This research investigated the effects of the media on attitudes toward police and fear of crime, while controlling for selected audience trait variables. A self-report questionnaire was administered to 351 students at East Tennessee State University. The survey consisted of demographic and audience trait variables. The survey also contained items that measured the respondants' media consumption. Respondents were asked, for example, which format they typically get news from (e.g., newspaper, television), how often they watch television, and how real they perceive crime related television to be. Multivariate analysis showed that demographic and audience trait variables explained more variance than did media-related variables.

The current study sought to assess the impact of the race, gender, and ethnicity of rape victims on college students’ propensity to assign culpability to victims. Using a sample of college students (n=279) from a mid-sized Southeastern university, respondents were given a set of six different vignettes, varying only by victim characteristics. These vignettes featured alcohol-facilitated sexual assault between acquaintances, a common occurrence in college environments. Respondents were asked to evaluate the culpability of the victim through a blameworthiness scale. Through the incorporation of the Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance Scale, this study also measured the respondents’ propensity to assign blame to female rape victims and to alleviate male perpetrators of any responsibility. Results indicated that adherence to rape myth acceptance was a more significant predictor of blameworthiness than victim or respondent characteristics. This exploratory study was designed to add to the growing body of literature examining attitudes toward acquaintance rape.

Objectives: Breast-feeding rates in rural and southeastern regions of the United States are lower than national rates and Healthy People 2020 targets. The objectives of this study were to understand current breast-feeding knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs among rural southern Appalachian adolescents and to explore whether a high school educational intervention designed to address the five tenets (knowledge, attitudes, intentions, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms) of the theory of planned behavior may be effective in increasing future rates of breast-feeding in this population. Methods: An educational session including an interactive game was developed and administered to occupational health science students during a single class period in two county high schools. A presurvey and a postsurvey administered 2 weeks after the intervention were completed by students. Pre- and postsurveys were analyzed using paired ttests and Cohen d and potential differences based on sex and grade were explored. Results: Both pre- and postsurveys were completed by 107 students (78%). Knowledge, attitudes about breast-feeding benefits, subjective norms, and intentions significantly improved following the intervention. Baseline knowledge and attitudes about breast-feeding benefits for mothers were low and demonstrated the greatest improvement. Conclusions: Offering breast-feeding education based on the theory of planned behavior in a single high school class session was effective in improving student knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about breast-feeding and intention to breast-feed.

The primary goal of this dissertation was to gain a better understanding of individuals’ membership benefits preferences and attitudes toward donation programs in the context of urban zoo settings. The first objective of this dissertation was to provide a background on membership and donation related research in the context of zoos and other relevant organizations. Based on the review of literature, the second objective was to empirically examine, through two independent studies, zoo membership benefit preferences and attitudes toward a donation program. <div><br></div><div>Despite a wealth of knowledge in the literature with respect to zoo visitors, animals, exhibits, and related programs, little research has been conducted on individuals’ preferences for zoo membership benefit packages and attitudes toward donation programs. To fill the gaps in these areas, the first empirical study examined factors that influence current and prospective members’ decision-making when choosing a membership package at an urban zoo. More specifically, the study explored preferences for selected membership program benefits and benefit levels, as well as how these preferences varied among visitors grouped by key segmentation variables. The study findings suggested that price of membership package was the most important factor, followed by the discount on food and beverage and the proportion of membership fees devoted to animal conservation. As expected, the visitors who scored high on place attachment to the zoo were more supportive of the zoo and less sensitive to variations in the specific options included in the zoo’s membership package. <br></div><div><br></div><div>In the second study, attitudes toward a donation program at an urban zoo were examined. In particular, this study investigated subgroups’ differences segmented by their membership status, place attachment levels, and attitudinal positions. A two-dimensional/bivariate attitude approach was employed to explore potential differences among attitudinal position groups. The study findings indicated while most respondents held positive attitudes toward the donation program, zoo members and nonmembers did not differ significantly. The likelihood of joining the donation program was significantly higher for those in the positive dominant attitude group compared to those in the negative dominant and equally ambivalent groups. Additionally, a qualitative analysis revealed that many respondents were concerned about the cost or affordability of the donation program; and perceived the benefits of the program as a poor value.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Collectively, the two empirical studies provide useful insight for managers and professionals charged with developing membership and donation programs in zoological parks and other relevant organizations. The study results also suggest a number of potentially productive directions for future research in these areas.<br></div><div><br></div>

The research reported in this thesis was an exploratory nature undertaken for the purpose of developing a measure of the adequacy of health services in three rural counties in Utah. The three counties included in the study area were Beaver, Piute, and Wayne. Adequacy of health services in the three-county area was measured on the basis of (1) the general population's, or consumer's, perception of the adequacy of the existing services, (2) the professional's or provider's perception of the adequacy of the existing services, and (3) adequacy of the existing services determined by a comparison with an established standard. The findings showed that major differences in the general population's perception of adequacy are present when controlling for county with the vast majority of the respondents in Piute and Wayne counties perceiving the existing services as poor, but with a large majority of those in Beaver County considering their services as good or excellent. With regard to the professional's perception of adequacy of existing services, it was found that the majority of the medical doctors perceived the services as adequate, but the doctors of dental surgery generally perceived the adequacy of service as somewhat less than desirable. With regard to the last measure, that of adequacy of existing services as determined by a comparison to an established standard, the services in the study area were found to be inadequate in all respects with the single exception of number of hospital beds per 1,000 population in Beaver County. It was concluded that there is a large degree of consensus between the perceived inadequacy of the health services of the general population in Piute and Wayne counties and the inadequacy demonstrated by the comparison of existing services to an established standard. In Beaver County the reverse is true with the perception of the general population and that of the physician population being very similar, both considering the services adequate but both being in disagreement with adequacy as measured by an established standard. The findings suggest that more detailed research in the area is needed if a standard of adequacy acceptable to everyone is to be developed.

