Dimensions Of Assertiveness Research Articles

Psychological Factors Affecting Assertiveness in Subjects with Parkinson's Disease.

Background/Objectives: Assertiveness, defined as the positive affirmation of oneself, encompasses the ability to refuse requests, express anger, disagree or oppose others, show affection, and uphold personal beliefs without causing conflict. Deficits in assertive behavior are often linked to pathological changes in the basal ganglia and prefrontal dopaminergic systems, commonly observed in Parkinson's disease (PD), and are predictive of poor clinical outcomes. Psychological factors such as mood alterations and cognitive dysfunction may also impact assertiveness. This study investigated the psychological factors influencing assertiveness in individuals with PD. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted, involving 160 patients with PD attending a movement disorders outpatient clinic. The participants underwent assessment using a battery of standardized neuropsychological tests to evaluate cognitive function, assertiveness, mood, dysarthria, and quality of life (QoL). Results: All dimensions of assertiveness correlated with depression and anxiety. Individuals experiencing mood disturbances may struggle to express themselves assertively. Similarly, some dimensions of assertiveness correlated also with the QoL, indicating that, overall, well-being affects assertive behavior. Gender emerged as a significant influencer of assertiveness across all dimensions. Specifically, in subjects with PD, the male gender was associated with lower scores in assertiveness compared to women. No significant correlations were found between assertiveness and dysarthria. Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of adopting a holistic approach to PD management, addressing not only motor symptoms but also psychological challenges which patients may encounter in their daily lives.

Predicting nutritional status during pregnancy by women's empowerment in West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia.

Considerable proportions of pregnant women are affected by poor nutrition outcomes in Ethiopia. Women's empowerment, on the other hand, is highly recognized as a means to achieve better maternal nutrition outcomes. However, the role of pregnant women's empowerment in nutritional status during pregnancy has not been empirically examined in Ethiopia. This study aimed to address this gap. To assess the association of individual and composite women's empowerment dimensions with pregnant women's nutrition outcomes in West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia. A health facility-based cross-sectional study was performed on 1,453 pregnant women living in West Shewa Zone, Ethiopia, in 2021. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on half of the samples to identify and validate dimensions of pregnant women's empowerment. The associations between pregnant women's empowerment dimensions and anemia status and mid upper arm circumference levels were examined by logistic regressions. Composite pregnant women's empowerment was positively associated with both anemia status and mid-upper-arm circumference level. The odds of not being anemic were higher among pregnant women empowered in economic [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.7, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.26, 2.22] and assertiveness (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.46, 2.38) dimensions than those not empowered in these dimensions. Empowered pregnant women in household decision-making (AOR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.19, 2.22) and psychological (AOR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.85) dimensions had higher odds of having normal mid-upper-arm circumference measures than those not empowered in the respective dimensions. Communication and time dimensions were not significantly associated with any of the nutrition outcomes. This study suggests that empowered pregnant women are nutritionally better off than their less empowered counterparts. This is also important in child health outcomes. Policies and programs that aim to improve maternal and child health in the study area need to consider interventions that promote the decision-making power, economic, psychological, and assertiveness dimensions of pregnant women.

Assertiveness Behavior and Organizational Climate Among Workers in a Multinational Company in Malaysia

This study empirically analyses the relationship between the dimensions of assertiveness behavior with organizational Climate among workers in a multinational company in Malaysia. Hence, this study was conducted to determine the potential effects of assertiveness behavior on organizational Climate. A total of 57 respondents were chosen to participate in this study based on the quantitative approach. Two methods were used as part of the measurements, including The Rathus Assertiveness Schedule, which measures the assertiveness dimensions mentioned in this study. The questionnaire will then be used to measure the organizational Climate. Interestingly, the organizational climate level shared different results.

Correlated expression of the body, face, and voice during character portrayal in actors

Actors are required to engage in multimodal modulations of their body, face, and voice in order to create a holistic portrayal of a character during performance. We present here the first trimodal analysis, to our knowledge, of the process of character portrayal in professional actors. The actors portrayed a series of stock characters (e.g., king, bully) that were organized according to a predictive scheme based on the two orthogonal personality dimensions of assertiveness and cooperativeness. We used 3D motion capture technology to analyze the relative expansion/contraction of 6 body segments across the head, torso, arms, and hands. We compared this with previous results for these portrayals for 4 segments of facial expression and the vocal parameters of pitch and loudness. The results demonstrated significant cross-modal correlations for character assertiveness (but not cooperativeness), as manifested collectively in a straightening of the head and torso, expansion of the arms and hands, lowering of the jaw, and a rise in vocal pitch and loudness. These results demonstrate what communication theorists refer to as “multichannel reinforcement”. We discuss this reinforcement in light of both acting theories and theories of human communication more generally.

