Miljoner människor har tvingats ur sina hem på grund av det våld som pågår i Mellanöstern. Sättet som omvärlden förhåller sig till den kontext flyktingarna befinner sig i påverkar den fortsatta utvecklingen. Omvärldens attityder till de flyende och flyktproblematiken varierar och har förändrats över tid till exempel här i Sverige. Något som delvis påvekar attityder är hur media rapporterar kring denna kontext. Annat som kan förklara uppkomsten av dessa attityder är psykologiska dimensioner såsom avhumanisering och välmående samt teorier som Belief in a just world och locus of control. Urvalet i tidigare forskning har varit individer i välfärdsländer medan människor med andra erfarenheter som till exempel flyktingar inte har studerats.   Åtta kurdsvenskar med tidigare flyktingstatus intervjuades för att addera information och med hjälp av de nämnda psykologiska teorierna studera deras attityder. Utifrån den tematiska analysen framträdde fem huvudteman: BJW, Locus of control, subjektivt välmående, tidigare trauman, attityder till flyktingar och flyktingfrågan. Deltagarna hade en varierande tro på världen som rättvis. De uttryckte stark egenkontroll och deras subjektiva välmående visade sig positivt trots tidigare trauman där man hade kommit till en accepterande fas. Även synen på flyktingar var varierande med alltifrån liberala och medsympatiserande åsikter till konservativa och exkluderande. Studien bidrar till en mer nyanserad bild av vad flyktingfrågan kan handla om. Det i sig är viktigt i strävan efter jämlikhet och långsiktigare lösningar för att undvika motsättningar och rasism.

Internal-external locus of control was studied in relationship to the religious phenomena "glossolalia." Contrary to the main hypothesis formulated, glossolalics were found significantly more internal in locus of control than non-tongues speakers. Intercorrelations were studied between the variables of I-E, age, length of church membership, income level, educational level, and perceived control by God, for tongue-speaker and non-tongue-speaker groups. Chisquare comparisons were made between the groups on educational level, income level, and perceived control by God, with significant differences being found in educational level. Additional analysis was made between I-E and the variables of educational levels, income levels, and perceived control by God. Historical and current interpretations of the personality of glossolalics are challenged. The construct validity of the Rotter scale for use with religious populations is challenged.

Master of Science / Department of Biology / Theodore J. Morgan / The organismal response to temperature represents one of the most ubiquitous processes that occur in the natural world, and this response is critical for survival in most habitats. Increased attention should be focused on how organisms cope with temperature extremes, either through adaptation, plasticity, or a combination of both, as climate models predict increased variations in temperature accompanied by novel thermal extremes. Drosophila melanogaster is an excellent resource for answering questions pertaining to how organisms persist in environmental extremes because they originated in central tropical Africa and have since colonized nearly the entire globe, exposing them to many novel thermal stressors. In this work I elucidated regions of the genome contributing to phenotypic variation in cold tolerance and thermal plasticity. A quantitative trait locus (QTL) approach was used, which involved phenotyping roughly 400 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) of D. melanogaster from the Drosophila Synthetic Population Resource (DSPR). The DSPR captures genetic variation from around the globe, allowing for precision mapping of cold tolerance and thermal plasticity QTL, while simultaneously determining the frequency of the QTL alleles. Upon development at both 18°C and 25°C, RILS were measured for a common cold tolerance metric, chill-coma recovery time (CCR), and a plasticity value was derived as the change in CCR between environments. Analysis of variance revealed significant effects of sex, line (RIL), treatment (temperature), and line by treatment interaction (GxE). Mapped QTL for chill-coma recovery time at 18°C and 25°C spanned the same regions as several studies previously reported, validating the automated phenotyping method used and the mapping power of the DSPR. QTL between CCR at 18°C and 25°C overlapped significantly, and QTL for thermal plasticity shared the similar regions as QTL for CCR, but also exhibited two non-overlapping QTL on the left arm of the third chromosome. This study demonstrated the tremendous amount of variation present in cold tolerance phenotypes and identified candidate regions of the genome that contribute to thermal plasticity and require further investigation.

