This research aimed to examine (1) the depression levels of university students, and whether or not depression levels of university students differ significantly according to their gender, (2) if university students' problem-solving skills, submissiveness levels, social support from family, friends and society, ages and cumulative Grade Point Averages (GPAs) predict their depression level; and (3) if predictive values of these variables change according to gender. The research was carried out with 293 university students. The finding of the study was that perceived problem solving, social support from friends, and submissiveness predicted depression in university students.
This study aimed to test three different suicide models for adolescents residing in a Turkish City, Batman. A total of 605 adolescents from five different high schools participated in this study (M=411, F=190, sex of 4 participants not recorded). A Psychosocial Variables Form (developed for this study), the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (Offer, Ostrov, Howard, & Dolan, 1989, adapted by Sahin 1993), the Adolescence Life Events Questionnaire (Kapci & Terzi-Unsal, 2001), the Piers-Harris Self-Worth Scale for Children (Harris & Piers, 1969, adapted by Catakli & Oner, 1996), the Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire (Linehan & Nielsen, 1981, adapted by Bayam, Dilbaz, Bitlis, Holat, & Tuzer, 1995), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (Beck, Weissman, Lester, & Trexler, 1974, adapted by Durak, 1994), the Suicide Ideation Questionnaire (Dilbaz, Holat, Bayam, Tuzer, & Bitlis, 1995), the Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis, 1992, adapted by Sabin & Durak, 1994) and the Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support (Zimmet, Dahlen, Zimmet, & Farley, 1998, adapted by Eker & Arkar, 1995) were utilized. The data were analyzed by using Structural Equation Modeling. The findings suggest that adolescent life events, psychosocial variables, social support and self-image are secondary risk factors for adolescent suicides, predicting self-worth, psychological health and hopelessness. These variables, in turn, predicted suicide ideation – identified as a primary risk factor – that predicted suicide behaviors. The results are discussed in the context of primary-secondary risk factors for adolescent suicides.
Optimism, submissive behaviors, richness of social network and demographic variables were examined as predictors of psychological well-being among a cohort of Turkish people (N = 376) using a Turkish version (Şahin & Durak, 1994). of the Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis, 1992) a Turkish version (Aydın & Tezer, 1991, revised by Türküm, 2001) of the Life Orientation Test (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994), a Turkish version (Şahin & Şahin, 1992) of the Submissive Acts Scale (Gilbert & Allan, 1994), and the Social Atom Scale (Dökmen, 1993). Results of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that optimism, submissiveness, marital status and occupation status predict well-being. Social network richness, gender, and educational level did not contribute significantly to the variation in well-being.
Despite the numerous studies on the antecedents of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), relatively few researchers have examined the effects of job characteristics on OCB. The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between job characteristics and OCB and to clarify the mediating effects of job satisfaction. Two hundred and seventy employees from 24 electronic companies participated in this study. The results show that job variety and job significance had a significant positive relationship with OCB, whereas job identity, job autonomy, job feedback and job interdependence were not significantly related to OCB. Furthermore, job satisfaction, especially intrinsic satisfaction, was a mediating mechanism of the relationship between job variety, job significance and OCB. Finally, extrinsic satisfaction did not mediate the relationship between job characteristics and OCB. This finding suggests that practicing managers should enrich job characteristics and place greater emphasis on enhancing employees' intrinsic satisfaction to promote employees' OCB.
The aim of the study was to examine the proposition that religiosity and the related factor, spirituality, contribute to lower personal distress among students. The sample comprised 624 students: 314 Grade 12 secondary school students and 310 third-year social science university students in South Africa. Results indicate that the majority of the students show a high degree of religious belief and religious involvement. Some religious variables – such as being a born-again Christian and considering religion as important – were associated with decreased Perceived Stress. Minor psychiatric morbidity as measured with the Self-reporting Questionnaire (SRQ; WHO, 1994) was positively associated with some religious beliefs and involvement, while meaning and direction in life was inversely associated with the SRQ score. All three religious coping styles were inversely associated with perceived stress. Contrary to expectations it was found that some of the religious coping styles were positively associated with minor psychiatric morbidity, especially the depression scores of the SRQ. Findings show that some religious variables were positively associated with mental health while others were inversely or not related, thus only partially supporting the religion-mental health link.
This research explored the identity re-creation process as it occurs via the consumption of Internet dating services. Informants were interviewed about how they use their posted dating profiles to explore aspects of their own identities and about the perceived impact that online and offline feedback to these profiles have upon their identities. Informants' responses indicated that individuals can re-create their identities through the use of Internet dating services. Furthermore, online and offline validation of the identities presented in dating profiles seem to have an impact on individuals' beliefs about themselves and their behavior in both online and offline environments.
A two-stage procedure (consideration set formation and final choice) was used to track the emergence of gender biases in hiring and firing decisions. Participants were allowed to select their own strategy for narrowing choice options (which candidates to retain or which candidates to delete). Each of the two experiments included a condition where job candidates were considered for hiring and a condition where current employees were considered for firing. Candidate features varied across experiments but the initial set always included 18 females and 18 males with comparable credentials. In both experiments male and female respondents selected candidates of their own sex for hiring and both males and females selected mostly male candidates for firing. In each experiment the bias showed up only in the final-choice stage.
