The accuracy of perception of facial emotion expressions was studied in individuals with low and high psychopathic personality characteristics in a sample of 21 male and 39 female university students. Participants completed the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), and the Behavioural Inhibition Scale and the Behavioural Activation Scale (BIS/BAS) as measures of psychopathy. Participants completed a computerised emotion recognition task containing six emotions of facial expressions (each emotion had five different intensities). The results showed that participants scoring low on the BIS and high on the BAS scores showed significant impairments in the recognition of both sad and fearful expressions. On the other hand, group scoring high on the PPI, showed significant impairment in the recognition of angry, but not fearful or sad expressions in the total sample. Males with high psychopathic personality characteristics showed significant impairments in the recognition of sad, fearful and angry expressions compared to males with low psychopathic personality characteristics. On the other hand females with high psychopathic personality characteristics showed significant impairment in recognising the expression of disgust only compared to females with low psychopathic personality characteristics. The PPI and the BIS/BAS scales showed reasonable alpha reliabilities with some exceptions for one subscale in each measure. Correlations between the PPI and the BIS/BAS scales were weak to moderate. The current findings suggest that different dimensions of psychopathy may be associated with selective impairments in recognising unpleasant emotion expressions in others.

Small-talk, flattery, teasing, ridicule, threats or insults are part of the daily fabric of consumers life. This dissertation is concerned with the way consumers behave toward others depending on how they are treated themselves. Pay-it-forward is the notion that a person who is treated well by someone should be nice toward others (and conversely, a person who is treated badly may treat other people badly in turn). The present research proposes and shows that the pay-it-forward mechanism does not always occur; in fact, under certain circumstances consumers behave in a manner that contradicts it. Although research has begun to explore social influences on consumer behavior, to date a coherent theoretical account of how social treatment (i.e., the way a person acts toward another individual during a social encounter) influences consumers is lacking. This thesis offers a theoretical framework for the impact of social treatments, and tests it in four scenario-based experiments and two field studies. Results provide support for the proposed conceptual model, indicating that two dimensions of social treatment (affiliation: friendliness vs. hostility; and relevance for self-assessment: high vs. low) interactively influence consumers likelihood to engage in socially-elevating behaviors (i.e. helping another consumer, picking up the tab when dining out with others, returning money to a salesperson who accidentally gives them too much change back for a purchase). Process evidence for the underlying roles of positive/negative affect and perceived social efficacy is provided. The dissertation addresses the implications of these findings to existing theory, and identifies avenues for future research. / Marketing

Although most research on bipolar I disorder has focused on biological models, recent investigation has elucidated the importance of psychosocial predictors of the course of illness. Theories of the Behavioral Activation System?s role in affect have helped unify biological and environmental explanations of the disorder. Along these lines, researchers have proposed that goal striving and attainment predict manic symptoms. In the current study, experience-sampling methodology was used to assess the relationship between fluctuations in goal striving and affect among 12 persons with bipolar I disorder and 12 without a history of mood disorder (control group). Participants completed measures of goal striving and affect three times each day for a period of three weeks. It was hypothesized that moving more quickly than expected toward a given goal would result in decreased subsequent effort toward that goal (coasting) for the control group, and increased subsequent effort (anti-coasting) for those with bipolar I disorder, with positive affect mediating the relationship in both cases. Results indicated that those in the bipolar I disorder group were significantly more likely to anti-coast than those in the control group. This finding, however, was explained primarily by gender, as men in the bipolar I disorder group showed no evidence of anti-coasting. In addition, there was no evidence of the mediating role of positive affect in these phenomena. Implications of the findings, limitations, and future directions are discussed.

