In the 1960s, the government formed the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice to looked at the problem of crime and fear of crime in modern American society. In addition to looking at these issues, the Commission also looked at ways to potentially reduce both crime and fear of crime. One of the primary outcomes of the Commission's report was that policing agencies in the United States needed to fundamentally alter the way they served their communities, notably by transitioning to community-oriented policing (COP). Starting in the 1970s, law enforcement agencies around the nation began to embrace the COP philosophy in the hopes that it would effectively reduce crime. A plethora of research suggests that the crime reduction benefits of COP are dubious at best; however, COP shows great promise in reducing fear of crime in neighborhoods. However, scholars remain uncertain as to why COP can effectively reduce fear. The uncertainty surrounding the efficacy of COP lies in the incomplete theoretical understanding of fear of crime. Three largely divergent fear of crime models have been developed. The first, the social integration model, posits that fear is influenced by the degree to which a person is integrated into their community. The thought being that the more socially integrated a person is, the stronger the sense of informal social and thus the lower the fear of crime. Research generally--although not always--supports this notion. Other scholars developed the disorder model, which posits that disorderly conditions or other signs of incivility can lead residents to feel as though informal social control has broken down, and thus elevate levels of fear. Again, this notion is well supported in the research. The final model suggests fear of crime is a result of sociodemographic differences (e.g., gender and age) that make a person feel more vulnerable to victimization, and thus those feeling most vulnerable exhibit the highest levels of fear. The findings from this so-called vulnerabilities model receive inconsistent support in the research. The problem with the extant fear of crime research is that it largely relies on singular explanations of fear. In other words, it operates from the premise that one of the models described above is responsible for residents' levels of fear. Recently, scholars have begun developing multimodel explanations in an effort to improve criminologists' ability to explain fear of crime. However, this multimodel approach is not a complete theoretical model of fear because it fails to account for the likely existence of a reciprocal effect between fear of crime and social integration. Further, it fails to account for the effects of social context may exert on fear and the way in which neighborhood differences may condition the individual-level fear of crime relationships. This dissertation, using two data sources, attempts to predict fear of crime using a more complete fear of crime model than those used in much of the prior research. The first source of data used is the 2004 Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office community survey (N=1898), which was distributed to a random sample of households in unincorporated Hillsborough County. Additionally, to create measures of social context, this dissertation utilizes data from the 2000 United States Census for census designated places in unincorporated Hillsborough County--which serve as the proxy for neighborhoods (N=30). Based on theory and prior research, it was hypothesized that the best fear of crime model would contain elements from all three theoretical models developed in prior research. Additionally, it was hypothesized that there would be a significant and negative reciprocal effect from fear of crime to social integration. Finally, it was hypothesized that social context would condition the relationships between individual-level fear of crime predictors. As predicted by the hypothesis, the empirically strongest fear of crime model did contain elements from all three explanatory fear of crime models. Additionally as hypothesized, there was a significant reciprocal relationship between fear of crime and social integration. However, contrary to expectations the relationship was positive. In other words, fear of crime motivated residents to become more socially integrated in their neighborhoods. Finally, as hypothesized social context did condition the effects of the individual-level variables. However, contrary to the hypotheses proffered, social context augmented the size of the effect between the individual-level variables. The findings from this dissertation offer some interesting insights for scholars and posivy makers alike. The findings suggest that it is imperative to use a more complete (e.g., multimodel) approach when explaining fear of crime. Additionally, it is necessary to account for the reciprocal relationship between fear of crime and social integration; otherwise research will yield deceptive parameter estimates for social integration on fear of crime. Lastly, social context matters and needs to be considered in further research. However, the theoretical model in this dissertation--while a step forward--does not represent the theoretical model to explain fear of crime. The results suggest that the model may be even more complex than the model presented here. The results of this dissertation for policy makers suggest that community oriented policing strategies are likely an effective mechanism for reducing residents fear of crime for two reasons; 1) the strengthening of social integration programs in neighborhoods and 2) focusing on reducing disorder problems in neighborhoods. Study strengths and limitations, as well as directions for future research are discussed.

