Investigating a career choice for nursing based on social cognitive career theory

Nursing shortages still exist in the U.S. so it is important to determine factors that influence decisions to pursue nursing as a career. This comparative, correlational research study revealed factors that may contribute to, or deter students from choosing nursing as a career. The purpose of this study was to determine factors that contribute to a career choice for nursing based on the concepts of social cognitive career theory (SCCT), self efficacy, outcome expectations, and personal goals, among senior high school students, final year nursing students, and first year nursing students. Based on the results strategies may be developed to recruit a younger pool of students to the nursing profession and to boost retention efforts among those who already made a career choice in nursing. Data were collected using a three part questionnaire developed by the researcher to obtain demographic information and data about the respondents' self efficacy, outcome expectations, and personal goals with regards to nursing as a career. Point bi-serial correlations were used to determine relationships between the variables. ANOVAs and ANCOVAs were computed to determine differences in self efficacy and outcome expectations, among the three groups. Additional descriptive data determined reasons for and against a choice for nursing as a career. Self efficacy and outcome expectations were significantly correlated to career choice among all three groups. The nursing students had higher self efficacy perceptions than the high school students. There were no significant differences in outcome expectations between the three groups. The main categories identified as reasons for choosing nursing as a career were; (a) caring, (b) career and educational advancement, (c) personal accomplishment, (d) proficiency and love of the medical field. Common categories identified for not choosing nursing as a career were; (a) responsibility, (b) liability, (c) lack of respect, and (d) low salary. Other categories regarding not choosing nursing as a career included; (a) the nursing program and (b) professional (c) alternate career choice options and (d) fear of sickness and death. Findings from this study support the tenets of SCCT and may be used to recruit and retain nurses and develop curricula.

Social-cognitive antecedents of ambidextrous orientation in family-owned startups: The role of family ties, achievement motivation, and internal locus of control

Regulatory Focus Theory predicts that the motivation to self-regulate goal-directed thought and behavior depends on two distinct regulation strategies: a promotion focus based on attaining gains and a prevention focus based on avoiding losses. This study took a social-cognitive approach predicting that regulatory focus has an impact on how family startups (several family related founders) explore "new ideas", exploit "old certainties" and achieve the balance of both (ambidexterity), compared to lone founder startups (only one founder present). It was proposed that the social context of family ties among founders leads them to a prevention focus concerned with avoiding the loss of the socio-emotional benefits of those ties. In order to avoid such a loss, family founders were expected to increase their risk perceptions and thus, explore less than lone founders, who lack such socio-emotional ties. It was also proposed that two commonly used psychological traits in entrepreneurship research —achievement motivation and internal locus of control, predispose entrepreneurs to a promotion focus. Founders with a promotion focus, in turn, were hypothesized to lead startups to more risk-seeking behaviors and to more explorative orientation. The previous argument was used as a springboard to derive hypotheses about ambidexterity (the ability to exploit and explore simultaneously) and survival hazards. Using Regulatory Focus Theory, exploitative orientation, conceptualized as the motivational strength to continue on previous paths of action, was hypothesized to be not significantly different from that of lone founder startups. Taking previous arguments together, lone founder startups were hypothesized to be more ambidextrous than family startups. Finally, ambidexterity and internal locus of control were hypothesized to reduce survival hazards in family startups. The findings suggested that family startups explore less than lone founder startups even after controlling for group effects. Interesting but contradictory findings revealed that internal locus of control have both a positive direct effect and a positive interaction that increases the explorative and ambidextrous orientation gap of family startups over lone founder startups. As expected, ambidexterity and internal locus of control reduced survival hazards on family startups. Implications for practitioners were derived based on a sample of 470 nascent entrepreneurs.

