Lending a helping hand: The multilevel effects of

diversity on performance
Ringseis, Erika Lynn. The Pennsylvania State University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1999.
9960648.

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The workforce is becoming more diverse in terms of demographics, and a growing emphasis on
teamwork and autonomous groups may result in psychological and organizational diversity affecting
organizational performance. The current study investigates the conflicting predictions of social
categorization/similarity-attraction and information processing theories on the effects of diversity at
multiple levels of analyses. In order to complete a group project on leadership, 196 undergraduate
students were placed into 51 groups of approximately 4 people. Over time, students conducted
ratings of the performance of the individual group members as well as the group itself and the level
of inter-member attraction within the group. The group project proposals and final projects were
graded, allowing for two time periods of group performance data.

Demographic (sex), psychological (collectivism), and organizational (major) diversity resulted in

reduced ratings of performance at the dyadic level. For demographic diversity, however, the effect
was only found for male raters.

At the group level, although the hypotheses were not supported, the results provide insight into
possible intervening process variables explaining the complex interaction between types of diversity
and outcomes. Group ratings of affective conflict were predictive of negative ratings of performance
and reduced attraction to the group. Group ratings of substantive conflict were predictive of positive
attraction to the group. Results are discussed in terms of support offered to diversity theory as well
as practical training implications.

Lonely journey: Lived experiences of daughters and

daughters-in-law caring for aging parents
Feder, Deidra Tatum. Florida Atlantic University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2001. 1404350.
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The purpose of this phenomenological research was to explore the lived experiences of daughters
and daughters-in-law who care for aging parents at home. Interviews were conducted with four
daughters and two daughters-in-law. The interviews were audiotaped and the researcher conducted
observational field notes. The interviews were utilized for data-collection and then transcribed into
text. The researcher followed van Manen's method. Essential themes were frustration, anger, guilt,
lack of social life, effects on jobs and family support as described by the participants. Variant themes
unfolded as themes not shared by all the participants: care for the caregiver, education for the
caregiver, being a detective, coming out of his shell, like a robot, reference of aging parent as a
patient and judgment by others. The researcher uncovered interpretive themes of unconditional
devotion, struggling with childlike mannerism, everlasting vigilance and ambivalence through a
paradoxical view. Lonely journey surfaced as the meta theme.

An Examination of Social Support, Contentment with

Life, and Time Spent in an Assisted Living Setting
Esliker, Rebecca. Walden University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2015. 3706087.

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Policies at assisted living facilities should be designed to develop high quality social relationships
among older persons that could increase the contentment of the residents. Despite the broad
consensus on this mission, the role of social support in the perceived contentment of assisted living
facility residents has not been adequately explored. Using social network theory as the framework
for this study, the purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether (a) perceived level of
social support was related to perceived level of contentment with life among assisted living facility
residents, (b) the length of time spent in the facility was related to perceived levels of contentment,
and (c) perceived social support moderated the relationship between the length of time in the facility
and perceived levels of contentment with life. The sample included 100 residents from 2 assisted
living facilities in North Carolina. The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and the
Generalized Contentment Scale were used in this study. Linear regression analyses were employed
to answer the research questions. Participants with higher levels of perceived social support tended
to have higher levels of perceived contentment with life, and the length of time residents had spent in
the facility was not related to their perceived contentment with life. In addition, levels of social
support did not moderate the relationship between the length of time respondents had been in the
facility and contentment; age, gender, ethnicity, and marital status were not related to perceived
contentment with life. This study leads to positive social change by providing long-term care
providers with information on social support systems and how staff can create conditions for them to
enjoy better social relationships and experience greater support, thereby facilitating their
contentment with life.

Lending a helping hand? Examining cultural

differences in social support
Steers, Mai-Ly Nguyen. University of Houston, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2015. 3663740.

