Past research has examined the many ways individuals behave in response to unconscious primes. For instance, unconsciously activating stereotypes leads people to exhibit behavior that parallels the target stereotype (e.g., Bargh, Chen, & Burrows, 1996; Dijksterhuis & van Knippenberg, 1998). Priming methodology has also been extended to inducing mortality salience, such that specific behaviors emerge in response to thinking about one’s own death. Two theories, socioemotional selectivity theory and terror management theory, hypothesize how individuals cope with thoughts about the end of life. The present study attempted to extend past research by comparing older and younger adults’ responses to unconscious mortality salience. Fifty-nine younger adults and 52 older adults were randomly assigned to one of two prime conditions: death prime or negative prime. The unconscious primes were administered through word searches, which contained 20 target words related to each prime. Defenses to the primes were assessed via suitability ratings and reaction times to a picture-caption task, which contained both neutral and emotional (positive and negative) captions paired with neutral pictures. A defense was operationalized as higher suitability ratings and faster reaction times to the positive captions, as well as lower suitability ratings and slower reaction times to the negative captions. Based on terror management theory, it was expected that individuals who were primed with death would display specific defensive behavioral responses as compared to those who were primed with negativity, regardless of age. Socioemotional selectivity theory, however, predicts that these defenses may also emerge when older adults are primed with negativity due to the increased tendency for older adults, relative to younger adults, to automatically implement default emotion regulatory goals. Analyses revealed that both younger and older adults embraced the neutral and positive captions after being primed with death. Participants primed with negativity were also more likely to embrace positivity. Age differences emerged such that younger adults were faster when reacting to emotional captions in the death condition than in the negative condition. Conversely, older adults primed with negativity reacted faster to emotional captions than those primed with death. Implications for terror management theory and socioemotional selectivity theory are discussed. Overall, both young and older adults displayed defenses to prime-activated threats of death and negativity. The implementation of death-related defenses was stronger for younger adults than the implementation of negativity-related defenses, but the opposite was true for older adults.

Current research in corporate governance focuses primarily upon minimization of agency costs in the shareholder-management relationship. In this dissertation, I examine a complimentary perspective based upon stewardship theory. The model developed herein leverages past research on socioemotional wealth to identify CEO attributes associated with stewardship behavior. I examine whether these attributes lead to positive firm performance. Moreover, I examine how family ownership and board of director characteristics influences the CEO stewardship – firm performance relationship. A 3-year unbalanced panel dataset using 268 S&P 1500 firms is analyzed using generalized least squares regression. All covariates lag the dependent variable by 1-year; constructs are included to control for popular agency prescriptions used to monitor, control, and incentivize executives. I find no relationship between the hypothesized constructs related to CEO stewardship (board memberships, organizational identity, and board tenure) and firm performance (Tobin’s Q). However, results reveal family ownership positively moderates the relationship between the quantity of CEO board memberships and firm performance. Additionally, the presence of affiliated directors and community influential directors positively moderates the CEO board memberships-firm performance relationship. The presence of community influential directors also positively moderates the relationship between CEO organizational identity and firm performance. Results from this dissertation provide moderate support for stewardship theory as a compliment to agency theory in corporate governance literature. There is evidence that family ownership and board of director attributes strengthen the relationship between those CEO stewardship constructs and firm performance. However, lack of a direct relationship between the CEO stewardship constructs and firm performance suggest a need more fine-grained constructs that measure stewardship. A substantial amount of research exists in corporate governance using the principal-agent model. The research herein extends this research by using stewardship theory to compliment the dominant agency model. I hope this research encourages scholars to take an integrative approach by (1) taking a renewed look at alternate theories of corporate governance such as stewardship theory, and (2) continue work that focuses upon firm performance maximization through CEO stewardship as well as agency loss mitigation through monitoring and control of the CEO.