Visual implicit propositioning suggests that exemplars can activate stereotypes regarding social group members, affecting how individuals may perceive issues presented in a news format. This experiment sought to test the main tenet of visual implicit propositioning by examining how gay exemplars affect social estimate perceptions associated with the mortgage crisis and support for programs that would help homeowners refinance their mortgages. One hundred and ninety heterosexual college students read a news story featuring recent the mortgage crisis with a gay male couple, a heterosexual couple or a house and reported their perceptions related to various social groups. Gay exemplars did not affect social estimate perceptions, but did affect support for programs that would help homeowners refinance their homes. Attitudes towards gay males was examined as a moderating variable, however, this study did not find that these attitudes moderated the relationship between the exemplar presented and social estimates or support for programs.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between university students&amp / #8217 / use of language learning strategies, achievement, gender, span of learning English, type of high school they graduated from, and attitude toward English. Two instruments were used for data collection purposes: The Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL) developed by Oxford (1990) and Aiken&amp / #8217 / s Attitude Scale (1979). The instruments were administered to 153 university students from the different streams at the Preparatory school of BaSkent University, Ankara, Turkey. The data gathered was analyzed by using SPSS program / descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, correlation, and one-way ANOVA. The results showed that Metacognitive strategies category was the most frequently used iv category by the students, followed by Social strategies category, Compensation strategies category, Memory strategies category, Cognitive strategies category and Affective strategies category respectively. The results also showed that there were statistically significant differences between male and female students&amp / #8217 / use of strategies. Female students used strategies from various categories with higher frequency compared to male students. There were statistically significant differences between students&amp / #8217 / strategy use with regard to type of high school they graduated from. There were no statistically significant differences between students&amp / #8217 / strategy use with regard to span of learning English. Affective and Social strategy categories were found to have statistically significant relation with the students&amp / #8217 / fall term language achievement scores. The results also revealed that students&amp / #8217 / strategy use had statistically significant relation with the students&amp / #8217 / attitude toward English.

Street harassment, the sexual harassment by strangers in public places, is a common experience shared by many women and has been linked with other forms of sexual victimization. The negative impact of street harassment, such as fear and behavior to avoid being harassed, points to the need for preventing the behavior. This study sought to determine whether the documentary-style film War Zone may be effective in impacting men’s attitudes toward street harassment, and whether the effectiveness of the film would depend on men’s hostility toward women and level of peer acceptance for street harassment. Findings do not support the effectiveness of War Zone as a component of street harassment prevention. However, the data does suggest that endorsement of hostile attitudes toward women predicts a lack of empathy, and that endorsement of hostile attitudes toward women, a lack of empathy, and peer acceptance of street harassment predict acceptance of street harassment.

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the attitudes toward women of female managers, the quality of leader-member exchange between female managers and their female subordinates, and female managers¡¦queen bee behavior which female subordinates perceived. Moreover, this study examined seven related moderator variables within the relationship between the attitudes toward women of female managers and their queen bee behavior female subordinates perceived. We collected 140 matched questionnaires from female managers and one of their random female subordinates as a complete set in various industries, and 129 of 140 sets are valid. Our results showed that the attitudes toward women of female managers had a significant positive relationship with queen bee behavior female subordinates perceived, which means the more traditional attitudes toward women female managers hold, the higher degree queen bee behavior their female subordinates perceived. Besides, we found a significant negative relationship between the quality of leader-member exchange between female managers and their female subordinates, and queen bee behavior female subordinates perceived, which indicates the lower the exchange quality between female managers and their female subordinates, the higher degree queen bee behavior female subordinates perceived. And we also found that marital status of female managers and the female portion in their departments moderated the relationship between the attitudes toward women of female managers and queen bee behavior female subordinates perceived. Further practical implications and suggestions are also discussed in this study.

The appearance of smart phone creates new opportunities for mobile advertising. The new forms of mobile advertising have decreased the users¡¦ negative impression of short message service. What are the features of the new mobile advertisement? Why the users willing to spend more time on reading the advertisements? How to create a mobile advertisement with advertising effect? In this research we attempts to find out the factors affecting the consumers¡¦ attitude toward mobile advertising, and the relationship between the attitude toward mobile advertising and advertising effect. We also try to observe the impact of the mediator, the method of opening a page on internet, on mobile advertising. There are four main results: 1. Entertainment, informativeness, and operation are the most important factors affecting consumers¡¦ positive attitude toward mobile advertising. 2. Informativeness¡Birritation and credibility are the most important factors affecting consumers¡¦ negative attitudes toward mobile advertising. 3. The attitude toward mobile advertising has a significant impact on advertising effect. 4. The moderating effect of the method of opening a page on internet between the relationship of the attitude toward mobile advertising and advertising effect is significant.