Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-103). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-103). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.I.S.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-58). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Research has consistently shown that academic dishonesty has a detrimental impact on the learning process. Nevertheless, very little research explores "cheating" behaviors from students’ perspectives or the role that peer groups play in the proliferation or reduction of cheating cultures. Academic dishonesty has always been an important subject to study. Still, it is even more crucial today to explore this issue in Western contexts and Eastern countries such as Vietnam. This study seeks to fill the knowledge gap using a quantitative approach that draws on a sample of approximately 1,000 high school students in five provinces of Vietnam. I seek to understand three research questions: (1) How do Vietnamese high school students define "academic dishonesty”? (2) To what extent do personal and contextual factors influence the students' attitudes toward cheating; and (3) How does the difference between the definition of cheating and students’ attitudes affect students’ decisions to engage in cheating. The result of the Latent Class Analysis shows that Vietnamese students have very different perspectives on what is regarded as cheating in school. , In general, the definition of what it means as “cheating” is highly diverse. Student defined cheating differently depends on where it happens and who is involved, not just on the action itself. In the second research question, using different type of regression analysis and factor analysis, this study further finds that the student’s definition of cheating is the strongest among all the variables and is most likely to affect students’ reactions and attitudes about cheating. Other significant factors found included parental highest education level, leadership position in class, overall classroom achievement, and diligence culture affect students’ reactions. In the final research question, the study examines societal factors and finds that classroom climate also plays an essential role in explaining how students engage in cheating. Often, the class that values hard work over achievement has fewer students who confess to cheating, cheating frequently, and cheating in multiple subjects. In addition, a competitive culture that focuses on achievement can also affect and pressure students to cheat. This finding highlights the importance of studying dishonestly through the lens of sociology which goes further than the student’s values or “rebellious nature” that makes them cheat. While various research in the field has examined multiple factors related to student cheating, we need to understand the students' rationales for commit cheating to provide root-cause solutions and actionable steps to reduce cheating in schools. The dissertation concludes with recommendations for future research and policy recommendation at the national policy level and at the local school or classroom level.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of South Africa, 2002.

by Patricia Leahy. / Running title: Elite athletes anxiety experiences. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-161 (2nd gp.)). / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.ii / ABSTRACT --- p.iii / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.x / Chapter CHAPTER 1 --- GENDER ON THE SPORTS AGENDA? --- p.1 / Gender Inequity in Sport --- p.1 / Female Participation in the Olympic Games --- p.2 / Gender Inequity in the Administration of the Olympic / Movement --- p.10 / Sport and the Construction of Gender --- p.14 / Conclusion --- p.17 / Chapter CHAPTER 2 --- TOWARDS A FEMINIST ANALYSIS OF GENDER AND SPORT BEHAVIOUR --- p.20 / Feminism and Sport --- p.20 / Feminist Analysis of Sport as Cultural Criticism --- p.20 / Feminist Critiques of Sport Psychology --- p.22 / Individual Differences: The biological imperative - Sex Differences --- p.22 / Individual Differences: Gender Role Orientation --- p.26 / Individual Differences ´Ø Role Conflict --- p.30 / Conclusion --- p.32 / Relational Research: Gender in Context --- p.33 / Conclusion --- p.34 / Chapter CHAPTER 3 --- ANXIETY IN THE CONTEXT OF SPORT --- p.36 / Introduction --- p.36 / Concepts and Theories about Anxiety and Competitive Sports - Historical Development --- p.36 / Cognitively Based Interpretations of Anxiety --- p.39 / Competitive Sport Anxiety- A New Model Emerges --- p.42 / Research in Competitive Sports-Related Anxiety --- p.43 / Research on Gender and Competitive Sport Anxiety --- p.47 / Conclusion --- p.48 / Chapter CHAPTER 4 --- SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY AND GENDER-RELATED SPORT BEHAVIOUR --- p.50 / Self-Efficacy --- p.51 / Perceived Competence --- p.52 / Achievement Goal Perspectives --- p.53 / Expectancy-Value Model --- p.55 / An Interactional Model of Female Sport Experience --- p.59 / Overall Model --- p.60 / Individual Components of the Model --- p.61 / Gender and Anxiety Experiences in Competitive Sport: Hong Kong Elite Athletes --- p.64 / Individual Components of the Model --- p.67 / Overall Model --- p.68 / Implications --- p.68 / Hypotheses --- p.70 / Minor Hypotheses --- p.70 / Model Level Hypotheses --- p.70 / CHAPTER 5 METHOD --- p.71 / Introduction --- p.71 / Methodology --- p.72 / Pilot Study --- p.72 / Main Study --- p.75 / Chapter CHAPTER 6 --- RESULTS(i). VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY OF INSTRUMENTS --- p.78 / Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale --- p.78 / Task and Ego Orientation Questionnaire --- p.78 / Anxiety Experiences in Training and Competition Questionnaire --- p.80 / Training and Competition AR Scales --- p.80 / Training and Competition BR Scales --- p.93 / Training and Competition BRE Scales --- p.106 / Chapter CHAPTER 7 --- RESULTS (ii). HYPOTHESIS TESTING --- p.107 / Descriptives --- p.107 / Intensity of Anxiety Response --- p.107 / Scale Means and Standard Deviations --- p.108 / Minor hypotheses --- p.111 / Main Effect --- p.111 / Interaction Effect --- p.114 / Model Testing --- p.119 / Multiple Regression Analyses --- p.119 / Path Analyses --- p.134 / Chapter CHAPTER 8 --- DISCUSSIO --- p.142 / Minor Hypotheses --- p.144 / Path Analyses --- p.147 / Conclusion --- p.151 / REFERENCES --- p.154 / APPENDIX A Anxiety Rating Forms - Pilot Study --- p.162 / APPENDIX B Interview Format - Pilot Study --- p.164 / APPENDIX C Glossary of Terms --- p.165 / APPENDIX D Main Study Questionnaires --- p.166