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The aim of the current research was to explore the ways in which culture might influence both the
recipient's and provider's mental affective states and their feelings towards others following social
support transactions. Study 1 examined whether European American and Asian American recipients
differed in terms of the likelihood in which they would request support in a given manner (implicit or
explicit support seeking) and whether they would be more likely to accept and feel more supported
by a specific type of social support (emotional or instrumental support) from a provider. An
interaction between culture and type of support in predicting perceptions of support emerged.
Results revealed that participants felt more supported after receiving instrumental support versus
emotional support and that this was particularly true for European Americans. Study 2 examined
whether there were differences between Asian Americans and European Americans in terms of
whether they would be more likely to accept or decline a direct request for support. Further, Study 2
sought to determine whether European Americans and Asian Americans differed on internal
affective states and feelings towards the recipient following a direct request for support. Overall,
findings for Study 2 indicated there were no cultural differences from the provider's perspective.
However, post-hoc analyses uncovered that Asian American men may take on more traditional
gender roles relative to European American men, which in turn, influences their provision of support.
That is, Asian American men reported feeling more of a responsibility but less negativity towards the
help seeker than European American men. Recommendations are provided in order to improve both
study designs so as to better elucidate the potential cultural nuances in social support transactions.

The influence of the character strengths of gratitude

and kindness on subjective well-being
Dossett, Tracy Harper. Louisiana Tech University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2011.
3480419.

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The relationship between the character strengths of gratitude, kindness and factors of subjective
well-being was explored, and the influence of personality factors on this relationship was examined.
In this research, participants were assigned to an experimental or control group and completed the
Satisfaction with Life Scale (SLS), Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), Positive Affectivity and
Negative Affectivity Scale (PANAS), International Personality Item Pool Values in Action Gratitude
and Kindness Scales (VIA-Gratitude, and VIA Kindness), Mini-International Personality Item Pool
(IPIP), and Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, Form C. For two weeks, participants in the
gratitude group kept a daily gratitude list, and those in the control group kept a daily list of interesting
things that happened to them. The SLS, SHS, PANAS, VIA-Gratitude, and VIA-Kindness were
readministered at the end of the 2-week intervention period and at the end of a 3-week follow-up
period to determine short-term and long-term changes in life satisfaction, subjective happiness,
positive affect, negative affect, gratitude, and kindness for all participants. Significant differences in
agreeableness and conscientiousness between final groups resulted in these factors being used as
covariates. Results indicated that a gratitude intervention did not cause significant changes in
elements of subjective well-being, independent of beginning levels of gratitude. However, individuals
who reported higher beginning levels of gratitude had significantly greater gains in life satisfaction,
positive affect, and kindness following a gratitude intervention than those who reported lower
beginning gratitude levels. Results indicated that a gratitude intervention did not significantly
increase measures of happiness for those with higher levels of beginning kindness. Thus, a
significant positive correlation was found between character strengths of gratitude and kindness, and
factors of positive affect, subjective well-being, and life satisfaction. A significant positive correlation
was found between gratitude, kindness, and the personality trait of agreeableness. Additionally,
there was a significant positive correlation between kindness, conscientiousness, and social
desirability.

A study of long term care policy in the United States:

Elder care and distributive justice
Pan, Shu-Man. The University of Texas at Austin, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1996.
9705930.

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In modern society, equal access to health care is often regarded as a right of citizenship. There is,
however, little consensus as to why a health care policy of reducing inequalities is important. This is
mainly due to lack of a working principle for a right to health care. This study provides a systematic
discussion of the link between the welfare state, distributive justice, and long-term health care
service utilization.

The purposes of this study are two. The first is to evaluate the long-term care policies for the elderly
in the United States. The second is to examine the equity in the distribution of long-term care
services for the elderly.
This study is a secondary analysis of survey data. The main data source is the National Long-Term
Care Surveys (NLTCS) of 1982, 1984, and 1989. The research design employed for this study is a
multinomial logistic regression model predicting the relative probability in each of four utilization
patterns, based on the values of 1982.