M.A. / None

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a neurodegenerative disease that is associated with repetitive traumatic brain injury like those sustained in sport, military combat, and other activities with repetitive head impact exposure. Repetitive head impacts typically cause mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) resulting in both concussive and subconcussive injury. Repeated mTBIs injuries appear to cause an abnormal accumulation of proteins, including hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau) and TDP-43, progressive axonal failure with gradual structural degradation, microvascular disruption, breach of blood-brain barrier, neuroinflammation and microglial activation; each of these manifestations lead to axonal degeneration and neuronal death, which impairs neuronal pathways and are likely to give rise to CTE symptoms. CTE can be microscopically characterized mainly by p-tau accumulation in perivascular spaces and at the depths of the cortical sulci. Clinical presentation of CTE may include behavioral, mood, cognitive, or motor symptoms. Some of the common symptoms include impulsivity, aggression, anxiety, depression, memory impairment, dementia, and suicidality. The Locus Coeruleus (LC), a nucleus in the pons of the brainstem, is suspected to be involved in CTE. The LC provides the main source of norepinephrine to the entire brain and is critical for its control over arousal, behaviors, attention, and memory. Dysfunction of the locus coeruleus has shown to cause a wide array of symptoms, many of which are similar to those seen in CTE. Furthermore, the LC is affected in many other neurodegenerative diseases and is believed to be responsible for the progressive and widespread nature of the various diseases and their clinical symptoms. Although the LC has been implicated in CTE there have been no studies examining LC pathology in relation to the disease progression or its symptoms. We hypothesize LC CTE pathology should increase with the severity of CTE. Furthermore, increased CTE pathology in the LC should create disturbances to the LC and the LC-NE system and manifest clinically. Specifically, LC CTE pathology may be associated with age of onset of general behavioral and cognitive symptoms as well as individual symptoms and outcomes including impulsivity, depression, depressed mood and death by suicide. To determine this, a postmortem study was performed on 184 individuals with a history of RHI and no comorbid diseases examining the relationship between AT8-immunopositive tau density in the LC and various clinical variables. The study found that LC AT8 density showed a significant positive correlation with duration of repetitive head impact (RHI) exposure when controlled for age. There also was a significant increase in LC AT8-immunoreactive tau in cases with stage III and IV CTE compared to those with no CTE and stage I and II CTE, and AT8 density was predictive of CTE stage when controlled for age. There were no significant relationships found between density of LC AT8-immunoreactive tau and age of any CTE symptom onset or individual symptom (impulsivity, depressed mood, MDD, death by suicide) presence. Future studies should continue to evaluate CTE pathology in the LC and its effects on both the pathological and clinical characteristics of the disease.

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between work locus of control, the quality of exchanges between subordinates and leaders (leader-member exchange) and job satisfaction. The research design of this study was a non-experimental, cross-sectional mediator design. A biographical questionnaire was used to ascertain the demographic information for the participants. Work locus of control was assessed using Spector’s (1988) work locus of control measure. Leader Member exchange was measured utilizing the member form of the leader member exchange scale LMX7. Job satisfaction of the employees was measured using The Warr 15-item Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS). The sample consisted of 115 employees from all levels of the organisation with the exception of members in top management. The sampling strategy that was utilised was non-probability sampling in which participants were recruited on the basis of their willingness to participate in the study. The study used correlations and regression analyses to analyse the data. The results of this study indicated that work locus of control had an inverse relationship with job satisfaction and leader member exchange. Mediation regression analysis indicated that leader member exchange partially mediated the relationship between work locus of control and job satisfaction. In view of the findings of this study, it is suggested that researchers on industrial relations could focus on ways in which South African organisations could improve employee-manager relations through the management of employee work locus of control, leader-member exchanges and workplace factors that contribute to employee job satisfaction

