Many researchers and theorists and argued that a person's psychological health and well-being require that needs are met. If needs are not met, the result is distress and attempts to compensate, both of which may lead to psychological problems. Thus, psychologists and others whose goal is to help people with psychological problems require a theory of important psychological needs.This study provides a critical review of major need theories and assessment instruments developed to operationalize those theories. Based upon this review, five needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness, purpose, and physical) were identified as being critical aspects of psychological well-being. Using a relatively new needs assessment scale, these five needs were assessed in 1,358 clinical and non-clinical adults from various sites around a Midwestern state.Results indicated a five-factor structure that was slightly different than the one originally hypothesized. This new five factor model (life direction, positive interpersonal relations, interpersonal support, competence, and ability to adapt) was found to be consistent across both the clinical and non-clinical samples. Results provided strong evidence that the measurement instrument has superior psychometric properties to previously developed instruments. Importantly, this new need assessment inventory could discriminate clinical from non-clinical samples. An additional important finding concerned self-esteem. Many researchers have argued about whether self-esteem is a need. Results here suggest that self-esteem is not a need, but is either irrelevant or may be a vague measure of several needs. Suggestions for future research and implications for clinical treatment are discussed. / Department of Psychological Science

This study was designed to increase understanding of the commitment of an individual to his job or position within an organization. Based on the test instrument designed and evaluated in Lodahl and Kejner's The Definition and Measurement of Job Involvement, an empirical study of job involvement was made. Concurrently, the central life interests of the respondents were measured by means of the questionnaire battery used by Dubin in Industrial Worker’s Worlds: A Study of The "Central Life Interests” of Industrial Workers. The investigation was conducted by means of a questionnaire that combined the involvement and central life interest instruments. The data were obtained from 258 randomly selected employees at three levels of the organizational hierarchy: 104 unskilled employees, 88 skilled tradesmen, and 66 foremen. These individuals worked in a medium-light automotive manufacturing company with plants at two geographical locations that were separated by a distance of several miles. The objectives of the study were essentially threefold. The job involvement instrument was used to determine the extent of job involvement displayed by the sample. Analysis was also conducted to study the effect of job level, age, and job seniority on the degree of involvement. The central life interest instrument was used in a similar fashion, to observe life interest influences resulting from biographical differences with the sample. In both of the above cases comparative data were available from earlier studies in which the instruments had been used, thus providing an additional facet for analysis. Finally the evidence from the study was evaluated to test the general hypothesis, that for any given level of job responsibility, job involvement is in actuality a measure of the "centrality" of life interest in that job. The general conclusion reached in this investigation found that for the present sample, job involvement exists as points distributed across a continuum. A pure work orientation on the one hand, and a preference for the social relationships occurring in the workplace on the other, provide two inversely related extremes. The socially oriented individual is likely to view work as boring and generally unimportant. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

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published_or_final_version / Sports Science / Master / Master of Science in Sports Science

Farmers in the high plateau region of Algeria are assumed to exhibit risk averse behavior, particularly, due to highly variable weather conditions inducing income instability over time. This in turn directly affects their production behavior. The Eastern High Plateau (Setif) is not a homogeneous region. In the El-Eulma daira, for example, three different agroecological zones have been identified on the basis of climate, topography and soil quality. In addition, two distinct agricultural sectors (private and socialist) coexist side by side in each of the agroecological zones. This study constitutes an attempt to measure farmers' risk attitudes in three communes (El-Eulma, Oum Ladjoul and Beni Fouda) which are representative of the three agroecological zones of the El-Eulma daira. Farmers' risk attitudes were measured through the experimental approach developed by Binswanger in India. The technique used consisted of presenting the subjects, i.e. the farmers, with a set of alternative prospects involving real money. Based on the derived risk aversion coefficients, a series of tests was run to determine if farmers' risk attitudes are dependent on the zone and/or the sector. The effect of socioeconomic characteristics (age, schooling, number of working children, etc.) on partial risk aversion was analyzed. Finally, the derived risk aversion coefficients were used in a risk programming model (MOTAD) to determine optimal farming plans for private as well as socialist sector farmers. The experiment results indicate that regardless of the zone and the sector, farmers unanimously exhibit risk averse attitudes. At low payoff level, the distribution of risk preferences is more spread. A narrower distribution occurs at higher payoff levels (e.g. 200 DA scale). There was no evidence of significant difference among sites and between sectors. Also socioeconomic attributes correlate poorly with the estimated partial risk aversion coefficients. In the socialist sector major discrepancies between the risk programming model solutions and actual activity levels occured. They were expected because of the specific structure of this sector. The inclusion of government cropping pattern recommendations in the constraint matrix indicates that government interventions have a different effect on socialist farmers' welfare of the three zones. / Graduation date: 1986

