• Title/Summary/Keyword: Behavioral characteristics

Search Result 1,380, Processing Time 0.031 seconds

Relationships Among Employees' IT Personnel Competency, Personal Work Satisfaction, and Personal Work Performance: A Goal Orientation Perspective (조직구성원의 정보기술 인적역량과 개인 업무만족 및 업무성과 간의 관계: 목표지향성 관점)

  • Heo, Myung-Sook;Cheon, Myun-Joong
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
    • /
    • v.21 no.4
    • /
    • pp.63-104
    • /
    • 2011
  • The study examines the relationships among employee's goal orientation, IT personnel competency, personal effectiveness. The goal orientation includes learning goal orientation, performance approach goal orientation, and performance avoid goal orientation. Personal effectiveness consists of personal work satisfaction and personal work performance. In general, IT personnel competency refers to IT expert's skills, expertise, and knowledge required to perform IT activities in organizations. However, due to the advent of the internet and the generalization of IT, IT personnel competency turns out to be an important competency of technological experts as well as employees in organizations. While the competency of IT itself is important, the appropriate harmony between IT personnel's business capability and technological capability enhances the value of human resources and thus provides organizations with sustainable competitive advantages. The rapid pace of organization change places increased pressure on employees to continually update their skills and adapt their behavior to new organizational realities. This challenge raises a number of important questions concerning organizational behavior? Why do some employees display remarkable flexibility in their behavioral responses to changes in the organization, whereas others firmly resist change or experience great stress when faced with the need to alter behavior? Why do some employees continually strive to improve themselves over their life span, whereas others are content to forge through life using the same basic knowledge and skills? Why do some employees throw themselves enthusiastically into challenging tasks, whereas others avoid challenging tasks? The goal orientation proposed by organizational psychology provides at least a partial answer to these questions. Goal orientations refer to stable personally characteristics fostered by "self-theories" about the nature and development of attributes (such as intelligence, personality, abilities, and skills) people have. Self-theories are one's beliefs and goal orientations are achievement motivation revealed in seeking goals in accordance with one's beliefs. The goal orientations include learning goal orientation, performance approach goal orientation, and performance avoid goal orientation. Specifically, a learning goal orientation refers to a preference to develop the self by acquiring new skills, mastering new situations, and improving one's competence. A performance approach goal orientation refers to a preference to demonstrate and validate the adequacy of one's competence by seeking favorable judgments and avoiding negative judgments. A performance avoid goal orientation refers to a preference to avoid the disproving of one's competence and to avoid negative judgements about it, while focusing on performance. And the study also examines the moderating role of work career of employees to investigate the difference in the relationship between IT personnel competency and personal effectiveness. The study analyzes the collected data using PASW 18.0 and and PLS(Partial Least Square). The study also uses PLS bootstrapping algorithm (sample size: 500) to test research hypotheses. The result shows that the influences of both a learning goal orientation (${\beta}$ = 0.301, t = 3.822, P < 0.000) and a performance approach goal orientation (${\beta}$ = 0.224, t = 2.710, P < 0.01) on IT personnel competency are positively significant, while the influence of a performance avoid goal orientation(${\beta}$ = -0.142, t = 2.398, p < 0.05) on IT personnel competency is negatively significant. The result indicates that employees differ in their psychological and behavioral responses according to the goal orientation of employees. The result also shows that the impact of a IT personnel competency on both personal work satisfaction(${\beta}$ = 0.395, t = 4.897, P < 0.000) and personal work performance(${\beta}$ = 0.575, t = 12.800, P < 0.000) is positively significant. And the impact of personal work satisfaction(${\beta}$ = 0.148, t = 2.432, p < 0.05) on personal work performance is positively significant. Finally, the impacts of control variables (gender, age, type of industry, position, work career) on the relationships between IT personnel competency and personal effectiveness(personal work satisfaction work performance) are partly significant. In addition, the study uses PLS algorithm to find out a GoF(global criterion of goodness of fit) of the exploratory research model which includes a mediating variable, IT personnel competency. The result of analysis shows that the value of GoF is 0.45 above GoFlarge(0.36). Therefore, the research model turns out be good. In addition, the study performs a Sobel Test to find out the statistical significance of the mediating variable, IT personnel competency, which is already turned out to have the mediating effect in the research model using PLS. The result of a Sobel Test shows that the values of Z are all significant statistically (above 1.96 and below -1.96) and indicates that IT personnel competency plays a mediating role in the research model. At the present day, most employees are universally afraid of organizational changes and resistant to them in organizations in which the acceptance and learning of a new information technology or information system is particularly required. The problem is due' to increasing a feeling of uneasiness and uncertainty in improving past practices in accordance with new organizational changes. It is not always possible for employees with positive attitudes to perform their works suitable to organizational goals. Therefore, organizations need to identify what kinds of goal-oriented minds employees have, motivate them to do self-directed learning, and provide them with organizational environment to enhance positive aspects in their works. Thus, the study provides researchers and practitioners with a matter of primary interest in goal orientation and IT personnel competency, of which they have been unaware until very recently. Some academic and practical implications and limitations arisen in the course of the research, and suggestions for future research directions are also discussed.

