In the following essay, I have studied a relatively new spiritual phenomenon in Swedish society, yoga retreats, through interviews with eight representatives. I have examined how these representatives perceive their participants' needs and motives, and how these are answered. I have also studied whether the activities within the retreats are compatible with the historian of religion, Anne-Christine Hornborg's research regarding coaching. My research has shown that in addition to a need for recovery, there is also a perception that participants are looking for tools and methods to deal with a stressful everyday life. Furthermore, I have also distinguished a tendency that these tools and methods were being used as means for personal development. This tendency, along with a similar target group, a shared use of language and attitude regarding the concept of religion, was something that was comparable with coaching. Despite the fact that both activities point to the individual's inner spirituality, which can be retrieved through different methods, the goal of each activity differs. While coaching focuses on a non-religious goal, often aimed at the personal career, the goal of yoga retreats is to answer to participants existential needs, expressed in words of purpose, meaning and longing. Thus, the representatives prescribe one solution (tools and methods for personal development) for both worldy and spritual/religious needs within their participants. I have also shown that there is an ambivalence among the representatives regarding how the offered methods should be used. While there is a perception that the goal is achieved through methods, several representatives show dissatisfaction with the fact that their participants overly fixate on these methods, as this may distract the participants from the expressed goal.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / With the large number of Android apps available in app stores such as Google Play, it has become increasingly challenging to choose among the apps. The users generally select the apps based on the ratings and reviews of other users, or the recommendations from the app store. But it is very important to take the security into consideration while choosing an app with the increasing security and privacy concerns with mobile apps. This thesis proposes different ranking schemes for Android apps based on security apps evaluated from the static code analysis tools that are available. It proposes the ranking schemes based on the categories of evidences reported by the tools, based on the frequency of each category, and based on the severity of each evidence. The evidences are gathered, and rankings are generated based on the theory of Subjective Logic. In addition to these ranking schemes, the tools are themselves evaluated against the Ghera benchmark. Finally, this work proposes two additional schemes to combine the evidences from difference tools to provide a combined ranking.

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The present investigation tested the prediction that effortless control processing, the deliberate activation of innate automatic encoding mechanisms, will enable nondepressed persons to accurately judge degree of control. Subjective judgment of control in nondepressed students was examined by a modification of the method developed by Jenkins and Ward (1965). The modification was based on Hasher and Zacks' (1979) version of the method. Several measures were used to assess students' representations of control. Students were asked to judge the degree of control their responses had over outcomes rather than the degree of contingency between responses and outcomes. To facilitate comparison of prior studies on the judgment of contingency with the present study, Jenkins and Ward's (1965) index of the actual degree of control was used. Their index used the magnitude of the difference between the conditional probability of an outcome given the occurrence of one response versus the conditional probability of the outcome given the occurrence of another response as representing degree of control or contingency. In this experiment, students instructed in effortful control processing and effortless control processing were presented with a series of problems in which there was no contingency between their responses and outcomes. The problems differed in the degree of favorable outcome frequency. Students' abilities to detect noncontingency between responses and outcomes under different conditions of outcome frequency was examined.

