Mountain Scholar :: Browsing by Author "Dik, Bryan, advisor"

Browsing by Author "Dik, Bryan, advisor"

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Open Access
A qualitative analysis of choosing and experiencing the Infantry as an occupation
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Loebel, Greg A., author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Kraiger, Kurt, committee member; Doe, Sue, committee member
The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of why men chose the Infantry as an occupation when enlisting in the U.S. military in the post-9/11 era, as well as the potential meaning they experienced through their service as infantrymen. Interviews were conducted with 11 undergraduate students who had served in either the U.S. Army or U.S. Marine Corps as infantrymen, and had enlisted with the specific goal to serve in an Infantry occupational specialty. All of the participants had served at least one combat deployment as infantrymen to either Afghanistan or Iraq. Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) was used to guide the study. Prominent themes that emerged relative to enlistment decision-making included strong desires to fulfill roles of being highly skilled combatants and experience combat; viewing the Infantry as the best means to fulfill those desires; and desires to serve a greater good. Prominent themes related to meaning experienced through Infantry service included fulfillment of desired roles of being warriors; having experienced growth through hardship; a sense of accomplishment and pride through being skilled at Infantry warfare and having done important things; and the incredibly strong sense of brotherhood and camaraderie shared with other infantrymen they served with. Lastly, prominent themes regarding how their prior service may influence their current civilian career trajectories included having enhanced discipline, motivation, leadership, and sense of purpose; feeling distinctly different and separate from civilians; continued sense of service; and a desire for peace and normalcy in civilian life. Results from this study offered an interesting perspective on post-9/11 era military enlistment motivations connected to one particular class of occupational specialties. The participants did not offer any economic reasons for their enlistment motivations. That is, they did not choose the Infantry because of college benefits or job skills developed in their Infantry occupations that may transfer to civilian occupations. Rather, they appeared primarily motivated in their enlistment choices by desires to seek intense, dangerous training and combat experiences and fulfill particular warrior identity roles not available in civilian life, all through a sense of discipline and service.
Open Access
An examination of the relationships between vocational identity, hardiness, meaningful work, burnout, and work engagement
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) Loebel, Greg A., author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Chavez, Ernest, committee member; Davalos, Deana, committee member; Conroy, Samantha, committee member
A cross-sectional study was conducted to expand the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model and personal resources within the model. The association between vocational identity as a personal resource and two criterion variables of burnout and work engagement were examined in a sample of 255 full-time U.S. working adults using Amazon's Mechanical Turk to collect survey data. JD-R is situated within occupational stress research that incorporates burnout and work engagement as the two primary constructs other variables are related to. Vocational identity has seen very little research in working adult samples and has been limited to career development outcomes. Minimal examination has been conducted of core features of identity within the JD-R model. Therefore, this study explored vocational identity as a personal resource that predicts burnout and work engagement, hypothesizing a negative relationship with the former and positive relationship with the latter. Results indicated vocational identity had significant main effects on both work engagement and burnout. Additionally, the perception that one's work is meaningful was examined as an important job resource hypothesized to explain the relationship between the main predictor and criterion variables as a mediator. Results also indicated that meaningful work significantly mediated the direct effects of vocational identity on work engagement and burnout. Since stress is a natural part of work, one's stress appraisal and coping style has a significant influence on well-being outcomes. Hardiness, which is a personality style that influences how one may effectively cope with stress, is viewed as an important personal resource. It was hypothesized that hardiness moderated the strength of the direct relationship between vocational identity and the criterion variables, as well as the strength of the relationship with the meaningful work mediator. A proposed moderated mediation model was tested where vocational identity predicted burnout and work engagement through the mediating relationship of meaningful work. The mediated effect was expected to be stronger for those higher in hardiness. Results revealed that hardiness only had a moderating effect on the relationship between vocational identity and the exhaustion subscale of burnout, but no significant moderating effect was detected for the other two burnout subscales or any of the three work engagement subscales. Results also showed no detectable moderating effect of hardiness on the indirect relationship of vocational identity on work engagement and burnout through meaningful work.