Prosocial behaviours are a diverse group of actions that are integral to human social life. In this dissertation I propose and test a three-factor model of prosocial behaviour. Specifically, in a series of four studies I examined the ability of infants and toddlers to engage in helping, sharing, and comforting behaviour. Additionally, I examine the consistency with which children produce these behaviours longitudinally over time and the associations between these three subtypes of prosocial behaviour and social cognitive perspective taking, effortful control, affective perspective taking, and temperament. In Study 1, I found that 18-month-old infants were able to engage in helping and sharing, but not comforting behaviour. In Study 2, I found that between 18 and 30 months, there was no individual consistency in the production of prosocial behaviours, either across types (helping, sharing) or times (18, 24, or 30 months). Moreover, I found that even at 30 months of age, young children were not recognizing and responding to the emotional needs of others. In Study 3, I examined the relation between helping and sharing and three measures of social cognitive perspective taking and general cognitive development. I found unique relations between the behavioural correlates and the measures of prosocial behaviour. Specifically, I found that sharing was associated with imitation and that helping was associated with general cognitive development. Finally, Study 4 demonstrated that helping was the most frequent prosocial behaviour that the children engaged in, and it did not increase over time. I also observed a significant developmental increase in comforting behaviour from 2 to 3 years. Additionally, I found low rates of sharing behaviour that were stable over time. Importantly, I observed consistency in the production of prosocial behaviour within each subtype and defined a three-factor structure that differentiated between the helping, sharing, and comforting tasks. Further, I observed a significant association between effortful control and comforting behaviour, but no other significant associations between any of the subtypes of prosocial behaviour and the behavioural correlates (effortful control, affective perspective taking, and temperament). The implications for the construct of prosocial behaviour and the presence of a “prosocial disposition” are discussed. / Thesis (Ph.D, Psychology) -- Queen's University, 2010-09-20 15:08:27.842

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how age and job identification affect entrepreneurial intention. Design/methodology/approach: The researchers draw on a representative sample of the Austrian adult workforce and apply binary logistic regression on entrepreneurial intention. Findings: The findings reveal that as employees age they are less inclined to act entrepreneurially, and that their entrepreneurial intention is lower the more they identify with their job. Whereas gender, education, and previous entrepreneurial experience matter, leadership and having entrepreneurial parents seem to have no impact on the entrepreneurial intention of employees. Research implications: Implications relate to a contingency perspective on entrepreneurial intention where the impact of age is exacerbated by stronger identification with the job. Practical implications: Practical implications include the need to account for different motivational backgrounds when addressing entrepreneurial employees of different ages. Societal implications include the need to adopt an age perspective to foster entrepreneurial intentions within established organizations. Originality/value: While the study corroborates and extends findings from entrepreneurial intention research, it contributes new empirical insights to the age and job - dependent contingency perspective on entrepreneurial intention. (authors' abstract)

Orientador: Dagmar Aparecida Cynthia França Hunger / Resumo: Conflitos observados na Educação Infantil revelam a necessidade dos educadores refletirem o contexto social e o emocional. Sendo assim, a presente pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, objetivou analisar o ensino da capoeira na Educação Infantil na concepção de profissionais da capoeira e gestão pedagógica, em escolas municipais de uma cidade do interior de São Paulo, relacionado à questão socioemocional (resolução de problemas; interação; autoconhecimento; autonomia e determinação; educação à diversidade; responsabilidade e participação; empatia e cooperação; repertório cultural; pensamento crítico e criatividade). Para tanto, realizou-se revisão da literatura referente à Educação Infantil, a capoeira e relações sociais e emocionais. Para coleta de dados utilizou-se da técnica de entrevista semiestruturada, os quais foram discutidos e analisados conforme análise de conteúdo. Os entrevistados consideram a capoeira uma manifestação cultural significativa pedagogicamente para trabalhar questões socioemocionais na escola e as medidas sugeridas para inserção da capoeira desde a Educação Infantil relacionam-se ao conhecimento dos pedagogos e reconhecimento da capoeira como patrimônio histórico cultural brasileiro, de valor socioemocional. Viabilizou-se como produto educacional um vídeo documentário. / Mestre

