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When people learn about a large-scale crisis, they often feel more compassion for its victims when they can fixate on a single, identifiable victim, compared to many victims - a phenomenon known as ‘compassion fade.’ However, throughout the growing compassion fade literature, researchers have mostly given a face to large groups using a single child - a face which may be particularly stirring because children are seen as both likable and incapable of fending for themselves. I conducted two experiments to determine whether the magnitude of this phenomenon varied as a function of characteristics of the victims - namely, how stereotypically likable or capable they are. While these studies indicated that likability stereotypes, rather than capability stereotypes, are more likely to moderate the ‘fade’ of compassion and helping intentions, further replication is necessary to verify these findings.

This dissertation examines how elementary school teachers in a small rural district set between two state universities talked about the contextual elements that interacted with their teaching roles. The school district served a predominantly European American population, socio-economic ranging from middle-class to working class and some families living in poverty. Fieldnotes collected during a year of teaching third grade in a small rural school, artifacts in the form of paper material collected in schools (e.g. memos, newsletters, handouts, etc.) as well as news articles, and interviews with twenty six participants, provided the data for this study. The interviews, mostly with elementary school teachers, were the focus of the research. Findings make problematic the way most research conducted on elementary schools makes sense of school environments. Teachers described how processes within and external to their school environments entwined in a constantly changing manner. This inquiry raises questions about the impact of innovative programs, technology, the commodification of teachers’ time and space and the hierarchical distribution of power in schools on teachers’ work. It also reveals a lack of fit between the organization of schools and how they function. Finally, it shows problems with inquiry done by researchers positioned between public schools and research settings. / Ph. D.

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The problem was to determine whether significant relationships existed between the personality types of deans/directors of continuing education and chief academic officers in institutions of higher education in North Carolina. Literature was reviewed in order to determine the research that had been completed using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) with administrators in post-secondary institutions. A demographic questionnaire was developed to ascertain information about the type and size of the institutions, as well as data about the respondent. All post-secondary institutions, excluding business and trade schools, in North Carolina were included in the study. The dean/director of continuing education and chief academic officer from each institution were identified to receive the personality inventory and the demographic questionnaire. A total of 210 individuals were sent the information and 113 responses were received by the cut-off date. These represented a 54% return. Personal data and demographic data were reported in tables. A nonparametric statistic was utilized to analyze the degree of relationship among the data obtained from the MBTI and the demographic questionnaire. The .05 level of significance was applied in all cases. Results of the data analyses indicated that agreement was not significant between the two groups in the study. The investigator examined the four dimensions of personality types as an entity, as well as analyzed each of the dimensions separately between the two groups. An examination of personality types of deans/directors of continuing education and chief academic officers were made of those in two-year versus four-year institutions. The educational level of these two groups was examined to determine if significant differences existed in this component. Analyses of the two groups in two- and four-year institutions revealed that no significant difference existed between them. In examining the educational level of the persons who were employed in continuing education and those as academic officers, the data revealed that there was a significant difference in this area. Of the academic officers, 73% had terminal degrees as compared with 19% of the individuals in continuing education. Analyses of the demographic data revealed that 57% of the respondents were from institutions that had an enrollment of between 1,000-5,000, 70% of the respondents were very satisfied with their present positions, and 43% were between the ages of 40-49. In the area of education, 43 persons had completed a master's degree, and 58 individuals had a terminal degree.

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