Open Access
Calling in the United States: prevalence and the role of source
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) White, Micah, author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Beseler, Cheryl, committee member; Peila-Shuster, Jackie, committee member
Research on calling as a construct in vocational psychology has grown substantially in the past decade. However, questions pertaining to the prevalence of calling and role of source of calling remain unanswered. The present study used data from Wave 2 of the Portraits of American Life Study: a nationally stratified panel study of religion in the United States. Part One of this study sought to estimate the prevalence of calling in the United States while Part Two investigated whether or not participants' source of calling affected relationships between living a calling, job satisfaction, and well-being correlates. In general, estimates in this study suggest that calling is a relevant concept for many adults throughout the United States, with significant differences in presence of and search for calling being found for age, employment status, and the importance of God or spirituality. Additionally, results demonstrated that source of calling moderated the relationship between living a calling and job satisfaction such that, for those citing an external source of calling, living a calling was not predictive of job satisfaction. Furthermore, importance of God or spirituality was found to be an important predictor of living a calling, purpose in life, and hope for the future. These findings represent the first known population estimates of calling in the United States and extend the existing literature on calling by providing further information pertaining to the relative importance of source of calling and spirituality in predicting relevant work and well-being outcomes.
Open Access
Combining personality and masculinity in perceptions of alcohol use
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2018) Jurica, John, author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Prince, Mark, advisor; Chavez, Ernest, committee member; Harman, Jen, committee member; Miller, Lisa, committee member
Alcohol consumption and alcohol consequences among men in college are significant health concerns, making it important to examine how psychosocial and biological variables surrounding masculine gender norms may play a role in alcohol-related behaviors. Men's conformity to certain masculine norms in the United States is a predictor of alcohol use and alcohol-related problems. Sensation seeking, which occurs at higher levels among men, is a personality trait related to increased alcohol consumption and increased risk-taking behavior, which also occurs at high levels among men. Despite theoretical overlap between these personality-based and psychosocial variables, they have not been empirically compared. Based on evidence from peer influences and masculinity, it is possible that individuals that endorse traditional masculine norms may experience peer norms among close friends that promote and encourage dangerous drinking behaviors. Quantitative methods were employed to explore endorsement of traditional masculine norms, personality variables with known relationships with alcohol-related outcomes, peer norms for alcohol use and alcohol-related outcomes. Qualitative methods were utilized to explore the ways in which participants view drinking and drinking behaviors in the context of masculinity and male peers. Results suggested that there are significant relationships between sensation seeking and several subscales of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI), most notably risk taking (r = .77). Results of several path analyses suggested that risk taking and sensation seeking predict alcohol consumption and alcohol consequences via descriptive norms for alcohol use. Relevant themes from the qualitative analysis included posturing, no effect, consumption habits, sources of influence, and drinking and responsibility. Quantitative and Qualitative results provided evidence of a relationship between peer norms for alcohol use and masculinity. Quantitative results show relationships between several subscales of the CMNI and injunctive and descriptive norms for alcohol use among close friends. These results also suggest that higher endorsement of risk taking and sensation seeking is related to increased perceptions of peer alcohol use, which in turn predicts alcohol consumption and alcohol problems. Qualitative results also provide evidence of a connection between masculinity and alcohol consumption as well as masculinity and risky behaviors while drinking. The qualitative results also provide evidence of context-specific behaviors and specific mechanisms through which masculine norms and peer influences impact alcohol behaviors. These findings advance research aimed at understanding relationships between masculinity, sensation seeking, peer norms, and alcohol-related behaviors. Implications for treatment and prevent, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.
Open Access
Effects of employee gender, occupational prestige, and gender concentration on impression judgments about employees
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Strife, Samantha R., author; Dik, Bryan, advisor
A vignette strategy was employed to assess how occupational prestige and gender interact to influence overall judgment of target employees. Specifically, ambiguous vignettes were utilized to determine the extent to which attributions associated with occupationism (i.e., prejudicial attitudes towards an individual based on occupational membership) were present for a sample of undergraduate students. Level of occupational prestige (high vs. low), gender concentration of occupation (predominately "female," predominately "male," gender balanced), and gender of employee (female vs. male) were manipulated in the vignettes to ascertain judgments about individuals in varied occupational settings. In addition, stereotypic gender role characteristics were assessed to determine how measurements of masculinity and femininity relate to overall impression of target employee. There were no significant main effects or two way interactions found for occupational prestige, gender of the employee in the vignette, and gender constituency of the occupation. Results indicated that men in a predominately male, high prestige occupation were rated significantly more positively than females in the same predominately male, high prestige occupation. Furthermore, scores of masculinity and femininity were significantly correlated with participants' overall impression of the target employee, such that stereotypic traits associated with masculinity and femininity of the target employee were related to higher ratings of the employee. Implications of the findings are explored using role congruity theory and social role theory.