The overarching goal of this dissertation is to examine the complex trip-, activity-, and personal-level factors impacting individuals’ well-being. This is achieved through fulfilling three research objectives. The first objective examines the fluctuation of happiness induced by the influences of daily trip and activity factors. The second objective examines the sensitivity of affective well-being to trip and activity duration. The third objective evaluates the gender differences in trip- and activity-induced well-being. Three notable findings are discerned using trip and activity episodes as well as self-reported well-being of 357 participants collected by the Daynamica smartphone application in Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area from October 17, 2016, to October 25, 2017. The first finding shows the daily happiness deviation is zero in 6% of the number of trip and activity episodes recorded in a day for all individuals. Trip-level factors associated with share of time spent on education, work, and traveling alone result in the largest happiness variability. The number of activities is the sole activity-level factor with positive influence on happiness variability. Personal level factor of gender results in a low happiness variability. The second finding indicates that positive affect is more sensitive to trip duration than negative affect. Among trip-level factors, the sensitivity of affective well-being during a trip is relatively weak when traveling by bike, bus, and rail; conducting discretionary trip purposes; traveling with spouse, family, children, and friends; conducting secondary activities while traveling; and being satisfied with the travel environment. Among personal-level factors, the sensitivity of affective well-being during a trip is relatively strong for women and African Americans. The third finding demonstrates that the top three factors yielding the highest magnitude of impact for females are associated with biking, trip destination associated with discretionary activities, and walking. The likelihood of gain to loss happiness is four times for male bikers and two and a half times for female bikers. Results of both discretionary and mandatory trip origins have the least magnitude of impact for both females and males. For personal-level factors, the magnitude of impact is low for African American females, and not significant for males.

Thesis advisor: Margaret Lombe / For children that overcome Nigeria’s high child mortality rate, there is the additional and less-obvious hurdle of not reaching their full potential in life due to developmental delays. When children are on track developmentally, they stand a better chance of being ready for school, excelling academically, economically, and socially throughout the lifespan. Fewer studies in the Nigerian context have examined how known risk and protective factors interact to affect early childhood development (ECD). This three-paper dissertation used data from the nationally representative 2016/17 Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and was guided by the social determinants of health framework, the socioecological model of child development, and the family stress and investment models. The study highlighted the factors, including disparities across the multiethnic and diverse socioeconomic groups of Nigeria that are associated with child outcomes. i. Paper 1 assessed the performance and psychometric properties of the 10-item ECDI used in the MICS to track developmental outcomes among Nigerian children. ii. Paper 2 characterized the risk and protective factors for ECD across the 36 states and FCT of Nigeria using a multilevel modeling approach and, iii. Paper 3 used a structural regression to model the association between maternal subjective wellbeing (SWB), and developmental outcomes among the 3- to 4-year-old children. Findings highlighted discrepancies in the construct validity of the ECDI. Across the studies, resources, and family socioeconomic status particularly maternal level of education were significant predictors of outcomes for the child. Further, the study revealed that a child’s developmental context matters, where 29% of the variation in child outcomes was attributed to clustering by states. The studies extend prior research on ECD in Nigeria by its use of more accurate milestones to characterize ECD, its multilevel modeling approach, and its investigation of maternal SWB as a proxy for mental health. In all, findings from the dissertation call attention to the need to revise the ECDI, and for culturally adapted and validated ECD instruments. The study also highlighted the need to invest more resources in child development, mental health, and family strengthening especially through maternal education and wealth creation. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Social Work. / Discipline: Social Work.

As one of the most important emotional goals pertaining to humankind, achieving happiness has been the central focus of scientists, philosophers, and the general population alike since the beginning of recorded history. This study strove to examine the association of body image satisfaction and relationship quality as it relates to happiness. Four hundred college-age participants completed the Subjective Happiness Scale, the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (Appearance Scales), and the Network of Relationships Inventory (Relationships Quality Version) for close friendships of the same-sex and opposite-sex. Statistical analysis indicated that while body image satisfaction was significantly correlated with happiness, quality of interpersonal relationships was not. The results of this study emphasize the importance of one’s satisfaction with one’s body in the cultivation and maintenance of subjective well-being and the need to examine other potential predictors of happiness.

The purpose of this study is to augment the existing literature concerning the relationship between marital status, gender, social networks, and cohort effect on dimensions of subjective well-being for women. Multiple dimensions of subjective well-being are examined. Multiple regression and logistic regression are employed to examine the effects of marital status, social networks, and cohort effects on the dependent variables that tap the dimensions of subjective well-being. The analysis controls for age, race, education, income, religious attendance and region of residence. The findings report some inconsistency in regards to the current literature. Social networks and support are found to be the most constant independent predictor of subjective well-being. While the effects of being divorced and separated, as well as cohort membership, are not as consistent, the findings are notable and should be addressed in future research addressing subjective well-being.

