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Why Do Inventors Continue When Experts Say Stop? The Effects of Overconfidence, Optimism and Illusion of ControlAdomdza, Gordon January 2004 (has links)
Data shows that many inventors continue to expend resources on their inventions even after they have received expert advice suggesting that they cease effort. Using a sample of inventors seeking outside advice from a Canadian evaluative agency, this paper examines how overconfidence, optimism, and illusion of control explain this fact. While overconfidence did not have a significant effect on inventor's decisions, illusion of control and optimism did have an effect. An additional interesting finding is that the more time people have spent working on inventions, the more likely they are to discount this expert advice.
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Samband mellan subjektivt välbefinnande och variablerna personlighetsegenskaper, personliga mål samt optimismKnutsson, Klara January 2011 (has links)
Syftet med studien var att undersöka om det fanns något samband mellan optimism, personliga mål, personlighetsegenskaper och subjektivt välbefinnande. Totalt deltog 108 stycken högskolestudenter, (58 kvinnor och 50 män). Deltagarna besvarade fyra enkäter som mätte optimism, personliga mål, personlighetsegenskaper utifrån fem-faktor modellen samt subjektivt välbefinnande. En multipel regressionsanalys visade att optimism, neuroticism och samvetsgrannhet förklarar 43.1% av variansen i välbefinnande. Det förelåg ett indirekt samband mellan subjektivt välbefinnande och variablerna kognitiva närmande mål, extroversion och trevlighet, vilket tyder på att de medieras av variablerna i regressionsmodellen. Studien har för få deltagare och är en för homogen grupp för att man skall kunna generalisera resultatet. .
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Optimisters prestation : En kvantitativ studie om att hantera krav och kontroll / Performance of an Optimist : A quantitive study of handle demand and controlLindberg, Markus January 2009 (has links)
Fotboll är en av världens mest utövade idrotter och innefattar en miljardindustri där målet många gånger är att vinna, bli bäst och stå längst upp på pallen. Just eftersom det ställs så otroligt höga krav på idrottare anser jag den situationen är intressant att närmare undersöka. Den här studien belyser manliga idrottare inom fotbollen samt deras uppfattning angående krav respektive kontroll. Den utreder också om det finns ett positivt samband mellan optimism och uppfattningen angående krav och kontroll. Studien är genomförd med en kvantitativ metod baserad på 44 enkäter ifrån 3 lag. Då idrottsvetenskaplig forskning idag är ett stort fält finns det följaktligen mycket litteratur att läsa men jag har valt att fördjupa mig i teori angående stress, krav och kontroll. Utefter dessa teorier sker sedan en analys och diskussion av det empiriska materialet. Resultatet av studien pekar på att det finns ett positivt samband emellan kontroll och optimism vilket innebär att en optimist presterar bättre än en pessimist. / Soccer is one of the world’s most practiced sport and involve a billion dollar business where the vision, many times is to win, become the best and stand highest up on the winners’ stand. Because the demand is so high on a perpetrator I find this situation interesting to closer review. This study illustrates male perpetrator in soccer and theirs view regarding demand and control. The study also investigates if there is a positive relationship between optimism and the view regarding demand and control. The study is implemented with a quantitative method based on 44 surveys from 3 teams. When sport science today I a major field there is a lot literature to read but I have chosen to deepen my knowledge in theory concerning stress, demand and control. Along with these theories I will also analyze and discuss the empirical material. The result of the study indicates that there is a significant positive correlation between control and optimism witch means that an optimist performs better than a pessimist.
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Secure attachment, self-esteem, and optimism as predictors of positive body mage in womenSandoval, Erin Leverenz 15 May 2009 (has links)
This correlational cross-sectional study investigated body image from a positive
psychology viewpoint by examining variables that were predicted to contribute to
positive body image in women and testing a model describing the relationships among
the variables. Negative body image has been correlated with many psychological
problems in the literature, but less research has examined positive body image. Some
questions addressed include: Is there a relationship between secure attachment and
positive body image? Do self-esteem and optimism act as intervening variables in the
predicted relationship between secure attachment and positive body image?
To address these questions, data from 97 women were used in a structural
equation modeling (SEM) analysis. Some of the hypotheses were supported, although
the overall model was not. Secure attachment was found to be positively correlated with
and predictive of self-esteem and optimism as hypothesized and in line with previous
findings. Also as hypothesized, self-esteem and optimism were found to be moderately
correlated. Self-esteem and optimism were not significantly related to body image in the
SEM analysis and therefore the overall proposed model was not supported. In this sample, secure attachment was found to be the greatest predictor of positive body
image. Attachment accounted for 40% of the variance in body image, 44% of the
variance in optimism, and 25% of the variance in self-esteem.
