The Relationship between Personality Traits and Occupational Self-Efficacy with Career Interests among University Students

This study investigated the relationship between personality traits and occupational self efficacy with career interests among Malaysian university students. The demographic factors associated with students' occupational self-efficacy and career interests were also determined. The study had provided more insights on students' behaviour that could enhance the alleviation of social and academic maladjustment among students and increase their academic achievement. In addition, the findings of this study were likely to enhance job satisfaction, quality services, and productivity. The research questions and hypotheses determined the following objectives of the study: 1. The identification of students' occupational self-efficacy expectations, career interests patterns, prevalent personality traits and their relationship. 2. The relationship between personality traits, occupational self-efficacy, and career interests with the extraneous variables. 3. The relationship between personality traits and occupational self-efficacy with career interests after controlling for the demographic variables. The population of the study comprised the second and third year Malaysian undergraduate students. Accordingly, based on the knowledge disciplines, 238 subjects were selected from UPM, HUM, and UTM using the cluster random sampling. The Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale (OSES), Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI), and Personality Research Form (PRF) were used in the data collection to measure occupational self-efficacy, career interests, and personality traits respectively. The computer program software, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used in the data analysis. The statistical techniques used were Pearson and Point-Biserial correlation, ANOVA, MANOVA, and the Multiple Regression

The development and validation of maternal spiritual characteristics scale.

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate a family counseling instrument that measures maternal spiritual characteristics. Particularly, the instrument aims to measure three domains of spirituality namely, Maternal Piety, Mercy and Accountability. These characteristics are considered as the characteristics for functional Muslim mothers. The study is designed into three phases. The first phase is a pilot study of a focus group from an Islamic Integrated Primary School (IIPS). In this phase, Cronbach’s alpha is employed to assess the reliability index. Accordingly, Principle Component Analysis is employed to explore the underlying dimensions of Maternal Piety, Mercy and Accountability. The second phase is an ex-post facto study that involved 12 IIPS in the Klang Valley of Malaysia. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is utilized to examine the construct validity of the instrument. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to investigate the relationship between maternal spiritual characteristics and mother-child attachment as supporting evidence for the criterion-related validity. The third phase was a cross-sectional study that involved 1000 students (age 13-17) from various secondary schools (inclusive of religious and non religious schools) of 4 states in Malaysia. In this phase, multistage cluster sampling technique is employed to select 200 students from each age group of Form 1,2,3,4 and 5. The results provide evidence that the instrument has sound psychometrics properties. This instrument has succeeded the standard Cronbach’s alpha > .70 for internal consistency and proportion variance explained > 50 % for the dimensions of Maternal Piety , Mercy and Accountability . The goodness-of -fit measures GFI, AGFI, IFI, TLI, and CFI > .90 and RMSEA < .08 are evidences for construct validity. Moreover, the criterion-related validity is supported with the findings of significant positive relationship between maternal spiritual characteristics and mother-child attachment. In short, Maternal Spiritual Characteristics Scales (MSCS) is a reliable and valid instrument. Hence, it may be used for the assessment in family counseling and other related studies

Measuring the unmeasurable: maternal piety scales

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument that measures maternal spiritual characteristics. Particularly, the instrument aims to measure a domain of spirituality which is commonly regarded as “the un-measurable” i.e. Maternal Piety. The study was conducted in two phases. The first phase was a longitudinal study of a focus group from an Islamic Integrated Primary School (IIPS). In, this phase Cronbach’s alpha was employed to assess the reliability index. Accordingly, Principal Component Analysis was employed to explore the underlying dimensions of Maternal Piety. The second phase was an ex-post facto study that involved 12 IIPS in the Klang Valley area. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was utilized to examine the construct validity of the instrument. Finally, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to investigate the relationship between Maternal Piety (MP) and Maternal Quality Relationship (MQR) as supporting evidence for the criterion-related validity. The results provided evidence that the instrument achieved sound psychometrics properties. This instrument succeeded the standard Cronbach’s alpha > 0.70 for internal consistency and the proportion of variance explained was >0 50 % for the three dimensions of Maternal Piety. The goodness-of-fit measures GFI, AGFI, IFI, TLI, and CFI were > 0.90 and RMSEA was < 0.08 which were evidences for construct validity. Moreover, the findings supported the postulation that MP positively influenced MQR as evidence for the criterion-related validity. In short, Maternal Piety Scales is a reliable and valid instrument. From the practical standpoint, it suggests that spirituality is no longer remaining aloof in theoretical forms and neither exclusive for theologians only

