<p>Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in the United States. Despite more women undergoing treatment and increased survival rates, many women continue to suffer from emotional distress and physical symptoms associated with treatments for breast cancer (e.g., surgery). To date, there has been limited research investigating the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for breast cancer patients during the surgical time frame. This randomized controlled pilot study examined the effect of a lovingkindness meditation intervention on key psychological and physical outcomes surrounding breast surgery. Sixty women undergoing surgery were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions at breast biopsy: 1) lovingkindness meditation, 2) music, 3) standard care. Assessments of emotional distress, physical symptoms, and positive psychosocial resources occurred prior to patients' biopsy, following their biopsy, one week after receipt of their biopsy results, and one week following breast surgery. Multilevel model analyses demonstrated that lovingkindness meditation significantly improved anxiety, pain, self-compassion, emotional suppression, mindfulness, social isolation, and heart rate levels over time compared to control conditions. These results support the efficacy of a brief lovingkindness meditation intervention for breast cancer patients during the surgical time frame. The implications of these findings on future research, theory, and policy are discussed.</p> / Dissertation

Defense lawyers are portrayed as performing non-emotional work and their education does not train them for the social dimensions of handling clients and present in court. Despite this general picture of the legal profession, studies show that the work performed by lawyers comprises comprehensive emotion work. This study is based on ten semi-structured interviews and complementary observations of court hearings with criminal defense lawyers with variation in sex, age and work experiences. The main findings show that lawyers submit to the legal emotional regime characterized by a distance to emotions in court, but that the preparation for such a presentation requires substantial emotion work with the client before and after the court hearing. Client contact can be seen as a guided tour through the legal process undertaken by the lawyer with a focus on three aspects: (1) to dampen distress, (2) to prepare, produce and represent the client's expressions of emotion in court, and (3) to turn the everyday narrative of the event into legal codes, and vice versa. Empathy stands out an important tool in the emotion work performed by lawyers. Furthermore, the performance of objectivity is constructed socially through emotion work via the concept of professionalism. / Emotioner i domstol

M. Tech. Business Administration / This paper aims to determine the role and influence of emotional intelligence on overall efficiency in engineering project management. It also focuses on establishing whether emotional intelligence, when applied, does enhance project success and how project managers handle their emotions and relationships with stakeholders of projects.

Many studies have been conducted on military families in order to determine the effect of parent absence and frequent family moves on the academic adjustment and emotional well-being of children. Research has shown that environmental factors, such as parents coping abilities, social support, length of deployment, frequency of moves, and preparation for deployments or moves can influence the effects children experience due to deployments and relocations. Children of military families can be resilient and successful in school during deployment and moves. / text

The present study identified factors influencing determination of educational setting for students with Emotional Disturbance (ED). Determination of most appropriate educational setting, a key provision of students' individualized education programs (IEP) continues to be one the most contentious issues in special education. Focus group interviews were conducted to identify and understand factors contributing to placement decisions for IEP teams. Qualitative analysis of interviews produced three themes. First, IEP team members' beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes of ED influenced their recommendations for placement decisions. Second, teacher and resource-based factors played as critical a role as student-based factors in where students were placed. Third, needs of school-based stakeholders (i.e. teachers, principals, district officials) competed with those of the student with ED. Previous interview-based research on factors related to the determination of educational setting for students with ED relied predominantly on a single population: teachers. This study extends the research literature by including psychologists and principals as participants. The findings, provided by a cross section of school districts and personnel, highlight challenges related to the provision of high quality educational services for students with ED.

