Browsing by Subject "Satisfaction"

Now showing 1 - 9 of 9

Determinants influencing college major choice and their relationship to self-determined motivation, achievement, and satisfaction
(2009-12) Walls, Stephen Marc; Svinicki, Marilla D., 1946-
Postsecondary curricula are often the first opportunity where students can and are compelled to make choices regarding their adult professional life and the first opportunity students have to engage in serious and focused exploration of the various career options that might be available to them. While the general impact of a postsecondary education on career experience, including job satisfaction and success, is well documented, the factors influencing postsecondary students' career choice and how those factors impact college outcomes, including motivation towards, satisfaction with, and achievement in their chosen major field, appear to be more obscure and uneven. Self-determination theory (SDT) is a well-established motivational construct in the educational psychology field and the goal of this study is to explore the role that SDT may play in the relationship between determinants influencing a student's choice of major and their satisfaction and achievement outcomes. Using self-reported survey data from students across five disciplines at a large public four-year university, a cluster analysis was performed to determine if students could be grouped meaningfully based on their self-determination and the determinants that influenced their choice of major. Meaningfulness was assessed based primarily on the differences across the clusters on the satisfaction and achievement measures. Students were found to be too similar across the clusters on the achievement measure for meaningful interpretation on that outcome, but there did appear to be an important relationship between the influence of future outcomes and personal experiences in choosing a major and the students' satisfaction with their major. Multiple regression analysis was also employed to assess the degree to which achievement could be predicted by students' satisfaction, self-determined motivation, and determinants influencing choice of major. Self-determined autonomy was an important mediator and moderator of the effects that the determinants influencing choice of major had on satisfaction and achievement. Future directions in the research program, as well as the practical implications of the results, are discussed.
Dissatisfied by design: the evolution of discontent
(2006) Hill, Sarah Elizabeth; Buss, David M.
The following will explore multiple evolutionary psychological hypotheses, all of which bear on the nature of human satisfaction. I first address human decision-making across multiple domains of resource competition, hypothesizing that preferences for goods in some domains are not judged according to absolute amounts of resource holdings, but rather on how much one has compared to others —a positional bias. Studies 1 and 2 will explore the positional bias and how it affects men’s and women’s decision-making behaviors. I will then address one of the human motivational systems likely involved in facilitating behavior that is consistent with the positional bias: the emotion of envy. Studies 3, 4, and 5 will explore sex differences in men’s and women’s envy experiences and the role played by envy in social memory. The current studies present new data that provide novel insights into the nature of satisfaction, well-being, and important decision-making processes that guide human social behavior in a variety of domains.
Exploring the mutual influence of self and relationship : a theory of couple identity negotiation
(2010-08) Kwang, Tracy Nai; Swann, William B.; Neff, Lisa A.
Relationships can shape the self-concept, draw out unique aspects of an individual’s personality, and influence individual perspectives and goals. Yet the self is not a passive player in relationships as self-related goals and motives can also influence how relationships form and develop. While the field is replete with research on the unidirectional influence between self and relationships, surprisingly little has been done on synergistic effect of combined self and relationship influences. I present a new theory of couple identity negotiation that captures how two individuals in a relationship negotiate their independent identities to form a unified couple identity. I hypothesize that the process through which an individual and his/her partner merge to create a new couple identity is crucial in determining relationship longevity and satisfaction. I draw from social identity theory (Turner et al., 1987) and identity fusion theory (Swann et al., 2009) to propose three models of couple identity negotiation: Model A involves the self being subsumed by the partner; Model B involves a negotiation wherein the self and partner both contribute to the couple identity; Model C the self subsuming the partner’s self. Study 1 tests the links between the different models to relationship outcomes, namely relationship satisfaction and commitment. Study 2 explores personality correlates of the models. Results demonstrate that couple identity negotiation models predict different levels of relationship quality. Furthermore, the models are not significantly correlated with personality variables, suggesting that the models are specific to the relationship, and are not driven solely by individual differences.
Goals as content-specific standards for evaluation of romantic commitment
(2013-08) Tennant, Patrick Solis; Gleason, Marci Elizabeth Joy
This thesis examines the association between the role that an individual’s partner and relationship alternatives play in his or her goal pursuits and the individual’s commitment to his or her relationship. Individual’s preference for others that aid in the achievement of his or her goals has been theoretically and empirically established (Fitzsimons & Shah, 2008). This thesis extends that work by examining the relation between multiple interpersonal dimensions of an individual’s goal pursuits and his or her romantic commitment. Rusbult’s (1980) investment model was used as a framework to develop a questionnaire that examined the degree to which an individual believed his or her partner facilitated, impeded, shared, and valued his or her goals, as well as whether the individual could accomplish the goal without his or her partner or if anyone other than his or her partner could help him or her to achieve the goal. It was hypothesized that individuals who believe that their partner facilitates and shares their goals, and that their alternative partners do not facilitate their goals, will be more committed to their relationship. These hypotheses were tested with a survey that asked participants to list three of their personal goals and rate each of them on the six interpersonal goal dimensions, as well as complete measures of relationship satisfaction, investment, alternatives, and commitment. Participants were recruited and responded to the survey through the Amazon.com Mechanical Turk marketplace. The final sample included 475 individuals that were involved in a romantic relationship at the time survey. Two structural equation models were constructed to analyze the data. Primary findings show significant associations between several of the interpersonal goal dimensions and the constructs of the investment model. Results are addressed in the context of the relevant literature, with relationship evaluation serving as the suggested mechanism. Implications and future directions are then discussed.
