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1
Lembke, Swantje (Svan). "The Social Identity of Teams at Work." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2036.
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This dissertation investigates the management of teams at work. A thorough examination of the literature on small groups, coupled with field research on the implementation of teamwork in the New Zealand operations of a large multinational provides insights about how members of a team think. It is shown that the perception of membership by team members influences their ability to make effective use of resources and make informed decisions, not only within the team, but also with regard to its impact on the organisation. Social identity theory provides a theoretical model for the psychological processes of team membership. The processes of categorisation, self-categorisation and social identification are mapped against the introduction of teamwork over a period of two years to assess whether or not they are relevant. The results from surveys of and interviews with senior staff members support the processes described by social identity theory, where groups can operate as separate cognitive and emotional units as relevant for the management of teams at work. Because of the unique psychological processes, team members at work have to be interacted with (and be given information) differently than individuals in order to behave as a high-performing team. This study develops the implications of social identity theory for the introduction and management of teams at work, leading to high performance for the organisation. Key words: Teamwork, social identity, social cognition
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Hauraki, Jennifer. "A model minority?: Chinese youth and mental health services in New Zealand." Thesis, University of Auckland, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/1876.
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The 'model minority' label given to Chinese populations in New Zealand and other Western countries have made it difficult to truly comprehend the difficulties faced by some Chinese ethnic minorities. Despite comparable rates and types of mental health problems to their European counterparts, identifiable barriers have led to Chinese ethnic minorities underutilising mental health services. The present study investigated the mental health service utilisation in native- and foreign-born Chinese youth in New Zealand, paying particular attention to barriers to service utilisation and viable solutions for these difficulties. It consisted of three individual projects and explored the views of Chinese community and mental health professionals and Chinese university students, comparing their perspectives to university students of other ethnicities. Findings showed that despite a willingness to seek help from their family and mental health professionals (e.g., psychologists, school counsellors), respondents identified a myriad of obstacles to the help seeking of Chinese youth. These included physical barriers (e.g., financial and transport constraints), personal barriers (e.g., stigma, problems accepting their difficulties), service barriers (e.g., paucity of knowledge regarding mental health problems and available services) and family barriers (e.g., obstruction from family members). Family and service barriers distinguished the difficulties faced by Chinese in comparison to European youth, particularly with regards to the adherence of professionals to stereotypes of Chinese youth, a unique finding of this study. In order to reduce such barriers, the Chinese university students and professionals advocated for greater education regarding mental health problems and services in the Chinese community, education for Chinese parents regarding adolescent issues, an increase in the number of practicing Chinese professionals that is coupled with improved cross-cultural training for non-Chinese professionals, as well as individual assessment and treatment approaches with Chinese youth and their families.Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.
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Woodfield, Melanie Joslyn. "Exploring the relationship between family involvement and outcome in residential interventions for children." Thesis, University of Auckland, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/3193.
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Family participation in residential interventions for children has been reliably shown to enhance children’s adaptation to the community following discharge. This finding, however, had predominantly been observed in long-term residential programmes in North America. This thesis examines the influence of family involvement on outcome for children in a short-term residential intervention - the Children’s Health Camp, in Auckland, New Zealand. This service offers children and families, who may be experiencing social, emotional, physical and/or behavioural challenges, individualised interventions that often include a five-week residential stay. A ‘high family involvement’ condition, a community-based programme that followed a residential intervention, was compared with a ‘low family involvement’ condition (the traditional residential programme). No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups on parent-report measures of child behaviour and parenting practices, although significant improvements in children’s behaviour (including emotional, social and conduct aspects) for both groups were found. Reasons for the lack of difference between the groups, and the difficulties inherent in conducting outcome research in a residential facility for children are highlighted. Other influences on outcome for children and families, such as residential staff members’ attitudes toward family involvement were also examined. The optimal conditions for successful short-term residential interventions for children are proposed.
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Marie, Janet. "Working well : women's experience of managing psychological wellbeing as sex workers : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Aotearoa/New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1181.
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Despite evidence to the contrary, policy makers, some researchers and many who provide health and social services to sex workers continue to reflect and reinforce the notion that sex workers are dysfunctional and constitute a threat to public health. This thesis presents the results of a study which explicitly examined how indoor sex workers look after their psychological wellbeing. Twelve participants (who had worked as sex workers for at least 3 years) took part in semi-structured interviews and discussed how they looked after themselves both at work and in their wider social context. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Two main themes emerged from the data. The first, “doing sex work”, relates to workplace practices. The second theme, “being a sex worker”, relates to how the women understand their experience of being a sex worker in their social context and how they care for themselves in this arena; also apparent in this theme are aspects related to entry and exit of the industry. All participants took part in the study to increase understanding of and social justice for sex workers. Most of the participants see sex work as having a positive contribution to their personal growth. The findings show that participants are resilient and employ self-care practices that are commonly used by many in occupations that deal with people or who are stigmatised in some way. Major conclusions drawn from the study are that working in a supportive environment, prior understandings of sex work, personal traits and reasons for entering the sex industry are closely related to positive psychological wellbeing.
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Williams, Tania Marie. "Cultural competency in New Zealand industrial and organisational psychology and human resource management professionals and students: is personality or experience a better predictor? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1091.
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This thesis explores the relevance of Bio Data verses Personality for predicting Cultural Competence among Industrial and Organisational Psychology and Human Resource Management professionals and students in New Zealand. It also explores the relevance of the model (D.W. Sue, 2001) of Cultural Competence currently in use by the New Zealand Psychologists board and also the relevance of a four factor model of Cultural Intelligence (Early & Ang, 2003). The sample consisted of 113 participants drawn from a population of Industrial and Organisational Psychology, and Human Resource Management professionals and students. A questionnaire which measures the predictors of the Big Five Personality Factors (Goldberg, 1999), and Bio Data, and the criterion variables of Cultural Intelligence (Earley & Ang, 2003) and questions constructed specifically for this thesis was distributed online. The criterion variables were based on an existing three part (Awareness, Knowledge and Skills) Multidimensional Model for Developing Cultural Competence by D.W. Sue (2001). The results of this research were obtained through exploratory factor analysis and subsequent multiple regression analysis. A new model was constructed to represent the tested predictor and criterion relationship. Results suggest that overall Personality is a better predictor of Cultural Competence, with the Personality Factor of Agreeableness being the highest weighted Personality Factor. D.W Sue’s (2001) Multidimensional Model for Developing Cultural Competence maintained its three part structure in the analysis and consequently seems relevant to the unique socio-cultural, organisational and professional setting of the tested group. Ang and colleagues (Ang, Van Dyne, Koh, Ng, Templer, Tay & Chandraseker, 2007) Cultural Intelligence Scale maintained its four part factor structure and was reliable for this thesis.
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Ralph, Kirsten. "Understanding the experience of high workplace engagement in a team environment: workplace contributors and influences : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1134.
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This research endeavors to understand people's experience of working in a highly engaged team, and specifically to understand the aspects of the work environment that contribute to their engagement. As participants' own perspectives and views are central to gaining a rich insight, a qualitative approach is taken. Twenty-five participants from a large government agency who had worked in highly engaged teams took part in five focus group discussions. The discussions were analysed following thematic analysis techniques, and a thematic network of three interrelated layers was developed to explain the findings. This thematic network focuses more on people's experiences of working in an engaging environment and the feelings associated with these experiences, whereas the literature focuses more on describing engagement and the aspects of the environment which contributes to engagement. At the base of the engagement model, developed from this research, are the seven aspects of the workplace that contribute to people's engagement: leadership; challenging and or varied work; access to knowledge; latitude and responsibility; social atmosphere; safety, trust and support; and respect. Above this are the feelings people connect with working in this environment: feeling at ease and relaxed, having a sense of achievement and satisfaction, and being valued or validated. The top layer of the model is the overall sense of what working in an engaging environment is about: feeling good in one's self. Three further observations are made. Firstly, the team is an important aspect in people's engagement, and a duality exists where the person and the team simultaneously influence each other. Secondly, engagement is an active process; it changes over time, has a lifecycle over people's careers, actively transfers between people and exists within a reinforcing loop. Lastly, engagement within this organisation, refers to a connection to the work or workplace: people were interested, participated, enjoyed and were connected to their work, but maintained a separation. There was no sense of merging one's identity with the work as noted within some of the literature on engagement.
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Lees, Nicola Frances. "The ability to bounce back : the relationship between resilience, coping and positive outcomes : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1173.
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Resilience is a term of increasing prevalence in many aspects of society including the workplace. This thesis has sought to examine the relationship resilience has with coping, engagement, and life satisfaction. Data was collected via a survey that included standard measures for the variables of interest and two open-ended questions targeting sources of stress and sources of satisfaction. Findings show a positive relationship between resilience and task-focused coping, engagement, and life satisfaction. No relationship was found between resilience and maladaptive coping or social support. Additionally, it was found that resilience acted as a full mediator in the relationship between task-focused coping and engagement, but had no mediating effect in the relationship between task-focused coping and life satisfaction. The open-ended questions identified that the same demand frequently acted as both a source of stress and a source of satisfaction.
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Mace, Janet-Lee. "An inquiry into the meaning of Guillain-Barré syndrome : a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts." Massey University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1180.
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Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) is an autoimmune syndrome characterized by a severe and rapid onset of paralysis that ascends without warning. It has an unknown aetiology and is generally unknown by most people, including medical professionals. When a person who has had GBS is asked to speak about their experience, they are likely to talk about aspects of it that are personally meaningful. Their account can be likened to a story in that it collates seemingly unconnected facts, episodes of activity and emotional attributions into a sequence that provides knowledge and understanding. A story is a powerful form for expressing suffering and experiences and so is particularly suitable for the study of trauma and illness. The actual process of creating the story, plus its presentational and organisational forms, provides sources for uncovering the identities authors choose to create and present of themselves. Six people who have had GBS were interviewed about their experience, and their stories were analysed using a narrative inquiry to discern the meanings attributed to GBS from the participants’ own understandings and perspectives. The intended focus of the research was holistic and content based. The result of the narrative inquiry was a plot common to all six narratives. Namely, GBS is an inexplicable condition, during which horrendous things happen, but people do recover with time and it is likely their life view will be changed in the process. Four fundamental issues, identity, meaning, making sense and meaningfulness were drawn from the stories and configured into a narrative of the researcher’s making. What the participants chose to speak about became the meanings, or themes, major and minor, of their stories. No event has meaning in itself, however traumatic events can precipitate crises of meaning. When these crises are viewed within the context of other events, and are perceived to add value to life, then they have meaningfulness. In the telling of meanings and meaningfulness, the purpose for storying and the audience to whom the story is directed are the criteria for which the storylines are chosen. Both the story and the storying provide opportunities for the authors to create and offer images of themselves, that are then open to interpretation by an audience. As a traumatic experience, GBS enabled six people to tell their stories. In doing so they were able to make sense of important issues for themselves, and re-examine the way they saw themselves and the world.
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Crowe, Laura Majella. "Social support in later life : the influence of retirement and marital status : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment for the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1320.
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The study explored the relationship between retirement and marital status and objective and subjective measures of social support. A secondary analysis was conducted on a sample of 6,662 men and women aged 55-70 years of age. Results of a series of 2-way ANOVAs revealed greater interaction with friends amongst retired individuals than those who were employed. Marital status was shown to be associated with interaction with family and levels of perceived social support. An interaction between retirement and marital status was also shown to influence levels of perceived social support. The results reveal that retirement and marital status have an individual and interaction effect on various measures of social support and indicate the importance of considering marital status when researching, educating and working with issues regarding retirement and social support.