Thesis (Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

In the last two decades of the twentieth century in particular, a renewed interest arose in the relationship between music making and intelligence. This yet again led to the question of whether or not music making has any influence on intelligence. As a result of popular views, incorrect and incomplete reports and research which has not been based on an adequate scientific foundation, however, claims about the potential of making music to increase intelligence are currently being questioned. Even though the literature study could not prove beyond all doubt that music making increases intelligence, it is nevertheless significant that most of the top achievers in the matric final examination make music, play in orchestras or sing in choirs. The main objective of the study is to determine the nature of the relationship between music making and intelligence. A further aim of the study is also to establish whether the making of music contributes towards equipping learners with life skills which enable them to be successful in their lives later on. In addition to the literature study, this study also includes an empirical investigation. For the purposes of this study the Baron Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version was used. The experimental group consisted of forty nine learners who are members of either the Northwest Youth Orchestra or the Musikhane orchestra. A control group consisting of fifty learners from the same schools as the experimental group was involved as well. In-depth interviews were also held with the conductors of respectively the Northwest Youth Orchestra and the Musikhane orchestra. Questionnaires were completed by music teachers in the Northwest Province and by some of the Musikhane workers, in order to compare the qualitative results of the questionnaires and interviews with the quantitative results of the BarOn EQ-i:YV questionnaire. The findings of the study are based on an empirical study, which includes qualitative and quantitative testing. It was indicated, amongst others, that the positive influence of music making on academic achievement is to be found on the affective rather than the cognitive level. Furthermore, music making equips learners with certain life skills, like self-discipline, self-confidence and good inter- and intrapersonal relationships, which help them to be successful in other areas of their lives, such as their school work. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Music))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att få en förståelse för hur polisens barnutredare i Sverige upplever och hanterar känslor i yrket. Detta undersök genom en kvalitativ studie med en fenomenologisk ansats. Intervjuer användes som datainsamlingsmetod och totalt åtta barnutredare från fem olika polisdistrikt i Stockholms län som skiljer sig med avseende på ålder och arbetslivserfarenhet intervjuades. Fenomenologi handlar om att ge en beskrivning av vad och hur deltagarna kontextuellt upplever fenomenet som studeras. Fenomenet som studeras i studien är barnutredarnas upplevelser och hantering av känslor i yrket. Forskaren vill även ge teoretiska förklaringar till vad det är de upplever samt varför de upplever det. Därför har jag använt mig av Hochschilds teori om känsloarbete samt Goffmans rollteori om hur individen framställer sig själv samt styr publikens intryck i arbetet.  Studiens resultat har bidragit till en djupare förståelse och mer detaljerad kunskap om hur barnutredare upplever och hanterar känslor. Med mina teorier har jag kommit fram till att barnutredarna ska förmedla känslor av att vara bl.a. lugn, trygg, förtroendeingivande, lyhörd, neutral i såväl barn som misstänkts förhöret. Dessa känslor framkallar barnutredarna genom att förändra sitt kroppsspråk, ansiktsuttryck, verbala uttryck. Samt genom att använda barnahus och att inte bär uniform. Det har även framkommit att de gör mentala förändringar för att kunna åstadkomma känslorna. Detta kan ses som tekniker som barnutredarna använder också för att styra barnet/misstänkts känslor då det framkommit som viktigt att de agerar på detta sätt för att barnet/misstänk ska vilja eller våga prata. Vidare upplever barnutredare sällan att det uppstår motsättningar mellan egna känslor och yrkets krav. Känslomässiga konflikter uppstår endast vid ”särskilda ärenden” vilka är vid fyra situationer. Att de sällan upplever motsättningar kan förklaras genom att deras innersta känslor överensstämmer med de känslor som de måste uttrycka i arbetet. Resultatet visar att handledning med psykolog samt stöd av kollegor är två essentiella strategier som används för att förändra de innersta känslorna till vad yrket kräver att de ska känna. Härigenom förhindras att känslomotsättningar uppstår.

Sleep appears to play a critical role in regulating daytime functioning in children. However, few child-focused studies have used objective measures of sleep and examined its role in emotional functioning, memory, and attention. This dissertation consisted of 2 studies. Study 1 examined children’s typical sleep and how it correlates with daytime functioning in 32 typically developing children (14 boys, 18 girls), 8 to 12 years of age (M=9.8 y, SD=1.4). Participants wore actigraphs (recording devices that provide information about sleep and activity) for 1 week and then completed tasks to measure emotional functioning, memory, and attention. On average, children slept less than 9 h per night, which is approximately 1 h less than the recommended duration for this age. Older children had shorter sleep durations, higher sleep efficiency, and later sleep onset times. Correlational analyses revealed that within this group of typically developing children, small variations in sleep were associated with statistically significant effects on daytime functioning. Specifically, shorter sleep duration was associated with increased negative affective response, and lower sleep efficiency was associated with poorer performance on a divided attention task. Study 2 involved experimental manipulation of sleep duration in the same sample of children. Following a week of typical sleep, each child was randomly assigned to go to bed 1 h earlier for 4 nights (Extended condition) or 1 h hour later for 4 nights (Restricted condition) relative to their typical bedtime. Each child then completed the opposite condition. Following each condition, emotional functioning, memory, and attention were assessed using objective and subjective measures. The sleep manipulation was effective: the children slept significantly longer in the Extended (M=9.3 h, SD=0.6) versus Restricted (M=8.1 h, SD=0.7) condition, and children were significantly sleepier in the Restricted condition according to parent, child, and research assistant report. Positive affective response, emotion regulation, memory, and aspects of attention were worse in the Restricted, compared to Extended condition. These studies provide evidence that modest variations in sleep can have substantial effects on daytime functioning in children. Clinical implications are discussed, including the importance of identifying sleep problems and promoting healthy sleep habits in children.

Recently there has been increased interest in using employment interviews to judge personality (Christiansen, 2005; Powell & Goffin, 2009). However, not all personality traits are accurately detected. Previous research has demonstrated that Neuroticism is a trait that is difficult to correctly identify (Lippa & Dietz, 2000; Powell & Goffin, 2009; Watson, 1989). Neuroticism differs from the other Big Five traits because it is more affective in nature. It is proposed that those that are superior at detecting emotions in others will be better at judging Neuroticism in others. The purpose of the current research is to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence(specifically accuracy at detecting emotions) and accuracy in making personality judgments. A significant relation was found between emotional intelligence and accuracy in detecting Neuroticism. Implications for research and practice are discussed.