Many firms attempt to ensure the success of new product introductions by applying an existing, well-known brand name to the product. The strategy, known as brand extension, has become commomplace. In recent years, the strategy has been used in media industry. Especially, since the Internet started gaining in popularity in the mid-1990s, the newspaper industry has started applying brand extensions to online markets. For example, United Daily News, Chinatimes, and so on has developed websites of various types. However, we doubt whether it¡¦ll affect consumers¡¦ attitude toward the parent brand. For this reason, we attempt to figure out consumers¡¦attitude toward the newspaper brand when a newspaper office has introduced extensions with good or poor fit. Besides, in this study, we also propose that three factors including ownership status, product attributes, and dominance of the parent brand will influence consumers¡¦s evaluation of the parent brand. Previous research have provided mixed evidence about the reciprocal effects of a brand extension on its parent brand and rarely studied the impact of these four factors on parent brand evaluation, especially in media industy. As a result, we select United Daily News and Appledaily as two objects of the study and find out the extensions (websites) with good and poor fit of these two newspaper brands through group discussing. After T-test analysis, we have some findings as follows: 1.There¡¦s no significant effect of fit on parent brand attitude toward United Daily News, but there¡¦s significant difference for Appledaily. 2.The consumers who think of the newspaper brand as more dominant have higher evaluation of attitude toward the parent brand than those who think of the newspaper brand as less dominant, whether extensions with good or poor fit introduced. 3.The owners of newspaper brands have higher evaluation of attitude toward the parent brand than nonowners, whether extensions with good or poor fit introduced. 4.The product attributes of newspapers brands will affect consumers¡¦s attitude toward the newspaper brands.

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Um megaevento esportivo pode modificar o cenário de um país e influenciar na sua imagem como destino turístico, bem como na imagem da cidade que o sedia. Megaeventos, como os Jogos Olímpicos, envolvem mudanças: sociais, investimentos financeiros e de infraestrutura, e maior visibilidade internacional. A avaliação da imagem da cidade-sede pode impactar na imagem do destino ao qual ela faz parte (efeito recíproco). Partindo desse pressuposto, da importância do turismo na economia mundial/brasileira e da relação entre megaeventos esportivos e o aquecimento dessa atividade, o objetivo desta tese foi verificar os efeitos recíprocos de imagem entre a cidade-sede de um megaevento esportivo e o destino turístico ao qual ela faz parte (destino-mãe). O foco foram os Jogos Olímpicos de 2016 no Rio de Janeiro-Brasil. Foi realizada pesquisa descritiva/ quantitativa por meio de questionários fechados, com estrangeiros de 48 países (n=340), utilizando escala Likert de sete pontos. A escala foi baseada nas dimensões de imagem de destino: cognitiva e afetiva, tendo como variáveis moderadoras: a familiaridade e a animosidade com o destino-mãe e o envolvimento com os jogos. Para a análise dos dados foi utilizada a modelagem de equações estruturais VB-SEM por meio do software SmartPLS 3. Os resultados apontaram para avaliações positivas da imagem de destino, do Rio e do Brasil, identificando a dimensão cognitiva como a mais relevante. Foi confirmado efeito recíproco positivo e forte entre as imagens do Rio como sede da Olímpiadas de 2016 e Brasil como seu destino-mãe e também o contrário, contudo não foram encontrados efeitos de moderação. No caso especfício da animosidade não houve presença dessa variável em relação ao Brasil, o que é um resultado positivo. Este trabalho traz contribuições teóricas por estudar os efeitos recíprocos de imagem em destinos, especialmente considerando um contexto de megaevento esportivo e contribuições práticas para o desenvolvimento de políticas de turismo mais integrativas entre destino-mãe e cidade/ regiões do seu território e até mesmo para a captação e realização de novos grandes eventos. / A sport mega event can modify a country\'s scenery and influence its image as a tourist destination, as well as the host city image. Sports mega events such as the Olympic Games involve a series of changes: social, financial and infrastructure investments and a greater international visibility. The host city image evaluation can have an impact on the destination image to which it belongs (reciprocal effect). Based on this assumption and the importance of tourism activity in the world and Brazilian economies and the relationship between sport mega events and the warming of this activity, the objective of this thesis was to verify the image reciprocal effects between a sport mega event host city and the national tourist destination (mother-destination). The focus was the 2016 Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro- Brazil. Descriptive/quantitative research was performed with foreigners from 48 countries (n = 340) using structured questionnaires and a Likert seven-point scale. The scale was adapted based on the cognitive and affective destination image dimensions, having as moderating variables: familiarity and the animosity with the mother-destination and games involvement. For data analysis, PLS structural equations modeling was performed using the software SmartPLS 3. The results pointed to positive evaluations of Rio and Brazil destination images, identifying the cognitive dimension as the most relevant. A positive and strong reciprocal effect was confirmed between the images of Rio as the 2016 Olympics host city and Brazil as the mother-destination. However, no moderation effects were found and in the specific case of animosity, there was no presence of this variable related to Brazil, which was a good result. This work brings theoretical contributions because it studies the reciprocal effects in destination images, considering the context of a sport mega event, as well as practical contributions for the development of more integrative tourism policies between mother-destination, cities / regions and for the hosting of new major events.

