Thesis (Honors)--College of William and Mary, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 34-40). Also available via the World Wide Web.

In this country little research has been undertaken into the vast array of difficulties faced by students and the stressors that contribute to them, particularly in the professions allied to medicine. A pilot study of 40 students revealed that the major difficulty was completion of coursework and the emotional state of students gave cause for concern too. Finance was also a recurring problem. In the main study, 210 students were given a Problem Questionnaire, the General Health Questionnaire 30 and the Glasgow Symptom Checklist. Emotional lability was a significant finding. This was often accompanied by self-destructive thoughts. Anxiety appeared to be a prime manifestation of unresolved stress. A considerable number of students found the burden of coursework more difficult than anticipated which led to serious consideration of dropping out. Financial suffering was evident, confirming earlier findings. Highly stressed students had closer affiliation to the psychiatric than the normal population. 45 students from the main study were able and willing to continue with the research. An unexpected discovery was that many of these students suffered deeply but the severity of psychological manifestations had little bearing on the final academic results. Of the 45, indepth case studies of sixteen Honours degree students were carried out to illustrate the degree of stress among students, identify particular stressors and look at the outcomes. Personality and coping mechanisms' questionnaires were administered together with the health and problem questionnaires. Findings showed a similar pattern to the sample of 45. Coping resources on their own did not supply a satisfactory answer. A more pertinent explanation appears to lie in a theory of activation incorporating the ascending reticular activating system. This was allied to motivational concepts and closely related to Eysenck's personality dimensions. Conclusions are that students need more specialised and prolonged help for their psychological difficulties.

Purpose The  purpose  of  this  thesis  is  to  identify  the  role  of positive  emotions  in  project  failure  and  how  these emotions  affect  corporate  entrepreneurs´  decision-making and motivation. Theoretical perspective Entrepreneurial Failure, Emotions, Appraisal Theory, Attribution  Theory,  Psychological  Ownership,  Psychological Capital. Empirical foundation Seventeen respondents from 14 entrepreneurial companies  were  interviewed to identify  the role of positive emotions in  project failure and  their impact  on corporate entrepreneurs’  decision-making  and motivation in subsequent projects. Interviews were conducted by phone (1), audio conference (2), video conference (3) and face-to-face interviews (4). Conclusion We  offer  a  model,  which  shows  the  three  positive emotions that were found to be experienced in project failure, namely relief, confidence and challenge and their  impact  on  corporate  entrepreneurs’  decision-making and motivation in subsequent projects.

Moral judgments and moral emotions are a ubiquitous feature of social interactions. Humans decide quickly and intuitively whether an action is morally right or wrong. Schadenfreude and sympathy, as emotional reactions to the misfortunes of others, are prototypical moral emotions. So far, however, little evidence exists concerning children’s understanding of schadenfreude. Within three studies, we investigated the experience of schadenfreude and sympathy among N = 364 children of different age groups. We interviewed the children while showing them picture stories. In the picture stories, we varied the behavior of the protagonist prior to a misfortune: (1) whether his behavior had been morally right or wrong, (2) whether the protagonist attained his goal, (3) whether the protagonist was responsible for the misfortune. In addition, in one study we varied (4) the emotional relationship of the interviewed children to the protagonist. Furthermore, we asked the children to decide whether they want to sit next to the protagonist or do him a favor. Results show that children experience sympathy as well as schadenfreude at the age of 4 years. Sympathy is more likely to arise when the protagonists of a story are likable, when these actors typically pursue morally positive goals, and if they are not responsible for their misfortune. In contrast, schadenfreude is more likely when the protagonist is disliked, when actors pursue immoral goals and if they are responsible for their misfortune. In addition, sympathy increases approach (helping behavior, sitting next to the agent and doing favors), whereas schadenfreude increases avoidance tendencies.