Individual Thinking Style leads its Emotional Perception: Development of Web-style Design Evaluation Model and Recommendation Algorithm Depending on Consumer Regulatory Focus (사고가 시각을 바꾼다: 조절 초점에 따른 소비자 감성 기반 웹 스타일 평가 모형 및 추천 알고리즘 개발)

  • Kim, Keon-Woo;Park, Do-Hyung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.24 no.4
    • /
    • pp.171-196
    • /
    • 2018
  • With the development of the web, two-way communication and evaluation became possible and marketing paradigms shifted. In order to meet the needs of consumers, web design trends are continuously responding to consumer feedback. As the web becomes more and more important, both academics and businesses are studying consumer emotions and satisfaction on the web. However, some consumer characteristics are not well considered. Demographic characteristics such as age and sex have been studied extensively, but few studies consider psychological characteristics such as regulatory focus (i.e., emotional regulation). In this study, we analyze the effect of web style on consumer emotion. Many studies analyze the relationship between the web and regulatory focus, but most concentrate on the purpose of web use, particularly motivation and information search, rather than on web style and design. The web communicates with users through visual elements. Because the human brain is influenced by all five senses, both design factors and emotional responses are important in the web environment. Therefore, in this study, we examine the relationship between consumer emotion and satisfaction and web style and design. Previous studies have considered the effects of web layout, structure, and color on emotions. In this study, however, we excluded these web components, in contrast to earlier studies, and analyzed the relationship between consumer satisfaction and emotional indexes of web-style only. To perform this analysis, we collected consumer surveys presenting 40 web style themes to 204 consumers. Each consumer evaluated four themes. The emotional adjectives evaluated by consumers were composed of 18 contrast pairs, and the upper emotional indexes were extracted through factor analysis. The emotional indexes were 'softness,' 'modernity,' 'clearness,' and 'jam.' Hypotheses were established based on the assumption that emotional indexes have different effects on consumer satisfaction. After the analysis, hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 were accepted and hypothesis 4 was rejected. While hypothesis 4 was rejected, its effect on consumer satisfaction was negative, not positive. This means that emotional indexes such as 'softness,' 'modernity,' and 'clearness' have a positive effect on consumer satisfaction. In other words, consumers prefer emotions that are soft, emotional, natural, rounded, dynamic, modern, elaborate, unique, bright, pure, and clear. 'Jam' has a negative effect on consumer satisfaction. It means, consumer prefer the emotion which is empty, plain, and simple. Regulatory focus shows differences in motivation and propensity in various domains. It is important to consider organizational behavior and decision making according to the regulatory focus tendency, and it affects not only political, cultural, ethical judgments and behavior but also broad psychological problems. Regulatory focus also differs from emotional response. Promotion focus responds more strongly to positive emotional responses. On the other hand, prevention focus has a strong response to negative emotions. Web style is a type of service, and consumer satisfaction is affected not only by cognitive evaluation but also by emotion. This emotional response depends on whether the consumer will benefit or harm himself. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm the difference of the consumer's emotional response according to the regulatory focus which is one of the characteristics and viewpoint of the consumers about the web style. After MMR analysis result, hypothesis 5.3 was accepted, and hypothesis 5.4 was rejected. But hypothesis 5.4 supported in the opposite direction to the hypothesis. After validation, we confirmed the mechanism of emotional response according to the tendency of regulatory focus. Using the results, we developed the structure of web-style recommendation system and recommend methods through regulatory focus. We classified the regulatory focus group in to three categories that promotion, grey, prevention. Then, we suggest web-style recommend method along the group. If we further develop this study, we expect that the existing regulatory focus theory can be extended not only to the motivational part but also to the emotional behavioral response according to the regulatory focus tendency. Moreover, we believe that it is possible to recommend web-style according to regulatory focus and emotional desire which consumers most prefer.