Studies of life span development in everyday problem solving suggest two trajectories of change in adulthood: individuals become less effective at solving well-defined instrumental problems but more effective at managing ill-defined interpersonal problems. Two experiments were conducted to examine the ability of young and older adults to effectively manage an interpersonal problem that has a well-defined measure of instrumental success. Participants played an iterated Prisoner s Dilemma game with same-age, computer-simulated strangers (Experiment 1) and friends (Experiment 2). Success was dependent upon one s ability to put aside self-interest and cooperate with a partner. Computer-simulated partners reciprocated the participants decisions 100% of the time or behaved in a more self-interested manner. Young and older adults tendencies to create conflict with the reciprocating partner and their defensive reactions to the selfish partner were examined. Although young adults outperformed older adults when playing the game on their own, they did not carry this performance advantage into the interactive rounds. In fact, despite their success when playing alone, young adults were no more successful than older adults when interacting with others. Young and older adults both cooperated more with friends than with strangers and more with the reciprocating partner than the selfish partner. However, when the participants first interaction was with a selfish stranger, older adults were more cooperative than young adults and consequently accrued more reward. This is consistent with previous research demonstrating that older adults use more passive interpersonal problem solving strategies than young adults, and it also partially supports the prediction that advancing age leads to more effective strategy implementation when solving interpersonal problems.

The focus of this study was to determine how attribution patterns of children with an internal or external locus of control differ when playing a computer video game. Forty subjects each (twenty internally controlled and twenty externally controlled) were placed in a competitive or non-competitive treatment setting with a successful or unsuccessful outcome. Each subject played a computer video game made by a major manufacturer. At the completion of each session, each subject was asked to rate the four attributes of ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck. The results were then analyzed using analysis of variance with age as a covariate.

This study aimed to investigate the effects that a specifically tailored goal-setting program would have on two motocross racers in terms of their self-efficacy and motivation, as well as the process of designing this intervention. This case-study approach involved a mixed methods approach, consisting of pre-intervention and post-intervention assessments, interviews, and performance profiles. The tools used include Vealey’s (1986) Competitive Orientation Inventory (COI), Gill and Deeter’s (1988) Sport Orientation Questionnaire (SOQ), performance profiles, and semi-structured interviews. The goal-setting intervention lasted a total of five weeks. The results from the preintervention and post-intervention assessments were compared to determine whether any changes in motivation or self-efficacy occurred during the intervention. For the first participant, significant changes in both motivation and self-efficacy were present in addition to significant changes in competitive orientation. For the second participant, there were no significant changes in either motivation or self-efficacy. However, for the second participant there was also no change in competitive orientation. Findings suggest that the focus and competitive orientation of an athlete have a significant influence on the types of goals set, and consequently on positive changes in motivation, confidence, and self-efficacy. The influence of the competitive orientation in athletes also highlighted the importance of attaining a balance between performance and outcome goal-related activities. It was also discovered through qualitative assessment that this program is suitable for particular groups of athletes such as those who are injured, display an external locus of causality or are otherwise not performing at their prime.

Research on athletes has shown that mental skills are an important component of being a successful athlete. The importance of these mental skills is seen in the number of athletes who have formally started training using mental skills training programmes (MST) according to the literature. The study of mental skills in South Africa lags behind other countries like USA, UK and Sweden. This particular study explored the use of mental skills by road running athletes. The study was conducted with six competitive marathon athletes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted as part of an elaborate qualitative methodology design. The data collected from these semi-structured interviews was analysed using thematic analysis. The results show that road running athletes use mental skills that include; mental rehearsal, planning, goal setting and self-talk. The athletes in this research showed the importance of mental skills and it is recommended that formal training in these mental skills will be highly beneficial not only to road running athletes but for all South African sports people in general