Social-cognitive Antecedents of Ambidextrous Orientation in Family-owned Startups: The Role of Family Ties, Achievement Motivation, and Internal Locus of Control

Regulatory Focus Theory predicts that the motivation to self-regulate goal-directed thought and behavior depends on two distinct regulation strategies: a promotion focus based on attaining gains and a prevention focus based on avoiding losses. This study took a social-cognitive approach predicting that regulatory focus has an impact on how family startups (several family related founders) explore “new ideas”, exploit “old certainties” and achieve the balance of both (ambidexterity), compared to lone founder startups (only one founder present). It was proposed that the social context of family ties among founders leads them to a prevention focus concerned with avoiding the loss of the socio-emotional benefits of those ties. In order to avoid such a loss, family founders were expected to increase their risk perceptions and thus, explore less than lone founders, who lack such socio-emotional ties. It was also proposed that two commonly used psychological traits in entrepreneurship research --achievement motivation and internal locus of control, predispose entrepreneurs to a promotion focus. Founders with a promotion focus, in turn, were hypothesized to lead startups to more risk-seeking behaviors and to more explorative orientation. The previous argument was used as a springboard to derive hypotheses about ambidexterity (the ability to exploit and explore simultaneously) and survival hazards. Using Regulatory Focus Theory, exploitative orientation, conceptualized as the motivational strength to continue on previous paths of action, was hypothesized to be not significantly different from that of lone founder startups. Taking previous arguments together, lone founder startups were hypothesized to be more ambidextrous than family startups. Finally, ambidexterity and internal locus of control were hypothesized to reduce survival hazards in family startups. The findings suggested that family startups explore less than lone founder startups even after controlling for group effects. Interesting but contradictory findings revealed that internal locus of control have both a positive direct effect and a positive interaction that increases the explorative and ambidextrous orientation gap of family startups over lone founder startups. As expected, ambidexterity and internal locus of control reduced survival hazards on family startups. Implications for practitioners were derived based on a sample of 470 nascent entrepreneurs.

Social movements theory: A Burkean approach to the rhetoric of abolition

Inspired by Kenneth Burke's dramatism, this thesis examined the viability of social movements rhetorical theory in its application to literature by focusing on the 19th century abolitionist movement in the United States and moving from the analysis of public speeches to fictional works. ^ Chapter one applied the rhetorical analysis of social movements to noteworthy speeches by William Lloyd Garrison and Francis Maria W. Stewart. Chapter two examined social movements rhetoric in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. Chapter three considered Uncle Tom's Cabin and determined whether social movements rhetorical theory could illuminate this persuasive work of fiction. ^ Dramatistically speaking, each of these works attempted to persuade the reader or auditor to join the abolitionist cause through symbolic action in their rhetoric. This thesis concluded that the social movements approach derived from Burkean dramatism is indeed powerful in its application to literature as it unpacks the rhetoric of abolition. ^

Social Learning Theory and Prison Work Release Programs

The authors’ review of literature about Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory and self-efficacy leads to implications on how this theory can positively affect prison work release programs and inmate post-release outcomes. Additionally, several causes of deviant behavior have been explained by social learning theory concepts.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices affecting health behaviors in the U.S. Army Special Operations Command population of Rangers

Malaria is a threat to United States military personnel operating in endemic areas, from which there have been hundreds of cases reported over the past decade. Each of these cases might have been avoided with proper adherence to malaria chemoprophylaxis medications. Military operations may detract from the strict 100% adherence required of these preventive medications. However, the reasons for non-adherence in military populations are not well understood. This behavior was investigated using a cross sectional study design on a convenience sample of U.S. Army Ranger volunteers (n=150) located at three military instillations. Theoretical support was based on components of the Health Belief Model, the Theory of Reasoned Action/Theory of Planned Behavior, and the Social Cognitive Theory. ^ Data on knowledge, attitudes, and practices, as well as multiple environmental domains was collected using an original yet unvalidated questionnaire. The data was analyzed using bivariate Pearson correlations, binary logistic regression, and moderated logistic regressions employing a 0.05 criterion of statistical significance. Power analyses predicted 96-98% power for this analysis. ^ Multiple significant medium strength Pearson correlation coefficients were identified relative to the two dependent variables Take medications as directed and Intend to take the medications as directed the next time. Binary logistic regression analyses identified multiple variables that may predict behavioral intentions to adhere to these preventive medications, as a proxy for behavioral change. Moderated logistic regression analyses identified Command Support for adherence to these medications as a potential significant moderator that interacts with independent variables within three domains of the survey questionnaire. ^ The findings indicate that there may be potential significant beneficial effects, which may improve this behavior in this population of Rangers through 1) promoting affirmative interpersonal communications that emphasize adherence to these medications, 2) including malaria chemoprophylaxis medications in the mission planning process, and 3) military command support, in the form of including the importance of proper adherence to these medications in the unit safety briefings.^