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This report will illustrate the positive and negative aspects of the social nature of learning through a review of sociocultural related research. In consideration of the billion dollar issues associated with the current state of students’ mental health, and the poor educational experiences of low income students, it seems the current focus on academic achievement in isolation, isn’t working. Socioemotional elements underlie the cognitive processes involved in all higher levels of thinking and problems solving. From a sociocultural perspective, for optimal learning to occur, teachers and students must establish positive affective relationships. Through greater understanding of effective teaching practices that consider the socioemotional elements involved learning, and universal interventions promoting positive child and youth development, schools can promote children’s social and emotional wellbeing while simultaneously improving academic achievement. / text

Socioemotional selectivity theory posits that as people age, they become motivated and successful at maximizing positive emotions and minimizing negative ones. Yet, 70% of older adults report physical pain, which is associated with negative affect. The strategies and resources that older adults use to maintain positive affect in the face of pain remain largely unknown. Specific positivity-enhancing strategies include recalling, recognizing, and responding to positive stimuli and prioritizing close over knowledgeable social partners. Executive functions (EF, i.e., task-switching, working memory, and inhibition) and heart rate variability (HRV) may be important resources for coping with pain. The current project used two studies to test whether older adults used positivityenhancing strategies and maintained emotional wellbeing following pain more than younger adults; associations with EF and HRV were also investigated. In Study 1, 50 older and 50 younger adults experienced a control and a pain condition, were given the chance to employ positivity-enhancing strategies, and provided EF and HRV data. Study 2 used longitudinal data from community-dwelling older adults (n =150) to test whether task-switching moderated the within-person relationship between pain and wellbeing. In Study 1, after the pain condition, younger adults demonstrated lesser preference toward knowledgeable social partners than older adults (γ = -0.15, p = .016). No other age group x pain condition x valence interactions were found. Older and younger adults did not differ in changes in positive or negative affect following pain. Task-switching and HRV were both associated with reduced preference for knowledgeable social partners following pain, but no other significant EF or HRV interactions were found. Study 2 failed to support the hypothesis that task-switching protected against pain-related declines in wellbeing. Future research on strategies that older adults use to maintain emotional wellbeing in the face of pain is needed.

Adolescence is challenging time for youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who generally exhibit a myriad of psychosocial difficulties. While this developmental period represents an important window for intervention, few evidence-based programs exist. Recent research suggests that interventions targeting emotion regulation (ER) skill deficits in ASD may represent a promising approach to promoting more favourable outcomes for these youth (Mazefsky et al., 2014). Nurturing mindfulness has been shown to be an effective means of improving ER and wellbeing in diverse child and adult populations, although research in ASD is limited. This pilot study evaluated the impact of a 9-week mindfulness intervention on the ER and socioemotional functioning of 14 adolescents (13-17 years) with high functioning ASD using a pre-test post-test design. Parents reported statistically significant changes of small to medium effect size in adolescents’ overall problem behaviours and social skills, ER, adaptability, hyperactivity, and withdrawal behaviours. Additionally, parents reported changes of small effect size that approached significance for adolescents’ anxiety symptoms and atypicality. Adolescents reported changes of small effect size that were statistically significant for anxiety symptoms and interpersonal functioning, and non-significant for depression and social stress symptoms. Changes in many parent-reported outcome variables showed moderate to strong correlations with home practice adherence and parent-reported changes in ER. Qualitative observations of program impact and social acceptability were positive and supported the quantitative findings. The results provide promising evidence for mindfulness training with youth with ASD. Implications for assessment, intervention, and future research are discussed. / October 2016

