour was found, as well as evidence for the relationship between explicit attitudes and spontaneous behaviours. Implicit attitudes were largely unrelated to behaviour. In general, the mental imagery intervention did not impact the attitude-behaviour relationship. Implications for older workers are discussed, as well as educational methods for reducing discrimination older workers face in employment.

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Kön och etnicitet är två centrala variabler vid diskriminering på arbetsplatsen. Dock finns en dubbelsidighet i attityder till ledare där å ena sidan forskning visar på att den västerländska mannen ses som den självklara ledaren samtidigt som det pekar mot att det inte finns någon skillnad i ledarskap i avseende på kön och etnicitet. Studien undersökte attityder till ledarskap beroende på kön och etnicitet utifrån tre hypoteser. I studien deltog 158 högskolestudenter, varav 59 män och 99 kvinnor med en medelålder på 22.28 år. Deltagarna besvarade en enkät som bestod av frågor från the Empowering Leadersip Questionnaire (ELQ) och Motivation To Controll Prejudice-scale (MTCP). Materialet analyserades med en korrelationsanalys och sex envägs variansanalyser för beroende mätningar. Resultatet visade på att den svenska kvinnan skattades bäst utifrån ELQ skalan. Slutsatsen drogs att kvinnor skattades bäst men att det inte råder någon statistisk skillnad i avseende på etnicitet.

As Arnold (2002) and Pritchard et.al. (2004) noted, one of the keys to success in public relations includes mentoring. Mentoring has been used among public relations practitioners to develop knowledge and skills and obtain career counseling. However, little work has been done to quantify the value practitioners ascribed to mentoring relationships.This study used Q methodology to examine feelings and thoughts of some of the top public relations mentors and proteges, attempting to fill that gap and quantify the value public relations professionals placed on mentoring relationships.The sample consisted of 20 public relations practitioners, ten mentors and ten proteges. Each sorted a sample of 48 Q statements containing positive and negative statements on four categories.The findings suggest that most public relations practitioners have quite positive feelings about mentoring; however, gender composition is still an issue in conflict. A mentor's experience, ability, and confidence are considered more when identifying a superior mentor. / Department of Journalism

Research has shown that attractive individuals are viewed more favorably than unattractive counterparts across different types of criminal trials, contributing to the belief that “what is beautiful is good” (Dion, Berscheid, & Walster, 1972). However, this research has not been replicated in cases involving sexually coercive tactics. In the present experiment, participants read a case file that included one of two (attractive or unattractive) digitally altered photographs of a defendant and one of two vignettes (physical or verbal coercion). They then completed a questionnaire about the case. The results indicated that more women than men found the defendant guilty, and jurors assigned significantly longer sentences to the defendant in the physical tactic condition than in the verbal tactic condition. In contrast to two of the hypotheses, the more attractive defendant was evaluated more harshly than the unattractive defendant and an interaction between attractiveness and tactic was not found. / Department of Psychological Science

Access to abstract restricted until 07/2015. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of education on the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of breast self-examination (BSE) among adolescent females. The tool used to measure the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of BSE was based on the Health Belief Model. The design was a two group pretest, post-test, quasi-experimental design. Using 2X2 repeated measures revealed there was no significant difference between the control and experimental groups in attitudes and beliefs. However, there was a significant increase in the knowledge level of BSE for the group who received BSE instruction when compared to the group who did not receive BSE instruction. The researcher recommended that research be continued using a larger, heterogeneous sample. / School of Nursing

Coming to the United States, international students face numerous cross-cultural adjustment difficulties. Asian international students have had the most cross-cultural difficulties among all international students. Helping Asian international students deal with their life stress has become a challenge for American counselors and psychologists.Studies on the attitude toward seeking professional psychological help have been done primarily with African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans. As the population of Asian international students increases, it becomes important that the attitudes of Asian international students toward seeking professional psychological help be examined. The present study examined the relationship between Asian international students' levels of acculturation and their attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. In addition, this study explored the relationships between Asian international students' levels of acculturation and their recognition of need for psychotherapeutic help, their stigma tolerance, their interpersonal openness, and their confidence in mental health practitioners.One hundred and seventy Asian international students from one Midwestern university and one Northeastern university participated in this study. Participants completed two questionnaires and a demographic profile sheet: (1) the Suinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Acculturation Scale-International (SL-ASIA-I); (2) the Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale (ATSPPHS); and (3) the demographic sheet which included country of origin, religious beliefs, plans/intentions to stay in U.S., the length of time in the U.S., previous therapy experiences, age, gender, education, major, marital status, and children. Two hypotheses were tested: (1) There was a significant relationship between Asian international students' acculturation levels and their attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help; (2) The higher levels of acculturation the Asian international students had, the more positive their attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to predict Asian international students' attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help.As was expected, a significant relationship between Asian international students' levels of acculturation and their attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help was observed. In addition, significant correlations were perceived between Asian international students' levels of acculturation and their stigma tolerance and their confidence in mental health practitioners. Discussions of these findings and limitations and recommendations for future research were presented. / Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education

Metatheoretical constructs are believed to be philosophical commitments that affect a variety of areas in an individual's life. This study was designed to investigate two questions. First, do individuals subscribe to personal definitions of health and illness because they are committed to different philosophical and epistemological positions. Second, does an individual's personal definition of health and illness predict the frequency of health and illness related behaviors.Two studies were conducted to investigate these questions. In the first, 102 undergraduate subjects expressed a preference for one of three possible definitions of health and illness. Further, these definitions were shown to predict rates of health and illness behaviors. In the second, 72 nursing professionals also selected one of the three definitions of health and illness. A combination of health and illness definition, and personal worldview were shown to strongly predict an individual's frequency of engaging in health and illness behaviors.These data suggest that individuals have personal preferences for defining health and illness. - Further, their health and illness definition, plus personal worldview, reliably predicts health and illness behavior frequency. These results have implications for health psychology research and practice. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

In recent years, research has shed light on the nature of singer perception in the choral setting; however, only a few studies have explored the nature of singer placement and its impact on members of the ensemble, and little research has been conducted on gender-specific ensembles. Fifty participants from two male choral ensembles took part in an experiment to assess the choristers’ perceptions of and preferences for four choral formations based on individual singer placement within sections and placement of sections within the ensemble. Participants’ perceptions and preferences were assessed in response to four overall choral formations based on criteria derived from factors relating to the Self-to-Other Ratio (SOR) – a singer’s perception of his sound within his section and the chorus. The study also sought to determine whether Voice Part and Musical Experience Level are significant factors in participants’ perceptions of and preferences for four different formations featuring a combination of placements within section (Acoustic and Experience placements) and sectional formations (Block and Column Sectional formations). Participants rated their perceptual experience of the four immediately after having sung in each and then indicated preference for specific placements based on their perceptual experience. Participants’ responses were analyzed for significance through ANOVA and chi-square testing of all pertinent variables. In terms of Voice Part, tenor singers indicated preference for Block Sectional formation, while bass singers indicated preference for Column Sectional formation. It was also determined that singers’ musical experience was significant in determining their preferences for formations, with singers of higher musical experience preferring Block Sectional formation and singers of lower musical experience preferring Column Sectional formation. Singers’ preference for placement within sections was not found to be significant, possibly indicating that this type of placement does not impact singer perception in the choral setting as much as has been thought by many choral conductors and pedagogues. Continued research exploring the nature of individual singer perception in the choral setting will provide a better understanding of the nature of singers’ individual vocal production when combined in ensemble, thus enabling conductors to foster more fulfilling musical experiences in their choirs. / School of Music