Approximately 70% of change initiatives fail to achieve the anticipated outcomes, and resistance to change is continuously cited in the literature as 1 of the most common reasons for change failure. Researchers know that emotions play a role in change but do not know how emotional intelligence affects the relationship between leader-member exchange and reactions to change. Grounded in Oreg's multidimensional resistance-to-change model, leader-member exchange theory, and emotional intelligence theory, the purpose of this study was to narrow the gap in knowledge of how emotional intelligence influences the relationship between leader-member exchange and resistance to change. A correlational, cross-sectional design was employed with a nonpurposeful sample of 349 research administrators, and data analysis was completed through hierarchical multiple regression and the Hayes PROCESS macro. Significant negative correlations were found between (a) leader-member exchange and resistance to change and (b) emotional intelligence and resistance to change. Emotional intelligence was not found to have an expected moderating effect on the relationship between leader-member exchange and resistance to change. The findings indicated that employees are less likely to resist change when they perceive a higher quality relationship with their supervisor and have a higher level of emotional intelligence. The results of this study can be used to inform organizational leaders of the need to incorporate training on building high-quality relationships and emotional intelligence in change management programs, thereby increasing the likelihood of achieving the organizational goals intended by the change.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the effect that attribution style and presenting symptoms has on the self-reported readiness to change of female survivors of childhood sexual abuse. The aim was to demonstrate that the stages of change are a useful concept in understanding how to approach treatment with female child sexual abuse survivors seeking psychotherapy. One factor that influences the effectiveness of psychotherapy is a client's degree of motivation. The concept of "stage of change" has been used as a measure of client motivation. Stage of change consists of four basic stages; precontemplative, contemplative, action, and maintenance. Prior research has demonstrated that assisting clients in transitioning from a lower to a higher stage of change early in psychotherapy can improve outcomes. Assigning clients a "readiness to change" score is a simple method of categorizing their stage of change. There are many variables that could impact a client's readiness to change. The two selected for this study were attributional style and presenting symptoms. The statistical analysis consisted of using correlation to determine the strength of the relationship between readiness to change, overall attribution styles, and presenting symptoms. Multiple regression was used to see how much of the variance in readiness to change could be accounted for by different levels of attributions or symptomatology. No correlation was found between readiness to change and the other variables, although internal attribution style, external attribution style, and symptomatology were all correlated with each other. Likewise, the different levels of attribution and symptomatology did not account for a significant amount of variance in readiness to change. A secondary analysis into the relationship between total attributions endorsed and symptomatology provided evidence that individuals who make more attributions report significantly more presenting symptoms than individuals who make fewer attributions. The conclusions drawn from this study focus on the importance of utilizing client motivation in the initial sessions of therapy, and propose that focusing on reducing the number of attributions made could be more beneficial to clients than helping them move from one attribution style to another.

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Many college counseling centers use outcome measures to track therapeutic change for their clientele. These questionnaires have traditionally looked primarily at a client's symptom distress (e.g. depression, anxiety, suicidality, etc.) and are used to detect changes in the client's life that are due to therapy. Unfortunately, there is no measure that has been exclusively created and validated for use with college students. The College Adjustment Scales (CAS) form a multidimensional psychological measure designed specifically for use in college and university settings. Even though the CAS was created as a screening tool, it contains items that provide insight into changes that are possibly taking place for college students in therapy that are not measured by current outcome questionnaires. The purpose of this study was to determine which items and scales on the CAS were sensitive to therapeutic change for college students, thus assessing the validity of the test as an outcome measure and providing data for the development of future college counseling specific outcome questionnaires. This study used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to generate slopes that represent change over time for treatment and control groups. These slopes were compared to each other in order to determine whether each item and scale was sensitive to therapeutic change. The control sample consisted of 127 student participants that were not in therapy. The treatment sample was archival and consisted of 409 student clients. Seven of the nine scales were found to be sensitive to therapeutic change. However, 45 of the 108 individual items did not meet the set criteria. Because of these findings, the creators of the CAS are encouraged to revise the measure if it is to be used as an outcome questionnaire. In addition, researchers and clinicians should consider these results and take care not to treat this measure as an instrument that is wholly sensitive to therapeutic change for the college population. Items found to be sensitive to therapeutic change can be used to create a new outcome measure specifically for counseling centers.

