Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Amber Vennum / The literature suggests that aggressive behaviors occur in response to provocation (i.e., reactive aggression) or to achieve a goal (i.e., instrumental aggression). Relational aggression –when an individual harms another’s interpersonal relationships – has been studied from the reactive and instrumental framework in peer-directed contexts, usually with children. However, relational aggression in romantic relationships is yet to be studied from this framework. This dissertation includes a series of studies investigating whether two specific relationally aggressive behaviors found in romantic relationships (i.e., social sabotage and love withdrawal) are 1) motivated by instrumental and reactive aggression, 2) associated with differential characteristics, and 3) predictive of negative outcomes. The Romantic Relational Aggression Motivation (RRAM) scale, which included social sabotage and love withdrawal items with both instrumental and reactive motivations, was created to explore the above research questions. During Study 1a, an exploratory factor analysis using a sample of 170 emerging adults tested the factor structure of the RRAM. This resulted in love withdrawal, but not social sabotage, factoring into instrumental and reactive subscales. Using the same sample at a later wave, Study 1b refined the RRAM from Study 1a; the findings confirmed the results of Study 1a. In Study 2, using a sample of 118 emerging adults, the factor structure found in Study 1b was corroborated using a confirmatory factor analysis. Study 2 found that social sabotage was more closely related to instrumental than reactive love withdrawal. Reactive and instrumental love withdrawal were clearly differentiated based on their associations with constructs that were emotionally driven (e.g. neuroticism and hostile attribution bias) but not by their associations with constructs that dealt with power (e.g. self-relationship power and trait dominance). None of the romantic relational aggression scales were predictive of the negative outcomes in the study, possibly due to the small sample size (85 emerging adults) in the longitudinal portion of Study 2. As instrumental and reactive love withdrawal were associated with different constructs and combining the two together may cause substantial differences to be lost, the RRAM may be a useful tool for researchers of romantic relational aggression.

Focusing on the case study of the so-called ‘European refugee crisis’ in Greece since 2015, the research highlights new insights into the motivations, experiences, and challenges of international volunteers in humanitarian relief operations. Unlike previous analyses on volunteer motivations, this study’s analytical framework is built on a combination of the functional (psychological) and symbolic (sociological) approach to the theory of motivation. With the help of Clary and Snyder’s Volunteer Functions Inventory, seven motivations of volunteers are outlined. Further, volunteers’ challenges, including psychological stressors are identified with the help of the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Building on a mixed methods research design, 66 responses to an online survey were enriched with data from six in-depth interviews. The study displays volunteers’ typical socio-demographic characteristics to be young, female European students, who come to Greece on their own, who finance their stay through personal income, and who tend to stay between one to three months. The analysis reveals volunteers’ motivations to be first and foremost altruistic; however, internationals are also influenced by other, more self-centered motivations, including their desire to learn through hands-on skills, and to advance their career. Motivations to prolong their volunteer commitment or to return to Greece particularly include social bonds built during previous engagements, the incentive to reduce feelings of guilt over being more fortunate than others, and the desire to relive experiences of increased self-fulfillment and personal growth. Dividing the sample by gender and age illustrates somewhat differing motivations among the sub-samples, leading to the conclusion that volunteers’ motivations are diverse, multifaceted, fluid, and placed somewhere along a spectrum between altruistic and egoistic aspirations. The study of people’s experiences overall suggests high satisfactions among the volunteers; however, sentiments of feeling at times overwhelmed and stressed are very present among most volunteers, regardless the length of their stay Greece or their performed activities. The workload, a too heavy burden of responsibility, lack of sufficient time to reenergize, lack of managerial support, and conflicts among volunteers particularly have the potential to lead to emotional exhaustion, depersonalized behavior, and challenges when returning home.

Under what conditions does an ordinary citizen find it justified for an individual to engage in rebellion-related political actions? Though there is a large body of literature on rebel participation phenomenon, little is known about how ordinary citizens react to the motivations of rebels highlighted by the scholars. This research aims to address this gap by focusing on three generic sources of motivation for rebel participation: economic or political grievances, selective incentives, and indiscriminate violence. It is theorized that identification with a rebel candidate’s social group and the gender of this person would both affect individuals’ indicated justification levels for rebellion-related political actions. Through a self-administered survey conducted online by 309 participants from the United States, the theoretical expectations have been examined and while it turns out that the gender of a rebel candidate is not a decisive factor, the explanations based on identification with the rebel candidate’s social group has been partially supported in the study. Further research focusing on other sources of motivation for rebels is encouraged to assess the extent to which the proposed causal mechanism applies beyond the explanations for rebel participation taken in this study.