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Optimisters prestation : En kvantitativ studie om att hantera krav och kontroll / Performance of an Optimist : A quantitive study of handle demand and controlLindberg, Markus January 2009 (has links)
<p> </p><p>Fotboll är en av världens mest utövade idrotter och innefattar en miljardindustri där målet många gånger är att vinna, bli bäst och stå längst upp på pallen. Just eftersom det ställs så otroligt höga krav på idrottare anser jag den situationen är intressant att närmare undersöka.</p><p>Den här studien belyser manliga idrottare inom fotbollen samt deras uppfattning angående krav respektive kontroll. Den utreder också om det finns ett positivt samband mellan optimism och uppfattningen angående krav och kontroll.</p><p>Studien är genomförd med en kvantitativ metod baserad på 44 enkäter ifrån 3 lag. Då idrottsvetenskaplig forskning idag är ett stort fält finns det följaktligen mycket litteratur att läsa men jag har valt att fördjupa mig i teori angående stress, krav och kontroll. Utefter dessa teorier sker sedan en analys och diskussion av det empiriska materialet.</p><p>Resultatet av studien pekar på att det finns ett positivt samband emellan kontroll och optimism vilket innebär att en optimist presterar bättre än en pessimist.</p><p> </p> / <p> </p><p>Soccer is one of the world’s most practiced sport and involve a billion dollar business where the vision, many times is to win, become the best and stand highest up on the winners’ stand. Because the demand is so high on a perpetrator I find this situation interesting to closer review.</p><p>This study illustrates male perpetrator in soccer and theirs view regarding demand and control. The study also investigates if there is a positive relationship between optimism and the view regarding demand and control.</p><p>The study is implemented with a quantitative method based on 44 surveys from 3 teams. When sport science today I a major field there is a lot literature to read but I have chosen to deepen my knowledge in theory concerning stress, demand and control. Along with these theories I will also analyze and discuss the empirical material.</p><p>The result of the study indicates that there is a significant positive correlation between control and optimism witch means that an optimist performs better than a pessimist.</p><p> </p>
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Individual and family protective factors for depression in pre- and early adolescent girlsMoody, Nicole Lynn 23 September 2013 (has links)
Research has documented the age of first onset of depression is commonly in adolescence and young adulthood and that prepubertal onsets are occurring at an increasing rate. Thus, targeting interventions prior to this period of increased risk would maximize the opportunity to reduce the incidence of depression. To date, however, the limited research that has been done on protective factors has lacked some consensus and generalizability. This study focused on investigating potential individual and family protective factors and their roles in the development of depressive symptoms in early adolescent girls. More specifically, optimism was investigated as a possible mediator of the relationship between attributional style and depression. Furthermore, attributional style and family environment were hypothesized to moderate the effect of stress on depressive symptomatology. The participants of this study were 120 girls that were part of a school based cognitive behavioral group treatment study for girls with depression aged 9-14. Based on the ratings of symptoms by the girls and their caregivers, on a semi-structured diagnostic interview, two groups were identified: 1) girls that met the diagnostic criteria for a depressive disorder (n= 81), and 2) those that did not (control group; n= 39). Both samples also completed self-report measures of attributional style and family environment (i.e., cohesion, communication, and sociability), in addition to a projective measure which was coded for dispositional optimism. The results of this study suggested higher levels of optimism and more positive attributional styles independently predicted lower levels of depressive symptom severity; however, optimism did not impact the relationship between attributional style and depression. The results also demonstrated that girls who reported their families engage in more social/recreational activities had lower levels of depressive symptoms. Finally, increased life stress was not associated with increased levels of depression. The study's limitations, implications of the results, and recommendations for future research were discussed. / text
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A pilot study on the role of hope and optimism in adjustment to oral cavity cancerChan, Tsz-ting., 陳紫婷. January 2010 (has links)
published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences
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DOES OPTIMISM EXPLAIN HOW RELIGIOUSNESS AFFECTS ALCOHOL USE AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS?Collier, Benjamin Lee 01 January 2006 (has links)
