Potential Predictors that Influence Women to Undergo Cosmetic Surgery

There may be relationships among collectivism, self-esteem, and religiousness in relation to individual acceptance of cosmetic surgery. This present study hypothesized that both self-esteem and religiousness would be negatively correlated with individual acceptance of cosmetic surgery. It was also hypothesized that an individual with higher levels of collectivism would be more likely to show higher levels of acceptance of cosmetic surgery. A multiple regression analysis expected self-esteem, collectivism, and religiousness to be the significant predictors of the acceptance of cosmetic surgery. Questionnaire data were collected from 565 female college students from a Christian university in the southeastern United States. Based on data analyses, it was found that self-esteem and collectivism showed no significant relationships with the acceptance of cosmetic surgery. However, religiousness presented a negative correlation with the acceptance of cosmetic surgery. Moreover, religiousness was revealed to be a significant predictor of the acceptance of cosmetic surgery based on the multiple regression data analysis

Using the partial least squares (PLS) method to establish critical success factor interdependence in ERP implementation projects

This technical research report proposes the usage of a statistical approach named Partial Least squares (PLS) to define the relationships between critical success factors for ERP implementation projects. In previous research work, we developed a unified model of critical success factors for ERP implementation projects. Some researchers have evidenced the relationships between these critical success factors, however no one has defined in a formal way these relationships. PLS is one of the techniques of structural equation modeling approach. Therefore, in this report is presented an overview of this approach. We provide an example of PLS method modelling application; in this case we use two critical success factors. However, our project will be extended to all the critical success factors of our unified model. To compute the data, we are going to use PLS-graph developed by Wynne Chin.Postprint (published version

Breaking the prejudice habit: Mechanisms, timecourse, and longevity

The prejudice habit-breaking intervention (Devine et al., 2012) and its offshoots (e.g., Carnes et al., 2012) have shown promise in effecting long-term change in key outcomes related to intergroup bias, including increases in awareness, concern about discrimination, and, in one study, long-term decreases in implicit bias. This intervention is based on the premise that unintentional bias is like a habit that can be broken with sufficient motivation, awareness, and effort. We conducted replication of the original habit-breaking intervention experiment in a sample more than three times the size of the original (N = 292). We also measured all outcomes every other day for 14 days and measured potential mechanisms for the intervention’s effects. Consistent with previous results, the habit-breaking intervention produced a change in concern that endured two weeks post-intervention. These effects were associated with increased sensitivity to the biases of others and an increased tendency to label biases as wrong. Contrasting with the original work, both control and intervention participants decreased in implicit bias, and the effects of the habit-breaking intervention on awareness declined in the second week of the study. In a subsample recruited two years later, intervention participants were more likely than control participants to object on a public online forum to an essay endorsing racial stereotyping. Our results suggest that the habit-breaking intervention produces enduring changes in peoples’ knowledge of and beliefs about race-related issues, and we argue that these changes are even more important for promoting long-term behavioral change than are changes in implicit bias

Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students\u27 Standardized English Literacy Achievement and Language Redesignation Status: A Multiple Regression Analysis

The initial No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation stated that by 2014 all students would reach proficiency in all subjects. However, this has not been the case as NCLB has had mixed effects for culturally and linguistically diverse students (CLDs) (Hopkins, Thompson, Linquanti, Hakuta, & August, 2013). Language redesignation policies, often termed reclassification, can be considered a significant contributor as the variation in policies and practices alone has led to significantly different achievement for CLDs across the country (Hill, Weston, & Hayes, 2014; Mahoney & MacSwan, 2005) and has created an expansive achievement gap with their non-CLD White counterparts (Reardon, 2011; U.S. Department of Education, 2012). This dissertation utilizes asset-based and systems theories to refute current language redesignation policies employed for CLDs. Additionally, Cummins\u27 (1979, 1981) developmental interdependence hypothesis serves as a theoretical framework. Multiple and hierarchical regression analyses are employed to predict CLDs\u27 longitudinal literacy achievement in English based on language redesignation status (exited or still receiving language services), prior English language proficiency (ELP) data, native language literacy proficiency at kindergarten exit, and prior standardized English literacy achievement. By explaining the variance associated with the most significant predictors, this empirical model could provide policymakers with an evidence-based approach to the language redesignation policy framework. Specifically, those variables that are the most significant in predicting long-term achievement should be included, while new variables, such as native language literacy proficiency are identified for potential inclusion. The substantive implications of these models will provide policymakers with an objective, evidence-based process for language redesignation of CLDs into mainstream English classrooms based on longitudinal achievement data and statistical analyses