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Caie, Linda Jayne Nelson. "When all roads lead to Rome: expatriate adjustment in a United Nations Organisation : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Organisational Psychology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1065.
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Studies of expatriate adjustment have traditionally focused on corporate expatriate assignments where foreign employees are often the only expatriate, or one of a handful in a host organisation. Multicultural not-for-profit organisations such as United Nations organisations have largely been ignored. It was hypothesised that classic predictors of expatriate adjustment – Spousal Adjustment, Culture Novelty and Acculturation Style, and novel variables of Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment would predict Expatriate Adjustment and subsequent Cognitions to Withdraw prematurely from the assignment. 181 expatriates representing 38 countries from all economic levels completed an online survey investigating their experiences on assignment to a United Nations Organisation in Rome, Italy. Black & Stephens (1989) classic scales of Expatriate Adjustment, Spousal Adjustment, Culture Novelty and Cognitions to Withdraw were employed along with Acculturation Style, Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment measures designed for this study. Qualitative data was also collected around expatriates’ cognitions to withdraw from their assignment and reasons to stay in order to gain a richer understanding of the expatriate experience. The best predictors of Expatriate Adjustment and subsequent Cognitions to Withdraw for United Nations expatriate employees in Rome were classic predictor Culture Novelty and novel predictors Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment. Structural Equation Modelling indicated the best fitting model of Expatriate Adjustment and subsequent Cognitions to Withdraw demonstrated moderate fit (!2 = 1045.19, df = 486, p =.000, TLI = .80, CFI = .82, RMSEA = .08) with Culture Novelty predicting General and Interaction Adjustment; Economic Adjustment predicting General Adjustment; and Adjustment Stage predicting General, Interaction and Work Adjustment. General Adjustment was the only significant predictor of Cognitions to Withdraw. Qualitative analysis suggested that the classic adjustment measures used did not adequately capture the experiences of these expatriates and that caution should be taken in generalising the literature to not-for-profit populations. Furthermore the outcomes of this study suggest that the inclusion of novel variables of Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment as predictors of expatriate adjustment could be warranted for future research. Sample size and adequacy of measures both limited the extent to which analysis could be conducted and results generalised. More research into the expatriate experience in the not-for-profit sector is desperately needed.
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Cash, Melanie Lyndal. "The impact of hardiness on organisational outcomes: investigating appraisal and coping processes through alternative transactional models : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1069.
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This study tested the relationship of the personality variable of hardiness to the organisational outcomes of job satisfaction, performance and intention to turnover. These relationships were also tested via two alternative transactional models, with a sequential and simultaneous structure for the appraisal and coping processes. Employees (N = 297) from a range of large New Zealand organisations completed a questionnaire on hardiness, appraisal, coping, affect and the three distal outcomes. Bivariate correlations revealed significant positive relationships between hardiness and job satisfaction, hardiness and performance, and a significant negative relationship with intention to turnover. Structural equation modelling results revealed that the direct relationship between hardiness and job satisfaction was the strongest path, which indicates that the higher an employees level of hardiness the higher their likely level of job satisfaction. The simultaneous model provided best fit to the data, revealing a positive path from hardiness through challenge appraisals to positive affect, and a negative path through threat appraisal and emotion-focused coping. This study concludes that higher levels of hardiness are associated with more positive situational appraisals and more effective coping responses.
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Couch, Clare Mary. "Balanced parenting with young children : relationship focused parent training within a dialectical framework : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1206.
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While traditional behavioural parent training programmes have assisted families with concerns of child behaviour problems, they have not kept abreast with recent conceptualisations of the development of problematic behaviours in the parent-child relationship. Research has indicated that understanding of this relationship needs to go beyond bidirectional explanations and that a dialectical framework better describes the complexity of this relationship, which, in turn, should be reflected in the parent training programmes offered. Therefore, this study provided a parent training programme focused on balance in the parent-child relationship, which encapsulated the complex, dialectical nature of this intimate relationship. A central implication when adopting this notion of balance was that all aspects of the programme were addressed at the parent and child level. In addition, multiple factors were addressed that included mindfulness and acceptance, dealing with emotions, understanding development, and addressing parental attributions. It was only within this overarching concept of balance and relationship factors that behavioural skills were introduced. Mechanisms of change were identified by investigating parental emotional schemas through their narratives about themselves, their child, and the programme. This research involved 23 parents with their 3-4 year-old children in a parent training programme where both the parent and child met weekly with a therapist in group parent training. The groups involved 2-hourly sessions for 5 weeks, modelled on a “coffee morning” where parents met and discussed issues and the children played alongside in the same room. A research assistant was available to play with and tend to basic needs of the children. Measures at pre-, post-treatment, and at follow-up targeted child behaviour problems, how much of a problem these were for the parents, parents’ sense of competence, parental attributions, and what was useful for parents in the programme. Results indicated that at post-treatment parents were able to address and maintain balance in their parent-child relationship and this reflected multiple dimensions of a dialectical understanding that had not been evident prior to the intervention. There was an increased mindfulness of both parent and child’s needs with a strong emphasis on an increased understanding of the child as an individual in their own right. Parents reported an increased recognition of the importance of dealing with emotions, with improved skills to be able to do this, an increased understanding of accommodating development, and an appreciation of needing to address parental attributions. In addition, there was a decrease in parent-reported intensity of child behaviour problems and how problematic these were for the parents, which were corroborated with parental verbal reports of improved child behaviour. Mechanisms of change that were identified included changes in parental attributions, parents being able to share with other parents, accessing “expert” knowledge from the programme facilitator, and gaining parental strategies. Implications for practice were discussed with suggestions for behavioural parent training programmes. In conclusion, limitations of the research and directions for future research were indicated.
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Greville, K. A. "Central auditory processing in children with a history of neonatal jaundice." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/1986.
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An experimental group (Group A) of 22 children around 7 years of age who had normal hearing for pure tones but who had experienced neonatal jaundice with peak bilirubin levels of at least 300 µmol/l was tested on a range of audiological tests selected to assess aspects of their central auditory processing. Children who had not been tested for bilirubin level were selected as control subjects (Group B); they were matched on the variables gender, race, gestational age, birthweight, Apgar scores and occurrence of respiratory problems. A smaller experimental group, Group C (n=7), with peak bilirubin levels between 250 and 299 µmol/l but with perinatal complications was also studied. The experimental groups had higher mean acoustic reflex thresholds and lower mean reflex amplitudes than the control group. Acoustic reflex threshold patterns of abnormality consistent with central dysfunction occurred in two children from the main experimental group and two children in the control group. None of the children from Group C showed abnormal reflex thresholds. Acoustic reflex amplitude patterns of abnormality consistent with central dysfunction were present in six children from Group A and two children from Group C, compared with three children from the control group. Masking level differences were absent in five subjects from Group A and three children from Group C, compared with three control subjects. No group differences were evident for ABR latency or amplitude measures, but poor morphology or repeatability of wave V was observed in ten subjects from Group A and three children from Group C, compared with five children from the control group. A larger number of failures within the experimental groups was found for two of the four speech tests, that is, for interrupted and filtered speech tests, but not speech in noise or competing words tests. Five children from Group A (but none from Group C) performed poorly on the interrupted speech test, compared with two from Group B. The filtered speech test was failed by six children from Group A and two children from Group C, compared with two from Group B. Parental reports of behavioural or learning disorders were distributed equally among the groups and were not associated with particular patterns of test failure. Overall, children in the experimental groups failed significantly more tests of central auditory functioning than did children in the control group (F(2,48)=5.5,p<.01). The results were interpreted as implicating jaundice in long-term central auditory processing abnormalities.
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Hammond, Kay Maree. "A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Women’s Body Image: Comparisons Between Normal Weight, Overweight, Eating Disordered and Body Building Women." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1996. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/1987.
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This thesis approaches the area of women's body image with the aim of expanding existing knowledge based on traditional male/female comparisons of how women respond to quantitative measures of body image. It does so by distinguishing between some different body-type groups of women. These were mostly Caucasian women aged eighteen and over who lived in the greater Auckland area. They were grouped as: normal weight (n=43); overweight (n=37); women with eating disturbances (n=27); and body builders (n=17). A pilot study involving ten normal weight women examined the face validity of several established international measures of body image as well as additional ones developed for the main study. The established questionnaires were: the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, the Body Esteem Scale, the Weight Locus of Control Scale, a Figure Rating Scale and a Silhouette Rating scale. The newer measures consisted of modifications made to the Figure Rating Scale and the Silhouette Rating scale. Verbal questions about teasing history were also asked, the intention being to formulate a teasing history questionnaire for the main study. These measures were found to be valid by the women. In part one of the main study quantitative comparisons between the groups revealed some differences, but also some surprising similarities. Desirable body types of normal weight and muscular physique were described positively in physical and personality terms. The undesirable body types of thin and overweight received negative descriptions irrespective of the women's own group membership. The eating disordered women scored the lowest self-esteem while the other groups did not differ. The body builders scored the highest body-esteem while the normal weight and overweight, and overweight and eating disordered groups did not differ. Correlations between self-esteem and body-esteem were significant for all groups except the body builders. The correlation was strong for the eating disordered group and moderate for the normal weight and overweight groups. In the Figure Rating Scale the body builders chose more muscular ideal figures than the other groups and for all groups the ideal and current figures were usually one figure size different. At least half the women in each group felt their body was the same size as they thought it was' Of those remaining who gave different answers to the think versus feel ratings, nearly all in the eating disordered group reported they felt bigger. In the other groups there was an even split between those who felt bigger and those who felt smaller than they thought they were. The women were most united in their selection of the figure they thought men would find most attractive. In approximately a quarter to one third of each group (excluding the body builders due to small numbers) the figure selected as attractive to men was also chosen as the self ideal. Approximately a quarter of each group [excluding body builders) selected the same self ideal and peer ideal, however a considerable percentage of women selected a larger self ideal than peer ideal. All groups reported there should not be an ideal figure at all in society. All groups tended to believe that their weight was under their own control. Most women reported having been teased about their appearance and being affected by this teasing. This was especially noticeable for the eating disordered group, a considerable percentage reporting they still felt adversely affected by it. Part two of the study introduces feminist poststructuralist theory and the Foucaultian concept of power and discourse analysis as ways to explore body image research. The body image literature introduced in part one is then revisited showing how this area of research can be harmful for women. The presentation of the interviews with 28 women follows, seven women from each body type group. A short form of discourse analysis was used for the women's responses to issues in body building, their explanations of the self-esteem, body-esteem, and the results of the correlation of the two. Issues related to the presence of an ideal figure size in society are also discussed. A longer form of discourse analysis was involved for the readings of the women's accounts of having been teased about their appearance. These readings showed many women located their accounts of teasing within a discourse of trivialisation-of-teasing, indicating that the seemingly trivial practice of teasing is a powerful form of social control, resulting in feelings of vulnerability. The study concluded with summaries and conclusions from the literature presented in the introductions of both parts one and two. The quantitative and qualitative research methods were compared to see what both could offer body image research. Finally speculations were made about directions which body image research could take at both the individual and cultural level.