Alcohol use, because of its many negative consequences, is the number one health problem facing college students. Because of this, researchers have looked for factors associated with reduced drinking. Religiousness is one such factor. Religiousness is a complex, multidimensional construct, and while it tends to be negatively associated with alcohol use, research progress has been slow due to the tendency of researchers to poorly operationalize this construct and to design studies that fail to go beyond the bivariate relationship of religiousness and alcohol use. In order to address these shortcomings, this study will assess two dimensions of religiousness, religious commitment/motivation and religious consequences, and will test a model, presented by Koenig et al., (2001), that postulates religiousness works through mental health in order to reduce alcohol use. More specifically, this study will test optimism as a possible mediator and moderator of the relationship between religiousness and alcohol use. This study used archival data from 260 (202 female and 58 male) Caucasian, Christian, undergraduate college students who completed a battery of surveys that included measures of religiousness, optimism, and alcohol use. A factor analysis was conducted on one measure of religiousness, the short form of the Faith Maturity Scale. Also, optimism was tested as both a mediator and a moderator for both dimensions of religiousness in predicting alcohol use. Findings indicated optimism is not a significant mediator of the religiousness-alcohol use relationship because optimism did not meet the preconditions for a mediator as it was not associated with alcohol use in this sample. Also, optimism was not a significant moderator of religious commitment/motivation, but it did moderate the relationship of religious consequences and alcohol use. Finally, the two dimensions of religiousness interacted in predicting alcohol use. While both dimensions of religiousness were negatively associated with alcohol use throughout the findings, gender was a significant moderator in all significant interactions. Several implications follow from this study. First, greater specificity is needed regarding Koenig et al.s (2001) model specifically in regards to which third variables are associated with which health outcomes and to whom the model applies. Second, this study highlights the importance of a multidimensional assessment of religiousness. Finally, this study indicates specificity is needed regarding what religious interventions will be helpful for which genders.
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The relationship between leader’s behaviours and employee resilience : the moderating roles of personality traits.Nguyen, Quyen Kim January 2015 (has links)
Resilience is among the increasingly popular topics of interest in the literature. Although rooted in the developmental and clinical literature, there has been an expansion of conceptualisations for this construct from various research streams, including the occupational literature. However, due to the lack of a behaviour-oriented measure of employee-centric resilience, the conceptualisation adapted in the present study refers to employee resilience as developable capacities that can be facilitated by the organisation to positively cope, adapt and thrive in response to continuously changing work environments. Using a recently developed measure of resilience, this study investigated the effects of the two leadership behaviours of empowerment and contingent reward, as well as the moderating roles of dispositional proactivity and optimism as individual differences. Regression analysis on a sample of 369 professionals supported the hypotheses that employee resilience is contingent on the leader’s operational empowerment and on contingent reward behaviours. Results also confirmed the effect of proactivity and optimism in enhancing resilience, and the moderating role of proactive personality in enhancing relation between empowering leadership and follower’s resilience. Outcomes of the study were also discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications, and recommendations were made for future research into the topic.
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Work wellness among secondary school teachers in the Goldfield region of the Free State Province / Debri van WykVan Wyk, Debri January 2006 (has links)
The only constant thing in today's world is change. Change is everywhere, even in the education sector.
The education system has undergone tremendous changes in the past 10 years. This includes several
curriculum changes. Change always contributes to stress, which individuals in the education department
are experiencing quite intensively, judging by the popular media. Stressful events may lead to ill-health
and might negatively impact the workforce and the overall well-being of these educators.
The emergence of positive psychology has contributed to the increased research of well-being, rather than
the negative antipode of illness, in relation to occupational stress. One of these positive aspects of wellbeing
is work engagement, which is considered to be the opposite of burnout. Thus, describing burnout,
engagement and stress is a first step in facilitating the work-related wellness of educators. Furthermore,
individual dispositions that may act as resources or buffers in the handling of stress and burnout, facilitate
engagement and protect educators7 health are also of interest. To measure burnout, engagement, stress
and health, it is important to use reliable and valid instruments. Various studies are available on the
reliability and validity of the burnout and engagement scales, but it is rather limited for educators in the
South African environment. Furthermore, little information exists regarding the causes and effects of
work stress, health, burnout and engagement of educators in South Africa.
The first objective of this research was to standardise the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey
(MBI-GS) and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) for educators in the Goldfield region of the
Northern Free State province. The second objective was to determine if biographical variables can be
used to describe educators' burnout and engagement. The third objective of this research was to
determine causes of stress among educators, and again to investigate the role of biographical differences.
