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Technological standards have existed for years encouraging the use of computer technology as a teaching tool. By increasing technology use in the classroom, educators are able to address teaching and learning opportunities for all students. The need for these opportunities is essential in the rural areas of the U. S. The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers in a rural city school district in Mississippi experience computer anxiety in using new and emerging software technologies for instructional purpose; examine the level of computer anxiety teachers experience in using computers; and explore if relationships exist in the level of computer anxiety experienced by teachers based on the following demographic variables: gender, age, years of teaching, subject area taught, and educational attainment. The population consisted of 110 teachers with a minimum of bachelor‟s degree and certified to teach in their respective areas of specialization. Findings from descriptive statistics revealed that the majority of the participants were female teachers with 43% of participants possessing either a Master‟s or Ph.D. degree. A large portion of these teachers had one year or more experience with learning about or working with computers with access to a computer at home. The means revealed that when teachers have a moderate degree of confidence, liking, and usefulness when using new and emerging software technology there is a low degree of anxiety. Pearson Correlations were used to examine the relationships between the subscales (anxiety, confidence, liking, and usefulness) and demographic variables (gender, age, years of teaching, subject area taught, and educational attainment). Results confirmed that there were significant relationships between age and anxiety, gender and confidence, gender and liking, and years of teaching and anxiety. However, there were no significant relationships between the other variables. Findings of this study have the potential to contribute to the development of a profile that could be used to identify teachers who need exposure to technological training and professional development to help reduce computer anxiety and minimize resistance to computer usage. Additionally, findings of this study can serve as a growing baseline of literature that relates to computer anxiety among teachers.

The present study explores how children of Hispanic immigrants (CHIs) perceive life in the U.S., and how they view cultural diversity. Questionnaires were given to 92 non-U.S. born CHIs and one of their non-U.S. born Hispanic immigrant parents (HIPs) who have lived in the U.S. between 1 and 17 years (M yrs = 8.43); their views of the U.S. were assessed along with their acceptance of diversity, acculturative stress, and levels of acculturation. In this study, I found that CHIs generally hold positive views of the lives in the U.S. and also hold favorable views toward cultural diversity. Furthermore, this study hypothesized that HIPs significantly influence their CHIs attitudes toward both the U.S. and toward cultural diversity. Overall, my findings validated the theoretically based expectation that demonstrates the power of parental attitudes on their children’s attitudes. A significant correlation was found between HIPs’ attitudes toward the U.S. and their children’s attitudes, as well as, CHIs’ attitudes toward the U.S. correlating significantly with their perceptions of their parents’ attitudes toward the U.S. Multiple and stepwise regressions further confirmed the importance of parental attitudes toward their children’s attitudes toward the U.S. and their openness to cultural diversity. Findings from this study provide implications for future research.

Combined with advancements in technology, prior research investigating the teacher-student relationship has radically changed the way we teach and learn in online education. This study examined the way teacher self-disclosure (TSD) influenced student motivation to enroll in an online course and altered their affect, or feelings, toward the teacher when applied within a purely online learning setting. The experiment took place online and was built within a Boston University’s learning management system (LMS), Blackboard Learn. In the online environment, TSD was controlled to provide high levels of male and female TSD in two treatment groups and a complete absence of TSD in two control groups. Out of the 336 Master of Social Work (MSW) students that responded to the recruitment email, 84 students were placed in one of four online settings led by fictional male and female teachers. Students in the treatment groups were granted access to male or female TSD via a Meet the Professor tab within the online learning environment. This tab provided students with access to content collected from social media websites, such as LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and Twitter on a single web page. The social media content displayed personal and professional information about these fictional instructors and were used to create TSD in the sample online course. The study participants were instructed to explore their assigned sample course not including (control) or including (treatment) TSD. Before and after exploring the sample course, participants completed pre- and post-surveys measuring their motivation to engage in the online course materials, their affect toward the teacher (ATT), and their perceptions of TSD within the online learning environment. Hypothesis testing using ANCOVA, correlation, t-test, and Chi-squared procedures revealed no statistical significance. Findings include recommendations for methodological requirement need to explore the complexities of the teacher-student relationship within a purely online learning environment.

