A research report submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree Master of Arts in Social and Psychological Research by Coursework and Research Report (PSYC7022) in the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand, February 2017 / The lifetime prevalence of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), as reported for South Africa, is 9.7%. However, significant cultural differences occur in the clinical presentation of MDD which are connected to notions of religion, social principles and norms of relationships. With this in mind, this study explores the extent to which Hindu community members’ knowledge of MDD, their beliefs about the aetiology of MDD and their attitudes towards people with MDD impacted their perceptions on the care and management of MDD as well as their help seeking behaviours. The study also explored the extent to which Hindu religious identity mediates or moderates the relationship between aetiology, knowledge and attitudes towards MDD and the care and management of MDD and help seeking behaviour. A questionnaire consisting of a demographics section, a religious identity scale, a MDD knowledge, attitudes and practices scale and the attitudes towards seeking professional psychological help scale was completed by a convenience sample of 264 Hindus from Johannesburg and surrounding areas. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses. Participants in this study had a moderate religious identity and generally positive attitudes towards MDD. This sample believed that stress was the main cause of MDD and that talking to their friends, family and their general practitioner would be the most beneficial in terms of care and management of MDD. Participants also had positive attitudes towards seeking professional help. Two multiple regression analyses were conducted with the attitudes towards professional help seeking as well as all the care and management factors as the dependent variables and religious identity, knowledge of MDD, attitudes towards MDD and all four aetiological factors of MDD as the independent variables. These analyses yielded varying results. Following these analyses, religious identity was explored as both a potential mediator and moderator variable between attitudes towards MDD and help seeking behaviours. These results are discussed within the broader debates on depression and its manifestation across cultures. / XL2018

No Brasil, o ponto de vista de que a competição tributária (sempre retratada como "guerra fiscal") é algo conflituoso faz com que seja difundida uma visão negativa sobre um fenômeno que nem sempre é visto como tal na literatura econômica internacional. Muitos economistas veem essa competição como algo que, sendo capaz de coibir o comportamento rent-seeking por parte dos governantes, seria benéfico para a sociedade. Com base nessa ideia, usando o modelo de Eggert e Sorensen (2008), foi testado se variáveis proxy relativas à intensidade da competição tributária e ao comportamento rent-seeking de políticos no poder eram correlacionadas. Usou-se dados dos 26 estados brasileiros e do Distrito Federal para os anos de 2001 a 2009. Os resultados mostraram que, embora essas variáveis proxy não fossem correlacionadas para os níveis de escolaridade mais baixos, no nível mais alto, havia correlação entre essas duas variáveis, embora ela fosse positiva, o que rejeitava a hipótese de que uma maior competição tributária seria capaz de diminuir o comportamento rent-seeking dos políticos. / In Brazil, the point of view that tax competition (commonly referred to as a “fiscal war”) is something conflictive spreads a negative perspective on a phenomenon that is not always seen as such in the international economic literature. Many economists see this competition as something that, in being able to reduce rent-seeking behavior by politicians, would be beneficial to society. Stemming from this idea, and using the model from Eggert and Sorensen (2008), it was tested if proxy variables relating to the intensity of tax competition and to the rent-seeking behavior of politicians in office were correlated. Data from all the 26 Brazilian states and also Distrito Federal, from 2001 to 2009, were used. The results showed that, although the proxy variables were not correlated for the less skilled groups of workers considered, at the high skilled group, there was correlation between the two variables, but it was positive, which rejected the hypothesis that a more intense tax competition would be able to repress rent-seeking behavior by politicians.