Research has found that positive affect broadens attention. However, the type of positive affect previously manipulated has been low in approach motivation. High approach-motivated positive affect should reduce the breadth of attention, as organisms shut out irrelevant perceptions and cognitions while they approach and attempt to acquire desired objects. Three studies examined the attentional consequences of approach-motivated positive affect states. Consistent with predictions, participants showed less global attentional focus after viewing approach-motivating positive pictures as compared to neutral pictures (Studies 1 and 2). Specifically, Study 1 used approach-motivating pictures of appetitive desserts, while Study 2 used pictures of cute animals. Neutral pictures were of varying neutral objects. Study 3 manipulated both affect and approach motivation. Less global focus was found for participants who viewed the approach-motivating pictures and had the expectancy to obtain the items as compared to other participant groups. The results indicate that high approach-motivated positive affect reduces the breadth of attentional focus, in contrast to the broadening of attentional focus that has been found with low approach-motivated positive affect.

Drawing on ethnographic research conducted with a Southern Baptist congregation in Atlanta, this thesis analyzes members’ experiences of becoming born-again Christians and their engagement with prayer to explore the affects that permeate the practice of developing a personal relationship with Jesus.

My research examines how different organizational phenomena function under psychological and cognitive constraints. My first study examines how audiences evaluate an established or taken-for-granted category in negative moods. Categories facilitate exchange by serving as mental models or schemas that substitute for an organization’s attributes to help audiences make sense of what they see. Established categories are further postulated to be legitimized and taken for granted by audiences. Both organizations and audiences are thought to place a high value on category membership, preferring the schema-based category to the individual attributes underlying the category. Considering the preferences of a broad audience segment about an established category, I examine the boundary conditions that can cause the schemas of a legitimized category to fail. I propose that negative mood or affect will blur the category boundary causing it to no longer be preferred to the individual attributes. I further hypothesize that negative affect will induce a reversal of preferences, and offer a unified theory as to why negative affect can cause audiences to prefer the attributes underlying the category over the category itself in their evaluations. Results from data on a representative sample of individuals support these hypotheses. In my second study, I examine how social capital accrues to individuals who were part of a group from which a member achieved prominence only after the dismantlement of the group. I employ a difference-in-differences estimation strategy to identify endogenous social effects in the context of the Hollywood film industry and find significant positive results for egos who worked with ex-post Oscar winning alters within four to six years prior to the alters’ Oscar win. Social capital effects break down, however, for length of prior years in either the too recent or too distant past. I attribute these findings to individuals’ incorrect recall of past events.

The purpose of this study was to assess the affective component of the secondary teacher preparation program at Ball State University. Three population groups enrolled during fall quarter, 1979, voluntarily took part: 1) university supervisors of secondary student teachers; 2) classroom supervisors of secondary student teachers; and 3) secondary student teachers.The assessment was conducted by means of an original instrument. The Inventory of Affective Teaching Skills measured three dimensions of responses for 21 affective teaching skills. The three response dimensions were: 1) To what extent is this skill important to effective teachers? (Valuing); 2) To what extent do you believe the skill was included in the BSU teacher training program? (Training); 3a) To what extent was the student teacher proficient in this skill? (Proficiency); and 3b) To what extent are you (the student teacher) proficient in this skill? (Proficiency). The response alternatives ranged from 1-NONE to 5-EXTENSIVE.The null hypotheses stated that there would be no differences between group responses on the three dimensions. The hypotheses were tested using the multi-variate analysis of variance F-test. Results indicated that there were significant differences between the responses of the three groups on the three dimensions. The three null hypotheses were rejected.Mean scores for each of the 21 variables (items or skills) were also examined and compared across groups and across dimensions. It was found that university supervisor group scores were highest for Valuing (3.8014, and lower for Proficiency (2.8652) and Training (2.8644). Classroom supervisor group scores were highest for Valuing (3.7165), lower for Training (3.0276) and lowest for Proficiency (2.9413). Student teacher group scores were highest for Valuing (4.0158), lower for Proficiency (3.5008), and lowest for Training (3.3436).Highest overall mean scores were from student teachers (3.6219), lower from classroom supervisors (3.2284), and lowest from university supervisors (3.1650). The overall mean scores resulted in the following rankings: lst, support pupil efforts; 2nd, motivate and involve pupils; 3rd, recognize pupil progress; 19th, use simulations and games; 20th, use objectives in disciplining; and 21st, use role-play and role-reversals.The researcher concluded that although the three groups valued the affective teaching skills, they perceived that the skills were not adequately included in the training program. Affective teaching skills which concerned general classroom interaction such as motivating, supporting, and involving pupils were ranked high. Specific affective techniques which combined affective with intellectual and analytical processes were ranked low.