Assertiveness among Nurses in El Fayoum University Hospitals

Background: Assertiveness is a particular mode of communication. It occupies the healthy middle ground between aggressiveness and submissiveness and helps to identify problems and facilitate decision making. Aim of the study: this study aimed to assess assertiveness among nurses in ELFayoum University Hospitals. Design: A descriptive design used in this study. Setting: This study carried out at EL Fayoum University Hospitals. These hospitals namely, Surgical University Hospital and Medical University Hospital. Subjects: Study subjects included staff nurses, head nurse and assistant head nurses who were working in aforementioned two hospitals. Their total number was (200) staff nurse and (42) head nurse and assistants .Data collection tools: two tools were used to collect data. First tool Self-administer questionnaire consisted of two parts, the first part is socio-demographic data Sheet and the second part is an assertiveness assessment scale. Second tool assertive behavior inventory. Results: the highest mean score of assertiveness dimensions was negotiating the system& active orientation while the lowest mean score was work habits. The majority of nurses were assertive. Also, the highest mean score of factors affecting assertive behavior was human relation factors while the lowest assertive factors score nurse's belief factors. Conclusion: there was a highly statistically significant positive correlation between assertiveness and factors affecting assertive behavior. Recommendation: Maintain periodical meeting for nurses from different hospitals by seeking their opinions, and exchanging their experiences. Enhance critical thinking abilities & assertive skills through training programs and workshops.

The dynamic mask: Facial correlates of character portrayal in professional actors.

Actors make modifications to their face, voice, and body to match standard gestural conceptions of the fictional characters they are portraying during stage performances. However, the gestural manifestations of acting have not been quantified experimentally, least of all in group-level analyses. To quantify the facial correlates of character portrayal in professional actors for the first time, we had 24 actors portray a contrastive series of nine stock characters (e.g., king, bully, lover) that were organised according to a predictive scheme based on the two statistically independent personality dimensions of assertiveness (i.e., the tendency to satisfy personal concerns) and cooperativeness (i.e., the tendency to satisfy others’ concerns). We used three-dimensional motion capture to examine changes in facial dimensions, with an emphasis on the relative expansion/contraction of four facial segments related to the brow, eyebrows, lips, and jaw, respectively. The results demonstrated that expansions in both upper- and lower-facial segments were related to increases in the levels of character cooperativeness, but not assertiveness. These findings demonstrate that actors reliably manipulate their facial features in a contrastive manner to differentiate characters based on their underlying personality traits.

PROFIL GAYA MANAJEMEN KONFLIK PADA ISTRI YANG BEKERJA DI PERKANTORAN JABODETABEK

Wife who works has more than one role, namely the role of wife for the husband, mother forchildren, as a housekeeper, and as a worker. The many roles and responsibilities make workingwives vulnerable to various kinds of conflicts. If the conflict experienced is not handled properly,it will have the potential to damage the existing relationship. So it becomes important for a workingwife to be able to manage her conflict well. There are five conflict management styles developedby Thomas & Kilmann (2008) based on the dimensions of assertiveness and cooperativeness,namely; Competing, Collaborating, Compromising, Avoiding, and Accomodating. This study useda quantitative method, with 128 participants with the characteristics of a wife, full-time officeworker, age range within 20-40 years old (M= 30.8; SD= 4.88), have children and live in Jakartacity, Bogor city, Depok city, Tangerang city, and Bekasi city (Jabodetabek). Conflict managementstyle is measured using the Thomas-Killman Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) which is adapted inIndonesian. The results showed that the dominant conflict management style used by the workingwive in Jabodetabek is compromising. As well as the conflict management style that theparticipants have in each demographic category, namely participant age, length of marriage,living with nuclear family vs extended family, monthly range of income and length of work, iscompromising style.