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Mudford, Oliver Charles. "Assessment of the quality of observers' records of behaviour." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/1990.
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The measurement of behaviour by direct observation may be improved when observers have been provided with equipment which enables real-time recording. There are no data available concerning the quality of this type of measurement. Indeed, there is no consensus among researchers as to appropriate methods of quality assessment. In the present series of studies, observers were provided with hand-held computers programmed to act as real-time recorders. The quality of their records was assessed by three "traditional" methods, representative of those which have been used most frequently in previous behavioural research: interobserver agreement, observer/criterion agreement, and relative error. An instrument calibration procedure, the standard method for measurement accuracy analysis in the natural sciences and engineering, was demonstrated for comparison with traditional methods. The traditional methods were found to be unsatisfactory for theoretical and empirical reasons. The calibration procedure was shown to have some considerable potential advantages for applied behaviour analysis. Disadvantages, both statistical and practical, were also discussed.
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Oliver, Pam 1949. "Young people's reactions to nuclear issues : a constructivist analysis." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/1998.
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The 1980s saw an increasing interest amongst psychologists, both as researchers and as practitioners, in the ways in which people react to nuclear weapons issues, especially the perceived threat of nuclear war. Much of the research in relation to "nuclear threat", undertaken either within the United States or by United States psychiatrists in collaboration with European colleagues, and using extensive questionnaire surveys, focused on the fears of children and teenagers. Some researchers concluded that large proportions of young people were at risk of impaired psychological development because of nuclear threat which resulted in a pervasive sense of futurelessness and a distrust of .adults. This research has been widely criticised since because of apparent researcher bias in the methods used, interpretations offered, and general paradigm. I also found much of the research ethically objectionable. My research has involved 52 interviews with young New Zealanders and administration of a questionnaire to more than 2000 others, including ages nine to 18 and three ethnocultural groups, as well as interviews with some teachers. The objectives of these studies were: (1) to produce detailed information about how young New Zealanders react to nuclear weapons issues which might be used by educationalists, mental health professionals, parents, and young people themselves in dealing with those issues; (2) to make specific recommendations about young New Zealanders' apparent needs and preferences for learning about and dealing with nuclear weapons and related issues; (3) to provide a detailed methodological comparison of interview and questionnaire approaches to this research topic, and discuss issues of theory and paradigm; and (4) to comment on ethical and practical issues for both the researcher and the researched in undertaking research on emotive and potentially distressing topics, especially with young people. As a result Chapter 1 of my thesis contains a comprehensive critical review of the international research and theory relating to young people's perceptions of nuclear weapons, examining the problems of method, interpretation and paradigm associated with this area of research. Both interview and survey data are presented in relation to: (a) young people's levels of awareness and sources of information about nuclear issues; (b) their emotional, cognitive and behavioural reactions to nuclear issues, including coping strategies and activism: (c) their perceptions of the future; (d) comparisons across gender, age and ethnocultural group; (e) the role of adults; and (f) differences between New Zealanders and other national groups. The data are discussed in terms of: (i) their patterns, contexts and meanings; (ii) their implications for peace and global issues education; and (iii) their implications for research method, including ethical issues. Recommendations are made for how psychologists and others can help young people and adults in dealing with global and social threats, including how to undertake research which is empowering as well as valid and useful.
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Adams, Peter James. "A Rhetoric of mysticism." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2021.
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Research into mystical experience has to date relied primarily on retrospective self reports of mystical states. Analysis of such reports assumes a direct correspondence between their content and the content of the experiences. But experiencers themselves often express dissatisfaction with the capacity of language to convey these states, and the language they do choose to use is typically vague and ambiguous. The current dissertation argues that vagueness is not an accidental nor an unfortunate feature of mystical communications. Because of difficulties in direct expression, mystical communicators rely on the active and imaginative participation of the listener/reader to complete the expression. A theory of provocative gaps is developed to explain how this operates. A "gap" is conceived of as an open receptacle in linguistic space. It provides a site within a discourse upon which receptive listeners/readers can insert content from their own experience. Gaps can be created by blatant omissions of content, but in written descriptions are more likely to occur in indirect forms by exploiting subtleties in grammar and meaning. A simple diagrammatic system is developed for explaining the gap-provoking potential of several major rhetorical strategies. Three studies were designed to explore whether and at what frequency written testimonials of mystical experience exploit a selection of 31 of these gap-provoking strategies: the first study exposed their high frequency in extracts by well-known published mystics; the second indicated similarly high frequencies for the average person's description; and the third found significantly higher rates in mystical testimonials than in descriptions by the same participants of dream or travel experiences. A similar use of vagueness can be found in the language of hypnotic trance induction, and as an adjunct to the second study, the hypnotic susceptibility of 81 subjects was assessed and results indicated that subjects with mystical inclinations were more susceptible to hypnosis than those without. The general support of the studies for a theory of provocative gaps suggests that the notion of intentional vagueness could have useful application in the study of other types of communication, including: the media, art criticism, teaching, psychotherapy and academic discourse.Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.
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Saphira, Miriam Edna. "Children's understanding of sexual orientation." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2043.
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In 1989 New Zealand is considering legislation which will make discrimination against lesbians, transexuals and gay men illegal. To increase children's understanding of sexual orientations educators need to have some knowledge of what children already understand and how children use their information. The three studies address this issue in spite of the difficulties in obtaining permission to ask children about homosexuality. A homophobia questionnaire was administered to 290 first year psychology students. They were also asked to recall their childhood feelings about gay people when they first met a homosexual and first understood the concept of homosexuality. Older women were the least homophobic. A second study was carried out with 5, 7, and 11 year old children in three schools with a family discrimination task. A third of the 11 year olds could label the couples of the same sex as gay, homosexual or lesbian and gave more positive items to the two-parent families. A third study involved 31 children from two-parent families and 32 from lesbian families. Out of the 63 six to ten year olds, 27 could define 'homosexual' and 'gay' and 37 could define lesbian. Twenty could use a strategy to recognise a lesbian. Although social discrimination against non-heterosexual orientations placed some constraints on this research, it yielded preliminary evidence for the emergence of children's understanding of sexual orientations between 7 and 11 years of age.
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McComas, Katherine Joan. "Locomotion experience, age, familiarity, and the use of the social referencing strategy in infancy." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1989. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2050.
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Researchers and theorists have stressed the importance of self-produced locomotion for the development of more distal forms of communication such as social referencing but this notion has not been specifically tested. Social referencing research has also been conducted exclusively in the university laboratory. Three studies examined the influence of self-produced locomotion on the development of social referencing and compared social referencing behaviour in familiar and unfamiliar settings. Social referencing was defined as occurring when, following a novel event, infants looked to a familiar adult and used the information provided by the adult to adjust their behaviour towards the event appropriately. In the first study, forty infants, half locomoting and half non-locomoting, were seen in their own homes at either 7-months (10 crawling, l0 not crawling) or 9-months (10 crawling, l0 not crawling). Testing was repeated on all infants 2 months later. Infants were videotaped in each of three maternal availability conditions (mother available; not available; or not interactive) before a remote control toy car moved toward them. Mothers were instructed to give either a positive or negative facial signal when their infant looked at them during this final phase. The infants were responsive to the availability of the mother on a number of dependent measures. Locomoting infants approached their mothers more, played with the toys less, and differed in some aspects of looking behaviour during the availability phases. During the final social referencing phase neither group consistently used the information provided by the mother to change their behaviour. A second study examined a further ten, 9-month-old infants using an identical procedure. The infants were delayed in the onset of self-produced locomotion due to surgical and immobilization procedures prescribed for club foot. This group did not differ from the normal non-crawling 9-month-olds in the availability phases of the study but did look to their mothers more quickly and vocalized less during the social referencing phase. The third study used a similar procedure and identical novel stimulus to examine 20, 11-month-old infants' social referencing behaviour in a laboratory situation. There was a significant difference between the infants who received a positive versus negative message for the contact with the car measures. When they received a negative message, infants tested in the laboratory were less likely to touch the stimulus car and touched it for a shorter time than infants of the same age and tested at home. Mothers of all infants participating in this study completed the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire. None of the infant characteristics predicted which infants would use the social referencing strategy. It is concluded that social referencing is not a strategy used extensively by 7-and 9-month old infants although social looking is common at these ages in response to new events. Locomotion experience has little effect on social referencing. Infants use information from a variety of sources to assess a new situation and 11-month-old infants are more likely to use social referencing as a strategy in an unfamiliar setting. Theoretical implications of the results are discussed in relation to the cognitive requirements of preverbal and emotional communication and the relative importance of social influences for interpreting novel events.
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Nairn, Raymond George Ross. "Madness, media & mental illness: a social constructionist approach." Thesis, University of Auckland, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2280.
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Background Depictions of mental illnesses in the mass media have been analysed and criticised for more than forty years with little improvement, and that has serious implications for the ongoing efforts to destigmatise both mental illnesses and those who suffer from them. Aims To examine media depictions of mental illnesses within a social constructionist framework. To identify why media depictions take the form they do and to indicate ways in which such practices may be more effectively addressed. Method Items chosen from factual media genres were subjected to discourse analysis. This form of analysis attends to the preferred meaning of the items and how that meaning is constructed within the item. Exemplars of such analysis are contrasted with the content analyses more commonly performed on media materials before reporting analyses of items from everyday media reports and of materials that were expected to be less stigmatising. Results Irrespective of the form of analysis it is found that media depictions of mental illnesses are dominated by representations of dangerousness, criminal violence, unpredictability, and social incompetence. The same features were found in a destigmatisation documentary and a series of backgrounders on mental health services, in both of which madness was utilised to create interest and drama. It is argued that these characteristics occur because media personnel, like most laypersons, represent mental illnesses as forms of madness. Conclusions That my social constructionist analysis is able to account for the lack of change in media depictions over forty years. That the preference for a public mental health approach to destigmatisation is misplaced because it is unable to address the fear generated by lay understandings of mental illnesses. That the attempt to avoid conflation of the person with the disorder in Diagnostic and Statistical Manuals beginning in 1980 was an inadequate step in an appropriate direction in that it sought to remind clinicians that a mental disorder does not make a person non-human. The thesis findings are interpreted as showing that destigmatisation requires a new way of depicting mental illnesses, one that privileges the individual's experience and their ordinary humanness.
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Stillman, Jennifer A. "Detection of a signal as a function of interaural differences in the intensity of masking noise." Thesis, University of Auckland, 1987. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2481.
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A series of experiments was undertaken to explore the effect of interaural differences in the intensity of masking noise upon the detection of a signal. The signal was a 2-kHz sinusoid, and the masker was composed of either one or two 800-Hz wide bands of noise. The centre frequencies of the two bands of noise, one above and one below the signal frequency, were varied. On most occasions both noise bands were used to create a spectral notch surrounding the signal. The following factors were manipulated: (1) The width of the notch: from 0 to 1900 Hz. (2) The location of the lower and upper frequency edges of the notch relative to the signal: either equidistant from the signal, or with one edge 150 Hz nearer to the signal than the other edge. (3) The spectrum level of the noise: either 20, 35 or 50 dB SPL. (4) The degree of interaural disparity in the intensity of some components of the noise: either 0 dB, 10 dB or infinite. (5) The ear to which a particular masking noise was sent. (6) The manner in which the noise was presented: either diotically or dichotically. (7) The manner in which the signal was presented: either diotically or monotically. The results of the first two experiments were interpreted as showing that threshold signal levels in the presence of interaural differences in the intensity of masking noise depended principally on the ear in which the signal-to-masker ratio at the output of the auditory filter was larger. To test this possibility, auditory filter shapes were derived from two listeners. These were then used to predict thresholds when there were interaural differences in the spectral envelope of a masking noise. The results of a comparison between the predicted and obtained thresholds were consistent with the previous interpretation. Thus it appears that the detector following the filter can discriminate the output of the two ears and base detection on the better output. This ability may be useful in normal listening, where both wanted and extraneous sounds are subject to change from moment to moment.