The recruitment process of the Shining Path and MRTA guerrilla groups: A political psychological perspective

This thesis is an analysis of the recruitment process of the Shining Path -SP- and Revolutionary Movement “Túpac Amaru” -MRTA- guerrilla groups. Although SP was considered more aggressive, it gained more followers than MRTA. This thesis tries to explain why. Social Revolution Theory and Social Movement Theory provide explanations based on issues of “poverty”, disregarding the specific characteristics of the guerrilla groups and their supporters, as well as the influence of specific persuasive processes between the leaders of the groups and their followers. Integrative complexity theory, on the contrary, provides a consistent method to analyze cognitive processes: because people tend to reject complex and sophisticated explanations that require mental efforts, simplicity was the key for success. To prove which guerrilla group provided a simpler worldview, a sample of official documents of SP and MRTA are compared. Finally, content analysis is applied through the Paragraph Completion Test (P.C.T.). ^

The relationship between classroom interactions and exclusionary discipline as a social practice: A critical microethnograhy

Exclusionary school discipline results in students being removed from classrooms as a consequence of their disruptive behavior and may lead to subsequent suspension and/or expulsion. Literature documents that nondominant students, particularly Black males, are disproportionately impacted by exclusionary discipline, to the point that researchers from a variety of critical perspectives consider exclusionary school discipline an oppressive educational practice and condition. Little or no research examines specific teacher-student social interactions within classrooms that influence teachers’ decisions to use or not use exclusionary discipline. Therefore, this study set forth the central research question: In relation to classroom interactions in alternative education settings, what accounts for teachers’ use or non-use of exclusionary discipline with students? A critical social practice theory of learning served as the framework for exploring this question, and a critical microethnographic methodology informed the data collection and analysis. ^ Criterion sampling was used to select four classrooms in the same alternative education school with two teachers who frequently and two who rarely used exclusionary discipline. Nine stages of data collection and reconstructive data analysis were conducted. Data collection involved video recorded classroom observations, digitally recorded interviews of teachers and students discussing selected video segments, and individual teacher interviews. Reconstructive data analysis procedures involved hermeneutic inferencing of possible underlying meanings, critical discourse analysis, interactive power analysis and role analysis, thematic analysis of the interactions in each classroom, and a final comparative analysis of the four classrooms. ^ Four predominant themes of social interaction (resistance, conformism, accommodation, and negotiation) emerged with terminology adapted from Giroux’s (2001) theory of resistance in education and Third Space theory (Gutiérrez, 2008). Four types of power (normative, coercive, interactively established contracts, and charm), based on Carspecken’s (1996) typology, were found in the interactions between teacher and students in varying degrees for different purposes. ^ This research contributes to the knowledge base on teacher-student classroom interactions, specifically in relation to exclusionary discipline. Understanding how the themes and varying power relations influence their decisions and actions may enable teachers to reduce use of exclusionary discipline and remain focused on positive teacher-student academic interactions. ^

The boundaries of acceptance: Do expectations for the complainant's psychological injury affect legal decisions in a sexual harassment case