The findings indicate that the American long-term care system can be characterized as a system
with a low de-commodification score. With this residual system, elderly people are not treated as
valuable individuals. They are also not entitled by government to an equal right to use a variety of
long-term care services when needed. Rather, they come to depend entirely on the informal sector
and the market, which is exclusively determined by their economic capabilities.

Long-term care services are distributed unequally among various social groups. The need indicator
is not the only determinant of services utilization. Socio-demographic factors such as age, race,
gender, education, family size, marital status, and attitude toward nursing home care are also
important for services utilization. The effect of long-term care policies on services utilization is small.
Different from previous studies, Medicaid recipients are more likely to receive care from professional
personnel or paid helpers than non-Medicaid recipients. But, Medicare beneficiaries are more likely
to move into nursing homes than non-Medicare beneficiaries.

Aging, chronic illness and self -concept: A study of

older women with osteoporosis
Wilkins, Mary Seanne. University of Toronto (Canada), ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1998.
NQ41531.

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The increasing likelihood of chronic illness with aging requires that attention be given to the social
aspects of aging and chronic illness. A focus on women's aging and health is essential because in
later years women outnumber men, women have higher rates of nonfatal chronic illnesses and live
longer with these conditions than men, and women have more chronic health problems than men.
The overall purpose of this dissertation is to consider the relationships between the meanings of
aging and chronic illness and the self-concept of women using an interpretive sociological approach.
The self is regarded as a basic concept for the understanding of the dynamic relationship between
the individual and society. How individuals negotiate experiences and events in their lives depends
on the content, organization and functioning of their self-concepts. The self-concept integrates
individuals' experiences across time providing continuity and meaning to these experiences.

While the meanings of either aging or chronic illness may be related to one's self-concept, the
coming together or coalescence of these two events may alter the relationships among the
conceptions of aging. and chronic illness and the sense of self. Using Rosenberg's conceptualization
of self-concept (1979), an in-depth interview and a self-administered questionnaire were designed
and data collected from twenty-eight women with osteoporosis.

Three types of self-concepts emerged from the data: the competent self, the contradictory self and
the ineffectual self. When the meanings of aging and chronic illness were examined, five themes
emerged in each area. Through analysis of the self-concept processes of self-esteem and self-
consistency, a reciprocal relationship was found between self-concept and the meanings of aging
and chronic illness. A comprehensive description of the three types of self-concept is presented
highlighting this reciprocal relationship and including discussion of the strategies used to enhance,
protect and maintain self-concept despite the changes brought on by aging and chronic illness.

Middle-class African-American women: Self-

definitions embedded within psychological well-being
Lashley, Beverly V.. California Institute of Integral Studies, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2012.
3545004.

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The primary purpose of this current study on middle-class African-American women includes an
exploration of how they define happiness and self, their perceptions of overall happiness and life
satisfaction, an examination of how they fared on selected published well-being measures, as well
as an assessment of the validity of these measures. The secondary purpose includes exploring the
participants' perceptions of the persistent downturn in the US economy on their happiness, life
satisfaction, and well-being. A mixed-methods design was implemented and all inventories were
administered online, followed by nineteen interviews. The participants' responses to online survey
questions about self-definitions and happiness were explored for themes and subthemes using
grounded theory, and the results were used to construct major categories and descriptive areas. The
self-definitions descriptive areas are positive self traits, being happy/ positive, valuing others, family,
friends, spirituality, and professional satisfaction. The definitions-of-happiness descriptive areas are
internal state, spirituality, family, friends, contributing and making a difference, and
accomplishments. Two core concepts associated with the definitions of self and happiness emerged:
(a) internal self or state and (b) external world of family and friends. One conceptual category,
connectedness, appears to underpin definitions of self and happiness. These descriptive areas
contribute to elucidating how participants fared on the published well-being measures.