Um megaevento esportivo pode modificar o cenário de um país e influenciar na sua imagem como destino turístico, bem como na imagem da cidade que o sedia. Megaeventos, como os Jogos Olímpicos, envolvem mudanças: sociais, investimentos financeiros e de infraestrutura, e maior visibilidade internacional. A avaliação da imagem da cidade-sede pode impactar na imagem do destino ao qual ela faz parte (efeito recíproco). Partindo desse pressuposto, da importância do turismo na economia mundial/brasileira e da relação entre megaeventos esportivos e o aquecimento dessa atividade, o objetivo desta tese foi verificar os efeitos recíprocos de imagem entre a cidade-sede de um megaevento esportivo e o destino turístico ao qual ela faz parte (destino-mãe). O foco foram os Jogos Olímpicos de 2016 no Rio de Janeiro-Brasil. Foi realizada pesquisa descritiva/ quantitativa por meio de questionários fechados, com estrangeiros de 48 países (n=340), utilizando escala Likert de sete pontos. A escala foi baseada nas dimensões de imagem de destino: cognitiva e afetiva, tendo como variáveis moderadoras: a familiaridade e a animosidade com o destino-mãe e o envolvimento com os jogos. Para a análise dos dados foi utilizada a modelagem de equações estruturais VB-SEM por meio do software SmartPLS 3. Os resultados apontaram para avaliações positivas da imagem de destino, do Rio e do Brasil, identificando a dimensão cognitiva como a mais relevante. Foi confirmado efeito recíproco positivo e forte entre as imagens do Rio como sede da Olímpiadas de 2016 e Brasil como seu destino-mãe e também o contrário, contudo não foram encontrados efeitos de moderação. No caso especfício da animosidade não houve presença dessa variável em relação ao Brasil, o que é um resultado positivo. Este trabalho traz contribuições teóricas por estudar os efeitos recíprocos de imagem em destinos, especialmente considerando um contexto de megaevento esportivo e contribuições práticas para o desenvolvimento de políticas de turismo mais integrativas entre destino-mãe e cidade/ regiões do seu território e até mesmo para a captação e realização de novos grandes eventos. / A sport mega event can modify a country\'s scenery and influence its image as a tourist destination, as well as the host city image. Sports mega events such as the Olympic Games involve a series of changes: social, financial and infrastructure investments and a greater international visibility. The host city image evaluation can have an impact on the destination image to which it belongs (reciprocal effect). Based on this assumption and the importance of tourism activity in the world and Brazilian economies and the relationship between sport mega events and the warming of this activity, the objective of this thesis was to verify the image reciprocal effects between a sport mega event host city and the national tourist destination (mother-destination). The focus was the 2016 Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro- Brazil. Descriptive/quantitative research was performed with foreigners from 48 countries (n = 340) using structured questionnaires and a Likert seven-point scale. The scale was adapted based on the cognitive and affective destination image dimensions, having as moderating variables: familiarity and the animosity with the mother-destination and games involvement. For data analysis, PLS structural equations modeling was performed using the software SmartPLS 3. The results pointed to positive evaluations of Rio and Brazil destination images, identifying the cognitive dimension as the most relevant. A positive and strong reciprocal effect was confirmed between the images of Rio as the 2016 Olympics host city and Brazil as the mother-destination. However, no moderation effects were found and in the specific case of animosity, there was no presence of this variable related to Brazil, which was a good result. This work brings theoretical contributions because it studies the reciprocal effects in destination images, considering the context of a sport mega event, as well as practical contributions for the development of more integrative tourism policies between mother-destination, cities / regions and for the hosting of new major events.