Both causal attributions and self-efficacy have been theorized as mediating performance on achievement tasks. However, few studies have explored the relationship between these constructs or in what way they may be affected by peer modeling. The purpose of this study was to explore developmental differences between two grade levels in the effect of modeling on persistence, self-efficacy judgments, and choice of attributions for predicted and actual outcomes on a figure-matching puzzle, and the relationship between self-efficacy and causal attributions. Seventy-three eighth graders and 73 third graders were randomly assigned to one of four experimental conditions or to a control condition. Four videotapes for each grade level, showing a male peer modeling either high or low persistence and success or failure on a figure-matching puzzle, constituted the experimental conditions. Subjects' attributions for various outcomes in achievement settings were recorded one week prior to the experimental session and at its conclusion, on the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility scale. Attributions for predicted and actual outcomes on a figure-matching puzzle were also recorded. Students' persistence on the nearly-impossible puzzle was measured by time in seconds, while an efficacy scale assessed their belief regarding their ability to solve the puzzle at three times during the experimental session. Significant differences were found between the grade levels for self-efficacy ratings, with third graders reporting greater efficacy beliefs than eighth graders. A significant change in self-efficacy ratings was also found, but it was not possible to determine which aspect of the experimental session was responsible for the change. Distribution of the attributions was severely skewed on both sets of attribution measures, in favor of an internal stable cause (effort), precluding meaningful analyses of the relationship between self-efficacy and attributions. It was also found that attributions changed significantly over time and the experimental experience as measured by the questionnaires. No significant effect of modeling on persistence time was found. The research findings were discussed in terms of the research methodology used, the psychometric properties of the instruments, and implications for the theoretical models.

Although there are many instruments available to assess patient adaptation to cancer, there are few instruments which can be used to assess family members of cancer patients' adaptation to cancer. The present study was conducted to determine the internal structure and factor reliability estimates of a new instrument, the Family Adaptation to Medical ILLness Inventory (FAMILLI). The analysis of the FAMILLI was conducted using respondents (N=139) with family members of cancer. Respondents' ages ranged from 18 to 70 and many types of cancer, such as lung, breast, colorectal, prostate, brain, and cervical, were represented. The study was conducted in two phases, the pilot study and the major investigation.During the pilot study, respondents from a midwestern university setting and the oncology department at a midwestern hospital (N=28) completed the FAMILLI and participated in feedback groups. The pilot study helped to refine the demographic information sheet and to reduce the number of questions on the FAMILLI from 55 to 35 questions. In addition, interesting demographic questions were added to the demographics forms.The major study (N= 117) was conducted to test the initial factor structure of the FAMILLI and to test convergent and discriminant validity. A principal components extraction yielded a six factor solution which was judged best in terms of statistical structure and theoretical parsimony. The six factors to emerge were 1) factor one, "personal needs," 2) factor two, "attitudes toward leisure and work activities," 3) factor three, "anger and blame," 4) factor four, "receiving support," 5) factor five, "seeking medical information," and 6) factor six, "family responsibilities."Convergent and discriminant validity were tested using the Cancer Behavior Inventory (CBI-B) and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). It was hypothesized that the FAMILLI would demonstrate convergent validity with the CBI-B. Four of the six factors (factors 2, 3, 4, and 5) significantly correlated with the CBI-B. The SWLS was used to test discriminant validity. Five of the six factors (factors 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6) correlated significantly with the SWLS. Thus, the FAMILLI did not demonstrate discriminant validity with an instrument used to measure global assessment of quality of life. Further research is needed to test the reliability and validity of the FAMILLI. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services