Results indicated that participants fared moderately well on ratings of overall happiness and life
satisfaction, and on the published well-being measures with the exception of the subscale measuring
environmental mastery. Reliability of the well-being measures appear to extend to this sample, with
the exception of the autonomy subscale. Reported levels of psychological well-being were strongly,
moderately, and marginally associated with levels of subjective well-being. Overall subjective well-
being was strongly correlated with overall psychological well-being. Education and income levels are
associated with purpose in life and environmental mastery. These findings, explanations, and
implications for future research are presented, in addition to a hypothetical model of well-being for
African-American women based on study results.

Clinical happiness
Harman, Jacquelyn. Pacifica Graduate Institute, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2012. 3521000.
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The purpose of this study is to discover the significance of happiness in clinical psychology practice
through classical and alchemical hermeneutics, resulting in a theoretical framework for
understanding happiness. Through the examination of historical, evolutionary, cultural, and
psychological influences on the understanding of happiness, this dissertation explores the meaning
of happiness and creates a theory that illustrates the benefits of (a) integrating positive, depth, and
energy psychology techniques and perspectives, and (b) using happiness as the ultimate gauge and
goal of psychological health. This focus on happiness fulfills one of clinical psychology's original
goals–that of cultivating happiness, in addition to treating symptoms of illness and distress.

In this dissertation, happiness is defined as "a deep sense of flourishing arising from an
exceptionally healthy mind" (Ricard, 2003, p. 19). It is "an optimal state of being, a way of
interpreting the world" (p. 19), a skill that can be practiced and cultivated, "a profound emotional
balance struck by a subtle understanding of how the mind functions" (p. 42), and a phenomenon that
can be "felt so long as we remain in harmony with our inner nature" (p. 42).

This study found that happiness can be understood, practiced, and taught in clinical psychology
practice. By exploring the theories and practices of positive psychologies such as Buddhist
psychology, as well as depth and energy psychologies, this dissertation showed that cultivating
happiness can produce dramatic improvements in mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
Raising happiness levels personally and globally requires individuals to cultivate a willingness to
participate in life to the fullest, to develop the bravery to work passionately, progressively, and
optimistically "outside of the box," as well to strive to improve their selves, their minds, their
environments, and their relationships. This study suggests that happiness may be humanity's
greatest resource–a resource worthy of intense focus and research into how humans can better
cultivate, increase, protect, and sustain it. This dissertation's exploration of the meaning of
happiness proposed that aiding clients in the cultivation of happiness is profoundly significant in
clinical practice.
A place to call home: A comparison of the development
of state funded institutional care for the indigent aged
in nineteenth century Nova Scotia and Ontario
Des Roches, Cheryl Lee. Queen's University (Canada), ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2008.
NR44319.

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A transformation took place in Upper Canada/Ontario and Nova Scotia during the nineteenth century
in institutional care for Canada’s indigent “aged” population, and key provincial initiatives towards the
end of the century led to the formation of state funded homes for the aged. The shift from frontier to
agricultural and early industrial economies brought a host of social problems. Voluntary
organizations were established to provide assistance to needy individuals without family. As demand
increased, private charity and local governments looked to the state to provide assistance.
Government representatives were determined to be fiscally responsible and state regulated
institutions offered a form of social control and cost efficiency. Those in need received assistance in
state subsidized institutions such as the Halifax Poor’s Asylum or Toronto’s House of Industry–
eventually some residents began to be termed “aged.”

The process of categorizing all inmates within some state funded institutions as either worker or non-
worker led to the eventual segregation of older inmates from those who could contribute towards the
cost of their care. As workers were transferred to newly built or renovated sections of an institution,
aged inmates remained behind in the older sections. Further, as hospitals and asylums were
identified as specialized institutions for those who could be cured and returned to the working
community, older patients with nowhere else to go were transferred to houses of industry in Ontario
or poor farms in Nova Scotia. By the end of the century, this group was identified as unique and as a
result in both provinces, homes for the indigent aged emerged by default rather than design.

A comparison of the development of institutional care for the poor aged in Nova Scotia and Upper
Canada/Ontario reveals that institutions for the aged developed quite differently in each of the two
provinces. The fundamental difference between the two provinces such as when they were settled
and by whom, and the very nature of these colonies, serve as the bases for a comparison of the two
regions and affords a better understanding of how regional differences shaped the development of
institutional care for the indigent aged.