Characteristics of Verbal Interactions According to the Leader Style in MBL Experiment Class in Which Discussion was Emphasized (토론을 강조한 MBL실험수업에서 리더 유형에 따른 언어적 상호작용 특성)

  • Gu, Yang-Sam;Park, Geum-Hong;Sin, Ae-Gyeong;Choe, Byeong-Sun;Lee, Guk-Haeng
    • Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
    • /
    • v.50 no.6
    • /
    • pp.494-505
    • /
    • 2006
  • This study was performed for 7th grade students to analyze by leader style, the verbal interactions between students in a small group in an MBL(Microcomputer-Based Laboratory) experiment class. The study was performed after arranging the students into four kinds of groups, including groups with leaders of inclusive, persuasive, and alienating styles and a group with no clear leader. The analysis of total frequencies of verbal interaction revealed that the group with an inclusive leader showed the highest frequency of verbal interaction, followed by the group with a persuasive leader, an alienating leader and lastly, the group with no clear leader. The group with an inclusive leader showed the highest frequency of interaction from a cognitive aspect related to question(Q), response(R), making suggestion(MS), and receiving opinions(RO), while interactions from an affective aspect related to behavioral participation(BP) and students' attitudes(SA) were observed more often in a group including an alienating leader than in any other group. An analysis of characteristics of verbal interaction according to leader style showed that a group with an inclusive leader had a permissive atmosphere. It also showed that all members of the group actively participated in discussion and they had a sense of belonging and self-pride with their group. In a group with a persuasive leader, the leader took the lead of most experimental and discussion activities and he was rarely challenged by other students in the group. Rather, other group members showed a tendency to depend on their leader. In a group with an alienating leader, the relationship between leader and members of the group was not harmonious and unfiltered expressions of dissatisfaction and ignorance often took place. The leader's lack of concern about members' low achievement became an obstacle in active discussion. In a group with no clear leader, most interactions during discussion were short and simple. Many answers to the question given by their members were not clear and the interactions were sometimes interrupted for a short while.

Development of A Network loading model for Dynamic traffic Assignment (동적 통행배정모형을 위한 교통류 부하모형의 개발)

  • 임강원
    • Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
    • /
    • v.20 no.3
    • /
    • pp.149-158
    • /
    • 2002
  • For the purpose of preciously describing real time traffic pattern in urban road network, dynamic network loading(DNL) models able to simulate traffic behavior are required. A number of different methods are available, including macroscopic, microscopic dynamic network models, as well as analytical model. Equivalency minimization problem and Variation inequality problem are the analytical models, which include explicit mathematical travel cost function for describing traffic behaviors on the network. While microscopic simulation models move vehicles according to behavioral car-following and cell-transmission. However, DNL models embedding such travel time function have some limitations ; analytical model has lacking of describing traffic characteristics such as relations between flow and speed, between speed and density Microscopic simulation models are the most detailed and realistic, but they are difficult to calibrate and may not be the most practical tools for large-scale networks. To cope with such problems, this paper develops a new DNL model appropriate for dynamic traffic assignment(DTA), The model is combined with vertical queue model representing vehicles as vertical queues at the end of links. In order to compare and to assess the model, we use a contrived example network. From the numerical results, we found that the DNL model presented in the paper were able to describe traffic characteristics with reasonable amount of computing time. The model also showed good relationship between travel time and traffic flow and expressed the feature of backward turn at near capacity.