Research indicates that people engaged in legal decision-making use a host of biases and preconceptions to guide their decisions about whether the evidence presented to them is reasonable. However, few theories address how such expectations affect legal decision-makers. The present study attempted to determine if social judgment theory (SJT) can explain how and when legal decision-makers rely on expectations for the complainant's psychological injury in a hostile environment sexual harassment case. Two experiments provided undergraduate participants with a written summary of a hostile work environment allegation that first manipulated participants' expectations about reasonable psychological injuries (mild v. severe), and then presented them with actual severity levels of psychological injury (ranging from minimal to extreme). Experiment 1 (N = 295) hypothesized and found that participants who expected severe injuries perceived a greater range of psychological injuries to be reasonable than participants expecting mild injury. Experiment 2 ( N = 202) used similar methodology and investigated whether perceived reasonableness for the injury allegations affected legal decisions. Experiment 2 hypothesized that participants expecting severe psychological injury should render more pro-complainant decisions than participants expecting mild psychological injury. This result should be most pronounced when participants receive a moderate injury allegation, since this allegation was perceived as reasonable by participants expecting severe injury, but unreasonable by participants expecting mild injury. Consistent with SJT, participants who received a moderate injury but expected a severe injury found more liability than participants who received a moderate injury but expected a mild injury. Inconsistent with SJT, participants' expectations did not affect their compensatory damage decisions. In fact, more severe injury allegations increased damage awards regardless of participants' expectations. Although the results provide mixed support for applying SJT to legal decisions in sexual harassment cases, they emphasize the continuing role of oft-unstudied extra-legal factors (juror's expectations and psychological injury severity) on legal decisions.

The Relationship between Classroom Interactions and Exclusionary Discipline as a Social Practice: A Critical Microethnography

Exclusionary school discipline results in students being removed from classrooms as a consequence of their disruptive behavior and may lead to subsequent suspension and/or expulsion. Literature documents that nondominant students, particularly Black males, are disproportionately impacted by exclusionary discipline, to the point that researchers from a variety of critical perspectives consider exclusionary school discipline an oppressive educational practice and condition. Little or no research examines specific teacher-student social interactions within classrooms that influence teachers’ decisions to use or not use exclusionary discipline. Therefore, this study set forth the central research question: In relation to classroom interactions in alternative education settings, what accounts for teachers’ use or non-use of exclusionary discipline with students? A critical social practice theory of learning served as the framework for exploring this question, and a critical microethnographic methodology informed the data collection and analysis. Criterion sampling was used to select four classrooms in the same alternative education school with two teachers who frequently and two who rarely used exclusionary discipline. Nine stages of data collection and reconstructive data analysis were conducted. Data collection involved video recorded classroom observations, digitally recorded interviews of teachers and students discussing selected video segments, and individual teacher interviews. Reconstructive data analysis procedures involved hermeneutic inferencing of possible underlying meanings, critical discourse analysis, interactive power analysis and role analysis, thematic analysis of the interactions in each classroom, and a final comparative analysis of the four classrooms. Four predominant themes of social interaction (resistance, conformism, accommodation, and negotiation) emerged with terminology adapted from Giroux’s (2001) theory of resistance in education and Third Space theory (Gutiérrez, 2008). Four types of power (normative, coercive, interactively established contracts, and charm), based on Carspecken’s (1996) typology, were found in the interactions between teacher and students in varying degrees for different purposes. This research contributes to the knowledge base on teacher-student classroom interactions, specifically in relation to exclusionary discipline. Understanding how the themes and varying power relations influence their decisions and actions may enable teachers to reduce use of exclusionary discipline and remain focused on positive teacher-student academic interactions.