Negotiating old age, mediation, and elder advocacy in

the social life of helping: NGO pilot projects in Ghana,
the United States, and the politics of global
intervention work
Crampton, Alexandra Lee. University of Michigan, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2007.
3287495.

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The social life of helping is an analytic method for examining how helping work can be more and less
than altruistic problem solving. Adapting Arjun Appadurai's concept of the social life of things, this
form of helping is practiced through organized efforts to identify social problems and implement
interventions. It is argued that social problems, interventions, and solutions become commodities as
they are exchanged through networks of governments, nonprofit organizations (NGOs), and for profit
businesses trying to "do good." While paths may stabilize commodified forms, diversions lead to
creative and contested adaptations. People become involved as funders, helpers, technical and
academic experts, and targeted beneficiaries (helpees). Based on sixteen months of ethnographic
fieldwork, this study examines a social problem first identified with the global North and an
intervention commonly found in the global South. The paths of old age as social problem and
mediation as intervention tool were followed through a pilot project in an elder advocacy organization
in the United States and one in Ghana. The goal of both projects was to use the U.S. facilitative
problem-solving mediation model to resolve interpersonal and family conflicts involving older adults.
This dissertation examines connections and disconnections between performance of these projects
as commodified exchange and as applied practice. Results can be partially explained by the politics
of global helping as funders, helpers, and helpees negotiated within unequal relationships. Problem
solving was just one of many possible forms of exchange in the social life of helping.
poverty

Rights of Concrete Others: Ethics of Concrete Others,

Social Individuality, and Social Multiculturalism
Kwak, Hochul. The Claremont Graduate University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2012.
3522043.

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A globalizing world is replete with the vulnerable, who are experiencing economic poverty, medical
maltreatment, political persecution, and/or cultural misrecognition. The vulnerable are under
systematic oppression and domination. Although the wealth of humankind increases continuously,
many are excluded from any benefit of this increased wealth. While human beings have achieved
significant progress in medical technology, uncountable numbers of people are exposed to a
shortage of appropriate medical care. Despite continued expansion of democracy around the globe,
the powerless majority and minorities are experiencing ignorance of their differences, culturally
and/or politically.

This dissertation searches for a viable human rights scheme that will effectively address the
systematic oppression and domination of the vulnerable. By addressing oppression and domination
of the vulnerable, I focus on overcoming several dichotomies: a dichotomy between transcendence
and immanence within human beings, a dichotomy between equality and difference among human
beings, and a dichotomy between individual differences and group differences. Those dichotomies
have been detrimental to addressing systematic oppression and domination of the vulnerable.

With relation to the dichotomy between transcendence and immanence within human beings, I frame
the vulnerable as concrete others who have both transcendental dimensions and immanent
dimensions. In terms of the dichotomy between equality and difference, my proposal is equality that
substantially promotes difference, that is, capability equality and least-gap equality. With regard to
the dichotomy between individual difference and group difference, my proposal is multiculturalism
based on social individuality. These proposals for overcoming aforementioned dichotomies converge
on social multiculturalism. I have argued that equality between groups and equality within groups
can best address oppression and domination of concrete others. Specifically, reconfigured basic
income guarantee, which includes basic income, public education, public healthcare, and linguistic
diversity, is a concrete form of equality within groups that is conducive to promoting equality between
groups. Therefore, I think that social multiculturalism based on the reconfigured basic income
guarantee is a new, viable version of addressing oppression and domination of the vulnerable.

Equality of care

Justice in the allocation of shared health care resources:

Aiming for the elimination of preventable health
shortfalls
Esbensen, Kari L.. Georgetown University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2008. 3339931.