Open Access
Giving death a second glance: an investigation of existential awareness
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Hunter, Isaac, author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Banning, James, committee member; Bloom, Larry, committee member; Harman, Jennifer, committee member
The promotion of awareness is arguably one of the central features of counseling. Research on existential awareness has produced mixed results with regard to how people react when experiencing such awareness. Differences in outcome are seemingly based on the level of awareness achieved and on how deeply that awareness resonated. This existential awareness is sometimes perceived as a threat and therefore something people try to defend against. At deeper, more personal levels, this awareness appears to often add meaning and value to the experience of living. Aside from near death experience and post traumatic growth research, few studies have examined this deeper level of awareness in detail. The present study attempted to promote this deeper level of awareness by having participants imagine and reflect on a scenario describing one's last moments before impending death. The present study used qualitative and quantitative analysis to examine: if this intervention was effective, if individual characteristics had an influence on this intervention's effectiveness, and the duration of potential intervention outcomes over time. Qualitative results suggest that the intervention was effective in getting participants to engage in reflection on their own lives. However, significant results were not obtained through the quantitative measures that were employed to examine moderators and intervention impact over time.
Open Access
Gratitude and health: a brief intervention to reduce undergraduate stress
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Fitch-Martin, Arissa, author; Steger, Michael, advisor; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Kuk, Linda, committee member; Harman, Jennifer, committee member
Undergraduate students experience a significant amount of stress that negatively impacts their physical and mental health as well as their academic performance. Attempts to reduce stress and its detrimental effects on the lives of college students have either fallen short, require considerable effort, are not utilized, or have not been sufficiently evaluated. Instead, undergraduate students often turn to unhealthy ways of dealing with their stress such as excessive alcohol use. This study aimed to address the lack of efficient and efficacious stress management resources available to undergraduate students. Three-hundred and sixteen undergraduate students were assigned to a gratitude-list, objects-list, or no-treatment control condition. The gratitude intervention did not have a significant impact on perceived stress. However, results provided further evidence that there is a relationship between gratitude and perceived stress. The impact of gender-role identity and trait gratitude was also explored. Implications for future research on gratitude and stress as well as gratitude in general are discussed and suggestions for clinical practice are offered.
Open Access
Intentions for postsecondary education: meaning in life, school connectedness, and substance use
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) Fitch-Martin, Arissa R., author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Steger, Michael, advisor; Henry, Kimberly, committee member; Youngblade, Lise, committee member
Attempts to understand what drives some youth to continue their education after high school have mostly been unsuccessful. Persisting education past high school requires sustained commitment and planning, which are theoretically important functions of the psychological construct of meaning in life. Research often has ignored the role that meaning in life plays in educational attainment and thus may be missing an important variable. Youth who report having meaning in their lives have higher well-being, are more resilient, and are more likely to report long-term achievement oriented goals. The current study investigated the relationship between meaning, school connectedness and substance use in order to create a model to better explain college aspirations 12th graders. Participants were seniors in high school and took part in the nationally representative Monitoring the Future project. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the hypothesized model. Results demonstrated that school connectedness and parental education are significant indicators of intentions for postsecondary education. Although not directly related to academic intentions, meaning in life had strong ties to school connectedness and parental education. The current study provides evidence that meaning in life may be an important factor in academic success and persistence. Implications for interventions and future research are discussed.