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Yamaguchi, Tomoko. "Fairness, forgiveness and grudge-holding: experimental studies with primary school children in New Zealand : thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1147.
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Fairness, forgiveness and grudge-holding are concepts which underlie many aspects of our interpersonal relationships. Fairness is the foundation of our day-to-day communication with others and forgiveness is concerned with a positive strategy used to manage negative emotional experiences of underserved [i.e. undeserved] unfair treatment. Grudge-holding results as an accumulation of negative feelings, which are associated with the original experience of unfairness. Two experimental studies investigated children’s perceptions of, feelings about, and reactions towards the unfair behaviour of a mother and a friend, by individually inviting the children to scenario-based interview sessions, which included three imaginary tasks. The children were asked to judge the fairness of a mother and a best friend’s treatment towards a child protagonist and to report their associated feelings, after listening to a scenario that described an interaction between a child and a mother and an interaction between a child and a friend. They further responded to three scenario-based experimental tasks, regarding their willingness to grant forgiveness, as opposed to expressions of hostility. In the first study, the children’s willingness to forgive, as a result of unfairness, was explored with 82 local primary school children in Palmerston North, New Zealand, whose ages ranged from 8- to 11-years-old, in addition to 50 parents of these participating children. The parents also completed a questionnaire about their approaches to their children’s common misbehaviours. The study found that the children were typically willing to grant forgiveness to a mother, even though she had been unfair. Their forgiveness tendencies were not related to aspects of parental disciplinary behaviour. However, an examination of the children’s verbatim responses through the use of thematic analysis revealed the complex nature of the relationship between parent and child concerning tolerance for mistakes. In the second study, I explored on whether the children’s repeated exposure to unfairness would contribute to their display of grudge-holding against a mother or a best friend in the scenarios and this investigation involved 55 local primary children, whose ages ranged from 8- to 12-years-old, in Wellington, New Zealand. The children participated in individual scenario-based interview sessions, which included three imaginary tasks over the two time periods, one week apart from each other. The children’s levels of grudge-holding was measured by analysing the possible increase in hostility, which the children expressed from Time 1 to Time 2. The study showed that a repeated experience of unfairness had a noticeable effect on the children’s level of hostility towards the person who was unfair and especially towards the best friend. The children’s verbatim comments also suggested some evidence of accumulated negativity in their responses to an unfairness experience. Thus, this study proved to be a suitable paradigm for operationalising grudge-holding in children.
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Haarhoff, Beverly Ann. ""The map, the navigator, and the explorer": evaluating the content and quality of CBT case conceptualization and the role of self-practice/self-reflection as a training intervention : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand." Massey University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1077.
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Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) leads the way as an evidenced based psychotherapy, and the evaluation of CBT training programs is increasingly seen as important if this position is to be maintained. In this dissertation, CBT case conceptualization, as a core psychotherapeutic competency, acquired in training, is evaluated. Case conceptualization, integrates precipitating, predisposing, maintaining, and protective factors, functioning as an explanatory and prescriptive roadmap for therapy. Gaining self-knowledge through exposure to some form of personal therapy is cited as important in gaining psychotherapeutic competency. Self-practice/ self-reflection, show promise as a form of personal therapy compatible with the principles of CBT. This study evaluates the content and quality of CBT case conceptualizations produced by a sample of 26 participants who have completed the Massey University Post Graduate Diploma, using three case conceptualization rating scales. In addition, the impact of a self-practice/self-reflection manualised training intervention designed to improve the quality of case conceptualization in trainee cognitive behaviour therapists, is explored using thematic analysis. The evaluation of the CBT conceptualizations showed predisposing factors and psychological mechanisms as receiving the most attention from participants. However, the majority of participants failed to pay attention to socio-cultural, biological, protective factors and factors pertaining to the therapeutic relationship. The majority of the participants were able to produce a 'good enough' CBT case conceptualization, however the ‘problem list’ was not well developed, and the conceptually relevant aspects of the therapeutic relationship and protective factors were given less attention. The effect of a self-practice/self-reflection training intervention on the quality of CBT case conceptualizations produced by the intervention group (n = 16) drawn from the main participant sample, was qualitatively evaluated using thematic analysis. Theoretical understanding of the model, self awareness, empathy, conceptualization of the therapeutic relationship, adaptation of clinical interventions, and clinical practice were all subjectively perceived by participants to have increased as a result of the intervention. An inferential analysis compared the performance of the intervention group (n=16) that of a comparison group (n=10), made up of the remainder of the larger sample described in the context of the first question. The comparison group had not been exposed to the manualised intervention. The comparison was both within, and between the two groups. The quality of the intervention group showed an improvement on one of the rating scales, indicating a possible link between the training intervention and case conceptualization competency, however, the improvement was not replicated by the other two rating scales. The findings are discussed in the context of improving CBT training with regard to case conceptualization.
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Manson, Jennifer Margaret. "Person-job fit and its relationship with work attitudes: a study of Christian missionaries from Australasia : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand." Massey University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/998.
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Do Christian missionaries who exhibit good person-job fit, (‘aligned’ with host nation colleagues and ‘in harmony’ with expatriate colleagues), experience more positive work attitudes? Personjob fit was conceptualized in terms of competencies. Perspectives on what competencies the role of missionary requires were obtained from 3 groups of subject matter experts: host nation colleagues, missionaries, and mission agency leaders. In Study I, subject matter experts (host nation colleagues, n=22, missionaries, n=25, and agency leaders, n=23) rated the ‘Universal Competency Framework’ (SHL) 20-level competencies. Host nation colleagues differed significantly on 3 of the competencies, suggesting that in this sample, the perspective of expatriates on the role of a missionary was not fully aligned with that of host nation colleagues. In Study 2, a sample of 130 current overseas missionaries self-assessed their performance and provided their own ratings of the importance of the competencies used in Study 1. Measures of Person-Job fit (Demands-Abilities fit, Supplies-Values fit and Perceived Performance) were regressed against outcome variables (job satisfaction, work engagement and satisfaction with life). Results indicated that a person’s fit with the job as described by both host nation colleagues (Alignment) and other expatriates (Harmonization) is positively associated with job satisfaction, work engagement and satisfaction with life. These results offer support for competencies as an effective method of describing missionary roles. Possible implications for enhancing the effectiveness and well-being of missionaries, and other aid and development workers, are discussed.
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Horrell, Barbara Mary. "Talking about end-of-life care for older people in a rural New Zealand community : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1158.
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Rural experiences are under-represented in the end-of-life care literature. In addition, population projections indicate that the numbers of older rural people are increasing. In an attempt to better understand their needs, this study considers how older people experience end-of-life (EOL) care in a rural New Zealand setting. Having responded to local media and community notices, seven participants, who in the last eighteen months had cared for someone over the age of 65 with a terminal illness, spoke about their experience of rural EOL care. Their stories were then transcribed and analysed, using narrative analysis. Participants spoke about similar issues, but from different, sometimes conflicting, perspectives. Positioning themselves primarily as carers, rather than as rural people, the participants’ stories nevertheless reflected their social location for caring, as they talked about exhaustion and needing 24 hour support; limited access to specialist palliative care services; and the difficulties of caring for people with complex needs. At the same time they spoke of the joys and rewards of caring. The ambivalence and conflict evident in the stories indicates the participants’ location in a particular place and time in the history of dying. Caught between two paradigms of care, these participants vacillate between the desire for the empathic, compassionate care of yesteryear and the best that modern medical technology can offer. Discussing when to continue and when to stop medical intervention produced the most conflicting perspectives. However, all agreed that having time to form therapeutic relationships is a key component of EOL care. Overall, the stories demonstrate that the multiple and complex experiences of older rural people render stereotypical assumptions about rural life and dying at home problematic. However, as this study demonstrates, simply talking with people provides access to and understanding of their lived realities. Incorporating this kind of approach in future rural EOL care planning will move us closer to achieving contemporary goals of positive ageing and dying well.
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Tassell, Natasha Ann. "Motivation and well-being in humanitarian health workers: relating self-determination theory to hedonic vs eudaimonic well-being, vitality and burnout : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1138.
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This research examined the effects of motivation on the well-being of humanitarian health workers. Using Self-Determination Theory, I argued introjected and identified motivations were applicable to this occupational domain, and have differential effects on well-being. Introjected motivation would be positively related to hedonic well-being and burnout, while identified motivation would be positively related to eudaimonic well-being and vitality. Orientations to happiness and passion were proposed as mediating these relationships. An online quantitative questionnaire was used in the first phase of data collection. Respondents were N = 82 humanitarian health workers. A semi-structured interview methodology was used in the second phase. Participants were N = 5 humanitarian health workers. Path analyses revealed neither introjected nor identified motivation was significantly related to vitality or hedonic vs. eudaimonic well-being. Both motivations had significant direct effects on burnout, albeit in the opposite direction to hypotheses. Passion moderated the relationship between motivation and burnout. Additional path analyses showed obsessive passion mediated the path between introjected motivation and emotional exhaustion. Harmonious passion mediated the path between identified motivation and diminished personal accomplishment. Both obsessive and harmonious passion mediated the paths between each motivation and depersonalisation, although identified motivation had the strongest relationship with this aspect of burnout. Interview data supported the majority of quantitative findings. The results suggest the motivations underlying engagement in humanitarian work, are related to the development of burnout. The mediational effect of passion determines which aspect of burnout will be most prevalent. The findings have applicability to the design and implementation of recruitment strategies, and programs aimed at the treatment and prevention of burnout in workers, both pre- and post-deployment to humanitarian situations.
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Andrae, Daniela. ""Diabetes? I can live with it" : a qualitative evaluation of a diabetes self-management programme : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1199.
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Self-management programmes provide one form of education for people with diabetes. Evaluations of these programmes allow for a better understanding in regard to their impact and whether outcomes are met. Very little research has used qualitative methods to capture participants’ experiences of these programmes and their perception of psychological outcomes. This is the first qualitative evaluation of the Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management Programme in Whangarei. It has adopted an interpretative-phenomenological approach to explore participants’ experiences of the programme and participants’ perceptions in regard to their self-efficacy and quality of life after attending a course. A sample of 7 participants with diabetes provided data via interviews 4 weeks and 3 months after attending the course. The themes that emerged from the initial interview were separated into three evaluation components. In “6 weeks sounded very long but it was worth the time”, participants discussed enrolment, benefits of the course and suggestions for future participants. In “I know what I need to do and I’m confident to do it”, participants linked the gained knowledge from the course to improvements in their self-efficacy regarding self-management behaviours, education and control of own life. In “Life is good, diabetes is just another thing to handle”, participants reflected on the impact of living with diabetes and changes to their life. An overarching theme of settling into a comfortable routine emerged from the follow-up interview. Participants reflected positively on their course and research participation. The programme was perceived to be beneficial to participants, impacting positively on increasing knowledge, self-efficacy development, behaviour changes and quality of life. The participants maintained these benefits in the short-term. These results are discussed in terms of the need for further research to evaluate if benefits are maintained in the long-term, referral process to the programme, decision-making process in regard to enrolment and impact of a support person attending the programme. Practice implications for the programme are discussed in regard to incorporating a follow-up phone call to participants after they attended a course and offering follow-up sessions with the latest information on diabetes care.
