Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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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 give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item THE ROLE OF PROACTIVITY IN OVERCOMING THREAT: A MODEL OF TEAM LEARNING(2014) Firth, Brady; Tangirala, Subrahmaniam; Business and Management: Management & Organization; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Team learning is critical for teams to be successful in dynamic environments. However, teams often experience threats that can lead to rigid approaches to their work. Threats can cause teams to rely on well-known responses to their tasks and prevent them from exploring new ideas and opportunities. Consequently, threats can be associated with diminished learning in teams. I focus on this issue by examining the following question: What enables teams to reduce the negative effects of threat on team learning? I argue that when confronting threat, teams composed of members with higher proactive personality are likely to more positively frame the threat and engage in behaviors that enable them to explore alternative approaches to their work. Therefore, I propose that proactivity can help teams buffer against the negative effects of threat on team learning processes, which include behaviors such as seeking feedback, engaging in experimentation, and discussing errors. I test my hypotheses in an experimental study in which 94 5-person teams work on a command and control simulation. I manipulate a) team composition with respect to proactivity and b) threat, which was conceptualized as a potential loss to personal reputation and public discrediting for poor performance. Results indicate that irrespective of their proactivity levels, teams demonstrated high levels of team learning processes in the absence of threat. By contrast, in the presence of threat, only teams in the high proactivity condition maintained high levels of learning processes whereas teams in the low proactivity condition displayed significantly diminished learning processes and (subsequent) performance.Item Work-Family Experiences Among Employed Mothers(2011) Ganginis Del Pino, Heather Victoria; O'Brien, Karen M.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to extend knowledge regarding the predictors and outcomes associated with work-family conflict and work-family enrichment with a sample of employed mothers. Specifically, grounded in the work of Greenhaus and Powell (2006), this study examined the extent to which employed mothers' personality (neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), styles of coping, and employer sensitivity were predictive of work-family conflict (work-to-family and family-to-work), and work-family enrichment (work-to-family and family-to-work), and how these constructs related to psychological functioning (i.e., well-being and depression), satisfaction with life/love (i.e., life and relationship satisfaction), and work satisfaction. Participants included 305 employed mothers. We tested the hypothesis that the indirect effects model would be a better fit to the data than the direct and indirect effects model, which was not supported. The direct and indirect effects model, after modifications (correlated uniqueness terms), was a better fit to the data. Directions for future research and the limitations of this study are discussed.Item How one helps: personality, theoretical orientation, and helping skill preference(2009) Hummel, Ann Martha; Gelso, Charles J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In order to test the interrelationships among personality, preferred theoretical orientation to counseling, and preferences for various response modes (helping skills) in counseling, undergraduates in peer counseling and basic helping skills courses completed measures of these three constructs. Findings include four significant relationships between personality factors and theoretical orientations, and four significant relationships between theoretical orientation and helping skill preference. Three significant relationships between personality factors and helping skill preference were found, including two replications from an earlier study by the author (Hummel & Gelso, 2007). Identification with and belief in the humanistic/client-centered theoretical orientation was found to be a mediator between emotional stability and preference for direct guidance. Overall, there were modest interrelationships between personality, theoretical orientation, and helping skill preference in beginning helping trainees; but it was suggested that these relationships may not yet be solidified at this point in their development as helpers.Item Personality Traits in the Budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus(2008) Callicrate, Taylor; Estevez, Inmaculada; Animal Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study investigated bold-shy personality in the budgerigar, Melopsittacus undulatus . Adult budgerigars (14 females, 9 males) fed either a control diet, or one supplemented with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), were subjected to seven behavioral tests and two immunocompetence assays. Behavioral responses were categorized by context: fear, feeding, or activity. Correlations were obtained within contexts and among immunocompetence variables and all behavioral variables. Kruskal-Wallis analysis was used to investigate effects of gender and DHA on all variables. Budgerigars behaved consistently within activity and feeding contexts. Males had higher feeding rates, and their feeding responses were negatively correlated with a measure of innate immunity. Cluster analysis characterized birds by activity levels; bold birds were highly active and shy birds were less active. The results of this study suggest that budgerigars exhibit consistent behaviors in two contexts, feeding and activity, which are unrelated to each other, and that activity is the predominant personality trait.Item Impact of Residential Substance Abuse Treatment on Affect and Personality-Related Variables Across Inner-city Substance Abusers(2007-06-27) Aklin, Will M.; Lejuez, Carl W; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Substance abuse treatment outcome studies have shown positive effects for a large number of drug users with regard to reduction in substance use and criminal activity, as well as improvement of general well-being. However, high rates of relapse following treatment have compelled researchers to elucidate the individual difference factors that change among those who receive substance abuse treatment. Affect- (depressive and anxiety symptoms) and disinhibition-related variables (impulsivity, risk taking) may be of particular relevance. These factors are related to the development and maintenance of substance use and distinguish between substance users with and without Axis I and II disorders that may interfere with treatment success, such as depression, anxiety disorders, or antisocial personality disorder. Consequently, these factors may be considered important treatment targets. However, there currently is a dearth of research focused on understanding whether these variables are affected by standard substance use treatments, and more specifically, which variables may change throughout the course of substance use treatment. Given that many of these variables are considered to be enduring aspects of an individual's personality, the extent to which they are malleable by treatment is an important consideration. Moreover, to enhance the generalizability of these findings, it is important to understand the extent to which changes occur in more standard substance use treatments as opposed to more elaborate and targeted treatments that rarely are disseminated in real world treatment settings. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of a residential substance use treatment program on particular affect- (e.g., depressive and anxiety symptoms, stress reactivity) and disinhibition-related variables (e.g., risk taking). A sample of 81 inner-city substance abusers were assessed on self-reported and behavioral measures of the above affect- and disinhibition-related variables that have previously found to be implicated in substance use over a 30-day course of treatment. A residential treatment program provides an optimal setting for evaluating changes as behavioral confounds (i.e., substance use) can be controlled, and the natural changes during abstinence can be measured with both reliability and validity. A significant pre-post treatment decrease was found on scores of risk taking, as indexed by the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART); levels of depressive symptomatology and stress reactivity also evidenced a significant pre-post decrease. These data are discussed with respect to implications for understanding the factors that underlie mechanisms of change during treatment, thereby informing substance abuse prevention and treatment programs.Item THE CORRELATION BETWEEN PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPE AND PERFORMANCE TIME WHILE WEARING A RESPIRATOR(2004-12-10) Koh, Frank; Johnson, Arthur T; Biological Resources Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The brain efficiently utilizes dominant templates to think, learn, create, solve problems, and communicate. Many studies have shown that individuals perform better if not wearing a respirator than with wearing a respirator. This study examined the degree of performance reduction attributable to specific dominant character traits. The subjects performed on a treadmill at a constant speed and grade resulting in 80-85% of maximum oxygen consumption (VO2max). A modified M40 respirator was used to create three levels of inspiratory resistance: 2.78, 16.79, and 27.27 cmH2O*(sec/L). The 31 subjects were tested using a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Multiple regressions and an ANOVA were used to test for correlation. When air intake is very constricted, the multiple regression that was found to be statistically significant was sensing-intuition (how one takes in information) and thinking-feeling (how one makes a decision) versus performance time with 27.27 cmH2O*(sec/L) inhalation resistance.