The Syntax of Assertion and Presupposition

This paper addresses the question of how assertion and presuppositionare reflected in the grammar. Since Kiparsky & Kiparsky (1970) and Hooper &Thompson (1973), it’s often been suggested that these notions provide the semanticpragmaticunderpinning for a range of complementation patterns, including thelicensing of so-called Main Clause Phenomena [MCP]. This paper presents a newlarge-scale experimental study, investigating the lexical and semantic-pragmaticlicensing conditions of four types of MCP (Verb Second [V2], topicalization, speechact adverbs, and scene setting adverbs) in English, Swedish, and German. Thecentral contribution of this paper is demonstrating what precise dimensions ofassertion and presupposition are reflected in the grammar: for embedded V2, whatmatters is the discourse status of the embedded proposition as new vs. Given (inthe sense of Schwarzschild 1999); a dimension which cross-cuts both factive andnon-factive verbs. The other MCP investigated show no sensitivity to either of thelexical or pragmatic factors investigated. We further show that Givenness is notreflected in a (null) DP-layer, contrary to previous claims.

Acting in action: Prosodic analysis of character portrayal during acting.

During the process of acting, actors have to embody the characters that they are portraying by changing their vocal and gestural features to match standard conceptions of the characters. In this experimental study of acting, we had professional actors portray a series of stock characters (e.g., king, bully, lover), which were organized according to a predictive scheme based on the 2 orthogonal personality dimensions of assertiveness and cooperativeness. We measured 12 prosodic features of the actors' vocal productions, as related to pitch, loudness, timbre, and duration/timing. The results showed a significant effect of character assertiveness on all 12 vocal parameters, but a weaker effect of cooperativeness on fewer vocal parameters. These findings comprise the first experimental analysis of vocal gesturing during character portrayal in actors and demonstrate that actors reliably manipulate prosodic cues in a contrastive manner to differentiate characters based on their personality traits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Flirting with resistance: children’s expressions of autonomy during middle childhood

ABSTRACTPurpose: Developmental research suggests that children’s early non-compliance can be understood as “resistance”, an agentic response to parental control where children express their autonomy within a close relationship context. Research with toddlers and adolescents suggests that children’s resistance strategies can be differentiated using the dimensions of assertiveness, social skill, and overt versus covert expression. This study explores children’s strategies for expressing resistance during the neglected period of middle childhood.Method: Forty children, 9–13 years of age, participated for 1 week in a study focused on children’s experiences of socialization and parent–child relationships. Procedures included a 5-day event diary, and a 1-hour semi-structured interview about the rules and expectations in their home and their strategies of resistance.Results: Thematic analysis identified a rich repertoire of strategies for resisting unwelcome parental demands. These included overt resistance, such as negotiation, argument, and expressions of non-acceptance and covert resistance such as covert transgressions and cognitive non-acceptance of parental demands when compelled to comply.Conclusion: The findings were interpreted as reflecting children’s development of assertiveness and social skill as they expressed their autonomy in the interpersonal context of the interdependent but asymmetrical relationship with their parents.

A classification scheme for literary characters

There is no established classification scheme for literary characters in narrative theory short of generic categories like protagonist vs. antagonist or round vs. flat. This is so despite the ubiquity of stock characters that recur across media, cultures, and historical time periods. We present here a proposal of a systematic psychological scheme for classifying characters from the literary and dramatic fields based on a modification of the Thomas-Kilmann (TK) Conflict Mode Instrument used in applied studies of personality. The TK scheme classifies personality along the two orthogonal dimensions of assertiveness and cooperativeness. To examine the validity of a modified version of this scheme, we had 142 participants provide personality ratings for 40 characters using two of the Big Five personality traits as well as assertiveness and cooperativeness from the TK scheme. The results showed that assertiveness and cooperativeness were orthogonal dimensions, thereby supporting the validity of using a modified version of TK’s two-dimensional scheme for classifying characters.

The Influence of National Culture on Information Technology Development, Implementation, and Support Challenges in China and the United States

ABSTRACTRapidly changing information technology challenges information technology management throughout the world. In-group collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and assertiveness dimensions of national culture distinguish Chinese and U.S. culture. Vendor competitiveness, management confusion, incompatibility, poor quality, and training demands describe the challenges. Data from 91 Chinese and 246 American information technology managers revealed that U.S. information technology organizations experience more unexpected work, delays, and costs from management confusion and poor quality. Vendor competitiveness leads to management confusion, incompatibility, and poor quality in both cultures. However, only poor quality leads to training demands in China while management confusion, incompatibility, and poor quality do in the United States.