Background: Over the years, businesses have come under the microscope as consumers and other stakeholders such as employees, environmentalist and journalists investigate any wrongdoings. Investors are also aware of the damages caused by organizations that are only concerned with profit maximization, and now they are diverging their investment to more sustainable companies. To overcome internal and external pressure, companies are accepting the responsibilities they have towards the society, environment, and shareholders. However, the journey of becoming responsible and environmentally sustainable is long and it often requires organizational change. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now known to most public and private firms. Over the decades, scholars have come up with various definitions for CSR which are often complex and diverse. Therefore, there is a need to understand how companies implement CSR rather than if they should implement it (Smith, 2003). The conceptualization of CSR, understanding what motivates towards CSR and how it is implemented within the organizations has attracted the attention of scholars (Maon, Lindgreen, & Swaen, 2010) Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to assess organisations journey to become sustainable companies using a developmental stage model, in this case the Consolidative model and to find empirical support the usefulness of this model as an assessment tool. Method: To achieve the purpose of this study, a qualitative method along with an abductive approach is used. Eight semi-structured interviews are used for collecting primary data while peer-reviewed articles and books are used to build the theoretical framework. Conclusion: Empirical findings support that the consolidative mode is useful in assessing the sustainability journey of organizations. No organization is found to be in the first three stages that are the dismissing, self-protecting, and compliance seeking stages. Pressure from stakeholders, personal values, beliefs and the desire to be competitive are what motivates organizations to work with CSR despite their small size.

A research of foraging represents a relatively new phenomenon abroad. In Czechia, on the other hand, this is an ordinary issue with a long-time tradition, but until recently it has not received much attention by the scientific community. For this reason, the following diploma thesis deals with this activity. It consists of two main units. The first part aims to create the theoretical framework necessary for the introduction into the foraging study. It includes a familiarization with the trend of the self-provisioning in general both in Czechia and abroad. A substantial part of the theoretical framework deals with the quantity and the typology of harvested products, the reasons for foraging, the characteristics of the harvesters, etc. It also outlines the problem of western academics' interpretation of foraging in post-communist conditions as a survival strategy. In the second part, using the mixed research methods, the thesis seeks to find out what is the tradition of foraging in Czech conditions during recent decades, who are the harvesters and what are the reasons and motivations to harvest. By statistical data analysis and by interviewing method, it is confirmed that people across a variety of demographic and socio-economic characteristics are harvesting and motivation is certainly not a bad...

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-05T19:15:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 31 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Uma das formas de gerenciamento de resultados constantemente abordada na literatura é o Alisamento de Resultados (Income Smoothing), que representa uma redução da variabilidade dos resultados reportados, tornando-os mais estáveis ao longo do tempo. O objetivo deste estudo é verificar fatores capazes de influenciar esta prática, relacionados a motivações de mercado, motivações contratuais e motivações políticas e regulatórias, bem como possíveis fatores limitadores da mesma. Para tanto, investigou-se a ocorrência do alisamento de resultados em uma amostra de 141 empresas listadas na Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo (BOVESPA), abrangendo um período de análise de oito anos (2000 a 2007). O método utilizado para a identificação das empresas alisadoras foi aquele proposto por Eckel (1981), baseado na comparação entre o coeficiente de variabilidade da receita bruta e do lucro líquido da empresa. Após esta identificação, empregou-se análise univariada, por meio do teste ANOVA, para verificar a existência de diferenças / One form of earnings management that is constantly addressed in the literature is Income Smoothing, which constitutes a reduction in the variability of reported results, making them more stable over time. The aim of this study is to identify factors such as market-related, contractual, political and regulatory motivations which influence this practice, as well as any factors that may limit it. To this end, was investigated the occurrence of income smoothing in a sample of 141 companies listed on the São Paulo Stock Exchange (BOVESPA), over an eight-year analysis period (2000 to 2007). The method used to identify companies that practiced income smoothing was proposed by Eckel (1981), based on the comparison between the coefficient of variability of gross revenue and net profit of the company. Following identification, univariate analysis in the form of the ANOVA test was employed to verify the existence of significant differences in variables between groups of smoothers and non-smoothers firms. The test result

