Thesis (M.I.T.)--The Evergreen State College, 2010. / Title from title screen (viewed 7/7/2010). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-138).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed on Aug. 24, 2006). PDF text of dissertation: 221 p. : ill. ; 1.58Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3208108. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm, microfiche and paper format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 104-112).

Enhancing levels of innovation and entrepreneurship to grow a more competitive economy is the focus of much government effort. Attention is paid to changing a culture seen as antagonistic to entrepreneurship through initiatives designed to promote an entrepreneurial spirit. Universities, aware of the importance of developing entrepreneurial potential, are focusing on equipping students with the skills and abilities to contribute to innovation within organisations they join upon graduation, while also providing opportunities for the development of student aspirations. Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI) has developed a one week event designed to influence deep personal values and the underlying motivations of potential entrepreneurs. This paper reports on the Connections course content as it was offered at the University of Strathclyde in 2003, content premised on the belief that students are motivated to start new enterprises through enhancement of self-confidence in their entrepreneurial skills. Measures of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and other outcomes are offered, followed by a report of the results found at the end of the event and then six months later. The programme is found to have created enduring improvements in entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and a related strengthening of pre-entrepreneurial awareness and exploration of ideas for starting companies. Other assessment results are presented suggesting the need to include explicit course content on entrepreneurial career paths. The implications of the Connections findings for entrepreneurship teaching in general are discussed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 86-91).

This study examined relationships among adolescent dating violence, family violence, community violence, dating history, academic history, and various forms of self-efficacy among 306 high school and university students. Results showed that psychological, physical, and sexual dating violence were common occurrences among high school students with both males and females admitting perpetrating dating violence. Experiences with dating violence were less common among university students than high school students. The vast majority of university students had experiences with psychological aggression; however, experiences with physical and sexual dating violence were less common among this group of participants. Many of the variables examined were related to experiences with dating violence for at least some participant groups. All forms of violence measured were related to experiences with dating violence. Specifically, experiences with community violence (as a witness, perpetrator, and/or victim) were related to experiences with dating violence for high school students and young women in university. Similarly, experiencing corporal punishment or physical abuse from a parent was significantly related to experiences with dating violence for these same groups of young people. Finally, witnessing parental spousal abuse was also correlated with dating violence involvement for young women. The findings regarding the relationship being dating violence and other experiences with violence are discussed within a social learning theory framework. Dating history variables showed important connections with dating violence for all participant groups. Length of the longest steady dating relationship was positively correlated with dating violence experiences for university students and young women in high school. Moreover, length of the current steady dating relationship was also positively correlated with dating violence experiences for young women in high school and university. Being younger when steady dating began was also related to dating violence involvement for young women. Additionally, experiencing a first date at a younger age was associated with dating violence for young women in university. Some unexpected results were also found regarding dating history variables and dating violence. For young men in high school, low frequency of dating was related to dating violence involvement. Also contrary to expect results, high use of negotiation by participants and their dating partners was associated with dating violence involvement for university students. Academic history variables showed little relation to experiences with dating violence. For young men in high school, experiencing a grade repetition was related to involvement in dating violence. No other academic variables were found to be associated with dating violence experiences including school suspensions, expulsions, course failures, average grades, or academic aspirations or expectations. Self-efficacy variables were significantly related to experiences with dating violence for high school students. Young women in high school who were victims of any form of dating violence demonstrated lower levels of dating self-efficacy (i.e., less confidence in their ability to secure and maintain dating relationships and to protect themselves from dating violence) and those who were victims of sexual dating violence had lower levels of physical self-efficacy. Young men in high school who had perpetrated psychological aggression had lower academic self-efficacy. Implications for intervention and prevention programs are addressed. / Graduate