Lastly, the focus in this research fell on the determination of the role of optimism in predicting the health
of educators in the Goldfield region of the Northern Free State province.
A cross-sectional survey design, in which a sample is drawn from a population at one point in time, was
used to attain the research objectives. Participants were randomly selected from the total population of
educators in the Goldfield region of the Northern Free State province. A sample of 469 educators was
used from the total population of 1014 (i.e. 46,25% of the total population). Schools in the Goldfields
region of the Northern Free State province were randomly selected to participate in this research.
The MBI-GS, the UWES, the Educator Stress Questionnaire (which was developed by the author for the
purpose of this research), the Health Subscales of the Asset, the LOT-R and a biographical questionnaire
was administered. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha coefficients, inter-item correlations, exploratory
and confirmatory factor analyses, Pearson correlations, multivariate analysis of variance, one-way
analysis of variance, t-tests, dummy coding and multiple-regression analyses with interaction terms were
used to analyse the data.
Structural-equation modelling confirmed a three-factor model of burnout consisting of Exhaustion,
Depersonalization and Professional Efficacy. All three factors showed acceptable internal consistencies
for three main language groups. A three-factor model of engagement was also confirmed, consisting of
Vigour, Dedication and Absorption. These scales also indicated acceptable reliability. Results of a
second order factor analysis indicated that the work wellness of educators can be described as consisting
of two dimensions. The Burnout dimensions of Exhaustion and Depersonalisation can be grouped
together on one factor, while the Burnout dimension of Professional Efficacy can be grouped with the
Engagement variables of Vigour, Dedication and Absorption.
Results showed that biographical variables that consist of the gender, marital status, home language, age
and years work experience of educators could be used to describe educator burnout and engagement. It
was found that Exhaustion could be predicted by gender. Educators who speak an African language
scored lower than Afrikaans-speaking educators in terms of Exhaustion. Marital status could also be used
to predict exhaustion. Educators between the ages of 37 and 46 measure lower on depersonalisation than
educators between the ages of 22 and 30 years. Educators who have between 13 and 20 years of
experience, have higher levels of depersonalisation than participants with 6 or less years of experience.
Both English and African-language-speaking educators measure lower on Professional Efficacy than the
Afrikaans language group. Language remains a significant predictor of Professional Efficacy. Educators
who are older than 31 years of age measure higher on Professional Efficacy than those younger than 31
years of age. Professional Efficacy could be predicted among educators who are English speaking and/ or
older than 31 years of age. Additionally, being married or divorced measure lower on Professional
Efficacy when compared to their single counterparts. The eldest educators measure higher on Professional
Efficacy. Female educators measure lower on Vigour than their male counterparts. Educators between the
ages of 47 and 64 measure higher on dedication than educators between the age of 22 and 30 years.
Married educators measured lower on dedication, when compared to single educators.
The ESQ, a measure of educators' occupational stress that consists of 48 items, was developed and
administered. During analysis, 4 items were discarded due to non-loading, and a further 8 items were
discarded due to significant secondary loadings. Five factors were extracted and were labelled Rewards
and Participation, Support and Communication, Job Insecurity, Role Overload and Task Characteristics.
Furthermore, the biographical variables that were used to describe burnout and engagement among
educators (language, age, gender, work experience and marital status), could also be used to describe
educator stress. The various stress factors that were identified through the ESQ, could also be used to
determine well-being among educators. This includes Support and Communication, Rewards and
Participation, Role Overload, Job Insecurity and Task Characteristics.
In terms of predicting the physical and psychological health of educators, separate analyses were carried
out for the burnout and engagement components. It was shown that that educators' home language, their
experience of optimism, role overload and task characteristics predicts physical health, and home
language, participants' levels of optimism, experiences of rewards and participation, support and
communication, job insecurity, role overload and task characteristics predicts psychological health.
Additionally, the interaction terms Professional Efficacy and Optimism, as well as the interaction
between Vigour and Optimism, proved to be significant predictors of physical health. The interaction
term of Depersonalisation and Optimism, as well as the interaction term of Support and Communication
and Optimism, proved to be significant predictors of psychological health. Language was also shown to
be a constant predictor of physical and psychological health, where educators speaking an African
language experienced significantly better overall well-being than Afrikaans and English-speaking
educators.
By way of conclusion, recommendations for future research and the education department are made. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.
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