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Rowlands, Lorraine. "The life of freelance film production workers in the New Zealand film industry : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1083.
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Eleven male and 10 female freelance production workers were interviewed about their experiences of life within the New Zealand film industry. Respondents’ accounts contrast sharply with glamorous images of the industry portrayed in the media. Respondents enjoyed the creative challenges, camaraderie, excitement, and intensity of their working lives and identified strongly with their work. However, they also experienced continual financial insecurity, unpredictable and demoralising periods of unemployment, and recurrent problems maintaining a reasonable work-life balance. Many of the older respondents cited these factors as their main reason for attempting to find work outside the industry. Female production workers appeared to pay a particularly high price for their involvement in the industry and often sacrificed other areas of their lives for their careers. Women frequently compensated for this imbalance by becoming even more career focussed, thus compounding the problems in non-work areas of their lives. Respondents’ accounts are interpreted in relation to current structural conditions, working practices, and power imbalances within the New Zealand film industry. It is argued that freelance production workers’ complex psychological relationship with their work is simultaneously a product of their work environment and helps to perpetuate industry conditions which disadvantage the workforce.
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Kennedy, Sharyn. "Suppressing stereotypes of the poor: rebound effects can be positive (as well as negative) : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Auckland." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1014.
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Suppressing unwanted stereotypes ironically leads suppressors to think and behave in a more stereotypical manner than controls. Suppression studies typically test for rebound with target groups that perceivers may feel entitled to stereotype (e.g., skinheads) or that are associated with negative stereotypes (e.g., African Americans). In contrast, stereotypes of the aid-related poor are expected to contain ambivalent content: a mix of both positive and negative stereotypic information. Since this content may affect perceivers’ cognitive processes of stereotype activation, application, suppression and rebound, it was expected that stereotype rebound effects (e.g., judgments and behaviours) for the aid-related poor would differ from those reported for previously tested target groups. Stereotype rebound effects for this target group might occur as: a) positive responses, such as approach behaviour or positive judgments, b) occur as negative responses, such as avoidance behaviour or negative judgments, or c) not be evidenced in suppressors’ responses. Four experiments were designed to explore the effects of stereotype suppression, and to examine stereotype rebound effects in perceivers who suppressed (i.e., were asked not to think stereotypically) their stereotypes of the aid-related poor. In the first experiment (N = 29), there was no evidence of stereotype suppression in suppressors’ essays about a poor African youth. In the second experiment (N = 24) however, suppressors sat significantly closer than controls to the alleged seat of an African student (a reverse rebound effect). In the third experiment (N = 35), suppressors again showed evidence of approach behaviour when interacting with African poor individuals, and demonstrated avoidance behaviour when interacting with African wealthy individuals. Experiment 4 (N = 70) used implicit measures of stereotyping; participants were asked to name the ink colour of stereotypic and nonstereotypic trait words presented immediately following two category primes. Suppressors tended to be faster than controls to name the colour of positive trait words and slower than controls to name the colour of negative trait words that were stereotypic of the African poor target group. This difference in response times implies that, for suppressors only, the salient stereotype features being primed were positive rather than negative; thus eliciting a positive rebound effect. Stereotype rebound effects may therefore not always be evidenced by higher levels of negative or prejudiced responding in suppressors, but can also appear as positive evaluations and approach behaviours. Findings from this research (i.e., stereotype rebound effects can be either positive or negative) have important implications for those viewers of aid advertisements who suppress unwanted stereotypes, especially as rebound effects for the aid-related poor are associated with unconscious behavioural and cognitive responses.
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Andersen, Rachel Joy. "A new model of students' perceptions of the primary school classroom emotional environment : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1017.
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94 items was developed that encapsulate what children notice in their classrooms as affecting the emotional environment and the language they use to describe it. Study 3 had 63 adults use a modified decision task to sort the 94 items into groups of their selection of similarity and dissimilarity. The analysis of these data revealed 11 clusters of items and 3 underlying dimensions - Teacher Affect, Teacher Expectations and Style, and Classroom Dynamics. Each dimension has two opposing ends, and each of the 94 items can be viewed on a three dimensional map showing their relationship to each of the other 93 items along these 3 underlying dimensions. The visual graphic makes these dimensions easy to interpret for those who are likely to be organising classroom environments. This research shows that when given a chance to talk about their experiences in classrooms, students can explain what they value in a classroom, what they will remember about school, and what influences them and their learning.
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Moxon, Alicia M. "The effectiveness of a brief psychoeducational intervention for people with schizophrenia and their families : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1143.
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In an attempt to replicate and extend previous research, the present study conducted a brief psychoeducational intervention through community organisations designed to overcome methodological shortcomings of past studies. The two session intervention (one session with follow-up phone call) sought to establish if a brief community intervention was effective in both improving family members’ knowledge about schizophrenia and various other indicators linked to improved client functioning. People with schizophrenia and their family members (N = 50) were recruited into a controlled trial of a brief educational intervention. Clients and their corresponding key family members were randomly allocated to a treatment group or a wait-list control group. Measures included those reflecting knowledge about schizophrenia, expressed emotion, perceived coping ability, burden of care and distress. Analyses showed that knowledge increased significantly after the intervention and not after the control condition and was maintained at a nine-month follow-up. Family members’ and clients’ expressed emotion ratings significantly decreased from pre- to post-test with changes in total expressed emotion scores improving across treatment by over twice the magnitude compared to the control condition. All gains were maintained at the nine-month follow-up, with continuing improvement seen in family members’ intrusiveness ratings. A similar pattern of findings was reflected on other indices, with significant improvements in burden of care, coping and distress that were more a function of intervention than the control condition. All gains were maintained at the nine-month follow-up. Additionally, assessment of relapse rates at this follow-up interval indicated that no client had relapsed. Overall the results suggested that although knowledge increased as a result of education, the improvements in all indicators other than knowledge appeared to be due to education combined with some non-specific factors. These non-specific factors may have included expectancy effects, setting effects, sampling bias and other possibilities. These issues are considered in terms of implementation of brief programs in supportive community settings and in terms of future research.
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Sanderson, James Edward. "A cross-cultural examination of personality factors associated with text bullying in 13 - 14-year-old girls : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/988.
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This research set out to determine factors associated with text bullying. It examined the relationship between personality traits and the level of hostility expressed by students in reaction to sample text messages. One hundred and ninety eight girls aged 13 and 14 in Canada and New Zealand volunteered to complete a questionnaire consisting of four personality measures - the impulsivity subscale of the PRF-E, cynical distrust scale (revised), needs for power scale (revised), and the rejection sensitivity scale (adult, short). The survey also rated their proposed likely response to eight sample text messages that covered four themes and to two levels of intensity. Results using Pearson’s r correlation of .01 demonstrated a significant relationship between hostility and impulsivity. There was no significant difference in either the results of the personality measures or their level of hostility between the results of the Canadian and New Zealand participants. How these findings contribute to the current theoretical knowledge of adolescent bullying and the practical application of these findings for schools are also discussed.
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Pack, Sylvia. "New Zealand counsellors talk about ritual abuse: A discourse analysis." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1098.
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Research indicates that in the last five decades, claims of Satanic ritual abuse (RA), and the numbers of clients receiving counselling for RA, have increased in all Western countries. This has resulted in an increased corpus of related literature overseas, which includes studies in which facticity as well as aetiology, symptomology and treatment are debated. This present study focuses on a New Zealand context, and examines the talk of New Zealand counsellors in relation to their views regarding RA and the counselling of RA clients. Social constructionist and positivist epistemologies were evaluated in terms of their suitability for this research, and the discourse analytic method developed by Potter and Wetherell (1987) chosen as the means by which participants’ talk might be analysed in such a way as to allow the inclusion of multiple constructions and the emergence of the many discourses and conflicting ideas which occur in overseas literature. A broad selection of the literature was first critically analysed to give an understanding of the topic. Nine counsellors gave interviews, eight women and one man, all Pakeha, six of whom were ACC-registered (Accident Compensation Commission, 2009). The participants constructed RA as a physical reality, which was justified by the use of the credible client discourse. A traditional linguistic repertoire furnished a discourse of government backing, which was employed to warrant voice. A moral stake in counselling, named concern for the client, was shown to be present in all arguments. The participants constructed three truths relative to context: a legal truth, the counsellor’s truth, and the client’s truth. Recovered memories were given a dual construction which legitimised correct and incorrect recall. DSM-IV (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) labelling was debated in a discourse of ambivalence. Finally in a discourse of preparedness, the participants constructed the therapeutic skills needed to treat RA clients. The thesis concludes by highlighting the participants’ comments regarding the need for openness and awareness, and specialised literature and training for counsellors treating RA clients.
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Rifshana, Fathimath. "Outcome evaluation of the Massey University Concussion Clinic: a pilot study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Psychology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1165.
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The primary aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention provided by Massey University Concussion Clinic for individuals following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI). Concussion Clinics were set up across New Zealand to provide early intervention and assessment for individuals with MTBI to prevent long term complaints. Treatment outcomes at these clinics have not been empirically examined before. The current study compared the levels of post concussion symptoms, anxiety, depression, and psychosocial functioning between an intervention and a control group using a quasi-experimental design. In addition, reasons for nonattendance to the clinic, and participants’ perceptions of their recovery were also explored. The main outcome measures used were the Rivermead Postconcussion Symptoms Questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and the Sydney Psychosocial Reintegration Scale-2. Outcomes were initially assessed soon after injury or referral to the clinic and then three months later. Participants were recruited from the Palmerston North Hospital Emergency Department and the Massey University Concussion Clinic. With 20 participants in the intervention group and 15 in the control group, the main results showed that the Concussion Clinic intervention significantly decreased the level of anxiety and depression reported by participants in the intervention group over the control group. Greater improvements in post concussion symptoms and psychosocial functioning were also indicated in the intervention group. Additional findings suggest difficulty with transportation as a reason for nonattendance, which could be a potential barrier to recovery. Furthermore, participants highlighted the benefits of attending the service and its role in their recovery. Important issues relating to the referral processes were also identified. Findings of the current study suggest that the Concussion Clinic intervention is effective in improving recovery for those accessing the service. Nevertheless, these results must be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size. Further research is warranted to examine the effectiveness of the Concussion Clinics with larger samples, and the current study may serve as a valuable pilot for these future investigations.
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Green, Mike. "The days of our lives: deep acting, surface acting and actors' health : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand." Massey University, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1068.
Full textAbstract:
Although emotional labour has been studied extensively among work populations such as doctors, detectives and adventure tourism guides, there has been no known research on the psychology of actors and acting within an emotional labour framework. This investigation had two purposes. The first was to extend what is currently known about two emotional labour strategies: surface acting, the regulation of observable expressions of emotions, and deep acting, the regulation of felt emotions, to include actual actors. The dependent variables used in this study were job and life satisfaction. The second purpose was to examine whether having a sense of community moderated the relationship between surface acting, deep acting and the dependent variables. Responses from 89 professional, amateur and community theatre actors were analysed. Pearson’s correlation coefficients showed a significant relationship between surface acting and the dependent variables. Hierarchical regression results showed a significant moderation effect for sense of community on the relationship between deep acting and life satisfaction. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.
