UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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    The Augmentation Effect: When Cost Enhances the Perceived Benefit of Extreme Means
    (2011) Klein, Kristen; Kruglanski, Arie W; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In the present research, I introduce a new type of means under goal systems theory (Kruglanski et al., 2002): a costly means, which is instrumental to a focal goal but detrimental to alternative goal(s). An attributional inference similar to the augmentation effect (Kelley, 1971) may occur for costly means, suggesting that because they are detrimental to alternative goal(s), they must be especially instrumental to a focal goal. Moreover, individuals under high (vs. low) commitment to this focal goal may perceive a costly means as less extreme. Findings from Study 1 provide evidence for both hypotheses, and Study 2 showed that alternative goal primes lead to perceptions of costly means as more extreme. These findings recommend the integration of rational choice and goal systems theories, provide evidence for the augmentation effect as a heuristic tool, and highlight potential interventions to combat extremist cognition and behavior.
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    The goal of low self-monitors: To thine own self be true?
    (2010) Freidus, Rachel Amanda; Sigall, Harold; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Traditionally, low self-monitors have been viewed as individuals who are less likely than high self-monitors to monitor their expressive behavior and to present themselves a certain way for the sake of desired public appearances. However, recent research suggests that low self-monitors may have self-presentational concerns, which seem to relate to low self-monitors' desire to appear to be sincere. In order to examine low self-monitors' goal, a study was conducted in which the participants were placed in a situation where they had to choose between being sincere and only appearing to be sincere. Participants revealed their attitudes to another participant, whose attitudes were known to them, and who would be forming an impression of them based on their attitudes. Results of this experiment demonstrated that low self-monitors chose to conform to the attitudes of the other participant, and did not choose either to be sincere or to appear to be sincere. Although the hypothesis was not supported, the experiment revealed that low self-monitors do actively present themselves. Results and implications are discussed in terms of understanding the goals of low self-monitors by distinguishing between the ability and motivational components of the construct of self-monitoring.
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    THE INFLUENCE OF CONSUMER MOTIVATIONS ON CONSUMPTION INTENTIONS AND BEHAVIOR
    (2009) Espinoza, Francine; Hamilton, Rebecca W; Srivastava, Joydeep; Business and Management: Marketing; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This Dissertation comprises two essays that investigate how consumers' different motivations affect their cognitive responses and consumption behavior. Essay 1 shows that consumers' motivation to rely on their own opinion and correct their judgments for the influence of a product recommendation moderates source credibility effects on judgment certainty and behavioral intentions. Building upon earlier research showing that correction may decrease judgment certainty, we propose that, contrary to this unidirectional effect, correction has an asymmetric effect on judgment certainty and behavioral intentions, depending on the initial recommendation credibility. In a series of three studies, we provide support for the asymmetric effect of correction and show that when consumers correct for the influence of a high credibility recommendation, their judgment certainty and behavioral intentions decrease, but when they correct for the influence of a low credibility recommendation, their judgment certainty and behavioral intentions increase. Essay 2 examines the influence of consumers' motivations on product valuation and proposes that while buyers are intrinsically motivated to minimize what they are giving up, sellers are intrinsically motivated to maximize what they are getting. These differential goals lead to a discrepancy in product valuation of buyers relative to sellers. In a series of five studies, we provide support for the motivated valuation explanation for the disparity between buying and selling prices and show that when the goal pursuit of buyers and sellers is altered, buyers may be willing to buy for a higher price and sellers may be willing to buy for a lower price.
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    Linking Goals to Avoidance in Interpersonal Conflict Situations: A Cognitive Approach
    (2006-08-03) WANG, QI; Cai, Deborah A.; Fink, Edward L.; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    When an argument becomes overheated, is it better to insist on arguments until the other submits, or is it better to withdraw until both parties cool off? When a work team makes a decision, are the ideas offered always better than the ideas held back? Just as "the squeaky wheels get oiled," conflict communication research has focused on communicative strategies in dealing with conflict, and the non-communicative strategy of avoidance has rarely been examined. Avoidance has been largely viewed as a passive and ineffective conflict strategy. The goal of this dissertation is to develop and assess a cognitive model of conflict avoidance. A typology of conflict avoidance and a typology of goals in conflict situations are developed. Twelve hypotheses about how conflict goals determine individuals' likelihood of using specific avoidance strategies are proposed. In an experiment, the importance of a goal or a combination of goals was manipulated, and the likelihood of using specific avoidance strategies was measured. Twelve goals or combinations of goals were induced in a role-playing situation. Each goal induction was placed in one of two hypothetical scenarios (an interpersonal conflict in a group project in school and a similar conflict at work). With two scenarios and 12 goal inductions, 24 experimental conditions were created. A total of 352 student participants were randomly assigned to the 24 conditions. Participants imagined interacting in the hypothetical conflict scenario, which was presented in writing; they then provided their responses on a questionnaire. Results indicated that avoidance has various forms, some of which were caused by different levels of importance placed on different goals. Avoidance strategies were shown to have two components: communication avoidant strategies (withdrawal, passive competition, exit, and outflanking) and issue avoidant strategies (pretending and yielding). The former strategies were predicted by competitive goals, whereas the latter were predicted by cooperative goals. Interpretations and implications of the results, the limitations of the study, and future directions were discussed.
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    Achievement Goal Orientations in Physical Rehabilitation
    (2005-12-01) Lawson, Sonia; Alexander, Patricia A; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Goals are used extensively in physical rehabilitation medicine to measure success. However, the goal construct has been given very little attention in research as compared to the domains of education and sport. Educational researchers and sport psychologists have described the cognitions and relations between goals, beliefs, motivation, and achievement behavior for their respective domains. In particular, goal orientation, a set of beliefs about ability, effort, achievement, and resulting behavior, is a dimension of achievement motivation that affects success in those fields. Goal orientation may influence participation and success in physical rehabilitation as there are aspects of physical rehabilitation that are similar to education and sport contexts. This study examined goal orientations for 237 patients receiving acute in-patient rehabilitation. A questionnaire was created and validated to assess goal or work orientations specific to this sample. Interview data supplemented results from the factor analysis of the questionnaire. Occupational therapists of the patient participants provided quantitative and qualitative data regarding their patients' success and factors related to success. The mastery and performance-avoid goal orientations and the cooperation work orientation were found with the highest frequency. However, none of these orientations related to success. The high frequency of the cooperation work orientation with interview comments validating the usefulness of this motivational aspect provides evidence for the use of groups in rehabilitation. The age of the participant significantly influenced three of the five goal or work orientations included in the study. This study provides a start in the investigation of additional dimensions to the goal construct that may affect participation and rehabilitation success.