How perceptions impact real estate decisions : an analysis of residential demand in Austin, Texas
(2015-12) Fulmer, Kristen Alyse; Atkinson, Simon, Ph. D.; Wegmann, Jacob
This thesis examines how social media trends create perceptions, which influence real estate decision-making within the Millennial generation, ultimately affecting their long-term investment and longevity in the city of Austin, Texas. To investigate the residential real estate market in Austin, specifically within the Millennial generation, I discuss decision factors with the residents and developers, known as stakeholders. By completing a mixed-methods analysis, I determine how Internet-based tendencies affect perceptions and economic realities of specific neighborhoods or the city, thereby affecting the residential real estate market as a whole. Approaching this research as a post-positivist, I hypothesize that the Millennial cohort is currently creating short-term demand for residential development with no long-term intentions of staying in the city. By discovering this future instability of sectors within the Millennial generation, especially in newcomers to the city, I question Austin’s plans, which seem to lack amenities to provide for this cohort’s residential longevity.
The impact of test feedback on psychiatric inpatients' assessment satisfaction
(1993) Bunner, Melissa Renee, 1969-; Prentice, Norman M.; Finn, Stephen Edward
The benefits of receiving psychological assessment feedback were investigated. In the first study the Assessment Questionnaire-II (AQ-II) was developed and empirically analyzed. The AQ-II was used in the second study to measure subjects' satisfaction with their assessments. Subjects were 34 psychiatric inpatients who had recently participated in psychological assessments. Subjects were divided into two groups depending on whether they received feedback about their test results. The group receiving feedback felt more positively about their assessments than the group not receiving feedback. The feedback group felt more positively toward their assessors, more self-confirmed, experienced stronger affective responses, and felt that the assessment would have a more lasting impact on their lives. Although the subjects in the feedback group were more satisfied with their assessments than subjects in the nonfeedback group, it appears that receiving feedback decreased subjects' dissatisfaction rather than made them satisfied with their assessments. Because the type of feedback was not controlled, future research should compare different types of feedback, in order to determine if specific models of feedback would be more satisfying to subjects.
A look at premarital couples' commitment : experience, expression, and satisfaction
(2001-08) Kulp, Cailin; Knapp, Mark L.
The relation between a student's choice of living arrangement and student effort, achievement and college satisfaction
(2006) Garrard, Douglas Charles; Duncan, James P.
Calls for reform in higher education that focus on institutional characteristics which impede effective teaching and learning, such as a fragmented and specialized curriculum, a lack of clarity of goals, and the need to integrate the in- and out-of-class experience, have been well documented in the literature. Under the premise that learning can be best realized with purposeful and connected in- and out-of-class learning environments, living-learning communities are a popular option on many of our nation’s campuses. The benefits of conventional residence hall living have been well established in the literature. A growing body of research supports that living-learning communities offer the promise of a wholly integrated campus environment, suggesting academic achievement can be influenced by an environment that mutually supports academic, interpersonal and extracurricular activities. This study used quantitative and qualitative methods to examine in depth the association between a student’s place of residence and various learning outcomes. Data for this study included self-reported levels of effort, achievement and satisfaction as measured by the College Student Experiences Questionnaire, institutional data on college grade point average and enrollment, and qualitative interviews. This study focused on “within-college” effects, or the relationship between student experiences at the same institution and student outcomes. This study found that place of residence had no relationship with a student’s level of satisfaction or self-reported academic and social gains. Place of residence had a limited association with student scores on personal and interpersonal level of effort scales. Active learning, student-faculty interaction and cooperation among students, referred to as “good educational practices,” were found to be significant predictors of academic and social gains. Additionally, participation in the living-learning community was also found to be associated with higher odds of being retained in college. With limited exceptions, student background characteristics did not have a significant affiliation with student success. This finding is consistent with C. Robert Pace’s (1984) notion that what a student does at college is more important than what they did before they entered college. Overall, the results suggest that the university is providing an environment that promotes student success regardless of place of residence.
The role of emotional capital during the early years of marriage : it’s about the little things
(2016-05) Walsh, Courtney Michelle; Neff, Lisa A.; Gleason, Marci Elizabeth Joy; Loving, Timothy J.
In ongoing relationships, partners often accumulate a number of shared positive moments together, referred to as emotional capital. Although these moments may seem trivial on the surface, emotional capital has been shown to be an important resource when faced with relationship threats. The proposed study aimed to examine the longitudinal effects of emotional capital using daily diary assessments collected from 167 couples across the first 3 years of marriage. Conceptually replicating prior work, we found that individuals who accumulated more emotional capital on average maintained greater levels of satisfaction on days of greater relationship threat when compared to those individuals who accumulated less emotional capital. We also tested whether (1) the trajectories of emotional capital across time predicted later reactivity and (2) whether the buffering effect of emotional capital became stronger over time. We did not find support for either of these predictions. Lastly, the current study examined whether emotional capital not only reduced reactivity, but also reduced the likelihood that spouses detected threats in the first place. Results indicated that compared to husbands who accumulated less emotional capital, husbands who accumulated more emotional capital exhibited less vigilance for their wives’ daily negative behaviors within the relationship. Wives’ vigilance for their husbands’ negative behaviors was unaffected by their accumulations of emotional capital.