Towards the formation of a sustainable South Florida: An analysis of conflict resolution and consensus building in the South Florida Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Initiative

This dissertation examines the sociological process of conflict resolution and consensus building in South Florida Everglades Ecosystem Restoration through what I define as a Network Management Coordinative Interstitial Group (NetMIG). The process of conflict resolution can be summarized as the participation of interested and affected parties (stakeholders) in a forum of negotiation. I study the case of the Governor's Commission for a Sustainable South Florida (GCSSF) that was established to reduce social conflict. Such conflict originated from environmental disputes about the Everglades and was manifested in the form of gridlock among regulatory (government) agencies, Indian tribes, as well as agricultural, environmental conservationist and urban development interests. The purpose of the participatory forum is to reduce conflicts of interest and to achieve consensus, with the ultimate goal of restoration of the original Everglades ecosystem, while cultivating the economic and cultural bases of the communities in the area. Further, the forum aim to formulate consensus through envisioning a common sustainable community by providing means to achieve a balance between human and natural systems. ^ Data were gathered using participant observation and document analysis techniques to conduct a theoretically based analysis of the role of the Network Management Coordinative Interstitial Group (NetMIG). I use conflict resolution theory, environmental conflict theory, stakeholder analysis, systems theory, differentiation and social change theory, and strategic management and planning theory. ^ The purpose of this study is to substantiate the role of the Governor's Commission for a Sustainable South Florida (GCSSF) as a consortium of organizations in an effort to resolve conflict rather than an ethnographic study of this organization. Environmental restoration of the Everglades is a vehicle for recognizing the significance of a Network Management Coordinative Interstitial Group (NetMIG), namely the Governor's Commission for a Sustainable South Florida (GCSSF), as a structural mechanism for stakeholder participation in the process of social conflict resolution through the creation of new cultural paradigms for a sustainable community. ^

A study of moderating influences of adolescent alcohol drinking conditioned by perception of peer alcohol drinking

Despite a long history of prevention efforts and federal laws prohibiting the consumption of alcohol for those below the age of 21 years, underage drinking continues at both a high prevalence rate and high incidence rate. The purpose of this research study is to explain underage drinking of alcohol conditioned by perception of peer drinking. An acquisition model is conjectured and then a relationship within the model is explained with a national sample of students. From a developmental perspective, drinking alcohol is acquired in a reasonably ordered fashion that reflects the influences over time of the culture, family, and peers. The study measures perceptions of alcohol drinking during early adolescence when alcohol use begins the maintenance phase of the behavior. The correlation between drinking alcohol and perception of classmate drinking can be described via social learning theory. Simultaneously the moderating effects of grade level, gender, and race/ethnicity are used to explain differences between groups. Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze the relations. The researcher found support for an association between adolescent drinking and perceptions of classmate drinking. Gender and grade level moderated the relation. African-Americans consistently demonstrated less drinking and less perception of classmate drinking than either whites or other students not white nor African-American. The importance of a better understanding of the process of acquiring drinking behaviors is discussed in relation to future research models with longitudinal data. ^

Predicting jurors' decisions: The effects of repeated expression and forewarning in civil voir dire

To help lawyers uncover jurors' attitudes and predict verdict, litigation experts recommend that attorneys encourage jurors to repeatedly express their attitudes during voir dire. While social cognitive literature has established that repeated expression of attitudes increases accessibility and behavior predictability, the persuasive twist on the method exercised in trials deserves empirical investigation. Only one study has examined the use of repeated expression within a legal context with the results finding that the tactic increased accessibility, but did not influence the attitude verdict relationship. This dissertation reexamines the ability of civil attitudes to predict verdict in a civil trial and investigates the use of repeated expression as a persuasive tactic utilized by both parties (Plaintiff and Defense) within a civil voir dire in an attempt to increase attitudinal strength, via accessibility, and change attitudes to better predict verdict. This project also explores potential moderators, repetition by the opposing party and the use of a forewarning, to determine their ability to counter the effects of repeated expression on attitudes and verdict.^ This dissertation project asked subjects to take on the role of jurors in a civil case. During the voir dire questioning session, the number of times the participants were solicited to express their attitudes towards litigation crisis by both parties was manipulated (one vs. five). Also manipulated was the inclusion of a forewarning statement from the plaintiff, within which mock jurors were cautioned about the repeated tactics that the defense may use to influence their attitudes. Subsequently, participants engaged in a response latency task which measured the accessibility of their attitudes towards various case-related issues. After reading a vignette of a fictitious personal injury case, participants rendered verdict decisions and responded to an attitude evaluation scale. Exploratory factor analyses, Probit regressions, and path analyses were used to analyze the data. Results indicated that the act of repeated expression influenced both the accessibility and value of litigation crisis attitudes thus increasing the attitude-verdict relationship, but only when only one party engaged in it. Furthermore, the forewarning manipulation did moderate the effect of repeated expression on attitude change and verdict, supporting our hypothesis.^

