Committee Chair

O'Leary, Brian J.

Committee Member

Biderman, Michael D.; Weathington, Bart L.

Department

Dept. of Psychology

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

The Galatea effect occurs when self-efficacy is intentionally raised yielding an increase in performance. The study focused on generalizing the Galatea effect to the historically under researched populations of Blacks in the workforce. To raise self-efficacy, the participants in the experimental condition were presented with a scenario designed to increase specific self-efficacy through verbal persuasion. This study used a diverse sample of male and female college students. The dependent variable was performance on Sudoku – a cognition puzzle. The Sudoku puzzle is a test of deductive reasoning which can be related to cognitive performance. Cognitive ability is often used in business settings. The Sudoku puzzle is a logical reasoning puzzle that can be investigated using mathematics. Participants were asked to complete a scale expected to measure specific self-efficacy (Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale). The study’s lack of significant findings suggests that the Galatea effect is more complex than has been perceived.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2010

Subject

Expectation (Psychology)

Discipline

Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

vi, 31 leaves

Language

English

Rights

https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

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