Open Access
Is meaningful work a luxury? An interpretative phenomenological analysis on lower socioeconomic status workers' experience of meaningful work
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Shim, Yerin, author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Steger, Michael, committee member; Stallones, Lorann, committee member; Doe, Sue, committee member
The growing empirical literature on meaningful work suggests that experiencing meaningful work is associated with many psychological benefits to the individual. However, very little is known about how lower socioeconomic status (LSES) workers experience meaningful work due to the lack of research with this population and assumption that pursuing meaningful work is a luxury. The present study sought to explore the experience of meaningful work among LSES workers through an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight LSES workers. Seven domains were constructed as a result of the data analysis: definitions of meaningful work, perception and psychological experience of meaningful work, internal conditions of meaningful work, external conditions of meaningful work, personal impact of meaningful work, strategies to enhance meaningfulness in work, and perspective on the relationship between meaningful work and SES. Participants defined meaningful work as similar to previous conceptualizations, perceived and experienced their current work as meaningful in diverse ways, and appeared to be generally positively impacted through meaningful work. Participants also identified direct and indirect conditions that support or hinder meaningfulness in their work and suggested strategies to enhance meaningfulness in their work. Finally, participants viewed meaningful work as an attainable psychological resource for LSES workers despite barriers.
Open Access
Moderation and mediation of the spirituality and subjective well-being relation
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2015) Sargent, Adam M., author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Steger, Michael, committee member; Swaim, Randall, committee member; Snodgrass, Jeffrey, committee member
The present study aims to replicate the finding that spirituality correlates positively with subjective well-being and examines important moderating and mediating variables within this relationship (Koenig and Larson, 2001; Hill and Pargament, 2003). First, spiritual affiliation (religious denomination) is tested as a moderating variable and is found to significantly moderate the positive relationship between spirituality and subjective well-being furthering the case that spiritual affiliation should be considered in this line of research. Next, social support, spiritual support, spiritual strivings, and meaning in life are tested as mediators of the relationship between spirituality and subjective well-being. Social support, spiritual support, and spiritual goals/strivings are not found to mediate the relation between spirituality and subjective well-being, but meaning in life fully mediates this relationship suggesting that meaning in life may play a key role in understanding the spirituality and subjective well-being relation. Finally, a combined mediated moderation analysis is tested with spiritual affiliation as the moderating variable and meaning in life as the mediating variable. Evidence for mediated moderation was not found. Implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.
Open Access
Moderators of efficacy for a computer-assisted career guidance system (CACGS) intervention
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2013) McLaren, Molly Rae, author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Kraiger, Kurt, committee member; Feller, Richard, committee member; Rickard, Kathryn, committee member
Research investigating career intervention efficacy has inadequately investigated the identification of important client factors which might moderate the effects of various career interventions. The current study had two aims. First it examined the efficacy of a newly developed Computer-Assisted Career Guidance System (CACGS) used alone, and the same CACGS used in conjunction with a structured workshop intervention, as compared to a business-as-usual control group. Secondly, this study also investigated moderators for the efficacy of these career interventions (i.e., gender, minority status, SES, cognitive/emotional disability status, career locus of control, career decision-making readiness, and career needs). Using a sample of 609 students from community colleges and a four-year university, main effects indicated that the CACGS plus workshop condition was effective in improving career decision-making self-efficacy, and outcome expectations strivings, as well as reducing career decision-making difficulties. Results from moderator analyses suggest that SES significantly moderated the relationship between treatment condition and career decision-making self-efficacy such that participants reporting lower levels of SES benefited more from the CACGS plus workshop condition. Career needs were also found to be a significant moderator for the relationship between treatment condition and the following outcomes: career decision-making difficulties and academic major satisfaction. The interaction was such that participants reporting career needs congruent with the aims of the intervention had reduced decision-making difficulties and increased academic major satisfaction as compared with participants reporting incongruent career needs. No other significant moderator effects were found. Consistent with past research, results of this study suggest that CACGS interventions may be more effective when paired with a face-to-face intervention component. The results also suggest that the efficacy of career interventions may not vary meaningfully across a range of different populations. Socioeconomic status and types of career needs may tend to be a significant client factors to consider in terms of career intervention efficacy. Implications for practice and recommendations for future research are offered.