DIFFERENCES IN CONFLICT MANAGEMENT BASED ON GENDER AND PERSONALITY TYPE

This study examines factors influencing studentconflict management styles in a team-based second yearmechanical engineering design course. Maddux describedconflict management along the dimensions ofassertiveness (seeking to meet one’s own needs) andcooperativeness (seeking to meet the other party’s needs).The key research questions in this study were how conflictmanagement styles changed as a result of participation inan intense team-based course and whether gender orpersonality type influenced students’ conflict managementstyles. Students completed a pre-course team formationsurvey that included prompts on how they would deal withdifferent scenarios representing common team conflicts;students responded to the same prompts again in aproject exit survey. Students’ responses in these surveyswere used to code their preferred approach for dealingwith conflicts. Two independent reviewers worked fromrandomized, anonymous survey data and coded students’responses along the two dimensions of Maddux’ model.The results indicate conflict management style iscontext dependent (the distribution of responses changedfor the different survey prompts). The most commonlyused conflict management style was Compromising, inwhich parties find a middle ground but neither fullyachieves their goals. A statistically significant reductionin assertiveness was found between pre- and post-surveys.Statistically significant differences in assertiveness werealso noted with a number of Myers-Briggs personalitytype pairs in the pre-survey. The fact that similardifferences were not observed in the post-survey suggeststhat the project experience has a normalizing effect onconflict management style. Meaningful statisticallysignificant differences in conflict management style basedon gender were not observed.

Development of a Communication System for Capitalizing Cultural Diversity

The paper “Development of a communication system for capitalizing cultural diversity” centers on concrete, practical dimension, on the coordinates of development of an efficient communication system necessary to affirm the cultural diversity within the educational space, which intensifies the generation of a capital value of Romanian society. Development of an educational communication system must be related to the dynamic changes that characterize the educational reality of Romania and allow ensuring respect for cultural differences, recognizing them in the new dimensions of assertion of cultural pluralism. Historical Maramures is the context chosen for the foundation of a good cultural/ethnic experience streamlined at social level, which led to the variance of manifestations by redefining the meanings of “local” in the affirmation of cultural diversity at the level of educational space. Through an efficient communication system, appropriate to this context, intercultural education exceeded the state of manifestation of intercultural relations under the influence of ethnocentrism and develops under the auspices of trans- cultural values in a common supra-cultural space.

Associations between assertiveness, psychological well‐being, and self‐esteem in adolescents

AbstractThis study explored the associations between adolescents’ assertive behavior, psychological well‐being, and self‐esteem. The sample consisted of 1,023 students (14.9 ± .51; 47.6% boys). Two dimensions of the Scale for Interpersonal Behavior (distress and performance), 2 factors of the General Health Questionnaire‐12 (depression/anxiety and social dysfunction), and 2 factors of the Rosenberg Self‐Esteem Scale (positive self‐esteem and negative self‐esteem) were used; data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression. It was found that (a) the more anxious respondents felt in assertive situations, the less frequently they engaged in these situations; and that (b) both dimensions of assertiveness were associated with psychological well‐being and self‐esteem.

Building Dynamic Capabilities in Emerging Markets: The Roles of Networks and National Culture

Building on social networks theory and the dynamic capabilities framework, this study investigates the effects of wholly owned foreign subsidiaries’ formal (contractual) and informal (relational) business networks on their capability building activities. We also examine how moderating effects of Assertiveness and Power Distance dimensions of cultural distance (CD) between the host and home countries of wholly owned foreign subsidiaries (WOFS) will influence the above relationships. Data from 175 WOFS in the Philippines reports that while formal business networks are negatively related to capability building activities, informal business networks are positively related to capability building activities. Further, our findings show a negative interaction between formal business networks and the Power Distance dimension of CD, while the interaction between informal business networks and the Assertiveness dimension of CD is positively related to capability building. These results indicate that WOFS’ ability to...