Gender difference and career interest among undergraduates: Implications for career choices

A study was conducted to determine the career interests of university students. Two hundred and thirty-eight undergraduates were involved in the study. They consisted of 101 male and 137 female students attending three public universities in Malaysia. There was a significant different of realistic career interest pattern between male and female students

Coping Strategies of Students in the United Arab Emirates University: A Research Application of the Arabic Version of the CISS

This paper investigated the manner by which students of the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) coped with stress and determined the influence of demographic factors on the coping strategies used by students in an academic setting. The sample consisted of 197 undergraduate Emirati students from the university who were differentiated according to sex, age, year level, and marital status. The study used the Arabic version of the CISS that was formulated and validated by Hamid and Musa (2012) which is a semantic and contextualization adaptation of the CISS. Data gathering was done by means of the survey and the collected data was quantitatively analyzed. The results showed that the students depended on a repertoire of coping mechanisms which were either used frequently or sparingly regardless of sex, age, year level, or marital status. The findings depict a culturally endemic outlook of student coping in the context of the universal phenomenon of university education which makes it differ from the picture of coping among students in other cultural circumstances. On the basis of the extent to which coping strategies were used, the students of the UAEU can be better seen as contingent or repertorial copers. Keywords: Academic stress, coping, coping strategy, coping styles inventor

Effect of recombinant human erythropoietin and doxorubicin in combination on the proliferation of MCF-7 and MDA-mb231 breast cancer cells

Patients with cancer often exhibit signs of anemia as the result of the disease. Thus, cancer chemotherapies often include erythropoietin (EPO) in the regime to improve the survival rate of these patients. The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of EPO on doxorubicin-treated breast cancer cells. The cytotoxicity of doxorubicin alone or in combination with EPO against the MCF-7 and MDA-MB 231 human breast cancer cells were determined using an MTT cell viability assay, neutral red (NR) uptake assay and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay. The estimated half maximal inhibitory concentration values for doxorubicin and the combination of doxorubicin with EPO were between 0.140 and 0.260 µg/ml for all cells treated for 72 h. Treatment with doxorubicin in combination with EPO led to no notable difference in cytotoxicity, compared with treatment with doxorubicin alone. The antiproliferative effect of doxorubicin at a concentration of 1 µg/ml on the MDA MB 231 cells was demonstrated by the decrease in viable cells from 3.6x10(5) at 24 h to 2.1x10(5) at 72 h of treatment. In order to confirm apoptosis in the doxorubicin-treated cells, the activities of caspases-3/7 and 9 were determined using a TBE assay. The results indicated that the activities of caspases-3/7 and 9 were significantly elevated in the doxorubicin-treated MDA-MB-231 cells by 571 and 645%, respectively, and in the MCF 7 cells by 471 and 345%, respectively, compared with the control cells. EPO did not modify the effect of doxorubicin on these cell lines. The results of the present study suggested that EPO was safe for use in combination with doxorubicin in the treatment of patients with breast cancer and concurrent anemia

Antecedents and Consequences of Marital Satisfaction in an Emirati Sample: A Structural Equation Model Analysis

© 2017 Taylor & Francis. This study surveyed 1,000 married Emirati men and women to explore a model of marital satisfaction in relation to self-esteem, satisfaction with life, gender-role attitudes, and general health (physical and psychological). The Emirati Marital Satisfaction Scale (EMSS), State Self-Esteem Scale (SSES), Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Arabic General Health Questionnaire, and the Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale were used. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the EMSS indicated a moderate fit of the data to one factor structure. CFA on SSES and SWLS indicated an adequate fit of the data to the four-factor solution and one factor, respectively. The structural equation model for the EMSS showed that both general health and gender-role attitudes predict marital satisfaction and that marital satisfaction seems to predict the individual’s well-being as measured by life satisfaction and self-esteem. These results are discussed within the context of the United Arab Emirates culture and directions for future research are provided