Houve um crescimento substancial constatado nos últimos anos no número de pessoas adotando dietas veganas em várias áreas do mundo, incluindo nas Américas, na Europa e em diferentes regiões da Ásia. Em 2012, já existiam cerca de 16 milhões, 5 milhões e 1,68 milhão de pessoas veganas nos Estados Unidos, Brasil e Inglaterra, respectivamente. Questões de saúde, de meio ambiente e de direitos dos animais são algumas das preocupações do consumidor vegano. Essas causalidades também são características do consumo consciente. O consumo de produtos está conduzido por fatores econômicos, sociais, culturais, pessoais e ambientais que atuam sobre o fator a decisão de compra e de o comportamento do consumidor. Nesse sentido, questiona-se qual é o perfil e suas principais motivações que influenciam o comportamento do consumidor vegano no Brasil Para obter essa resposta, foram escritos dois artigos, a fim de atender os seguintes objetivos: Artigo I) contextualizar o estado da arte do consumo vegano; e Artigo II) caracterizar o perfil dos consumidores veganos; e identificar e analisar as motivações que orientam e influenciam o comportamento de consumidores veganos, com base na Teoria do Comportamento Planejado (TCP). Para o consumidor vegano, a TCP auxilia na abordagem das motivações que fazem parte para a compreensão do comportamento do consumidor planejado. Os resultados encontrados no primeiro artigo apresentam que as pesquisas sobre o consumo vegano cresce a partir de 2009, sendo um dos países que mais pesquisam sobre o assunto são os Estados Unidos, com 22 artigos. Além disso, ressalta-se que ao longo dos anos foram descobertas novas pesquisas que ratificam a importância de os indivíduos aderirem uma dieta vegana, por questões de saúde, de meio ambiente, corroborando para o consumo consciente Já no segundo artigo, os resultados mostram que a maioria dos consumidores veganos são do sexo feminino, jovens, solteiros, com ensino superior completo e pós-graduação e com menos e mais de um ano de veganismo. As principais variáveis que influenciam e orientam o comportamento do consumidor vegano estão relacionadas a sua saúde, às intenções comportamentais, aos alimentos ecoinovadores, ao direito dos animais e ao meio ambiente. Portanto, o comportamento do consumidor vegano, quando aplicado à TCP, revela que as atitudes, normas subjetivas e controle percebido geram um comportamento do consumidor planejado ao veganismo. Conclui-se que o consumo vegano tornou-se um nicho de mercado, contribuindo para a produção de alimentos ecoinovadores. Sob o ponto de vista do agronegócio, salienta-se que novas cadeias de produção de alimentos, diferenciação de produtos, estímulo à produção de orgânicos, estratégias de mercado e ampliação da oferta para atender a demanda são algumas ações positivas que podem impactar e promover a expansão desse nicho de mercado. / There has been substantial growth in recent years in the number of people adopting vegan diets in various areas of the world, including in the Americas, Europe and different regions of Asia. In 2012, there were already around 16 million, 5 million and 1.68 million vegans in the United States, Brazil and England, respectively. Health, environment and animal rights issues are some of the concerns of the vegan consumer. These causalities are also characteristic of conscious consumption. The consumption of products is driven by economic, social, cultural, personal and environmental factors that act on the buying decision factor and consumer behavior. In this sense, it is questioned what is the profile and its main motivations that influence the behavior of the vegan consumer in Brazil To obtain this answer, two articles were written in order to meet the following objectives: Article I) contextualize the state of the art of vegan consumption; and Article II) characterize the profile of vegan consumers; and to identify and analyze the motivations that guide and influence the behavior of vegan consumers, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TCP). For the vegan consumer, TCP assists in approaching the motivations that are part of understanding the intended consumer behavior. The results found in the first article show that research on vegan consumption grows from 2009, with one of the most researched countries being the United States, with 22 articles. In addition, it is emphasized that over the years new research has been discovered that ratify the importance of individuals adhering to a vegan diet, for health reasons, of the environment, corroborating for conscious consumption. The second article, the results show that the majority of vegan consumers are female, young, single, with full college and postgraduate education and with less than and more than one year of veganism. The main variables that influence and guide the behavior of the vegan consumer are related to their health, behavioral intentions, ecoinovator foods, animal rights and the environment Therefore, vegan consumer behavior, when applied to TCP, reveals that attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control generate consumer behavior designed for veganism. Concluded that vegan consumption has become a niche market, contributing to the production of ecoinovadores foods. The point of view of agribusiness, it should be pointed out that new food production chains, product differentiation, organic production incentives, market strategies and supply expansion to meet demand are some positive actions that can impact and promote expansion of this niche market.