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Stevenson, Brendan. "The relationship between Māori cultural identity and health." Massey University, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/967.
Full textAbstract:
While the differences in health between cultures co-existing in the same country have been well researched, there has been insufficient attention paid to the definition of culture used in these studies. Typically the ethnicity of an individual has been determined along biological lines or by the country of origin. However, the culture with which an individual identifies may not be so clear: an individual may identify with a number of cultures, from the social group with whom they socialise, to the religion they follow. Measuring the degree to which an individual identifies with a particular culture (their cultural identity), would allow an assessment of how membership in that culture influences health outcomes. The present study investigated the relationship between the cultural identity (CI) of Māori and their health. The main hypothesis was that a higher CI would be positively correlated with better health. The relationships between demographic factors (e.g. age, gender, & socio-economic status (SES)), CI, and a number of health indicators (self rated health, smoking behaviour, alcohol consumption, & exercise/sporting behaviours) were also examined. The sample used in the present study (767 adult Māori) was a subset of the data collected the Te Hoe Nuku Roa Māori profiles project. The development of a CI measure incorporated seven cultural indicators: Whakapapa (ancestry), Marae Participation, Whanaū associations (extended family), Whenua Tipu (ancestral land), contact with Māori people, Use of te Reo (Māori language), and kai (food preferences). A series of hierarchical linear regressions found that CI was not directly related to health indicators in the present study. There were weak interactions between CI, age, and smoking behaviour; CI, home ownership, and involvement in sport; and age, Crowding and involvement in sport. Additional findings were that more Sporting Involvement/exercise was moderately correlated with improved health, and there was a weak relationship between CI and SES. It was speculated that the lack of significant findings may be due to a difference in the quality of participants’ CI: The CI measure did not distinguish between those who learn their culture and those who live their culture (each group tending to be in differing social and economic positions). Recommendations from the study were: Further validation of the CI measure, and assessment of the distribution of CI over urban/rural areas, SES and age; additional research into the relationship between young Māori smokers and their CI; assessing how the level of Sporting Involvement varies across the social and economic realities of Māori; and the development of appropriate measures utilising the whanaū/household as the unit of analysis.
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Beavan, Vanessa. "Angels at our tables: New Zealanders' experiences of hearing voices." Thesis, University of Auckland, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/3175.
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The aim of this study was to explore the experience of hearing voices in the general New Zealand adult population. This included mapping the topography of voices and the impact of the experience on participants’ lives, exploring participants’ explanatory models, investigating coping strategies and support structures, and developing a model of the essence of hearing voices. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of questionnaire (n=154) and interview (n=50) data revealed a great diversity of experiences, both within and among participants. Of all topographical variables significantly related to emotional impact (content, form, duration, intrusiveness and control), voice content was the only significant predictor variable, accurately predicting the emotional response of 93.3% of participants. Overall, participants who valued their voice experiences tended to have spiritual beliefs, a more positive emotional reaction and less contact with mental health services. In contrast, participants who experienced mostly unwanted voices tended to have biological and/or psychological understandings of their voice experiences, a more negative emotional reaction to them, and increased contact with mental health services. Participants reported using a vast array of coping strategies, with varying degrees of success. Individualised techniques were reported to be the most effective, followed by setting aside a time to listen to the voices. In terms of help and support, participants called for a model of intervention that accepted their voice experiences as real, took an holistic approach incorporating contextual, cultural and spiritual factors, and worked with voice-hearers, their families and the public to provide information about voice phenomena and normalise the experience. Using a phenomenological approach, a model of the essential structure of hearing voices is proposed, comprising five components: the content of the voices is personally meaningful to the voice-hearer; the voices have a characterised identity; the person has a relationship with their voices; the experience has a significant impact on the voice-hearer’s life; and the experience has a compelling sense of reality. The implications of this research include validating voice-hearers’ perspectives of the experience, informing clinical work with voice-hearers, and informing the development of local and national-level services, such as a New Zealand Hearing Voices Network.
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Haxell, Mark Robert. "Social psychology and mental retardation: towards an applied social psychology of mental retardation." 1991. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2079.
Full textAbstract:
Whole document restricted, see Access Instructions file below for details of how to access the print copy.This thesis seeks to integrate the diverse fields of the social psychology of intergroup relations and mental retardation. In order to do this a a new cross-disciplinary field described as "The Social Psychology of Mental Retardation" (abbreviated to SPMR) is defined and explored theoretically and empirically. This involved a literature review of the current status of the social psychology of intergroup relations, especially as the field of social psychology emerges from the 'crisis of confidence' period, and incorporating the insights and changes that have occurred as a result of this. The history of the development of social psychology generally and applied social psychology were both considered as part of this. A review of current literature in mental retardation was carried out along with an attempt to explore the contemporary social context or social ecology of mental retardation in New Zealand, as well as the media (and other representations) of mentally retarded people. Themes were present throughout this thesis included: an explicit value orientation; a rejection of a positivistic-empiricist approach to scientific research; considering mental retardation as a social construct, and an emphasis on the social context or social ecology of mental retardation Two main pieces of empirical research were carried out. All the results were analysed using appropriate SAS statistical procedures. Study 1 involved a coin allocation task for 33 mentally retarded subjects using the matrix procedure originally developed by Henri Tajfel of Bristol University. The results here provided information about social categorization processes based on intellectual handicap as a social identity. These mentally retarded subjects were also given a 106 item adjective checklist, also used later on, and the results from this considered as part of the second part of Study 2. The second study consisted of two parts, both using undergraduate social science students as participants. The first involved the administration of a 24 item questionnaire in two forms to investigate a series of common myths and misconceptions about mental retardation and intellectual handicap. There was approximately 300 responses to each questionnaire. The results were analyzed to give information on the knowledge of both intellectual handicap and mental retardation of these participants, as well as for differences between these two group/labels. The second part of Study 2 involved the 106 item adjective checklist to investigate social stereotypes of various disabled or handicapped groups/group labels. Participants here were firstly asked to rate the adjectives on a 5 point favourability scale, and then to indicate which adjectives they considered applied to one of nine different groups/labels. This procedure constituted a New Zealand standardization of the adjective checklist. Multiple comparisons within this sample were made to clearly establish the contents of current stereotypes of the rated group/labels by this subject population. An index of the relative favourability of mental retardation and intellectual handicap was generated from these results. An indication of the relative complexity of the same stereotypes was also generated. It was concluded that mentally retarded adults do show the same ingroup preferences shown by nonhandicapped people in Tajfellian intergroup relations experiments, and that this indicated that intellectual handicap was a meaningful social category for mentally retarded adults. It was further concluded that there was generally a low prevalence of common myths and misconceptions about mental retardation and intellectual handicap from the first part of Study 2. There were several important exceptions to this finding. For the second part of Study 2, mentally retarded people, who identified themselves as intellectually handicapped, showed a strong preference to evaluate their own group highly, and ascribed more favourable adjectives than the students did to the intellectually handicapped or towards university students as a group. Study 2 showed that there was little difference made by the students between the terms intellectual handicap and mental retardation. Of the nine groups/labels rated by the students, intellectual handicap was ranked 6th and mental retardation 7th. The complexity analysis indicated quite similar rankings of mental retardation and intellectual handicap when compared to the favourability analysis. Overall it was concluded that the Tajfellian social identity theory derived from the European influenced social psychology of intergroup relations could form a useful basis for the development of an applied SPMR. The social acceptance and social integration of the mentally retarded in the classroom and in wider society was identified as a major area of current concern, where the proposed SPMR could be of value.
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McDowell, Heather. "Emotional child abuse and resiliency: an Aotearoa/New Zealand study." 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/2201.
Full textAbstract:
Emotional child abuse is recognised as the unifying construct of child abuse (Brassard & Gelardo, 1987). Defining emotional child abuse (ECA) is an area of debate in the literature and a widely recognised definition has yet to be developed. There is general agreement on the definition of resilience with most making reference to adapting and coping well in the face of adversity. Recent research has questioned the implied unidimensionality of the term. A research study was designed with several aims: to explore how ECA is defined by professionals working in the area of child abuse, and by members of the general public; to develop an understanding of the nature of ECA from adults who self-identified as having experienced ECA; and, to examine the ways in which these adults coped, and dealt with ECA and its effects. Further aims of the research following from these were to develop a definition of ECA, and to identify implications for practice for those working in the area of ECA. Attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969, 1988; Crittenden & Ainsworth, 1989) was the theoretical base for the research. The literature on resilience was reviewed with a particular focus on ECA. Consistent findings in the literature on the cost of resiliency in the area of emotional well-being and functioning were explored and used to critically examine the clinical utility of the term. Two surveys were developed, one for distribution to all the professionals working in the area of child abuse in statutory agencies in Auckland; and one for distribution to a sample of adults living in the greater Auckland area. Comparison of the conceptual and specific categories derived from the definitions of ECA provided by the professional group (N=l8l) and the lay group (N=142) indicated considerable agreement. Differences between the groups on the relative frequency of use of the categories were explained and directions for future research were suggested. Concurrence between the findings of this study and others on developing a definition of ECA supported the existence of ECA as a separate and consistent form of child maltreatment. Adults who saw themselves as having experienced ECA were identified through the general public and professional surveys (N=30). They were individually interviewed using a semi-structured format about the nature of the ECA they had experienced and how they had coped with it as a child, adolescent, and adult. The interviews, and relevant material from the surveys, were analysed using a Grounded Theory approach. The themes that emerged from the material on the nature of ECA were grouped into four areas: the nature of ECA; the effects of ECA; the context of ECA; and, disclosure of ECA. The themes that emerged on how participants coped and dealt with the ECA they had experienced revealed a range of coping strategies and changes in these across the broad developmental stages of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. An important distinction that emerged was that between coping with the ECA and dealing with it. The cost of coping was a prominent theme and concurred with findings in the literature. The implications for practice and directions for future research generated by these findings are discussed. A theoretical definition developed from the research findings is presented and applied to specific examples from the research.
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Malur, Malini. "Experiencing natural environments, experiencing health : a health psychology perspective : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Health Psychology, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand." 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1655.
Full textAbstract:
This aim of this study was to explore the importance of natural surroundings to human health from a health psychology perspective. The increase in built environments have replaced green spaces in the urban areas and the effects of this has been explored by several disciplines ranging from environmental psychology, leisure studies, urban planning, public health to name a few. Findings from these studies have shown that natural environments do play a significant role in human health. However, it was deemed that exploring the influence of nature on human health from a health psychology viewpoint would provide a different dimension to this established link between nature and humans to press for preserving and providing more green spaces in the cities. Urban green areas offer several benefits such as space for exercise, leisure, psychological space for rejuvenating, healing and social connections that are all crucial for our wellbeing. This study explores the many ways natural settings contribute to health and well-being from a health psychology angle. A qualitative design was employed using a phenomenological approach to understand the everyday experience of being in nature/natural environments. Cornwall Park/One Tree Hill in Auckland was chosen as the site for this study. Nine women and men between the ages of 30 and 70 were chosen from this site to take part in the study. Methods of data collection were mainly in-depth interviews and photo-discussion. The data was analysed using a phenomenological approach based on the guidelines developed by Moustakas (1994) and van Manen (1990). The findings revealed that natural surroundings influenced people positively in many ways that contributed to their physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Natural environments satisfied a wide-range of needs, such as providing a place/space to exercise, to be alone and reflect, connect with nature, recreate, heal and socialise to name a few, in green, quiet, pollution-free, aesthetically pleasing settings. The essence of the phenomenon that is estimated to have been captured in the study is, “human experience in nature from the point of view of health psychology, or human experience of wellness, being in nature”.