This study investigated the effects of attachment styles of university students on their social skills and loneliness levels. Their social skill levels, loneliness levels and attachment styles were measured by the Social Skills Inventory, UCLA Loneliness Scale, and Relationships Scale Questionnaire respectively. To analyze data, t-test, correlation analysis, and regression analysis were employed. Emotional expressivity levels, emotional sensitivity levels, social control levels, and total social skill levels of female students were found to be significantly higher than those of male students. However, emotional control levels of male students were significantly higher than those of female students. A significant effect of attachment styles on loneliness and social skills was detected. Social skill levels of students who have secure attachment styles were found to be significantly higher than social skills levels of students who have insecure attachment styles. Average loneliness points of students who do not have a romantic relationship were found to be significantly higher than others. However, the average social skill points of those students were found to be significantly lower than others.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the distribution of psychological symptoms in young workers, and the relationship with regard to sociodemographic characteristics using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI; Derogatis, 1992), in İzmir Apprenticeship Training Center, Turkey, with 203 randomly selected apprentices aged 15–21, 31 (15.3%) females and 172 (84.7%) males. The mean age was 17.48± 1.24 years. The apprentices were from four different occupational groups: Metalwork (21.7%), Auto repair (29.6%), Electric repair (20.7%) and Hairdressing (28.1%). Results showed that apprentices who are female, who come from single-parent families, who reported low socioeconomic status, who had lost one of their parents or siblings, whose fathers had no stable job, and who work in hairdressing are at risk for psychological problems. In conclusion, those "at risk" apprentices should receive psychosocial support and counseling for coping with problems.
The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between academic achievement and the following variables: anxiety, self-esteem, optimism, and pessimism. The sample consisted of 400 male and female students in the Basic Education College in Kuwait. The salient findings of the investigation were the significant positive correlation between academic achievement and both optimism and self-esteem – whereas the correlations were negative between academic achievement and both anxiety and pessimism.
This study explored the perceived importance of person-job fit and person-organization fit between and within three interview stages (i.e., initial, final, and single stage). The initial and final interviews refer to the sequential interviews conducted in a multiple-stage selection process and the single interview refers to the only interview conducted before a final decision is made. Using 446 campus recruiters, it was shown that: 1) P-J fit was perceived as more important than P-O fit in the initial interview; 2) the importance of P-J fit becomes lower from the initial interview to the single interview and from the initial interview to the final interview; and 3) the importance of P-O fit becomes higher from the initial interview to the single interview and from the initial interview to the final interview. Empirical implications and future directions are discussed.
A group of students enrolled in the 12th year of education was asked to answer a direct application questionnaire containing the following measures: Intimate Friendship Scale (IFS) (Sharabany, 1994), The Self-Perception Profile for College Students (Neemann & Harter, 1986) adapted for the Portuguese population (Ribeiro, 1994) and Family Social Notation ‐ Adapted Graffar, adapted from the original (Graffar, 1956). The values of Intimate Friendship were found to be higher for girls and the values of Perception of Physical Appearance were higher for boys.
The study was undertaken to investigate the factor structure of the Kuwaiti version of the Desirability of Control Scale (DC; Burger & Cooper, 1979; Hamadah & Abdullatif, 2000) on a sample of 387 Kuwait undergraduate students (males = 152 and females = 235). Six orthogonal (Varimax) factors were extracted. They were labeled General Desire for Control, Leadership, Regard for Autonomy, Avoidance of Dependence, Decisiveness, and Attentiveness. It was concluded that these factors were interpretable and thus the Kuwaiti version of the DC Scale can be recommended for use with Kuwaiti college students and similar groups.
The aim in doing this research was to identify whether or not family religiosity is protective against adolescent substance use (tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs) according to selected religious preferences. A cross-sectional survey of students ages 17–35 years in college undergraduate general education classes at three large schools in Utah, May–July, 2003 revealed that the highest use of tobacco smoking and marijuana or other illicit drug use was among those with no religious preference. Catholics had the highest level of alcohol drinking during adolescence. The lowest use of tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drugs was among Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormons). Family church attendance and religiosity among parents during the participants' adolescent years were both significantly protective against substance use in LDS but not among those of other religions or in those with no religious preference. LDS were most likely to agree that they chose to abstain or quit using tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drugs during their adolescent years because such behavior was inconsistent with their religious beliefs. LDS were also more likely to agree that current substance use was inconsistent with their religion, thus family weekly church attendance and parental religiosity during the participants' adolescent years were associated with lower substance use among LDS.
Relationship choices are critical to one's psychological and physical well-being. Yet prior investigations of factors that influence these choices have been determinedly nonutilitarian. Many studies have assessed the attractiveness of specific personal attributes, the benefits of having attractive or unattractive characteristics, and the influence of evolutionary pressures on the attractiveness of certain qualities. However, attributes have not been investigated for their effect on those who have an affinity for them in today's society. Research should be directed toward identifying affinities that are normative but maladaptive because they decrease the likelihood of forming good relationships. This research would parallel epidemiological studies of risk factors for health problems and would yield information that could be used to improve relationship choices.