An analytical study on the fire characteristics of the small tunnel with large smoke exhaust port (대배기구 배연방식을 적용한 소형차 전용 터널의 화재특성에 관한 해석적 연구)

  • Yoo, Ji-Oh;Kim, Jin-Su;Rhee, Kwan-Seok
    • Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
    • /
    • v.19 no.3
    • /
    • pp.375-388
    • /
    • 2017
  • In order to solve the traffic congest and environmental issues, small-cross section tunnel for small car only is increasing, but there is not standard for installation of disaster prevention facility. In this study, in order to investigate the behavioral characteristics of thermal environment and smoke in a small cross section tunnels with a large port exhaust ventilation system, the A86, the U-Smartway and the Seobu moterawy tunnel, Temperature and CO concentration in case of fire according to cross sectional area, heat release rate and exhaust air flow rate were analyzed by numerical analysis and the results were as follows. As the cross-sectional area of the tunnel decreases, the temperature of the fire zone increases and the rate of temperature rise is not significantly affected by heat release rate. However, there is a difference depending on the change of the exhaust air flow rate. In the case of applying the exhaust air flow rate $Q_3+2.5Ar$ of the large port exhaust ventilation system, the temperature of the fire zone was 7.1 times for A86 ($Ar=25.3m^2$) and 5.4 time for U-smartway ($Ar=37.32m^2$) by Seobu moterway tunnel ($Ar=46.67m^2$). The CO concentration of fire zone also showed the same tendency. The A86 tunnels were 10.7 times and the U-Smartways were 9.5 times more than the Seobu moterway. Therefore, in the case of a small section tunnel, the thermal environment and noxious gas concentration due to the reduction of the cross-sectional area are expected to increase significantly more than the cross-sectional reduction rate.

A Study on the Environment for Lowbirth Weight Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the United States (신생아집중간호단위 환경과 저체중출생아의 반응에 대한 연구)

  • Han Kyung Ja
    • Child Health Nursing Research
    • /
    • v.4 no.2
    • /
    • pp.159-176
    • /
    • 1998
  • In effort to conduct comparative study on the caregiving environment of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit(NICU) in both U. S and Korea, this study was been conducted first in the U.S. Purpose : The purpose of this study is to identify the physical environment and direct caregiving practices to lowbirth weight infants in NICU in the US. It also aims to examine the NICU outcome status and behavioral reponses of lowbirth weight infants. Methods : A study design using descriptive and inferential statistics was been conducted through an observational, field method. A sample of 15 preform infants admitted to NICU were recruited for the study. The subjects were those with birth weight between 1,000 gm to 1,500 gm, born at the gestation period of 27 to 33 weeks, and without any chromosomal or other genetic anomalies, major congenital infections, or maternal illness. Thirty minutes observation(three times of ten minutes of continuous observation)of the infant's behavior and physiological status, and an four-hour observation of the physical environment and direct care giving procedures were been conducted on the 3rd and 10th day after birth, and on the day of discharge from the NICU or at 34weeks postconception. The data to be collected were in four areas : the demograghic characteristics of the infants, the physical environment and care giving procedures, the frequency of the infant's designated behavior and physiological response, and NICU outcome variables. A descriptive analysis and Kruskal-Wallis, Pearson r were been applied according to variable characteristics. Results : 1. Mother's mean age was 29.47. The sample consisted of 6 males and 9 females. Mean gestational ages were 29.17 weeks. Mean birth weight was 1236.33g. Mean Apgar scores at one minute were 6.6, and 7.8 at five minutes. 2. The location for the incubator was in the distance from the light, X-ray screens and nursing station, in proximity to side-lamp, telephone and faucet on the third day after birth. The location for the incubator was in the distance from the light and radio on the tenth day and in proximity to nursing station on the day of dischage from the NICU or at 34weeks postconception. 3. Nesting was the most applying aids to the infants. And foot roll, shielding and plastic frame were frequently using by nurses for facilitating well modulated restful posture. 4. There were statistically significant changes in the patterns of physical environment included locating the infant's incubator and bedding, specific aids to self regulation on the 3rd and 10th day after birth, and on the day of discharge from the NICU or at 34weeks postconception. 5. Statistically significant changes were not appeared in the patterns of direct caregiving procedure to the infants included stress inducing or reducing manipulations on the 3rd and 10th day after birth, and on the day of discharge from the NICU or at 34weeks postconception. 6. The stress response of the infants in NICU were significantly reduced as the infants grow older. 7. There were not statistically significant correlation between the physical envronment and the stress responses of the infants in NICU. 8. There were statistically significant correlation between the direct caregiving procedure to the infants and the stress response of the infants in NICU in the second and third observation on the day three. 9. Average weight gain per day from birth to discharge was 38.73g, number of days in the hospital was 42.60, number of days before bottle feeding was 3.6. Postconception age starting bottle feed ing was 31/sup +5/ weeks. Number of days on mechanical ventilator was average 7.64, 11.42 was an average number of days of oxygen need. Conclusion : It, thus, appears that to minimize the sensorymotor stimulation for the low birthweight preterm infant in NICU, manipulation of care giving practices to the babies whatever the stress inducing or reducing procedures, have to be limited in the immediate early stage after birth. And it needed to be reexamine to identify the appropriate and specific physical environment and the patterns of direct caregiving to the low birthweight preform infant as the infants grow older in NICU.

