The focus of the study was to investigate the nature of the apparent inconsistency reported in the literature on the relationship between personality variables and indices of religiosity. The literature indicates that indices of religiosity have been associated with labels both of "desirable" and "undesirable" personality traits to varying degrees, and no definitive conclusions have been thus far reached. The study suggested that the inconsistent evidence has been a result of a narrow definition of personality functioning and a broad definition of religiosity that has not allowed an adequate test of the relationship between personality and religiosity. The study developed the notion that a multidimensional personality measure (California Psychological Inventory -- CPI) paired with (1) a theoretically precise and psychometrically researched index of religiosity (i.e., Intrinsic Religious Motivation Scale -- IRMS) and (2) a traditional index of religiosity (i.e., denominational membership) might provide new information relative to the relationship between religiosity and personality. The CPI and the IRMS were administered to 108 male and female Baptist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day-Saints (LOS) and Presbyterian denominational members. CPI subscale scores and IRMS scores were analyzed by a Pearson product-moment correlational analysis, a univariate analysis of variance, and a step-wise multiple discriminate analysis. Significant correlations between IRMS scores and CPI subscale scores were found; however the variance explained was not sufficient to be of theoretical use. There were statistically significant mean differences among denominations (Baptists, LOS, Presbyterians) and between types of religious motivation (intrinsics and extrinsics defined by an IRMS score median split) on the CPI subscales. It was noted that all CPI subscale means fell within the normal range and were not clinically significant. Subjects characterized by denominational membership and religious motivation were characterized by normal personality functioning. Discriminant functions were computed which predicted group membership based on the CPI subscales at accuracy level s between 63.7% and 87.5%. It was argued that tests available to researchers do not allow an adequate test of the relationship between personality and religiosity. It was recommended that researchers study the relationship between religiosity and personality by directly examining subjects' behaviors in combination with utilizing test inventories.

Growing concern for the popularity of art competitions that encourage participation of secondary school senior art students is reflected in debate by many Australian art educators. It appears that acceptance of the external goal of winning a prize may demonstrate that many students and teachers have not fully considered the adverse implications of extrinsic rewards on learning strategies relevant to artistic behavior. On the other hand the benefit of exhibitions of student art work appears to be overshadowed by the prevalence of art competitions. This study surveys attitudes and perceptions of art teachers and secondary senior art students towards art competitions supported by the school. Subjects include secondary senior art students and teachers from selected Brisbane Independent Schools. It appears that participation in art competitions is more frequent in these schools. Results may prove beneficial to art educators who are concerned with the issue of extrinsic rewards for artistic behavior.

För att organisationer ska klara av att möta nutidens stora omställningar samt den ökandeglobala konkurrensen bör de eftersträva en kontinuerlig utveckling och ett systematisktarbete med innovation. Idag talas det om att den kreativa kapaciteten hos individen ochorganisationen utgör grunden för innovation och att organisationer idag är mer beroende avsina kreativa förmågor än sina materiella tillgångar. För att utveckla individens kreativitetkrävs stimulering av expertis, kreativ förmåga och motivation.Syftet med denna studie var att ta reda på hur Volvo CE industriarbetare kanstimuleras för att uppnå en ihållande kreativ idégenerering. Vi har försökt besvara fyraforskningsfrågor för att kunna uppfylla syftet. För att kunna besvara dessa har vi gjortdatainsamlingar genom enkät och gruppintervju. Vi fann att industriarbetarna med fördelkan stimuleras genom inre motivation, att de bör erbjudas utbildning för att utveckla denkreativa förmågan samt att erbjuda ett större utrymme för explorativt arbete.Industriarbetarna bör även tillåtas generera kreativa idéer som har ett högre nyhetsvärde.

The market for philanthropic donations in America has been thriving since the 1950s. 89 percent of U.S. households make annual monetary donations to charitable organizations, contributing to 20 percent of all revenues in the nonprofit sector. Majority of the factors contributing to this growth in donations can be divided into three general categories: intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and marketing influence tactics. My thesis examines a plethora of past research to develop a comprehensive guide on the current theories of human behaviors as they pertain to charitable giving.