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Watts, Peter Murray. "A qualitative study of emotional experiences during the pre-psychotic period." 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2292/620.
Full textAbstract:
Psychosis typically emerges after a heterogeneous range of premonitory symptoms. This has been labelled the ‘pre-psychotic period’ (PPP). Emotional disturbances are prominent features of this state and have shown to be risk factors for psychosis. The present study had two interrelated aims: to explore in-depth the experiential nature of the emotional changes that occur during the PPP; and to examine whether there are similarities between these pre-psychotic emotional changes and the concept of delusional atmosphere. Twelve men experiencing first-episode psychosis with delusional thought content were recruited for the study. Information regarding their emotional experiences during the PPP was gathered using a semi-structured interview format. Corroborating information about observable changes in the men’s behaviour during the PPP was also gathered from a family member or friend of theirs who had close contact with them during this time. The data was analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. A variety of strong emotional changes were reported during the PPP, including depression, anxiety, anger, and guilt, as well as love and happiness. Negative emotions were prominent during this time, but positive emotions were also found to be a feature of this state for some people. Overall, the PPP was characterised by an increase in distress over time. Features of delusional atmosphere that were evident during the PPP included: experiences of derealisation and the environment feeling different; anxiety and confusion and a drive to find and explanation for the changes that were being experienced; and a sense of apprehension that something significant was about to happen. The relevance of these findings to researchers and clinicians working in this area is discussed.
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Wood, CD. "How we talk to our children : an evaluation of parent effectiveness training for the development of emotional competence." 2003. http://eprints.utas.edu.au/228.
Full textAbstract:
Converging studies in empathic listening (Ickes, 1997), emotional intelligence (Bar-On 2000,2001) and conflict resolution (Sanson & Bretherton, 2001; Alvy, 1994) point to the importance of parent training for bringing up socially competent children in a world so changed in western countries that traditional parenting practices are less than effective. Both behaviour and the ability to manage emotion can be affected by interactions with the parent in infancy (Fischer & Rose, 1994) childhood and adolescence (Gottman, 1 997). Appropriate assertiveness is an important component of communication skill (Wilson & Gallois, 1993). Conflict resolution skills require a combination of empathic listening, assertiveness and creative problem solving (Littlefield, Love, Peck & Wertheim, 1993). Parent Effectiveness Training (PET, Gordon, 1976) focuses attention on the developnlent of empathic family relationships leading to autonomy and self-responsibility in children through parent training in empathic listening, appropriate assertiveness and conflict resolution. PET reaches over 900 parents annually around Australia, using a newly developed workbook (Wood, 1997) simplified without loss of content as part of this study. The present investigation provides an extensive study of PET in Australia using a three-group comparison (70 standard US workbook, 8 1 Australian workbook and 8 1 controls with no PET) comparing parents' pretest and posttest results with outcome measures following a PET program. Verbal and cognitive skills acquisition was measured using the Parent-Child Response Sheet (PCRS, Wood & Davidson, 1987, 1994/95). Parents' family management concerns were collected through the parent-listed objectives for training and the Issues of Parental Concern (PC, Gordon, 1976; Wood, 1996) including ratings of the stress they felt about each issue on the SUDS scale (Wolpe, 1990) before and after PET. Both PET groups achieved substantially and significantly higher scores than controls on empathic listening, appropriate assertiveness and conflict resolution as measured by the PCRS. Compared with controls the PET parents showed a significantly greater reduction in levels of parental stress about their family concerns. Males scored significantly higher in listening skills using the vernacular version, although there were no statistically significant differences between the workbooks. Extensive qualitative reports indicated that parents had made satisfactory changes in I family management procedures, improved relationships with children and increased levels of family harmony. These findings confirm the conclusions of earlier research, including the meta-analysis of PET studles (Cedar & Levant, 1990), and provide the fnst extensive evaluation of PET implemented at a community level in the light of emerging awareness of emotional intelligence and the need for family development of interpersonal communication skills.
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Sveen, RL. "Adolescent participants in a wilderness-based challenge : an evaluation of a primary and secondary prevention program." 1996. http://eprints.utas.edu.au/229.
Full textAbstract:
A theoretical eclectic model adopting a preventive approach to address adolescents at-risk of offending was created. Salient features were then utilised to assess a primary and secondary prevention program in practice. The sample (N = 62) consisted of 44 male and 18 female voluntary adolescents between 15 and 25 years of age, from all geographical areas within Tasmania, Australia. Conducted between September 1992 and October 1994, the study utilised a quasi-experimental recurrent institutional, non-parametric (prepost- follow-up) design as a control measure, to gauge maturational changes over a 12 month period of 11 groups of participants. Program effect was established through significant post minus pre participant general self-esteem and self-actualisation gain scores. Subsequent gender analysis found that female participants attained greater initial short-term gains in areas of social self-esteem (new peer relationships) and self-actualisation (personal insights). Conversely, longitudinal gains (pre to follow) were evidenced in the male sample in areas of general and personal self-esteem. Cross-sectional age-maturational analysis found significant personal self-esteem (happiness) gains achieved longitudinally by the early (i.e. 13-15) and in the short-term by the late (i.e. 19-21) adolescent groups of both genders. On the basis of these results, it is posited that the gender neutral physical demands of this wilderness-based program assisted female adolescent participants in gaining a more accurate and positive understanding of their social and personal attributes and abilities. Adolescent males appear to begin the program with an overestimation of their physical selves. Post activity loss of bravado occurs amongst male peers, potentially signalling a less competitive atmosphere and possible opportunity for development of self. The effect of this program as a catalyst preventing prima~yp articipants initial contact with court proceedings and reducing secondary prevention participants further involvement over a twelve month period was substantiated. The program provides the stimulus to assist with the actualisation of potential, manifesting most significantly within the community in educational and employment outcomes by 68% of the participants within this sample. It is surmised that this process works as an 'anti-depressant inoculation' particularly for the more mature, in that psychological strength is attained positively influencing post behavioural patterns. Perhaps an alternative perspective is that post course euphoria leaves a lingering positive effect. Recommendations for future research are included.
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Watchorn, JH. "Surviving Port Arthur : the role of dissociation in the impact of psychological trauma and its implications for the process of recovery." 2001. http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1271.
Full textAbstract:
Psychological trauma results from exposure to an inescapable stressor that overwhelms a person's ability to cope. During the period of perceived threat a defensive process of denial and suppression frequently operates to control a person's emotional response to the situation. Emergency services personnel in particular, may actively employ a task- oriented approach to traumatic incidents: and suppress their anxiety and fear in order to maintain concentration and undertake their duties most effectively. In psychological terms, this behaviour may be seen as purposeful, adaptive dissociation. However, recent studies of emergency services personnel reveal that there are possible long-term risks associated with the experiencing dissociation during a traumatic situation. While the ability to control emotional response may be viewed as an effective way of coping during an intense or traumatic situation, there is an inherent danger that this inhibition of emotions may become the source of long term psychological and physiological disturbance. Psychological debriefing is a popular method of assistance for emergency services personnel following a traumatic incident. It is designed to promote the cognitive and emotional processing of a traumatic event. During a debrief, participants describe the traumatic experience (including their reactions and emotions) in order to begin to integrate and master key features of the experience. While there is abundant anecdotal evidence suggesting that psychological debriefings can be beneficial, there have also been conflicting reports as to their actual effectiveness. Investigators have indicated that rigorous investigation of the effectiveness of psychological debriefing and its role in post-trauma recovery is urgently required. In particular, such investigations need to provide a clear answer to the question 'Is psychological debriefing related to the prevention of PTSD symptoms and associated psychological sequelae?' In this study, an investigation was undertaken of 96 emergency services personnel involved in the response to the 'Port Arthur massacre', a critical incident in which a lone gunman randomly killed 32 visitors in a popular tourist venue in southern Tasmania. All participants were individually interviewed on two occasions: eight months after and twenty months after the incident. Two key findings from the research project we presented. Firstly, experiencing dissociative symptoms at the time of the incident was predictive of long-term psychological and physiological distress. Secondly, within the group of emergency services personnel who experienced dissociation at the event, those who disclosed their related thoughts and feelings at the subsequent group debriefings showed significantly less long-term psychological distress. The results of this study offer insight into how the impact of biological chances caused by a traumatic event can be modified by the psychological processing of that event. The results support the suggestion that following a traumatic situation, a person needs to process and integrate the memory of that event if he or she is to 'recover' from his or her reaction to the situation. Psychological debriefing appears to provide an opportunity for the necessary psychological processing to commence and assist emergency services personnel in managing what might otherwise develop into PTSD.
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Briggs, KE. "Attention is Modulated by Motivational Relevance: A Behavioural and ERP Investigation of Affective Picture Processing." Thesis, 2007. https://eprints.utas.edu.au/2277/1/01front_Kbriggs.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
ERP evidence of affective picture processing generally agrees with one of two dominant
theories. The first is that enhanced ERP responses to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli
relative to neutral reflects the processing of stimulus motivational relevance, referred to
as the quadratic effect, and the second is that enhanced ERP responses to unpleasant
stimuli compared to pleasant and neutral stimuli reflects a negativity bias. The
overarching aims of the current series of empirical studies were to identify which of the
two aforementioned theories can most definitively account for affective picture
processing (Phase 1); and to investigate how processes of attentional engagement and
disengagement are influenced by the presence of motivationally relevant stimuli (Phase
2). Pictorial affective stimuli (high and low arousing pleasant, unpleasant, sexual, and
neutral stimuli) were presented in a modified oddball paradigm to 38 participants (19
male, 19 female) in Experiment 1 and 34 participants (17 male, 17 female) in Experiment
2. A negativity bias was demonstrated for P3b amplitude in Experiment 1; however
significantly enhanced P3b amplitudes evoked in response to sexually explicit stimuli in
Experiment 2 was not consistent with either dominant theory, and raised questions as to
the separable effects of motivational relevance and sexual arousal on cognitive processes.
Experiment 3 was aimed at investigating whether ERP responses are differentially
modulated by the social content of affective picture stimuli. The same participants from
Experiment 2 participated in Experiment 3 and the oddball task involved the presentation
of low arousing social and non-social pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral stimuli. No
significant differences in ERP component measures were shown between social and nonsocial
pleasant, or between social and non-social unpleasant stimuli, however both P2 and
P3b component amplitudes were enhanced in response to neutral faces compared with
neutral objects. Factors associated with facial recognition and difficulties extracting
affective information from a somewhat ambiguous neutral expression were cited as
possible explanations for the observed ERP component modulations.