Background: Doctoral attrition has been the subject of significant research over the past several years (Bair & Haworth, 2004; Cohen & Greenberg, 2011; Gardner, 2008; Lovitts, 2001). Prior research on doctoral students has focused on substantive differences in the Ed.D. and Ph.D. in education degree programs, rather than on potential differences among the students themselves. Purpose: To assess whether there are baseline differences in motivation and subjective well-being among the three groups of doctoral students in education: Ed.D. and Ph.D. students, part-time enrolled and full-time enrolled students, and first-year and secondyear students. Setting: University of Central Florida, College of Education Subjects: First-year and second-year students drawn from all three doctoral programs offered in the College, including Education, Ed.D., Education, Ph.D., and Educational Leadership, Ed.D. Data Collection and Analysis: A 131-item electronic survey to assess student motivation and subjective well-being was distributed to all 142 enrolled first-year and second-year doctoral students, of which 28.2% responded (n = 40). Cumulative motivation and separate subjective well-being scores were calculated for each participant, and MannWhitney tests were performed to compare the distribution of student scores within each group (Ed.D. and Ph.D., part-time enrolled and full-time, and first-year and second-year). Findings: No statistically significant differences were found in motivation and subjective well-being among the three groups of students. However, some findings on measures of motivation did approach statistical significance between Ed.D. and Ph.D. students. iv Conclusions: These findings may demonstrate that relative well-being and similar levels of intrinsic motivation exist among several groups of doctoral students. Recommendations for future research include an increase in the sample size by expanding the study to multiple institutions offering doctoral programs in education, as well as a modification of the instruments from ordinal scales to Likert-type instruments

Gratitude has been found to have many positive benefits, whether it is introspective or interpersonal in nature. This research explored the differential effects of an interpersonal and intrapersonal gratitude intervention on subjective well-being (SWB). Participants were assigned to one of three intervention conditions that were characterized by a weekly writing task—an interpersonal gratitude letter (n = 73), an intrapersonal gratitude journal (n = 65), or a learning journal (n = 67), which served as the control. A four-week, repeated gratitude intervention design was conducted, wherein participants' SWB was assessed across 12-time points, including a pre- and post-intervention SWB battery to assess the intervention’s overall impact. Participants in both gratitude conditions reported an overall increase in positive affect, supported by text analysis. However, participants who wrote gratitude letters had significantly less negative affect compared to the gratitude journal participants. Further analysis revealed a significant difference in SBW between the two gratitude conditions. Specifically, participants who experienced the intrapersonal gratitude journal-writing task reported a significant improvement in life satisfaction, while participants in the interpersonal gratitude letter-writing task evidenced a significant improvement in perceived social support. The control condition unexpectedly exhibited an increase in SWB that was likely due to the salience of the participants’ scholastic accomplishments. Finally, individual differences, including The Big Five, predicted gratitude and positive affect, consistent with prior research. / M.S. / Gratitude has been found in prior research to have many positive benefits, whether it is introspective or interpersonal in nature. However, not as much research has been conducted to understand if gratitude expressed introspectively or interpersonally is psychologically different in relation to one’s wellbeing. This research therefore explored the psychological benefits—and differences— between intrapersonal and interpersonal gratitude using a gratitude intervention over four consecutive weeks. Participants were either assigned a thank-you letter (interpersonal condition), an introspective gratitude journal (intrapersonal condition), or a learning journal (control condition). Results demonstrated that those who completed the gratitude letter felt more socially supported, while those who completed the gratitude journal saw an improvement in life satisfaction and how grateful they felt. The control group also found an improvement in their life satisfaction, which may have also been due to the introspective nature of their writing task. Feelings of positivity were greater in both gratitude groups compared to those in the control group. The study provided evidence for the psychological differences between introspective and interpersonal gratitude, and the positive role they both serve.