Open Access
Personal growth initiative and calling: intrinsic motivation at work
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Jurica, John, author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Anderson, Sharon, committee member; Fisher, Gwenith, committee member
This study examined relationships between personal growth initiative, which is a desire to actively engage in conscious self-improvement, and the vocational construct of calling, which is defined as a sense of meaning derived from work that is pro-social and emanates from a transcendent summons. The study also examined how personal growth initiative and calling variables were related to positive well-being variables and career development variables. The participants (N = 297) were undergraduate students enrolled in a psychology course at a large public university in the western United States. The results suggested that personal growth initiative can be incorporated into the prevailing model of calling in multiple ways. First, evidence suggested that it may function as a predictor of presence of calling. Second, personal growth initiative may function as a moderator between presence of calling and living a calling. Finally, there was evidence that personal growth initiative may be a mediator between presence of calling and positive criterion variables, including life satisfaction and work hope. The results also suggested that living a calling may not be an important goal for college students, which provides evidence for the possibility that a sense of calling has different effects for individuals in different stages of career development. Implications, limitations, and future directions for this research are discussed.
Open Access
Reflecting on vocation: a randomized trial of online expressive writing career interventions
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) White, Micah, author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Becker, Tony, committee member; Beseler, Cheryl, committee member; Peila-Shuster, Jackie, committee member
Though recent research on calling has connected the construct to a variety of positive career-related and general well-being outcomes, there remains a scarcity of empirically tested interventions to increase calling. The present study sought to address this gap in the literature by experimentally testing three writing interventions based on Pennebaker's expressive writing paradigm (Pennebaker & Beall, 1986) with the intention of increasing participants' sense of calling and other career-related outcomes. These interventions included articulating one's general career goals (i.e., the career goals condition), anticipating potential future career obstacles (i.e., the adaptability condition), and reflecting on one's life purpose as it relates to one's future career (i.e., the purpose condition). This study also used text analysis software to explore whether the linguistic content of participant journal entries was predictive of study outcomes. While many results were non-significant, participants in the purpose condition reported greater presence of calling and vocational identity at post-intervention than participants in other conditions. Furthermore, use of causation words was predictive of presence of calling and career adaptability while use of negative emotion words was predictive of career confidence. Results appeared to support previous career development theory that has suggested that narrative-based reflections on one's personal passions, motivations, and purpose, as well as the prosocial impact of one's career, are beneficial. Limitations and considerations of how to improve these interventions in future studies are also discussed.
Open Access
Religion, meaning, and belief in a just world
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Jaramillo, Matthew, author; Chavez, Ernest, advisor; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Gibbons, Alyssa, committee member; Anderson, Sharon, committee member
The present study examined a meaning-making model, focusing on the impact of Coping, Posttraumatic Growth, Life Meaningfulness, Belief in a Just World, Well-Being, and God Images. The path analysis generally mirrored a model Park and colleagues' (2008) constructed in their examination of meaning-making among cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to replicate their model and investigate its interactions with God Images. This research was undertaken to offer new insights into the meaning-making model and extend knowledge of God Images in clinical work and research. The present study's sample consisted of military veterans and undergraduate psychology students. The path model for the present study was significant and generally conformed to Park and colleagues' (2008) meaning-making model. The God Images behaved as expected with some exceptions. The God images Present and Providence significantly moderated mediation relationships in the meaning-making model. The God image, Present, moderated the effect of Posttraumatic Growth mediating Coping and Life Meaningfulness of the model. God as Present also moderated the effect of Life Meaningfulness mediating Posttraumatic Growth and Well-Being. The God Image, Providence, moderated the effect of Belief in a Just World mediating Coping and Life Meaningfulness. Providence also moderated the effect of Life Meaningfulness mediated Posttraumatic Growth and Belief in a Just World. Discussion of the implications of these findings for research and clinical work follow.
Embargo
Religious envy: investigating the nonreligious experience
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Underill, Bailey, author; Steger, Michael, advisor; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Hastings, Pat, committee member; Tompkins, Sara Anne, committee member
Theories of religion identify certain benefits that religion uniquely provides. Furthermore, there is evidence that non-religious individuals not only miss out on these benefits but are penalized for and discriminated against due to their lack of religious affiliation. For these reasons, when non-religious individuals engage in social comparison, they may experience envy toward religious individuals related to the benefits of religious affiliation and the consequences faced for being religiously unaffiliated. This study aims to investigate "religious envy" in the lives of religiously unaffiliated individuals within the United States. Four individuals (ages 22 to 30; three women and one man) who identified as atheists and endorsed experiencing religious envy were interviewed, and transcripts were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). This analysis developed four domain topics: perceptions and beliefs, previous experiences, religious envy, and reasons for staying nonreligious. Twenty-one themes formed a basis for understanding the phenomenon of religious envy. Themes within the "Religious Envy" domain indicated that participants experienced envying religious individuals due to a perceived sense of community or belonging, coping with grief or loss, existential comfort, and a sense of ethical or moral certainty. This study identifies specific ways that nonreligious individuals may experience religion and its role in their lives and beliefs. Furthermore, this study provides initial exploratory evidence for the existence of religious envy as a phenomenon.