O fluxo escolar brasileiro representa um problema crônico para o caso do Ensino Médio do país. A literatura mostra que o retorno do investimento escolar é atrativo no país, tanto por apresentar uma taxa média alta, como pelo fato de que o adicional de salário devido aos níveis educacionais mais altos são maiores do que nos estágios iniciais da educação, i.e., o retorno educacional brasileiro aparenta ser crescente e convexo, diferente do que se apresenta na literatura internacional. A explicação usual para a evasão se dá através das restrições orçamentárias e de crédito enfrentadas pelas famílias que, sendo restritas no acesso ao crédito, poderia fazer com que o jovem saísse da escola precocemente, mesmo que o aluno esperasse um salário futuro maior. Somado a este retorno atrativo da educação, o país expandiu abruptamente os gastos educacionais. Porém, apesar da expansão, a escolaridade e as medidas de fluxo no país não reagiram proporcionalmente, despertando, assim, a atenção da literatura para explicação desse puzzle. A despeito destes fatos, a literatura internacional avançou no sentido de mostrar dois fatos que auxiliam na investigação dessa questão: em primeiro lugar, o retorno da educação pode variar entre indivíduos, ainda que a média seja alta. Por exemplo, indivíduos com maior aptidão podem ser os que se beneficiam mais de uma escolaridade maior, explicando o motivo de alguns abandonarem a escola. Em segundo lugar, a literatura avançou em mostrar que um fator importante na previsão de resultados escolares são habilidades não-cognitivas, como as habilidades socioemocionais. Portanto, este presente trabalho buscou explorar uma coleta de dados realizada em Sertãozinho - SP, em 2008, 2012 e 2017, em que estão disponíveis dados socioemocionais dos estudantes, além de dados demográficos e cognitivos, de estudantes que estavam no segundo ano do Ensino Fundamental em 2008, e em 2017 idealmente estariam no Ensino Médio, possibilitando investigar se existe uma associação entre características socioemocionais e o fluxo escolar. Os resultados indicam que tais fatores têm poder preditivo relevante na explicação do fluxo escolar brasileiro, medidos pela probabilidade de os indivíduos permanecerem estudando e pela probabilidade de se atingir o Ensino Médio em 2017, sendo que a Conscienciosidade e a Amabilidade do estudante aumentam a chance do aluno persistir estudando, enquanto que a Extroversão reduz essa probabilidade, em linha com algumas evidências da literatura. Os resultados trazem como contribuição uma evidência empírica inicial acerca da associação entre habilidades não-cognitivas e o fluxo escolar brasileiro. / The Brazilian school flow represents a chronic problem for the country\'s high school case. The literature shows that the return on school investment is attractive in the country, both for having a high average rate, and for the fact that the additional salary due to higher education levels is higher than in the early stages of education, ie, The Brazilian educational return appears to be growing and convex, different from what is presented in the international literature. The usual explanation for avoidance is through budget and credit constraints faced by families who, being restricted in access to credit, could cause the young person to leave school early, even if the student expects a larger future salary. Added to this attractive return of education, the country abruptly expanded educational spending. However, despite the expansion, the schooling and flow measures in the country did not react proportionally, thus awakening the attention of the literature to explain this textit puzzle. In spite of these facts, the international literature has advanced to show two facts that help in the investigation of this question: firstly, the return of education can vary among individuals, even if the average is high. For example, individuals with higher aptitude may be those who benefit most from higher schooling, explaining why some drop out of school. Second, the literature has advanced in showing that an important factor in predicting school outcomes are non-cognitive skills, such as social-emotional skills. Therefore, this study aimed to explore a data collection held in Sertãozinho - SP, in 2008, 2012 and 2017, in which are available socioemotional data of the students, as well as demographic and cognitive data, of students who were in the second year of Elementary Education in 2008, and by 2017 would ideally be in High School, making it possible to investigate if there is an association between socioemotional characteristics and the school flow. The results indicate that such factors have a relevant predictive power in the explanation of the Brazilian school flow, measured by the probability of individuals remaining studying and by the probability of reaching high school in 2017, and the student\'s Conscientiousness and Kindness increase the chance of while the Extroversion reduces this probability, in line with some evidence in the literature. The results contribute as an initial empirical evidence about the association between non-cognitive abilities and the Brazilian school flow.