Antal individer som söker sig till vidareutbildning på akademisk nivå har ökat under den senaste finanskrisen. Studier på landets lärosäten är oftast en mångårig process och kräver både motivation och tro på egen förmåga. Deltagarna i denna studie kommer från olika högskolor och studieinriktningar och har i många fall lämnat en trygg inkomstkälla i valet att vidareutbilda sig. För att undersöka betydelsen av en individs arbetslivserfarenhets i valet av utbildning användes mätinstrumentet AMS för att mäta motivation och GSE för att mäta grad av self-efficacy. Resultatet visade att det föreligger en statistisk signifikant skillnad på arbetslivserfarenhet och grad av self-efficacy samt att individer som saknar arbetslivserfarenhet upplever mer amotivation gentemot sina studier. Studiens slutsats ligger i linje med tidigare forskning vilket är att studenter motiveras i högre grad av yttre motivation vid valet av studier.

The aim of this master thesis is to examine research perspectives and a selection ofmanagers’ views on the concept of work motivation. With an exploratory approach,based on a literature review and interviews these views are examined and compared inrelation to a theoretical framework. This theoretical framework consists of three keyconcepts, the individual, the context and the regulation of work motivation. Theliterature review reveals two research perspectives, a classic economic perspectivebased on Principal–Agent Theory and a more up to date social psychologicalperspective based on Self-Determination Theory. Interviews with selected managersas informants reveal that both of these research perspectives are represented amongthe managers, but foremost the social psychological perspective. The comparisonbetween the research perspectives and the managers’ views also show that thesimilarities between the social psychological perspective and the managers’ views arestrongest in relation to the key concept of the individual, compared to the keyconcepts of context and regulation. A discrepancy between how managers view workmotivation and how managers deal with work motivation in practice can also be seenand related to the managers’ views on the key concepts named.

Motivation är ett centralt begrepp inom psykologisk forskning och är väsentligt i organisationer för att skapa förståelse om hur aktiviteter på arbetet påverkar anställdas motivation och prestation. Motivationsfaktorer förklaras bero på både inre och yttre drivkrafter. De inre drivkrafterna styrs av individens intressen och tillfredsställelse i arbetsuppgifter på arbetet, medan de yttre förklaras som exempelvis belöning och att uppnå företagsmål. Denna studie bygger på åtta intervjuer där syftet var att undersöka subjektiva upplevelser av inre och yttre motivation på arbetsplatsen. Resultatet analyserades med hjälp av metoden meningskoncentrering vilket uppvisade 4 teman i faktorn inre motivation: frihet, välbefinnande, mål och delaktighet. 6 teman upptäcktes i yttre motivation: belöningar, fysisk arbetsmiljö, sociala förhållanden, feedback, ledarskap/struktur samt kommunikation/samarbeten. Enligt resultatet kan yttre faktorer skapa möjligheter och förutsättningar för motivation, men det som driver är individens inre motivation.

Since the deregulation of the telecommunication industry, our company has been confronted with various internal as well as external challenges. Externally, we are facing an ever-competitive market, which resorts to endless price-cutting as a business tactic. As a result, not only that we have lost market share of customers, but the profit margin has steadily deteriorated. Internally, we are challenged with an aging workforce, whose mentality is ill-adjusted for the ferocious competition industry-wide. Some employees are plagued with low moral, due in part to the uncertainty about the company¡¦s privatizing status. The net result is a clear adverse effect on the overall productivity output of our company as a whole. Despite the efforts put forth to motivate our employees, the outcome is nowhere near our expectation. This ineffectiveness, ironically is due to a combination of job security, comfortable work atmosphere and above-average wages. Our management must investigate the employee mentality in depth, so that effective motivation measures can be undertaken. The endeavor is absolutely required to promote work ethics and improve the company¡¦s competitive edge. We have recently conducted a written survey, which is aimed primarily to determining employee job satisfaction. As a part of the survey analysis, we also intend to compare job satisfaction between employees of internal and external responsibilities. The survey reveals above-average satisfaction toward teamwork, individual work, wages, collegiateship and direct supervisorship. The only below-average satisfaction rating fell into the category of rank promotion. The survey also indicates that job satisfaction differs between genders and employees of different responsibility areas. Other than gender and job nature, all employees showed insignificant differences in job satisfaction. Further, the survey reveals that (1) intrinsic motivation and cognition of equity significantly affect employee job satisfaction of both the internals and the externals, the effect being more prominent with the internals (2) extrinsic motivation shows no effect on job satisfaction in either the internals or the externals. Suggestions to the company¡GPrior to privitization, it¡¦s essential for the company to consider two factors that apparently contribute to job satisfaction, i.e., intrinsic motivation and cognition of equity. The company should implement a motivation system with appropriate measures to improve job satisfaction and work moral. These measures, as successfully employed by private sectors of the industry, may include commission, dividend and equity sharing.