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In this work, I argue against currently influential "broadly egalitarian" theories of distributive justice in
health care as well as against health care models that take efficiency, or maximizing aggregate
health benefits, as their sole aim. I offer a new account of what justice requires in the allocation of
shared health care resources that can adequately respond to the objections raised against these
competing alternatives. I argue that the proper aim of justice in health care is to alleviate those
health disparities that constitute individuals' preventable failures to achieve their own maximal
potentials for health, which could be overcome through the utilization of the health care means at our
disposal within a given socio-historical context.

These avoidable underfulfillments of, or deviations from, individuals' own maximal potentials for
health will be defined as "preventable health shortfalls". The "ideal" of justice that I propose is not a
state of equal health outcomes among all persons, but rather a state in which each individual is
provided with the health care means necessary to enable her to pursue her own opportunities for
health, or to achieve her own full potential for health functioning – i.e., a state in which all
preventable health shortfalls have been eliminated. This aim, I will argue, more fully accords with the
moral requirement to treat persons as moral equals – with equal concern and respect – than any of
its previously offered alternatives.

In contrast to Norman Daniels' account, I argue that health has intrinsic, rather than merely
instrumental, value, and I contend that individuals' opportunities for health ought to be protected
even when doing so would have no further impact on their fair equality of opportunity to pursue non-
health opportunities. In contrast to Amartya Sen, I argue that the elimination of health shortfalls,
rather than the achievement of "attainment equality", or equality of health outcomes between
individuals, is what we ought to seek within just health care institutions. I argue that this aim is not
only more consistent with Sen's "capabilities theory" of justice, but is also more in keeping with the
considered judgments of our commonsense morality regarding health inequalities.

Homelessness

What Makes People Feel at Home? Reframing Home

and Homelessness through Stories from Seattle's Tent
City 3
Al-Abweh, Ru'a Hussein. University of Washington, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2017.
10598907.

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This is an exploration of “home” in pursuit of a better understanding of “homelessness”. While the
literature on home and homelessness reveals various perspectives, social integration was
considered most relevant for this research. “Houselessness” and “homelessness” are distinct
concepts. The houseless are characterized as being “unsettled”, occupying spaces not considered
rightfully theirs, and being “othered”. The meaning of “home” is questioned and scrutinized through
personal stories from Tent City 3, a houseless encampment in Seattle. An interpretation of the
stories revealed that (1) human connection is the core factor in a sense of home, (2) homelessness
is a condition independent of housing, and (3) people can be in flux between home and
homelessness. The research proposes moving from “ending homelessness” to “making people feel
at home” and presents the Home Framework, which can serve as a guide for approaches to
houselessness, planning and policy of the built environment, and manifestations of global migration.

loneliness

Coping with adolescent loneliness: The effects of an

empirically derived intervention program
Van Buskirk, Ann Miller. Emory University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1991. 9127629.

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Interest in adolescent loneliness and effective coping strategies designed to ameliorate the pain of
loneliness has recently increased. The present investigation was designed to examine the efficacy of
an intervention program designed to teach adolescents the most adaptive coping strategies for
dealing with loneliness. The Loneliness Intervention Program (LIP) was based on Van Buskirk's
(1987) findings that suggest that the combination of "sad passive" strategies with "social contact"
strategies yields the most adaptive response to adolescent loneliness. Subjects were 101 high
school students who completed pre- and post-testing questionnaires including the revised UCLA
Loneliness Scale, the Coping with Loneliness Questionnaire, the Nowicki-Strickland Internal-
External Locus of Control Scale, and the Child Depression Inventory. Two groups of LIP participants
(9th grade and 12th grade) attended a presentation of potentially lonely situation stimuli followed by
a structured discussion led by a trained classroom teacher. Control groups attended either a parallel
presentation focusing on study skills, a general discussion of loneliness or received no intervention.
This study found a decrease in self-reported loneliness for the older LIP group, but no change in
revised LS scores for the younger LIP group. Control groups showed no significant change in self-
reported loneliness, with the exception of the general discussion group whose scores increased.
Results from this study provide some support indicating that the LIP may be effective with older high
school students who are experiencing developmental or transitional loneliness.