The principal aim of Phase 2 was to investigate whether the presentation of
appetitive and aversive cues influences the engagement and disengagement components
of covert visual attention as inferred by responses to validly and invalidly cued targets
respectively. Participants in Experiment 4 @=I9 female) and Experiment 5 @=I8
female) were presented with a modified peripheral cueing paradigm, where pictorial
stimuli (sexual, mutilation, threatening, and neutral) served as peripheral cues. Target
processing as indexed by P1 and P3b amplitude showed significant facilitation in both
Experiments 4 and 5 when targets were cued by sexual and mutilation stimuli, regardless
of whether cueing was valid or invalid. It was therefore concluded that the engagement
and disengagement components of covert visual attention are not differentially affected
by motivationally relevant cues; rather, normal participants demonstrate a global
response bias when respondmg to targets that are cued by motivationally relevant
appetitive and aversive cues. The same participants from Experiment 5 were presented
with a peripheral cueing paradigm in Experiment 6, which aimed to investigate the effect
of phylogenetically (biological) and ontogenetically (cultural) fear-relevant stimuli on
processes of covert visual attention. Pictorial stimuli depicting dangerous animals, human
threat, and neutral objects served as peripheral cues. In line with preparedness theory
(Seligman 1970, 1971), target processing was facilitated by the presence of animal threat
stimuli compared to human threat and neutral stimuli, and also the early level of visual
processing as indexed by cue-evoked P 1 amplitude was enhanced in response to
phylogenetically, fear-relevant animal stimuli. A global response bias was again
demonstrated in Experiment 6, and it was concluded that the attentional system of normal
participants is sensitive to stimuli that have been evolutionarily associated with threat
and/or fear. The current dissertation therefore has theoretical implications for the
systematic study of affective picture processing. Furthermore, the introduction of a
peripheral cueing paradigm to the study of affective picture processing provides a new
insight into the effect that both appetitive and aversive stimuli have on processes of
attentional orienting and target processing.
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Spiranovic, CA. "Psychological and Psychophysiological Examination of the Sex offence Process Utilising a Guided Imagery Methodology." Thesis, 2007. https://eprints.utas.edu.au/6566/1/01front.pdf.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
The majority of child sex offender (CSO) typologies lack a theoretical basis which limits their applications in treatment and risk assessment. In contrast, it has been argued that the Self-Regulation model of the sex offence process (Ward & Hudson, 1998a, 2000a) offers a typology that may have considerable practical benefits. The Self-Regulation model classifies CSOs based on offence goal (Approach/Avoidant) and strategy employed to achieve that goal (Active/Passive). Utilising an Australian sample of CSOs (N=12) and non-offending controls (N=12), the present studies assessed the accuracy of the Self-Regulation model with regard to descriptions of offence pathways and examined differences between pathway offenders in treatment needs and recidivism risk. However, given the small sample size, interpretations of findings were limited to describing the characteristics of the current sample.
In the first series of studies, the assumptions underlying, and accuracy of, the Self- Regulation model were examined utilising a guided imagery methodology. The psychological and psychophysiological responses of CSOs and Controls to scripts depicting an emotionally neutral event (Neutral), adult consensual sex (Consensual), and child sexual assault (CSA) were compared. Although CSOs demonstrated a typical response to the personalised Consensual script, their response to the personalised CSA script was unique. Further investigation revealed some unexpected differences in responses between CSOs, classified as Approach- or Avoidant-goal and Active- or Passive-strategy, to the personalised Consensual and CSA scripts. It was proposed that these observed differences would likely have implications for the treatment and risk assessment of these of these offenders.
In a second series of studies, the present sample of Avoidant-goal and Active- strategy offenders unexpectedly emerged as groups with higher treatment needs, as these groups demonstrated relatively higher psychological symptomatology on the Symptom Checklist-90-R (Derogatis, 1983) and higher scores on the Screening Scale for Paedophilic Interest (Seto & Lalumière, 2001). Although not statistically significant, these same offenders, when assessed using the Static-99, were also estimated to pose a higher risk for sexual recidivism than their counterparts.
The final series of studies implemented the aetiological model of risk (Beech & Ward, 2004; Ward & Beech, 2004) as a guiding framework for exploring these unexpected results. A guided imagery examination demonstrated that offenders categorised as high or low in recidivism risk did not differ in peri-offence responses. Furthermore, offenders classified as relatively high or low in dispositions predictive of recidivism risk (i.e., paedophilic sexual interest/psychopathy) demonstrated relatively homogeneous peri-offence processes. However, given these null findings may have been an artifact of methodological issues (i.e., small sample size and low statistical power), the basis for the higher treatment need and recidivism risk of the present sample of Avoidant-goal and Active-strategy CSOs could not be determined.
In the final chapter, the significance of these findings with regard to existing theory and practice was discussed. Although the present series of studies demonstrated some meaningful differences between the CSOs that were not predicted by the Self- Regulation model, interpretations of these results were limited due to methodological issues. Hence, it was proposed that further research, employing larger and more representative samples of CSOs, is needed to determine the efficacy of incorporating theory-driven offence process variables in treatment and risk assessment.
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Love, Catherine Maarie Amohia. "Maori voices in the construction of indigenous models of counselling theory and practice : a thesis completed in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University." 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1682.
Full textAbstract:
Irregular pagination: Page numbers 572 to 582 & 755 missing, 754 is not numberedThis thesis explores the stories of four Maori counsellors who are employed in Western style organisations. Two 'readings' of participants' narratives are provided. The 'readings' are constructed from two distinct discursive frames, identified as ENGLISH-Maori and MAORI-English. It is proposed that participants' conceptions of self and other are constructed through narratives based in a MAORI-English discursive frame, and that their models of counselling are developed within this discursive frame. It is further proposed that meanings made within this discursive frame are not readily available to 'others' whose constructions of self and other are based in an ENGLISH-Maori or Western discursive frame. This mismatch leads to misunderstandings which impact negatively on the credibility and status of Maori counsellors and Maori models of counselling when viewed from the perspective of Western models of counselling theory, practice and organisation. It is also posited in this thesis that a form of 'sub-textual' communication exists within which Maori meanings are made and conveyed in the English language
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Williams, Mei Wah. "Testing and extending self-control theory of crime : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University." 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1427.
Full textAbstract:
Self-control theory of crime has had considerable impact on mainstream criminology since it was first published in 1990 by Gottfredson and Hirschi. It is regarded as the most parsimonious criminological theory currently available and has been empirically tested across diverse populations and behaviours. Considerable empirical evidence supports the generality of self-control in predicting crime and analogous behaviours, with low self-control ranked as one of the strongest risk factors for crime. Of substantive concern however is a lack of explanatory power in the theory, a problem that besets criminological theorising in general. This study attempted to integrate self-control theory with theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Whilst self-control provides a stable-dispositional explanation for propensity to crime, TPB is interested in the decision-making processes related to involvement in crime. As such, the study examined the relationship between time-stable self-control and the mediating role of situational-specific factors in the causation of crime. The purpose of the study is twofold. Firstly to investigate the underlying mechanism by which a person with low self-control may have greater propensity to crime and secondly to increase the explanatory value of self-control theory. Three disparate groups were used to explore the single theories and the integrated theory; female students, male students, and prison inmates. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were conducted to examine the sufficiency of the theories to explain intention to commit crime across three groups. Low self-control was unable to explain behavioural intentions for students but was successful in explaining intentions to do crime in a prison population. The motivational elements of TPB, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control, were shown to exert considerable influence on intention to do crime across the three samples but not attitude. The integrated theory increased the explanatory value of self-control theory for prison inmates over and above its constituent theories. These findings were not replicated with male and female students, raising questions about the generality of self-control theory. Implications for self-control theory are discussed, especially the need to include significant others and behavioural control variables in understanding the causes of crime
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Polzer-Debruyne, Andrea M. "Psychological and workplace attributes that influence personal web use (PWU) : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Industrial/Organisational Psychology, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand." 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/772.
Full textAbstract:
Using the Internet during work time for personal interest is defined as personal web use (PWU), yet only limited knowledge is available on why people engage in varying degrees in this activity. To address this shortcoming, this research project tested a heavily moderated theoretical model of thirteen psychological and workplace attributes expected to influence differences in individuals’ PWU: moral norms, boredom, workgroup norms, workload, use of the ‘ledger neutralisation strategy’, certainty about PWU rules, attitude towards work, reactance, supervisor treatment, attitude towards PWU control, status, tenure and social loafing risk. Five facets of PWU were measured as separate criterion variables: past frequency, habitual PWU, duration, and two PWU activity types. Data for the model testing was gathered through an extensive on-line questionnaire. The responses of 267 participants with varying demographics and work situations were used to test the theoretical model, using moderated regression analyses. Significant interactions were explored further through the Modgraph procedure. The model testing results showed that PWU was more common in respondents who morally approved of PWU and who were bored at their work. How often people engaged in PWU (either out of habit or in general), for how long and in what types of activities, was influenced by specific combinations of the remaining attributes. Only four of the hypothesised twelve interactions played statistically significant roles, only habitual PWU was influenced by workload; and only information-seeking activities were influenced by workgroup norms. Attributes with ‘revenge’ connotations were noticeably absent as significant influences. The findings are discussed in some detail. To further explore the context of PWU, thematic analysis was undertaken of answers to two open-response questions provided by a sub-sample of 119 participants. Results supported the role of workplace boredom in PWU situations, specified the moral issues of PWU approval, and suggested that PWU is best understood and examined in the wider context of organisational culture. The thesis concludes with synthesis and discussion of statistical and qualitative analyses results, identifying the contributions the research has made to the field of study. Suggested practical applications of the findings, limitations of the research project and suggestions for future studies conclude the documentation.
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Stuart, Nancy Eleanor. "Towards an integrated biopsychosocial risk model of distress disorder aetiology for children of middle childhood : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology, Massey University." 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10179/1750.
Full textAbstract:
Recent theoretical developments both within and outside the clinical literature have stressed the complex interactions between biological and environmental risk in relation to psychopathology development. They have also highlighted the importance of cognitive dimensions, especially those related to control perceptions, in the developmental path towards anxiety and mood disorders in children. Few studies have investigated these cognitive dimensions in relation to risk and protective factors. In light of these considerations, the present study evaluated structural models investigating the relationship of perceived control and competence to child temperamental risk, parent personal risk, family environmental risk and anxious and depressed feelings. It was hypothesised that temperamental, and psychological risk in relationship to family environment would be mediated by the cognitive dimensions of perceived control and competence. It was further hypothesised that family environment, would mediate the relationship between child temperamental risk and anxious and depressed feelings. A school sample of 293 New Zealand children aged between 8 and 11 and their parents was assessed using a cross-sectional design. Overall results indicated that in the face of temperamental and family adversity, feeling in control of emotions and social interactions and feeling socially competent afforded children protection from anxious or depressed feelings. In addition, a sensitive, accepting family environment was seen to protect a temperamentally vulnerable child from distressed feelings. In contrast, distress was more likely to occur when a temperamentally vulnerable child lived in a family characterised by parental psychological control and conflict than one characterised by less cohesion and parental rejection. Results also indicated that, in terms of cognitive features, perceptions of social competence were particularly important in protecting a child from having anxious or depressed feelings. These findings are discussed in relationship to Barlow's and other recent integrated aetiological theories of distress disorder. Findings are also considered in relation to implications for identification, intervention and prevention strategies for distressed children in both clinical and school populations. Further results, limitations and proposals for future research are also discussed.