The main purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between demographic variables (gender, experience of teaching, and educational background), playfulness, motivation of teaching, happiness and creative teaching among junior high school teachers. The participants in this study included 320 junior high school teachers in Kaohsiung City. The employed instruments included the Inventory of Creative Teaching Behaviors, the Inventory of Teacher Playfulness, the Inventory of Teaching Motivation, and the Inventory of Happiness. The applied analysis methods were Descriptive Statistics, One-way Multivariate Analysis of Variance, Canonical Correlation, and Discriminant Analysis. The main findings of this study were as follows: 1. The male teachers in junior high schools outperformed the female teachers in creative teaching, and the major differences were found on the dimensions of ¡§Interactive discussion and upgrading of thinking¡¨ and ¡§independent learning and challenge providing¡¨. 2. The teachers¡¦ experience of teaching and educational background did not have effects on their creative teaching. 3. The teachers¡¦ playfulness had positive effects on their creative teaching; more specifically, their playfulness in ¡§active sharing and atmosphere construction¡¨, ¡§enjoyment of trying and satisfaction obtaining¡¨, and ¡§easiness and self-recognition¡¨ had strong correlations with their creative teaching in ¡§varied teaching and motivation stimulation¡¨. 4. The teachers¡¦ motivation of teaching had positive effects on their creative teaching; more specifically, their teaching motivation of ¡§enjoying creation and problem solving¡¨ had the highest correlation with their creative teaching in ¡§independent learning and challenge providing¡¨. 5. The teachers¡¦ happiness had positive effects on their creative teaching; more specifically, their happiness in ¡§work enthusiasm and self-transcendence¡¨, ¡§Caring and optimism¡¨, and ¡§recognition and hope toward the value of life¡¨ had strong correlations with their creative teaching in ¡§varied teaching and motivation stimulation¡¨ and ¡§independent learning and challenge providing¡¨. 6. The playfulness, motivation of teaching, and happiness could jointly predict the teachers¡¦ performance in creative teaching, and the motivation of teaching and playfulness were the most powerful predictors. Finally, some suggestions were proposed for educational institutions, teachers, and further studies.

In this thesis we will discuss the subject of user participation in the development process of products, specifically video games, through a concept called User-generated content. Product development demands speed and flexibility in the development process and it has been suggested that managers should revise the process of product development to become more flexible and integrate the consumer in increasingly more steps of the process. Video games will often be modified after its release. In fact, it has been estimated that between 95% and 100% of the files in most software will be modified after its initial release. User participation, referring to behaviors and activities performed in a system development process, is a definite feature for websites that consider their content user-generated. Customers who participate in online video game UGC are actively changing games, modifying existing content and creating new content related to all aspects of the game bit by bit, while also contributing this content to others, usually over the internet through some sort of video game content sharing site.User participation is determined by a user’s ability to participate and his motivation to do so, the latter of which is the focus of this thesis. Two major branches of study can be distinguished from motivational theory; intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. The main purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of motivational factors of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and toolkits that motivate customers to participate in UGC for video games. We examine what effects intrinsic motivational factors enjoyment, altruism and continuance commitment, as well as extrinsic motivational factors rewards, future rewards, personal need and reputation have on user participation. The toolkits approach to product development is a common user-oriented product development methods in the video game industry, which allows users to modify and create content for games. We will also study what effects the usefulness and ease of use of these toolkits have on user participation. Conducting a quantitative study, we presented a questionnaire to members of four online video game UGC communities; Steam Workshop, GameBanana, ModDB and MODSonline, in order to assess users’ attitudes of aforementioned concepts in relation to their user participation.We have not found any relevant research that examines both motivational factors’ and toolkits’ effects on user participation in video game UGC. With recent turbulent developments in the video game industry regarding monetary compensation for UGC, we decided to put great weight on this area in this thesis, both through our review of previous literature and regarding the results of our study.Our multiple regression analysis showed that toolkit ease of use, intrinsic motivational factors enjoyment and altruism, as well as extrinsic motivational factor reputation have significant positive effects on user participation, while toolkit usefulness showed a significant negative effect on user participation. We also find trends suggesting the positive effect of continuance commitment on user participation, and, finally, a trend suggesting the negative effect of rewards on user participation.