Orientador: Helen de Castro Silva Casarin / Banca: Mariângela Spotti Lopes Fujita / Banca: Daisy Pires Noronha / Resumo: A questão ambiental ocupa um importante espaço na sociedade e vem crescendo cada vez mais em abrangência. Uma das características da área de meio ambiente é que esta apresenta facetas de difícil controle, por ser multi e interdisciplinar. A informação produzida e utilizada nesta área encontra-se dispersa em diversas fontes. Dessa forma, o comportamento de busca da informação ambiental por pesquisadores da área faz-se pertinente. A pesquisa teve como objetivo principal a análise do comportamento de busca e uso da informação ambiental por parte dos pesquisadores de duas instituições vinculados a programas de pós-graduação da área de Ecologia. Objetivou-se ainda caracterizar a informação ambiental, incluindo aspectos históricos e atuais, enfocando o contexto brasileiro, delinear o perfil dos pesquisadores-usuários da informação ambiental, identificar os hábitos de busca e as fontes de informação consideradas fundamentais. Utilizou-se uma metodologia quantitativa e descritiva e os dados foram obtidos através de questionário contendo perguntas abertas, semi-abertas e fechadas. Constatou-se que os pesquisadores da área de meio ambiente, tanto de mestrado, quanto de doutorado, apresentam um comportamento de busca e uso da informação independente, não necessitando necessariamente de intermediários para a realização da busca por informação e estes apresentam aspectos similares e diferentes no que concerne a esse comportamento. Espera-se que este estudo possa trazer significativas contribuições ao campo da Ciência da Informação, em especial a linha de Organização da Informação e que suscite outras discussões sobre este tema. / Abstract: The environmental issue occupies an important place in society and is growing increasingly in scope. One of the characteristics of environment area is that it presents facets difficult to control, to be multi and interdisciplinary. The information produced and used in this area is scattered in various sources. Thus, the study of the conduct of search of environmental information by researchers in the field it is relevant. The research was aimed primarily at examining the conduct of search of environmental information by researchers from both institutions linked to postgraduate programmes in the ecology area. The objective was to further characterize the environmental information, including current and historical aspects, focusing on the Brazilian context, outlining the profile of researchers-users of environmental information, identify patterns of search and sources of information considered essential. We used a descriptive and quantitative methodology and data were obtained through a questionnaire containing questions open, semi-open and closed. It was found that researchers in the field of environment, both master's or a doctorate, presenting a performance of search and use of independent information, not necessarily requiring an intermediary to conduct the search for information and they have similar and different aspects in relation to this behavior.It is hoped that this study could bring significant contributions to the field of Information Science, in particular the line of Organization of information and that raises further discussions on this subject. / Mestre

The population of Africans in the United States is growing, yet little is known about the impact of migration on the attitudes of African immigrants toward suicide, mental health, and helpseeking behavior. Migration entails movement from one cultural environment to another, and the process requires adaptation to the host country. According to Ecological Theory, interactions between the societal structures, values, and beliefs of the host country, cultural values from the country of origin, and individual-level characteristics may affect mental health-related attitudes and behaviors. As such, the current study used mixed methods, administered via online survey, to investigate socio-cultural predictors of attitudes toward suicide, mental health, and treatment seeking among African immigrants in the United States. In the current study the responses of 227 participants were used for qualitative analyses, and responses from 168 participants were used for quantitative analyses. Qualitative results indicated overall negative attitudes towards suicide and positive attitudes towards suicide prevention. Perceived culture-specific causes of suicide included acculturation difficulties, immigration stress, social causes such as home sickness discrimination, and racism, financial causes such as responsibility to kin in Africa, spiritual causes, and deportation risk. Results from quantitative analyses indicated that identification with African values and behaviors were related to lower levels of anxiety, depression, stress, and culture oriented psychological distress. Higher levels of spirituality and religiousness were associated with a negative attitude toward suicide. Implications for population based suicide prevention efforts for African immigrants and for mental health professionals working with African immigrants are discussed.

abstract: Access to testing for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as well as other care services related to HIV/AIDS, have greatly improved in Tanzania over the last decade. Despite the country’s efforts to increase the number of individuals who get tested for HIV annually, it is estimated that only 52.2-70.0% of people living with HIV (PLWH) knew their HIV positive status at the end of 2017. In addition, research in Tanzania has shown that HIV-related stigma and discrimination are widespread and contribute to low uptake of HIV testing and non-adherence to antiretroviral treatment (ART). In order to achieve the goals set forth by the Government of Tanzania and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), as well as move towards an AIDS-free generation, a deeper understanding of the stigma-related barriers to seeking an HIV test is necessary. This research aims to better understand the relationship between HIV-related stigma and attitudes towards HIV testing among community members in Northern Tanzania. In addition, it looked at the specific barriers that contribute to low uptake of HIV testing, as well as the impact of social networks on an individual’s motivation and willingness to get tested for HIV. In this research, community members in Meru District (N = 108, male = 69.4%, female = 28.7%) were surveyed using various validated instruments that covered a range of topics, including knowledge of HIV/AIDS, testing attitudes, and perceived risk of HIV infection. The mean overall score for correct answers on the knowledge measure was 69.8% (SD = 16.4). There were no significant group differences between individuals who had ever tested and individuals who had not tested in relation to HIV/AIDS knowledge or HIV testing attitudes. The factors that were significantly associated with getting an HIV test were knowing someone who had previously tested (p = 0.003), as well as openly discussing HIV testing within one’s social group (p = 0.017). Participants also provided qualitative responses for barriers to receiving an HIV test, motivations for getting tested, and suggested interventions for improving HIV testing uptake. The goal of this research is to develop recommendations for interventions that are better informed by attitudes and motivations for testing. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Biology 2019