An uncertain business environment and increased competition have resulted in change being an inevitable aspect for modern organizations. Therefore, it's important to understand what factors have the most impact on a change project's outcome. Previous research found that as much as 70 percent of change projects do not achieve the desired results. To address this issue, research has been conducted to establish factors that are important to operationalize independent of the change projects characteristics. However, the success rate of change projects is still low and contemporary research suggests how factors that are important to operationalize are influenced by change characteristics. This study examined the relationship between critical success factors and change characteristics through an individual case study of a change project. The method was qualitative and semi-structured interviews were conducted with employees at the case company. The study found that certain critical success factors established by prior research were not considered important for the change project's outcome, while other factors, including the respondents own suggestions, were considered crucial. The study also found that certain phases of the change project were considered more important than others.

Equality is one of the most debated topics of our time. In Sweden, the work on gender equality has been shaped by the strategy of gender mainstreaming since 1994. Gender mainstreaming not only affects the undertaking of gender equality issues at the national level, but also at the local level. Despite this, there is limited knowledge regarding the implementation of gender mainstreaming in municipalities, particularly from perspectives other than feminist ones. Therefore, this study focuses on the implementation of gender mainstreaming in three Swedish municipalities and also highlights the potential impact of organizational culture on gender equality efforts. The thesis is a multiple case study that aims to study the extent to which municipal organizational culture influences the implementation process. This aim is formulated based on previous research in this field, which suggests that organizational culture affects implementation processes. The organizational culture in the municipalities is extensively examined through the lens of capability to change. The research questions are answered through text analysis of gender equality policies and interviews with officials in each municipality. The findings of this thesis show that organizational cultures in municipalities have the potential to influence the implementation of gender mainstreaming in different stages of the implementation process. The study identifies differences in the organizational capability to change, both within and between the municipalities. The study also finds that certain aspects of the municipalities’ organizational culture can affect the implementation of gender mainstreaming. Additionally, the study has found that both management models and path dependency may be factors that impact gender mainstreaming efforts, even though this was not the primary focus of the study.

Promoting sustainable behavior or environmentally responsible behavior poses challenges because there is no overarching solution for behavior changes. Both surveys and interventions are context specific, meaning behaviors do not necessarily influence other behaviors and the same values, norms, and beliefs do not necessarily translate to the same level of sustainable behavior. Because there are regional differences in ideologies in the United States, a country level approach to encourage sustainable behavior would not be as effective as having interventions that directly correlate with the motivations that encourage environmentally responsible behavior. A survey will be conducted with University of Central Florida undergraduate students. The results of the survey will be analyzed through structural equation modelling and compared to previous studies to examine the regional differences among college students. The results of this study will assist new intervention programs to be personalized to the target group’s motivating factors and more effectively change behavior through improving self-efficacy for sustainable behaviors.

Despite research which found that using technology in teaching is beneficial to students, few teachers continue to use technology in their instruction. The research literature addressed four barriers to technology infusion by teachers: lack of tools, time, training, and support. Many teachers do not have the equipment to implement technology into their instruction and do not have the time to learn technology skills as well as implement technology into their lessons. Many teachers lack the training to use technology in their instruction and also lack the support from those in the school to infuse technology in their instruction. A case study of teachers in a small rural school was conducted to examine their change of instruction when they were provided the opportunity to use technology in their instruction by participating in a project which addressed the barriers to technology infusion. Throughout a three year period, the researcher collected data to assess technology integration by the teachers through interviews, observations, and document analysis. The teachers? instruction changed very little. To the teachers, the purpose of the project was to create lesson plans. They seemed to see the project as a burden rather than as an opportunity improve their teaching. The conclusion drawn from the case study was that the barriers addressed in the literature were not the only barriers to technology infusion by teachers. One barrier to technology infusion by these teachers seemed to be their confusion about the purpose of the project. Another barrier for these teachers was their lack of acceptance of the project staff who they considered to be outsiders. The teachers also seemed to lack the motivation to change their teaching which seemed to be a barrier for technology infusion as well. It is recommended that administrators who would like to see technology used in instruction choose teachers for a project such as this who want to change their teaching. It is also recommended that future projects present the project as an opportunity for change in their instruction. It is also recommended that future projects build positive relationships with the participants.

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