Student Number : 0317880W - MA dissertation - School of Psychology - Faculty of Humanities / A large portion of literature on organisational development is devoted to how organisations have changed and the subsequent effect that these changes have had on the human beings within them. Organisations are constantly trying to change and develop themselves so that they are better equipped to face challenges that exist within the greater macro environment. These changes affect all facets of the organisation and often have a life altering impact on the employees involved. One such impact that this fluctuating corporate environment has had on employees is that they are required to develop themselves to safeguard against unexpected changes that may jeopardise their job security. Employees are constantly trying to improve themselves and their marketability so that they may progress in their careers. The major shift from previous decades is that employees are currently more committed to their careers than to their organisation (Cavanaugh & Noe, 1999). Moving up the organisational hierarchy is one way to achieve career development (Garavan, Collahan, 1996) and may be regarded as reward for the self-development that one has worked so hard for. If employees do not see an opportunity to further themselves and their careers, a possible response would be to leave the organisation and look for other avenues to achieve this development. The present study aimed to explore this by determining how a personality construct effects ones perceptions of intraorganisational mobility and the reactions that these perceptions generate. A large South African banking institution was used to sample employees for the study and being a service firm, all indications are that it is an extremely underresearched organisational form (Malos, Campion, 2000). The key strategic focus of the group is said to include among others, to focus on customer service, to improve transparency and to meet transformation goals in line with the financial sector charter. This is in response to numerous restructuring and change efforts that have taken place within the last two years. The organisation serves as an illustration of corporate life within South Africa. The company is continually trying to change and develop to meet the challenges of the greater macro environment. In doing so, the employees are required to respond proactively to the changes that take place and develop themselves accordingly. In light of this, the organisation provided a useful backdrop from which to analyse the relationship between locus of control, perceptions of intra-organisational mobility, satisfaction with promotion opportunities and future career planning.

Student Number: 0316733E Master of Arts (Industrial Psychology) Faculty of Humanities / The aim of this research project was to investigate final year university students’ attitudes towards affirmative action. In particular the current research investigated the final year students’ justice perceptions and attitudes towards affirmative action as well as their perceptions of job opportunities. The study also incorporated the role of locus of control in relation to the above mentioned variables. Prior research indicated that affirmative action is perceived as controversial in nature and has been accused of promoting inherent unfairness of practices and procedures that give preferential treatment to certain groups of people based on gender, race and ethnicity (Parker, Baltes and Christiansen, 1997). In addition affirmative action has been accused of reducing job opportunities for non-beneficiaries, as well as stigmatising those it aims to assist (Kravits and Plantainia, 1992). Therefore there arises a need to examine and explore affirmative action within South Africa, as much research has been conducted in the United States and is not applicable to South Africa. The present research was conducted using a quantitative, non-experimental cross sectional research design. The sample consisted of fourth year bachelor of accounting students. Five hypotheses were tested. The results indicted that support was found for three of the hypotheses, indicating that attitudes towards affirmative action differ between beneficiaries and non – beneficiaries. There is a relationship between perceptions of job opportunities and attitudes towards affirmative action as well as a relationship between justice perceptions of affirmative action and attitudes towards affirmative action in both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. The findings are discussed in relation to previous research. The implications of the research and the limitations of the study are outlined in the research report.

A presente dissertação verifica a abordagem dos espaços periféricos a partir da análise poética da canção Subúrbio, de Chico Buarque (Carioca, 2006), com o fito de analisar o lugar de enunciação do sujeito poético. Nossa hipótese é a de que na canção um enunciador cujo olhar se distancia dos objetos que tematiza e que esta abordagem é um aspecto que prevalece em boa parte da obra cancional do referido poeta. / The current dissertation aims to verify the approach of the outlying areas through the analysis of the poetic song Subúrbio, by Chico Buarque (Carioca, 2006), in order to analyze the poetic subjects enunciative place. Our hypothesis is that in the song there is an enunciator whose look distances itself from the themed matters and this approach is an aspect that prevails in almost of the reffered poet`s songbook