Previous research has established that children tend to have negative attitudes toward emotionally disturbed peers, as well as physically disabled and retarded peers. Previous research has also found that children tend to have negative behavioral intentions toward physically disabled and mentally retarded peers. Negative behavioral intentions reflect a child's lack of willingness to engage in various social or friendship behaviors with a peer. Researchers have found that when children have negative attitudes toward a physically disabled or mentally retarded peer, they are less willing to interact with or befriend that peer. No attention has been given to children's behavioral intentions toward emotionally disturbed peers, or the connection between children's attitudes and behavioral intentions toward emotionally disturbed peers. Ninety-nine elementary school age children in grades 4, 5, and 6 participated in the present study. Children were presented with eight vignettes describing hypothetical emotionally disturbed and nonemotionally disturbed peers. The vignettes were presented to children in their classrooms where they were asked to express their attitudes and behavioral intentions toward the hypothetical peers. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Although the nature of services provided by college guidance/counseling centers in the Philippines have evolved from an almost exclusive academic focus to a more diversified one, little is known as to who is taking advantage of this expanded service and what may be preventing others from doing so. More information is needed since psychological stress from personal concerns impacts the well-being of Filipino college students, and, in particular, their likelihood to have a positive academic experience. Data were collected from six introductory psychology classes from three colleges in the Philippines. The data consisted of responses to six measures of constructs that prior research has found to be related. These constructs are: locus of control orientation, levels of distress, likelihood to conceal, level of social support, attitudes toward counseling, and likelihood to seek counseling. Statistical analysis of the results was performed and the findings interpreted to determine whether or not specific models of help-seeking behavior would apply to the Filipino college student population. Path analysis was used to determine the best fitting model among the eight that were studied. Based on the best fitting model, specific conclusions were drawn and these are: (1) college students in the Philippines are more likely to seek counseling when their level of distress is high; (2) distress is higher when social support networks are impaired, individuals have an external locus of control orientation, and they tend to conceal personal information from others; (3) social support is less in Filipino college students who tend to have an external orientation and who are likely to conceal personal information from others; and (4) negative attitudes toward counseling are more likely in students who tend to have an external orientation and who are likely to conceal personal information from others. Implications for service providers point toward a more active role in providing services to the students in the classrooms while exploring various way of educating the students about the different factors that contribute to psychological distress and isolation.

The purpose of the study is to measure the difference in attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help between American and Japanese college students and to identify possible predictors associated with the attitudinal differences. Three hundred American and 300 Japanese participants completed a survey questionnaire. The study demonstrated the degree of difference between Japanese and American undergraduate students, and analyzed whether, or how, the variables of nationality, sex, past experience with the profession of psychology (direct experience), knowing a close person who previously sought professional psychological help, and internal health locus of control were related to attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. The present study found Japanese participants to be less likely to have favorable attitudes toward mental health services than American participants. Female participants had greater positive help-seeking attitudes than male participants in the United States. Sex was not found to be a predictor among the Japanese participants. Past experience of seeking professional psychological help and knowing a close person who had sought professional psychological help were found to be predictors of help-seeking attitudes in both Japan and the United States.

One of the pillars of a democratic society is social trust. It strengthens the perception of group values and creates a social environment that may influence attitudes toward immigrants. This paper delves into the dynamics of frequent social interaction (FSI), attitudes towards immigrants (ATI), and the mediating role of social trust (ST). The research aims to investigate the connections that underpin the relationships within this democratic system in Sweden. Does social trust and frequent social interaction influence attitudes toward immigrants? This paper uses the European Social Survey (ESS), particularly the 2018-2019 Round 9, focusing on Sweden. Hayes Process Macro Model 4 simple mediation is used to regress and explore the relationship between these variables. The quantitative analysis result indicates that there were statistically significant relationships between FSI and ATI with the presence of social trust as the mediator. The research paper provided findings that are beneficial in the study of International Migration and Ethnic Relations (IMER) and added information on how attitudes toward immigrants influence Swedish society. Lastly, a proposal for future research is then discussed and concluded.

Perceptions can be influenced by the media concerning different groups of people. As a result of the importance of the media in how individuals obtain information and formulate opinions, how different groups are presented whether negatively or positively is important. This research examines the portrayal of mental illness in films and the impact that such portrayals have on the perceptions of mental illness of the viewers. Mental illness representations can be found quite prevalently among film and the way in which it is represented can be important as to how populations perceive those with mental disorders. This thesis looks to explore perceptions of mental illness and beliefs from those who have viewed films that portray characters with mental disorders. Through the use of an online survey, one hundred and ninety five participants provided data for this study. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that individuals who had seen more films portraying mental illness would have more knowledge and sympathy regarding mental illness compared those who had seen less films portraying mental illness. It was also hypothesized that social stereotypes surrounding mental disorders would be present in the knowledge that individuals had more so than factual data about mental disorders. Women were predicted to express more sympathy than men. A statistical analysis program was used to analyze the resulting data including the use of correlations and t-tests. Evidence indicated that the amount of films viewed portraying mental illness did not have an impact on knowledge or sympathy regarding mental illness. Perceptions of mental illness are still a relevant topic and the awareness of facts surrounding mental disorders should continue to be spread.

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