Embargo
The call to sell: a qualitative exploration of calling for religiously identified women in multi-level marketing
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Jayne, Alexa, author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Prasad, Joshua, committee member; Tompkins, Sara Anne, committee member; Albert, Lumina, committee member
Work is a life domain in which many people perceive a calling. Research on calling reveals that workers who perceive and live out a calling often experience a range of positive outcomes, such as increased work-related and overall life satisfaction and well-being. However, living a calling can also lead to negative outcomes, such as workaholism, burnout, and exploitation. Multi-level marketing (MLM) is a business model that operates via direct selling and network recruitment. This business model has been found to be particularly attractive to women. It has also gained traction within the faith community, with many MLM companies aligning with Christian values and faith communities. This study sought to investigate the sense of calling that religiously identified women who work in Young Living, a leading MLM company in the United States, may experience. Six individuals participated in-depth structured interviews, and transcripts were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results revealed four domains and multiple themes, including 1) Reasons for Joining (e.g., supplementary income, pipeline of buying to selling, positive previous experiences with product, means to achieve work-life balance, desire to have own business), 2) Sense of Calling (e.g., transcendent summons, desire to educate and share clean products with others, sharing their faith with others, empowering others to become distributors, perceiving multiple callings), 3) Positive Outcomes (e.g., personal and professional growth, belonging to a community of like-minded people, camaraderie with other women in business, positive recognition and social influence, increased religious engagement), and 4) Negative Outcomes associated with the work (e.g., overwhelm and difficulty setting boundaries, moral disagreements with discourse and utilization of certain products, negative perceptions of business structure from others, needing to convince others about usefulness of products). Implications for clinicians, organizations, and future research are explored. Future research is recommended to replicate and validate the results of this study. Research is also recommended to investigate how the results of this study may apply to more diverse samples, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative methods. The results of this study may help to inform clinicians into how one's religious perspective may inform their sense of calling.
Open Access
The impact of adhering to masculine norms on the relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Nepute, Jeff, author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Swaim, Randall, committee member; Richards, Tracy, committee member; Miller, Lisa, committee member
Job satisfaction (JS) has been shown to significantly predict life satisfaction (LS) across a large array of research (Tait, Padgett, & Baldwin, 1989), though the strength of the relationship varies (Steiner & Truxillo, 1987). Authors have suggested the difference in the strength of the relationship across studies may be due to the presence of moderators (Rain, Lane, & Steiner, 1991), particularly an individual's level of work importance (Lent & Brown, 2008). Unfortunately, the research on the moderating impact of work importance uses measures which lack sufficient validity and reliability evidence about their scores (Steiner & Truxillo, 1987). Steiner and Truxillo (1987) suggested Kanungo's ( 1982) Work Importance Questionnaire and Job Importance Questionnaire as a specific measure which would address this concern, though adherence to traditional masculine norms may also tap into the construct of work importance. Individuals who adhere to traditional masculine norms of the dominant culture in the U.S. often place even greater emphasis on their work role (Mahalik et al., 2003). The past literature on adherence to masculine norms has generally focused solely on negative outcomes (Kiselica & Englar-Carlson, 2010) and often samples including only mainly White, heterosexual men (Parent & Smiler, 2012). The current study explores the impact of potential moderators on the relationship between job and life satisfaction, examines how this relationship may vary across categories of identity, evaluates potential positive outcomes of adherence to masculine norms, and analyzes how adherence to masculine norms may vary across categories of identity. An online survey was given to 290 U.S. adults, working at least part time, about job satisfaction, life satisfaction, positive and negative affect, job and work importance, and adherence to masculine norms. The results showed job satisfaction to predict life satisfaction, though did not find any significant moderating effect of any measure of work importance (work importance, job importance, primacy of work). The model explaining the largest amount of variance (45%) suggested that job satisfaction may have an indirect effect on life satisfaction, through positive and negative affect. The above results did not vary by gender (job satisfaction predicting life satisfaction, no significant moderators, mediation model). With regard to adherence to masculine norms, there were no relationship detected between positive outcomes and adherence. While the current sample did not have sufficient numbers to examine how adherence to masculine norms may vary by ethnicity and sexual orientation, differences between men and women were examined. Men showed significantly higher adherence to masculine norms, as well as higher adherence to specific norms of power over women, the use of violence, and frequently changing sexual partners. The results suggest the need for more complex models and statistical methods, using outside raters, selecting methods that can test causality, and intentionally selecting higher numbers of ethnic and sexual minorities. With regard to clinical implications, the study suggests the need to address values around help-seeking, focusing on strengths for adherence to masculine norms, and addressing barriers within therapy and barriers towards entering therapy for individuals with high self-reliance.