Job Crafting – durch Beschäftigte initiierte Veränderungen des Jobs – hat in der Wissenschaft und Praxis in den letzten Jahren einen hohen Stellenwert eingenommen. Die Job Crafting Literatur hebt besonders die positive Seite des Job Craftings hervor – sowohl auf inter- als auch intraindividueller Ebene. Allerdings scheinen Job Crafting und seine Folgen komplexer zu sein und benötigen ein besseres Verständnis. Daher war das Ziel der Dissertation bisherige Job Crafting Theorien anhand von drei Ansätzen zu erweitern. Dafür habe ich vier Studien durchgeführt, aus denen drei Manuskripte hervorgingen. Erstens, in Studie 1 bezog ich mich auf die ressourcen-konsumierende Natur des Job Craftings und fand einen kurvilinearen Job Crafting-Effekt auf das Arbeitsengagement. Dies galt nur für erschöpfte Beschäftigte (d.h. Moderationseffekt). Zweitens, Studie 2 fokussierte sich auf den fluktuierenden Anteil des Job Craftings innerhalb von Beschäftigten (d.h. intraindividuelle Ebene) und untersuchte reziproke Beziehungen zwischen Job Crafting, Arbeitsengagement und Leistung von einer zur nächsten Woche. Daten aus einer wöchentlichen Tagebuchstudie wurden mit Hilfe eines Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Modells (RI-CLPM) analysiert. Es gab keine reziproken Beziehungen zwischen Job Crafting, Arbeitsengagement und Leistung auf intraindividueller Ebene zwischen den Wochen, die Beziehungen waren sehr heterogen. Drittens, in Studien 3 und 4 haben wir die Approach-Avoidance Job Crafting Skala basierend auf dem Approach-Avoidance Crafting Model entwickelt und validiert. Die Skala bildet Approach und Avoidance Crafting als unabhängige Faktoren ab und misst 8 verschiedene Dimensionen resultierend aus einer hierarchischen Struktur, die frühere Job Crafting Konzepte integriert. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigten inkrementelle Validität von Approach und Avoidance Crafting bei der Vorhersage von arbeitsbezogenen Outcomes. / Job crafting – employee-initiated changes to the job – has received a high priority in science and practice in the recent years. Job crafting literature often emphasizes its positive effects – both at the between-person and within-person level. However, job crafting and its consequences seem to be more complex and, thus needs further understanding. Doing so, the aim of the dissertation was to expand current job crafting theories by using three approaches. Therefore, I conducted four studies resulting in three manuscripts. Firstly, in Study 1, I referred to the resource-consuming nature of job crafting and found a curvilinear effect (U-shaped curve) of the job crafting strategy crafting social resources (i.e., increasing social resources) on work engagement. This only applied to exhausted employees (i.e., a moderation effect). Secondly, in Study 2 focused on the fluctuating portion of job crafting within employees and investigated reciprocal relationships between job crafting, work engagement, and performance from one week to the next at the within-person level. Data from a weekly diary study were analyzed with a random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM). There were no reciprocal relationships between job crafting, work engagement, and performance at the within-person level across weeks, rather the relations were more heterogeneous than anticipated. Thirdly, in Study 3 and 4, we developed and validated the Approach-Avoidance Job Crafting Scale based on my approach-avoidance crafting model. The scale depicts approach and avoidance crafting as two independent factors and assesses eight different job crafting dimensions. These result from a hierarchical structure in which previous job crafting concepts are integrated. Our results showed that approach and avoidance crafting have incremental validity in predicting work-related outcomes beyond previous job crafting scales.

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Developmental neuroscience research suggests that relative differences in emerging social skills between very young children with ASD may influence the trajectories of multiple important developmental domains, such as language ability. Such “cascade” associations between developmental trajectories may contribute in important ways to the substantial heterogeneity in symptoms and functioning seen in children with ASD. However, longitudinal research has yet to test such “cascade” models of change in children diagnosed with ASD.</p> <p><strong>Objectives:</strong> In this dissertation I aimed to model cascade patterns of association between social competence and language ability pathways in the year after diagnosis of ASD in preschool-aged children. Data for 365 participants aged 2-4 years old who had been recently diagnosed with ASD and followed prospectively were obtained from the “Pathways To Better Outcomes in ASD Study”.</p> <p><strong>Methods:</strong> Study 1 aimed to determine whether social competence and structural language ability could be measured as distinct constructs that were invariant over time and between clinically relevant groups of young children with ASD. Study 2 modeled longitudinal reciprocal associations between these domains. Study 3 addressed the issue of variability and change within this sample, and tested whether baseline levels and rate of change in one domain were associated with subsequent growth in the other.</p> <p><strong>Results:</strong> Social competence and language ability constructs were measurably distinct and invariant in a young sample comprising verbal and non-verbal children with ASD. Only small reciprocal cascade effects were evident between social and language pathways. Levels of social competence at time of diagnosis were significantly associated with subsequent language growth.</p> <p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> In preschoolers with ASD, advantages in social competence as measured at time of diagnosis appear to “spill over” in a feed-forward cascade model to influence progress in language ability. Social competence and language ability then appear to develop along more specialized, less interrelated pathways.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)