  • PDF

Characteristics of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome Patients Proven with Nocturnal Polysomnography as Correlates of Age and Gender (야간 수면다원 기록으로 확진된 폐쇄성 수면무호흡증 환자의 특성: 연령과 성별에 따른 차이)

  • Lee, Ju-Young;Kim, Seog-Ju;Lee, Jung-Ho;Jeong, Do-Un
    • Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
    • /
    • v.16 no.2
    • /
    • pp.65-73
    • /
    • 2009
  • Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the clinical and polysomnographic characteristics of Korean patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), especially in relation to differences due to age and gender. Methods: All subjects were consecutive patients who were proven to have OSAS with nocturnal polysomnography. They were interviewed with a structured interview format including sociodemographic information, past medical history, medication, and sleep-related history. Simultaneously, they were also given Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) to answer in order to check subjective sleep quality and subjective sleepiness. Results: Mean age of the 308 subjects was $49.5{\pm}$13.3 years, with 77.6% of the subjects being males and 22.4% of the subjects being females. The aging effects on the sleep architecture in Korean OSAS corresponded with normal aging, but with the effect of OSAS itself superimposed, the extent of aging effects was more marked than that of normal aging. The severity of Korean patients of OSAS was not correlated with age. When divided into age subgroups, significant correlation was found between RDI and BMI in patients of each subgroup of those in the 4th to 7th decades. The oldest subgroup (>70 years) described their subjective sleep quality as poorer than any other age subgroups, despite of less subjective drowsiness. The severity of OSAS and the change of sleep architecture of male subjects turned out to be severer than those of female ones. The female/male ratio of the subjects tended to increase with aging. Conclusions: The aging effect on the sleep architecture in Korean OSAS seems to be a mixture of the changes by normal aging and sleep disorder per se. The severity of OSAS was not correlated with age, but highly correlated with BMI. The severity of OSAS and the change of sleep architecture of male patients were severer than those of female ones.

  • PDF

COMPARISON BETWEEN ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER AND MANIA IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS (주의력결핍과잉행동장애와 소아, 청소년기 조증의 비교 연구)