I denna studie används Mölndals Stad som fall för att belysa hur chefer i offentliga organisationer förhåller sig till begreppet motivation samt hur de går till väga för att öka motivationen bland anställda, trots ekonomiska begränsningar. Inledningsvis presenteras begreppet motivation ur ett allmänintresseperspektiv vilket följs av en sammanfattning av tidigare forskning på området. I huvudkapitlet presenteras flertal motivationsteorier såsom yttre faktorer, inre faktorer, behovsteorier, kognitiva teorier, sociala teorier och arbetskaraktäristiska modeller. Intervjuer som genomfördes med chefer på Mölndals Stad sammanställs i vårt empiriska material med inriktning på de intervjuades åsikter och uppfattningar kring begreppet motivation.Resultatet av vår studie visar att det finns motivationssystem i offentliga verksamheter och att det främst handlar om att de sällan är allmän kända, varken för ledaren eller anställda. Detta beror på att motivationssystem ofta förknippas med väl strukturerade ekonomiska belöningar, vilket det inte finns resurser till i offentliga organisationer, chefer ser alltså inte deras vardagliga motivationsmetoder som en del av ett system. Chefernas egenskaper och personligheter bestämmer förutsättningarna för vilka motivationsmetoder som används samt i vilken grad dessa bidrar till ökad motivation. De alternativa motivationsmetoder som främst används på offentliga arbetsplatser är tillgodoseendet av individuella behov, beröm och feedback, tydlig information för att skapa sammanhang och begriplighet.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-22T22:10:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 glaice anne.pdf: 6270694 bytes, checksum: c8bd74f31f6bc7c46c27211274d2b162 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-08-07 / The university-industry interaction has been the subject of research in Production Engineering regarding the process of technology transfer and generation of new knowledge, in this regard the university is essential to the dissemination of knowledge, possessing features that go beyond the academic and professional, because they play an important role in the interaction with companies. Thus, this descriptive study conducted with the leaders of research groups with the aim of analyzing the university-industry interaction in the Federal University of Amazonas from the perspective of groups certificates, verifying their perception about the process of university-company, the aspects of the entrepreneurial university, the types of interactions present, the motivations and barriers encountered in the process, using the questionnaires. Thus, through the study, it was possible to visualize how the phenomenon is perceived in the Institute, the motivations that lead researchers to seek interaction and barriers that hinder the process dynamics. Therefore identified that the interaction of research groups with companies is still poorly performed , showing no strong features of the entrepreneurial university, and between groups that perform there is little interaction with companies. / A interação universidade-empresa vem sendo objeto de pesquisa na Engenharia de Produção no que tange ao processo de transferência de tecnologia e geração de novos conhecimentos, nesta perspectiva, a universidade é essencial para a disseminação do conhecimento, possuindo características que vão além da formação acadêmica e profissional, pois desempenham um importante papel na interação com empresas. Neste sentido, este trabalho realizou pesquisa descritiva junto aos líderes de grupos de pesquisa com o objetivo de analisar a interação Universidade-Empresa no Instituto Federal do Amazonas na perspectiva dos grupos certificados, verificando-se a percepção dos mesmos quanto ao processo de interação universidade-empresa, os aspectos de universidade empreendedora, os tipos de interações presentes, as motivações e as barreiras encontradas no processo, utilizando-se a aplicação de questionários. Desta forma, através do estudo realizado, foi possível visualizar como o fenômeno é percebido no Instituto, quais as motivações que levam aos pesquisadores buscarem a interação e as barreiras que dificultam a dinâmica do processo. E, portanto, identificou-se que a interação dos grupos de pesquisa com empresas ainda é pouco realizada, não apresentando fortes características de universidade empreendedora, e entre os grupos que a realizam ainda há pouca interação com empresas.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Transition has been the major focus of educational institutions. The focal argument of the majority of research into student transition deals with the challenges that students faced when they moved from high school to first year at university. Not much focus has been placed on the transition from undergraduate to postgraduate studies. Postgraduate enrollment rates have steadily grown over the past few years in Higher Education Institution`s (HEI). Support systems have been put in place to assist students. In spite of these available support systems, postgraduate students still find themselves facing challenges when engaging with postgraduate studies. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the academic transitional challenges postgraduate students' experience as reflected by the inconsistencies in the enrollment and throughput rates. Secondly, to determine whether students utilised available support systems, e.g. the Academic Writing Centre and the Postgraduate Enrolment and Throughput (PET) programme at the Faculty of Community and Health Science at University of the Western Cape. This was a quantitative study. A cross sectional survey has been conducted by means of a computerised self-administered questionnaire (CSAQ). The study population was postgraduate students in the Faculty of Community and Health Science at masters' level. Both course work and research students were included in the study. No sampling method was employed due to the small size of the population. Data was collected to explore the academic preparedness of postgraduate students, and there primary motivations for studying and the utilization of available support services at the University of the Western Cape. / South Africa