Development and validation of an instrument to predict online student success using faculty perceptions

Distance learning is growing and transforming educational institutions. The increasing use of distance learning by higher education institutions and particularly community colleges coupled with the higher level of student attrition in online courses than in traditional classrooms suggests that increased attention should be paid to factors that affect online student course completion. The purpose of the study was to develop and validate an instrument to predict community college online student course completion based on faculty perceptions, yielding a prediction model of online course completion rates. Social Presence and Media Richness theories were used to develop a theoretically-driven measure of online course completion. This research study involved surveying 311 community college faculty who taught at least one online course in the past 2 years. Email addresses of participating faculty were provided by two south Florida community colleges. Each participant was contacted through email, and a link to an Internet survey was given. The survey response rate was 63% (192 out of 303 available questionnaires). Data were analyzed through factor analysis, alpha reliability, and multiple regression. The exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis with varimax rotation yielded a four-factor solution that accounted for 48.8% of the variance. Consistent with Social Presence theory, the factors with their percent of variance in parentheses were: immediacy (21.2%), technological immediacy (11.0%), online communication and interactivity (10.3%), and intimacy (6.3%). Internal consistency of the four factors was calculated using Cronbach's alpha (1951) with reliability coefficients ranging between .680 and .828. Multiple regression analysis yielded a model that significantly predicted 11% of the variance of the dependent variable, the percentage of student who completed the online course. As indicated in the literature (Johnson & Keil, 2002; Newberry, 2002), Media Richness theory appears to be closely related to Social Presence theory. However, elements from this theory did not emerge in the factor analysis.

Graduate program culture and intention to persist: Working adults in cohort and non-cohort programs

Cohort programs have been instituted at many universities to accommodate the growing number of mature adult graduate students who pursue degrees while maintaining multiple commitments such as work and family. While it is estimated that as many as 40–60% of students who begin graduate study fail to complete degrees, it is thought that attrition may be even higher for this population of students. Yet, little is known about the impact of cohorts on the learning environment and whether cohort programs affect graduate student retention. Retention theory stresses the importance of the academic department, quality of faculty-student relationships and student involvement in the life of the academic community as critical determinants in students' decisions to persist to degree completion. However, students who are employed full-time typically spend little time on campus engaged in the learning environment. Using academic and social integration theory, this study examined the experiences of working adult graduate students enrolled in cohort (CEP) and non-cohort (non-CEP) programs and the influence of these experiences on intention to persist. The Graduate Program Context Questionnaire was administered to graduate students (N = 310) to examine measures of academic and social integration and intention to persist. Sample t tests and ANOVAs were conducted to determine whether differences in perceptions could be identified between cohort and non-cohort students. Multiple linear regression was used to identify variables that predict students' intention to persist. While there were many similarities, significant differences were found between CEP and non-CEP student groups on two measures. CEP students rated peer-student relationships higher and scored higher on the intention to persist measure than non-CEP students. The psychological integration measure, however, was the strongest predictor of intention to persist for both the CEP and non-CEP groups. This study supports the research literature which suggests that CEP programs encourage the development of peer-student relationships and promote students' commitment to persistence.