Research and Applications of the Processes of Performance Appraisal: A Bibliography of Recent Literature, 1981-1989

[Excerpt] There have been several recent reviews of different subtopics within the general performance appraisal literature. The reader of these reviews will find, however, that the accompanying citations may be of limited utility for one or more reasons. For example, the reference sections of these reviews are usually composed of citations which support a specific theory or practical approach to the evaluation of human performance. Consequently, the citation lists for these reviews are, as they must be, highly selective and do not include works that may have only a peripheral relationship to a given reviewer\u27s target concerns. Another problem is that the citations are out of date. That is, review articles frequently contain many citations that are fifteen or more years old. The generation of new studies and knowledge in this field occurs very rapidly. This creates a need for additional reference information solely devoted to identifying the wealth of new research, ideas, and writing that is changing the field

Exploring Predictors of Teamwork Performance in an Interprofessional Education Setting

Abstract EXPLORING PREDICTORS OF TEAMWORK PERFORMANCE IN AN INTERPROFESSIONAL EDUCATION SETTING By Danah M. Alsane, MS. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Pharmaceutical Science at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2016 Advisor: Patricia Slattum, Pharm.D., Ph.D. Professor and Director of the Geriatric Pharmacotherapy Program Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to explain how individual characteristics influence teamwork development. In addition, it evaluated how teamwork development, in conjunction with content knowledge, impact students’ performance on a team-based project in an Interprofessional Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (IPQIPS) course. Methods: This cross sectional study included medical, pharmacy, and nursing students enrolled in an IPQIPS course offered for the first time at VCU. Predictors of teamwork development examined included collective orientation (measured using the Collective Orientation Scale, which included dominance and affiliation subscales), and prior interprofessional teamwork experience (measured using self-report). The Team Development Measure (TDM) was used to measure teamwork development. The Statistical Process Control Quiz (SPCQ) was used to assess content knowledge acquired during the course. The final project score was used to evaluate students’ performance on a team-based project. Structural equation modeling was used to test study hypotheses. Results: Among the proposed predictors (dominance, affiliation, and interprofessional teamwork experience), only dominance was related to TDM. No significant relationship was found between teamwork development combined with content knowledge and successful accomplishment of team-based project. Conclusion: This study was the first to our knowledge to simultaneously assess the impact of individual characteristics on teamwork development, and how teamwork development (combined with individual student knowledge) influences students’ performance on team-based project in an interprofessional education setting. Although findings were not conclusive, several potential avenues for future study are highlighted

Developing Dyadic Measurements in Marriage and Family Therapy: The Dyadic Supervision Evaluation

This study applies integrative developmental theory and a common factors approach in evaluating and describing how Marital and Family Therapy trainee’s progress in mastering the core competencies set forth by the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE) through the process of clinical supervision. More specifically, this project evaluates the internal reliability, construct validity, and predictive validity of the Dyadic Supervision Evaluation (DSE). The important role and influence of clinical supervision as well as the next steps for validating and evaluating dyadic, developmental, core competencies and common factors measurements in clinical supervision are discussed

The Hubble Hypothesis and the Developmentalist's Dilemma

Developmental psychopathology stands poised at the close of the 20th century on the horns of a major scientific dilemma. The essence of this dilemma lies in the contrast between its heuristically rich open system concepts on the one hand, and the closed system paradigm it adopted from mainstream psychology for investigating those models on the other. Many of the research methods, assessment strategies, and data analytic models of psychology’s paradigm are predicated on closed system assumptions and explanatory models. Thus, they are fundamentally inadequate forstudying humans, who are unparalleled among open systems in their wide ranging capacities for equifinal and multifinal functioning. Developmental psychopathology faces two challenges in successfully negotiating the developmentalist’s dilemma. The first lies in recognizing how the current paradigm encourages research practices that are antithetical to developmental principles, yet continue to flourish. I argue that the developmentalist’s dilemma is sustained by long standing, mutually enabling weaknesses in the paradigm’s discovery methods and scientific standards. These interdependent weaknesses function like a distorted lens on the research process by variously sustaining the illusion of theoretical progress, obscuring the need for fundamental reforms, and both constraining and misguiding reform efforts. An understanding of how these influences arise and take their toll provides a foundation and rationale for engaging the second challenge. The essence of this challenge will be finding ways to resolve the developmentalist’s dilemma outside the constraints of the existing paradigm by developing indigenous research strategies, methods, and standards with fidelity to the complexity of developmental phenomena