O número de indivíduos obesos quase dobrou desde 1980. Sendo assim, a obesidade torna-se uma ameaça para o equilíbrio físico, mental e social destes indivíduos. Entre os tratamentos psicológicos, destaca-se a Terapia Cognitivo Comportamental, na qual explica que o sistema de crenças de um indivíduo interfere no desenvolvimento de seus sentimentos e comportamentos e, quando distorcido, pode causar tendências disfuncionais de raciocínio. Adaptar instrumentos a fim de aprofundar os estudos em relação ao comportamento alimentar de indivíduos obesos, pode levar a promover ações para promoção de saúde destes. A Dieting Beliefs Scale, composta por 16 afirmações, divididas entre lócus de controle interno (fator 1), lócus que estão além do controle, (fator 2) e lócus externo (fator 3), avalia a relação entre peso e comportamento na dieta. O objetivo deste estudo é adaptar esta escala em adultos para a amostra não clínica (alunos e funcionários da Universidade de Ribeirão Preto - UNAERP) de ambos os sexos e aplicar a versão adaptada para amostra clínica (pacientes da clínica de Nutrição da UNAERP). A análise dos dados da adaptação foi realizada com 197 sujeitos da amostra não clínica e foram realizadas a tradução, análise das evidências de validade (Análise Fatorial Exploratória - AFE - e Análise Fatorial Confirmatória - AFC) e precisão ou fidedignidade (alpha de Cronbach e teste-reteste). A aplicação da escala adaptada foi realizada na amostra clínica (n=114). Em relação aos resultados da tradução, a amostra não clínica não apresentou dúvidas em relação à versão traduzida. Sendo assim, esta foi aplicada em 197 sujeitos desta amostra. Já em relação aos resultados das evidências de validade a AFE constatou que os itens 2, 9, 10, 11 e 15 apresentaram uma carga fatorial alta para o fator 1; os itens 5, 6 e 7 apresentaram alta carga fatorial para o fator 2 e os itens 8, 12 e 13, para o fator 3. Foram excluídos os itens 1, 3, 4 e 16 por terem apresentado carga fatorial abaixo de 0,40. Na AFC, o modelo re-especificado da escala original apresentou ajuste razoável. Os resultados da Precisão ou fidedignidade foi realizada por meio do Alpha de Cronbach (0,404), classificado como moderado e do Teste-reteste (n=96), onde se observou que o fator 1 possui maior índice de correlação (0,620), comparados com os fatores 2 (0,499) e 3 (0,381). Os resultados da aplicação da escala na amostra clínica mostram que há evidências da não relação estatisticamente significativa entre o IMC e os fatores da Escala de Crenças sobre Dieta. Esta amostra pode ter compreensão da importância dos fatores internos em um processo de perda de peso. Assim, as análises estatísticas demonstraram qualidades psicométricas razoáveis. Recomenda-se a utilização deste instrumento para pesquisas a fim de compreender as crenças dos indivíduos em processo de perda de peso e o fator que pode estar interferindo em seu comportamento / The number of obese people has nearly doubled since 1980. Thus, obesity becomes a threat to the physical, mental and social balance of these individuals. Among the psychological treatments, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy stands out, in which it explains that the belief system of an individual interferes in the development of their feelings and behaviors and, when distorted, can cause dysfunctional tendencies of reasoning. Adapting instruments to deepen the studies regarding the eating behavior of obese individuals may lead to actions to promote their health. The Dieting Beliefs Scale, composed of 16 statements, divided between internal control locus (factor 1), locus that are beyond the control (factor 2) and external locus (factor 3), evaluates the relationship between weight and behavior in the diet. The aim of this study is to adapt this scale in adult non-clinical sample (students and staff at the University of Ribeirão Preto - UNAERP) of both genders and apply the version adapted for clinical sample (clinic patients Nutrition UNAERP). The analysis of the adaptation data was performed with 197 subjects from the non-clinical sample and the translation, analysis of the validity evidence (Exploratory Factor Analysis - AFE - and Confirmatory Factor Analysis - AFC) and accuracy or reliability (Cronbach\'s alpha and test -retested). The application of the adapted scale was performed in the clinical sample (n = 114). Regarding the results of the translation, the non-clinical sample showed no doubts about the translated version. Therefore, it was applied in 197 subjects of this sample. Regarding the results of the validity evidence, AFE found that items 2, 9, 10, 11 and 15 presented a high factor load factor 1; Items 5, 6 and 7 presented a high factor load for factor 2 and items 8, 12 and 13 for factor 3. Items 1, 3, 4 and 16 were excluded because they presented a factorial load below 0.40. In the AFC, the re-specified model of the original scale presented a reasonable fit. The results of Accuracy or reliability were performed using Cronbach\'s Alpha (0.404), classified as moderate and Test-retest (n = 96), where it was observed that factor 1 had a higher correlation index (0.620), compared with Factors 2 (0.499) and 3 (0.381). The results of scale application in the clinical sample show that there is evidence of a non-statistically significant relationship between BMI and Dietary Belief Scale factors. This sample may have an understanding of the importance of internal factors in a weight loss process. Thus, the statistical analyzes demonstrated reasonable psychometric qualities. It is recommended to use this tool for research in order to understand the beliefs of individuals in the process of weight loss and the factor that may be interfering in their behavior