Information is one the essential elements of science. It is an imperative condition that researchers review antecedent works as they advance and create new knowledge. Knowledge creation in science is a process of adding and refining new pieces of data, information, and knowledge to what has already been accomplished by others. Few scientific communities have unlimited access to scientific information sources. Most communities’ access to information is limited by economic, social, cultural, and technological conditions. This study investigates information seeking behavior and information dissemination practices of the Venezuelan scientific community. A model of scholarly communication in a context of dependency emerges from the following major themes: persisting interpersonal communication with the international scientific community; publication in international journals; prestige and name recognition; and contacting the authors to access full-text journal articles. A qualitative approach is used to illuminate the information seeking behavior of scientists in Venezuela, to discover the barriers experienced by the Venezuelan scientific community when accessing scientific information, and to explore their scientific information dissemination practices. Interviews were conducted in July 2009 with thirteen Venezuelan scientists from the fields of biology, chemistry, or physics. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed in Spanish. Coding, categories, data analysis, and theory building followed a general inductive approach.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2005. / Principal faculty advisor: Ruth E. Fleury-Steiner, Dept. of Individual & Family Studies. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

The Relationship between Organizational Socialization, Information Seeking Behavior, and Organizational Commitment of New High-tech Professionals Abstract Due to the rapid growth of high-tech industry in Taiwan, there is an increasing need for high-tech professionals. Therefore, it is easy for high-tech professionals to switch jobs frequently. This phenomenon causes high-tech companies to spend a lot of money and time on the management of newcomers every year, so it is important to understand how newcomers adjust to the new environment and increase their commitment to the organization. Organizational socialization is generally defined as the process whereby newcomers learn the behaviors and attitudes for assuming roles in an organization. Research on socialization has focused on the socialization tactics used by organizations and tends to portray newcomers as passive in the socialization process. However, relatively is known about how newcomers obtain the information they need. Hence, this study was designed to examine the relationship between organizational socialization, information seeking behavior and organizational commitment of high-tech professionals. Besides, this research also examined the mediating effects of socialization content on the relationship between organization socialization and organizational commitment and the relationship between information seeking behavior and organizational commitment. Surveys were given to 99 new professionals six and twelve months into their jobs. The results of the research indicate that: 1. High-tech companies tend to use institutionalized socialization tactics; new professionals tend to use overt, third party and observing tactics to obtain the information . 2. Collect, sequential, fixed and serial socialization tactics are associated with high socialization content; overt and observing information seeking tactics are associated with high socialization content. 3. Sequential fixed and serial socialization tactics are associated with high organizational commitment; observing information seeking tactic and high socialization content are associated with high organizational commitment. 4. The mediating effects of socialization content on the relationship between organization socialization and organizational commitment and the relationship between information seeking behavior and organizational commitment are not obvious. Key words: organizational socialization, information seeking behavior, socialization commitment, high-tech company, newcomer

In the economic development of Taiwan, the privatization of state-run enterprise has a very important mission in government policy. In the process of Taiwan¡¦s privatization of state-run enterprise, China Steel Corporation (CSC) has plays an essential role among the privatized institutions, and shapes the way and view of the privatization. Past researches were restricted to the enterprise evaluation happened before and after privatization, and stressed the use of the abstract modeling and mathematics, however, the relation between theory and practice has been touched very little in terms of the institutional change of privatization. This study is to explore the privatization of CSC from the perspective of new institutional economics. The methodology used is qualitative approach, which differes from the qualitative approach. The primary approach is document analysis, and supplemented by Gadamer¡uQ&A logic¡v. Under the self-adjustment to the change of internal institution and the adaptation to the change of external environment, the present analysis of CSC privatization, from the perspective of the change of property right and institution, will result in comparative prices change and new transaction profit, and new institution will create some arrangements, inspiration effect, etc. The result of this research can be summarized as two points, which we hope may offer some contributions. 1. From the perspective of property right, the behavior of rent-seeking resulting from the involvement of interest groups during the CSC privatization process may easily cause the phenomenon of increasing transaction cost. Therefore, in the future plan for institutional change, we must consider the institutional environment and strategy to reduce the possibility of that phenomenon. 2. From the perspective of institutional change, the present study analyzed from the imposed institutional change of state-run CSC to the induced institutional change of privatization, and it can give a clear understanding in that the cultural change of enterprise has a critical influence to the institutional change.