Hypothetical constructs, hypothetical questions, and the expert witness

Professor John Henry Wigmore in 1940 described the hypothetical question as an intolerable obstruction of truth. Since that time, the nature and application of the hypothetical question in the courtroom, as well as responses to this line of questioning during expert testimony, have been sources of controversy. Governed by legal philosophical foundations, the hypothetical construct addresses what there is, in a general sense, and what can or ought to be. Alexy (2004) has described the nature of legal philosophy as the epistemological question of what we can know. This article begins by examining the philosophical underpinnings, legal parameters, and teaching purposes of posing hypothetical queries. A social–psychological backdrop for the use of hypothetical questions is then discussed followed by a broader discussion of the hypothetical question's role in court procedures. This paper identifies hypothetical questions used in court as devices to elicit information, or as predictions that potentially change underlying factual interpretations of evidence. In particular, on cross examination hypothetical questions seek to make opposing experts assume facts that are incongruent with their conclusions or opinions. Sometimes in these situations, experts are led to re-evaluate opinions based on alternative understandings of events and behaviors. Thus, this paper's final aim is to explore a foundational understanding of hypothetical questions asked of expert witnesses with special reference to mental health issues. Options for responding to hypothetical questions on the stand are considered along the dimensions of assertiveness–passivity, compliance–resistance, and possible redefinitions of the hypothetical issues.

Developing the Leadership Team in an Entrepreneurial Venture: A Case Focusing on the Importance of Styles

In today's competitive environment strongly influenced by increasingly new issues and perspectives, entrepreneurial business firms must be focused on leadership team-building. The purpose of this treatise is to present a conceptual case-based analysis of this team-building process, focusing on the importance of leadership styles within an entrepreneurship. Team-building implies mentoring and enhancement whereby members of a leadership team aze nurtured and developed in important ways. A key element of this process is the paradigm of individual leadership styles represented in the team which, in turn, reflects the many different ways by which the individuals involved behave, communicate, adjust, and respond to each other. Two interactive dimensions at the heart of an individual's behavior assertiveness and responsiveness are foundations of that person's leadership style. The basic interactive dimensions of assertiveness and responsiveness thereby form the two axes of the framework of the leadership styles paradigm, the four primazy quadrants of which represent the four styles Analyzer, Director, Creator and Connector. Having identified these four basic leadership styles, this analysis then focuses on the case situation within which the strengths and weaknesses of each of the styles are identified, communication preferences aze discussed, primary backup styles that come into focus due to high levels of stress are analyzed, and the all-important skill of style flex is described. It is not enough just to understand a person's leadership style or the style of others in an entrepreneurial leadership team; one must also seek to adapt the skills of style flex that can enable the pazties to function in a mutually beneficial situation congruent with the needs of the individuals and the organization. These dimensions are illustrated in association with the case of MedTech, Inc. (a pseudonym), along with observations relating to the authors' experiences in several other arenas that have been encountered in entrepreneurial consulting activities.

Assertiveness Among Young Rural Adolescents: Relationship to Alcohol Use

ABSTRACT There is evidence of higher prevalence rates for alcohol use among rural adolescents relative to urban adolescents. Strategies aimed at preventing adolescent alcohol use typically include the development of social skills to resist peer pressure; among the social skills frequently targeted is assertiveness. Self-report data were collected from a sample of rural adolescents (N = 470) participating in a longitudinal preventive intervention study. Five hypothesized dimensions of assertiveness were validated with Confirmatory Factor Analysis: Specific Substance Refusal, Individual Rights, Transaction, Justice, and Social Approach. Using gender as a between-subjects factor, plus time and assertiveness as within-subjects factors to predict an alcohol use composite index, repeated measures analyses revealed a number of significant findings. Several assertiveness dimensions were found to have significant effects on the alcohol use index, and significant two-way and three-way interaction effects (gender × time × assertiveness dimension) also were found. Findings support the idea of including multidimensional assertiveness skill development as a component of preventive interventions, particularly for rural adolescents.

Associations of family support, resiliency, and depression symptoms among indigent teens attending a family planning clinic.

The goal of this study was to examine the effect of resiliency and family support on depression symptoms among 110 indigent adolescents attending a family planning clinic in a large urban city in southwestern USA. Findings suggested that several of the resiliency domains, on the Individual Protective Factors Index, as well as family support measured by the Family Support Scale, were associated with depression symptoms. Scores on the self-concept and positive outlook dimensions of the Personal Competence domain, the confidence and assertiveness dimensions of the Social Competence domain, and family support correlated with depression symptoms. The findings also suggested that 16.4% of the teens in this clinic would be classified as clinically depressed and as needing further evaluation. It seems reasonable to conclude that resilient adolescents may possess characteristics, beliefs, and supports which enable them to cope with life stressors more effectively and avoid depressive symptoms than those who are not as resilient. Given the prevalence and extent of depression among adolescents, it is important to develop interventions to foster attachment and enhance individual protective factors in primary prevention programs as such interventions may ameliorate the effects of high-risk environments.