Authentic leadership, its fundamental values, and its mediated effects on employee outcomes were studied. Past leadership studies have had different situational or environmental objectives, have concentrated mostly on the short or medium terms and have not focused on the core, fundamental values of leadership. Most of the existing leadership studies with different situational or environmental objectives have focused on the personality or behaviour of the leader and on the resulting psychological and financial outcomes, rather than on employee outcomes. Situations and environments have become increasingly complicated and their complexities cannot be explained by a single leadership style. As a result, concerns about the effectiveness of conventional leadership styles have been well noted. Both business practitioners and academic researchers are interested in finding a leadership style that works in different situations and environments, and has the potential to deliver the best, legitimate, ethical follower outcomes. Authentic leadership is the recent research focus. Harter (2002) described the fundamental concept of leader authenticity as to 'know thyself' and 'to thy own self be true'. Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner et al. (2008, p. 94) further defined authentic leadership as 'a pattern of leader behaviour that draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capacities and a positive ethical climate, to foster greater self-awareness, an internalised moral perspective, balanced processing of information, and relational transparency on the part of leaders working with followers, fostering positive self-development'. In this study, the authenticity of a leader and the mediated effects of authentic leadership on employee outcomes were studied. Possible boundary conditions and limitations of the work were also considered. Demographic information was included with tenure-related control variables. The mediated effects of authentic leadership on employee outcomes through the psychological capital, social exchange, and uncertainty management mediation processes were examined. Drawing on the well-established theoretical background of psychological capital theory and social exchange theory, the psychological capital and social exchange mediating processes were empirically tested. The uncertainty management process was also empirically tested, by considering how employees prioritise decisions when facing uncertainties during interactions between leaders and followers. A research model was developed to study the effects of authentic leadership on the follower attitude outcome of job satisfaction and the behavioural outcomes of helping behaviour and employee voice behaviour. The direct and mediated effects of authentic leadership on employee outcomes were investigated. Questionnaires were prepared based on past studies and data were collected to empirically test the research model. The data were collected in dyads, giving 409 pairs of validated questionnaires from leaders and followers. The 409 followers worked with 103 direct supervisors or leaders in 50 organisations in Hong Kong. The study achieved its aims. Authentic leadership was found to play a significant role in followers' perceptions and to affect the followers' helping behaviour and job satisfaction. Post-hoc testing indicated that authentic leadership can be a leader's core value, regardless of the situation or environment that the leader is in. The results reinforced that authentic leadership plays an important role with a transformational objective. The psychological capital process of the self-efficacy of the leader played a full mediating role in employee voice behaviour, but not in the other two processes using trust and psychological safety as mediators. All three mediating processes had partial mediation effects on job satisfaction, possibly due to the high authenticity of the leaders in the sample. The social exchange process of trust in leaders fully mediated helping behaviour, but the other two processes using self-efficacy and psychological safety as mediators did not. Using psychological capital theory and social exchange helped to explain and understand the mediating mechanisms by which authentic leadership affects employee outcomes. The results reinforced the construct validity of authentic leadership theory. The study achieved all four of its objectives. The contributions of the study, its implications for future studies and business practitioners, and its limitations are discussed. Recommendations for future research are also included.

nÃo hà / O aleitamento materno (AM) influencia diretamente na prevenÃÃo da morbimortalidade infantil, sendo fundamental para a promoÃÃo e proteÃÃo da saÃde das crianÃas. Contudo, o desmame precoce à uma realidade mundial, sendo necessÃrio investigar nÃo apenas o conhecimento das mÃes acerca do aleitamento, mas, sobretudo, a autoeficÃcia destas em amamentar seus filhos. Objetivou-se analisar a autoeficÃcia das mulheres no ciclo gravÃdico-puerperal quanto ao seu potencial em amamentar. Tratou-se de um estudo de delineamento longitudinal, com abordagem quantitativa, realizado em seis Unidades BÃsicas de SaÃde da FamÃlia de Pacatuba/CE, totalizando uma amostra de 50 gestantes. A coleta de dados foi realizada por meio de entrevista, em duas etapas: a primeira, durante a gestaÃÃo, e a segunda, no puerpÃrio dessas mulheres (15 dia, 30 dia, 60 dia). Na primeira etapa de coleta, aplicaram-se dois instrumentos: a BSES-SF (Breastfeeding Self-EfficacyScale â Short-Form) e o formulÃrio sociodemogrÃfico e clÃnico-obstÃtrico. JÃ, na segunda, foram aplicados a BSES-SF e o formulÃrio com dados do parto atual e o tipo de aleitamento materno e dados antropomÃtricos do recÃm-nascido. Os dados foram analisados por meio do SPSS - Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, versÃo 19.0, atravÃs de estatÃstica descritiva e inferencial, com nÃvel de significÃncia de 0,05. O estudo foi aprovado pelo Comità de Ãtica em Pesquisa da Universidade Federal do CearÃ, sob o Protocolo 124/2011. A mÃdia da idade das puÃrperas foi de 23 anos (DP=  5,3). Predominaram mulheres casadas/uniÃo consensual, com oito ou mais anos de estudos, donas do lar, com renda per capita maior que R$141,00. Verificou-se diferenÃa estatisticamente significante entre a maioria das variÃveis sociodemogrÃficas e as mÃdias dos escores da BSES-SF no prÃ-natal e pÃs-parto (p<0,05): idade, estado civil, escolaridade materna e paterna, ocupaÃÃo, renda, n de filhos, receber bolsa-famÃlia. Quanto aos antecedentes obstÃtricos, tambÃm se constatou significÃncia estatÃstica nas seguintes variÃveis (p<0,05): nÃmero de gestaÃÃes, nÃmero de abortos, paridade, nÃmero de filhos vivos, tipo de amamentaÃÃo anterior, dificuldades para amamentar, experiÃncia em amamentar. Ainda houve significÃncia quanto aos dados da gestaÃÃo atual (p<0,05): gravidez planejada, nÃmero de consultas de prÃ-natal, ter conhecimento prÃvio em amamentaÃÃo, preparo das mamas para amamentar e o tempo em que pretende amamentar. Pode-se ainda ressaltar significÃncia estatÃstica quanto aos dados do parto atual e puerpÃrio (p<0,05): tipo, local e satisfaÃÃo com o parto, amamentar na 1 hora de vida do RN, orientaÃÃes sobre amamentaÃÃo na maternidade, dificuldade em amamentar e o tipo de alimentaÃÃo do RN na alta da maternidade. Em relaÃÃo aos dados antropomÃtricos do RN, apresentaram significÃncia estatÃstica (p<0,05) com a escala: peso e estatura do RN ao nascer, sexo, Apgar no primeiro e quinto minutos de vida; classificaÃÃo do RN quanto à semana gestacional. Pode-se constatar que as mÃdias dos escores da BSES-SF foram maiores no segundo momento da aplicaÃÃo da escala (pÃs-parto), sendo mais significante o domÃnio TÃcnico. Quanto à alimentaÃÃo do recÃm-nascido e a escala, a amamentaÃÃo exclusiva foi significante tanto na alta hospitalar, quanto no 15Â, 30 e 60 dias de vida da crianÃa. Assim, a Enfermagem pode apropriar-se de estratÃgias educativas que envolvam a autoeficÃcia materna em amamentar no ciclo gravÃdico-puerperal, tendo em vista que a experiÃncia pessoal foi fator preponderante no aumento das mÃdias dos escores de autoeficÃcia, bem como na duraÃÃo do aleitamento materno exclusivo nos primeiros meses de vida da crianÃa.