  • Sung, Yang-Sook;Hong, Kang-E;Cho, Soo-Churl;Nam, Min
    • Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
    • /
    • v.10 no.1
    • /
    • pp.91-99
    • /
    • 1999
  • Objects:It is difficult to differentiate between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) and mania because of similar symptoms and atypical symptoms of mania in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics and to clarify the relationship by comparing the clinical features and comorbidities of ADHD and manic patients. Methods:The subjects consisted of 35 patients with ADHD and 19 manic patients. To Compare the characteristic symptoms between the two disorders, we selected 29 patients with ADHD and 14 patients with manic disorders. 6 ADHD patients who had manic disorders as comorbid disorder, and 5 manic patients who had ADHD as comorbid disorders were manic disorders were excluded. Results:1) There were significant differences in ages of onset and state anxiety scale scores, birth weights, numbers of perinatal problem, gestational ages, school behavioral problems between ADHD patients and manic patients(p<0.01). 2) There were significant differences in loses things(p<0.05) of ADHD-symptoms and grandiosity(p<0.01), decrease in sleep(p<0.05), delusions(p<0.01), hallucinations(p<0.05) of mania-symptoms between ADHD patients and manic patients. 3) The comorbid disorders of ADHD patients are significantly high(p<.05) than that of manic patients in major depression. 4) The familial loading of manic patients are significantly high(p<.05) than that of ADHD patients in mood disorder. Conclusions:The above results suggest that ADHD and mania are different disorders, considering the significant differences of clinical features and characteristics, familial loadings of the two disorders.

  • PDF

A Study on the Impact of Employee's Person-Environment Fit and Information Systems Acceptance Factors on Performance: The Mediating Role of Social Capital (조직구성원의 개인-환경적합성과 정보시스템 수용요인이 성과에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구: 사회자본의 매개역할)

  • Heo, Myung-Sook;Cheon, Myun-Joong
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
    • /
    • v.19 no.2
    • /
    • pp.1-42
    • /
    • 2009
  • In a knowledge-based society, a firm's intellectual capital represents the wealth of ideas and ability to innovate, which are indispensable elements for the future growth. Therefore, the intellectual capital is evidently recognized as the most valuable asset in the organization. Considered as intangible asset, intellectual capital is the basis based on which firms can foster their sustainable competitive advantage. One of the essential components of the intellectual capital is a social capital, indicating the firm's individual members' ability to build a firm's social networks. As such, social capital is a powerful concept necessary for understanding the emergence, growth, and functioning of network linkages. The more social capital a firm is equipped with, the more successfully it can establish new social networks. By providing a shared context for social interactions, social capital facilitates the creation of new linkages in the organizational setting. This concept of "person-environment fit" has long been prevalent in the management literature. The fit is grounded in the interaction theory of behavior. The interaction perspective has a fairly long theoretical tradition, beginning with proposition that behavior is a function of the person and environment. This view asserts that neither personal characteristics nor the situation alone adequately explains the variance in behavioral and attitudinal variables. Instead, the interaction of personal and situational variables accounts for the greatest variance. Accordingly, the person-environment fit is defined as the degree of congruence or match between personal and situational variables in producing significant selected outcomes. In addition, information systems acceptance factors enable organizations to build large electronic communities with huge knowledge resources. For example, the Intranet helps to build knowledge-based communities, which in turn increases employee communication and collaboration. It is vital since through active communication and collaborative efforts can employees build common basis for shared understandings that evolve into stronger relationships embedded with trust. To this aim, the electronic communication network allows the formation of social network to be more viable to rapid mobilization and assimilation of knowledge assets in the organizations. The purpose of this study is to investigate: (1) the impact of person-environment fit(person-job fit, person-person fit, person-group fit, person-organization fit) on social capital(network ties, trust, norm, shared language); (2) the impact of information systems acceptance factors(availability, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use) on social capital; (3) the impact of social capital on personal performance(work performance, work satisfaction); and (4) the mediating role of social capital between person-environment fit and personal performance. In general, social capital is defined as the aggregated actual or collective potential resources which lead to the possession of a durable network. The concept of social capital was originally developed by sociologists for their analysis in social context. Recently, it has become an increasingly popular jargon used in the management literature in describing organizational phenomena outside the realm of transaction costs. Since both environmental factors and information systems acceptance factors affect the network of employee's relationships, this study proposes that these two factors have significant influence on the social capital of employees. The person-environment fit basically refers to the alignment between characteristics of people and their environments, thereby resulting in positive outcomes for both individuals and organizations. In addition, the information systems acceptance factors have rather direct influences on the social network of employees. Based on such theoretical framework, namely person-environment fit and social capital theory, we develop our research model and hypotheses. The results of data analysis, based on 458 employee cases are as follow: Firstly, both person-environment fit(person-job fit, person-person fit, person-group fit, person-organization fit) and information systems acceptance factors(availability perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use) significantly influence social capital(network ties, norm, shared language). In addition, person-environment fit is a stronger factor influencing social capital than information systems acceptance factors. Secondly, social capital is a significant factor in both work satisfaction and work performance. Finally, social capital partly plays a mediating role between person-environment fit and personal performance. Our findings suggest that it is vital for firms to understand the importance of environmental factors affecting social capital of employees and accordingly identify the importance of information systems acceptance factors in building formal and informal relationships of employees. Firms also need to reflect their recognition of the importance of social capital's mediating role in boosting personal performance. Some limitations arisen in the course of the research and suggestions for future research directions are also discussed.