Open Access
The impact of maltreatment history and the presence of individual, familial, and communal protective factors on college adjustment
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2022) Oberdorfer, Matthew R., author; Rosén, Lee A., advisor; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Gibbons, Alyssa, committee member; Carlson, Laurie, committee member
There is a wealth of studies examining trauma, protective factors, and outcomes in college students. There are questions, however, about how certain protective factors relate to certain types of maltreatment, and how these relationships impact college adjustment. There is also a lack of clarity in the literature as to whether the number of traumatic events experienced is a sufficient measure of trauma history or if the cumulative severity of traumatic experiences must be measured. This study aimed to address these gaps in the protective factors literature by examining relationships between trauma history, protective factors, and college adjustment using the Social Emotional Resources Inventory (SERI), a newly published measure of protective factors (Oberdorfer, Mohr, & Rosén, 2019). Results indicated that both the number of traumatic events endorsed by participants and the cumulative severity ratings they gave the traumatic events they experienced predicted almost the exact same amount of college adjustment. It was also found that maltreatment no longer had a significant relationship with college adjustment when controlling for protective factors. How much more variance cumulative protective factors predicted than cumulative traumas reinforced the emphasis that this paper, and the field, have put on protective factors. The results further indicated that individual protective factors were the strongest predictors of later college adjustment across all types of maltreatment. Self-Esteem, Coping, and Optimism emerged as strong predictors of college adjustment across types of maltreatment. Clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed.
Open Access
The role of affective interest in vocational interest measurement
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Onder, Casey C., author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Byrne, Zinta, committee member; Feller, Rich, committee member
Most vocational interest inventories used today operationalize interests in terms of enjoyment or liking. The potential role of affective interest in vocational preferences has not been examined empirically, despite indications that affective interest and enjoyment are distinct as emotions. The present study aimed to extend research distinguishing affective interest from enjoyment to the context of vocational preferences, and to determine whether incorporating affective interest items into an enjoyment-based vocational interest measure would improve its criterion-related validity for academic major choice and satisfaction. 423 university undergraduates completed online survey items rating vocational activities on various dimensions, including enjoyment and interest, and indicated their academic majors and major satisfaction. Results regarding the discriminant validity of enjoyment and interest in vocational activities were mixed. Affective interest did not have incremental criterion-related validity for academic major choice and satisfaction. These findings and the study's limitations suggest the need for further research on the potential role of affective interest in vocational interest measurement.
Open Access
The role of meaning and purpose in the career development of adolescents: a qualitative study
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) McLaren, Molly, author; Dik, Bryan, advisor; Steger, Michael, committee member; Banning, James, committee member; Aloise-Young, Patricia, committee member
The purpose of this qualitative investigation was to explore the role of meaning and purpose in adolescent career development by examining 7th-grade students' responses to a semi-structured interview. Interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) methods as described by Willig (2001). The findings supported the vast majority of the literature on the topic, contrasted with a few areas, and expanded others. In general, most participants had heard of the concepts of meaning and purpose in work, as well as the concept of a calling; however, many of them had not thought extensively about these topics. The students offered a variety of descriptions and definitions for each of these concepts. Continued research on the roles of meaning and purpose, and the infusion of meaning and purpose, in childhood career development can contribute to the theoretical knowledge base and practical applications of career curricula and counseling practice.