This study proposes that health beliefs and self-efficacy are related to condom use among college students. An anonymous survey, developed to pursue correlates of condom use, was administered to 370 college students. The survey consisted of a variety of single- item measures of demographics and sexual behaviors, as well as measures which assessed self-efficacy, perceived benefits and barriers of condom use, and perceived susceptibility and severity of HIV/AIDS. Correlation and regression analysis was conducted to test the relationship between these variables and condom use. The results show that certain dimensions of self-efficacy were positively related to condom use. Measures assessing perceived barriers to condom use were negatively related to condom use. Scale development issues, implications of these findings and recommendations for future research are presented. / Master of Science

Self-efficacy är en psykologisk faktor som i stor utsträckning kan påverka målsättningar,motivation samt ansträngningar för att uppnå mål. Self-efficacy har visats förbättra idrottaresprestationer (Stajkovic &amp; Luthans, 1998) och är en betydande faktor inom idrott, inklusivekampsport. Människor hämtar information till sina upplevelser av self-efficacy från olikakällor, vilka har visats ha olika effekter på en individs upplevelser av self-efficacy. Olikatillvägagångssätt kan tillämpas i syfte att höja upplevelser av self-efficacy. Syftet medföreliggande studie var att undersöka hur thaiboxare nyttjar de olika källorna till self-efficacyför att öka upplevd self-efficacy inför match. Nio semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördesmed thaiboxare i åldrarna 17-39, varav åtta var män och en kvinna (M=27.5, SD=6). Utifrånden tematiska analysen sammanställdes resultatet, inklusive en tematisk karta somrepresenterar förhållanden mellan teman, subteman samt koder. Resultatet visade attthaiboxare ansåg att self-efficacy var en mycket viktig faktor i idrotten, samt att de nyttjadekällorna till self-efficacy på olika sätt för att höja sin upplevda self-efficacy inför match.Deltagarnas tillvägagångssätt för att höja sina upplevelser av self efficacy beskrivs genomföljande teman: (1) Tidigare prestationer (2) Verbal övertalning (3) Fysiologiska ochkänslomässiga tillstånd. Studien drog slutsatsen att thaiboxare kan nyttja källorna till selfefficacy på olika sätt för att öka upplevd self-efficacy, samt att detta var viktigt för derasupplevda förmåga att framgångsrikt utföra idrotten.Nyckelord: Self-efficacy, self-efficacyteorin, tidigare prestationer, verbal övertalning,fysiologiska och känslomässiga tillstånd, thaiboxning.