Training Program to Raise Consciousness Among Adolescents for Protection Against Skin Cancer through Performance of Skin Self Examination

  • Balyaci, Ozum Erkin;Kostu, Nazan;Temel, Ayla Bayik
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
    • /
    • v.13 no.10
    • /
    • pp.5011-5017
    • /
    • 2012
  • Background: Overexposure to sunlight in childhood and the adolescent period and associsated sunburns significantly increase the risk of skin cancer in adulthood. In Turkey, the incidence of skin cancer in the general population is 0.8%. The incidence is 0.6% and the mortality rate is 0.4% for men, while these rates are 1.0% and 0.7%, respectively, for women. If skin cancer is found early, its treatment is facilitated. Therefore, personal skin examination is important for early diagnosis. Objectives: Our aim was to determine the effects of training for raising consciousness among adolescents to protect against skin cancer by influencing skin self examination behavior. Method: This quasi experimental intervention study was conducted between February and April 2012 in Izmir. The study population consisted of students attending $6^{th}$, $7^{th}$ and $8^{th}$ classes of a primary school (n:302). No sampling was performed. Data were collected with a form developed by the researchers based on the literature. The first part of form is aimed to determine demographic characteristics of adolescents (3 questions) and their risk status of skin cancer (6 questions). The second part was prepared for skin cancer risks of adolescents (8 questions) and indications of skin cancer (12 questions). The last part was intended to determine their knowledge about skin self examination (4 questions) and behavioral stages of skin self examination (1 question). Data collection was achieved with a questionnaire form in three phases. In the 1st phase, data about demographic characteristics of students, risk status of skin cancer, knowledge level of skin cancer and behavior stages were collected. In the $2^{nd}$ phase, skin self examination training based on the transtheoretical model was performed within the same day just after obtaining preliminary data. In the $3^{rd}$ phase, adolescents were followed up three times to establish the efficacy of the training (on the $15^{th}$ day after training program and at end of the $1^{st}$ and $2^{nd}$ months). Follow-up data were evaluated by questioning skin self examination performing behavior stages through electronic mail. Results: Half of the adolescents (50.5%) are male, and 58.4% of them are 13 years old with a mean age of $12{\pm}1.15$ years. About 29.4% of adolescents had brown hair color, 37.9% had brown/hazel eye color, 29.4% had white skin, and 47.2% had fewer than 10 moles in their body. The pretest mean score on knowledge level about risks of skin cancer was found to be $4.19{\pm}1.96$, while the post-test mean score was $6.79{\pm}1.67$ (min:0, max:8).The pretest mean score about indications of skin cancer was $7.45{\pm}3.76$, while the post-test mean score was $10.7{\pm}2.60$ (min:0, max:12). The increases were statistically significant (p<0.05). The behavior "I do not perform skin self examination regularly in every month and I do not think to perform it in the next 6 months" was reduced from 52.8 to 35.5% after training. Conclusion: The training program organized to raise consciousness among adolescents for protection against skin cancer increased the knowledge level about risks and indications of skin cancer and it also improved the behavior of performing skin self examination.