My research examines how different organizational phenomena function under psychological and cognitive constraints. My first study examines how audiences evaluate an established or taken-for-granted category in negative moods. Categories facilitate exchange by serving as mental models or schemas that substitute for an organization’s attributes to help audiences make sense of what they see. Established categories are further postulated to be legitimized and taken for granted by audiences. Both organizations and audiences are thought to place a high value on category membership, preferring the schema-based category to the individual attributes underlying the category. Considering the preferences of a broad audience segment about an established category, I examine the boundary conditions that can cause the schemas of a legitimized category to fail. I propose that negative mood or affect will blur the category boundary causing it to no longer be preferred to the individual attributes. I further hypothesize that negative affect will induce a reversal of preferences, and offer a unified theory as to why negative affect can cause audiences to prefer the attributes underlying the category over the category itself in their evaluations. Results from data on a representative sample of individuals support these hypotheses. In my second study, I examine how social capital accrues to individuals who were part of a group from which a member achieved prominence only after the dismantlement of the group. I employ a difference-in-differences estimation strategy to identify endogenous social effects in the context of the Hollywood film industry and find significant positive results for egos who worked with ex-post Oscar winning alters within four to six years prior to the alters’ Oscar win. Social capital effects break down, however, for length of prior years in either the too recent or too distant past. I attribute these findings to individuals’ incorrect recall of past events.

The present research explored the effects of Situational Attribution Training (Stewart, Latu, Kawakami, & Myers, 2010) on affective bias utilizing facial electromyography (EMG). Participants viewed a slideshow of randomly presented photographs of both and White and Black American men while rating how “friendly” each individual appeared. Simultaneously, corrugator and zygomaticus region activity, linked with positive and negative affect, respectively, was measured. Of these participants, half were randomly assigned to complete Situational Attribution Training beforehand. Results for EMG activity suggested no significant differences in EMG activity for White compared to Black photographs for either the training or control participants; thus, this study did not find evidence of affective bias by way of corrugator or zygomaticus activity. However, errors in slideshow presentation prevent clear interpretation of these results. Suggestions for future research and ways in which bias errors can be avoided are discussed.

Introducing sustainability policies in the cement industry involves changing not only production technologies, but the organizational culture of a mature industry that is characterized by huge CO₂ emissions and significant environmental impacts. This research attempts to understand the transition process of the industry and its employees as the process is taking place. The actors involved are strongly influenced by often contradictory forces: On one hand the naturalized market dynamics in the context of the automobile dependent society and widespread networks of highways and other concrete structures, and on the other, the growing concern of preserving resources for future generations as a shared responsibility that raises awareness of the negative environmental impacts of cement production. The fieldwork component of the project was comprised of two complementary parts: First, an ethnographic study of how the abstract goal of becoming sustainable is given meaning as it is implemented in Cemex, one of the largest companies in the cement industry at the global level. Second, an analysis of the audit culture mechanisms present in the production of knowledge among experts involved in designing sustainability assessment mechanisms for infrastructure projects. The latter component took place among experts in the academy and in the Texas Department of Transportation, which represents at the same time a regulating force and a key client of the cement industry. To present the findings, I approach the subject of sustainability as a construction project where cement and sustainability act as boundary objects between multiple communities (Star and Griesemer 1989) at the same time that sustainability is being constructed. I attempt to present the interactions as an institutional ecology with multiple actors and layers of meaning which are interdependent. The work first describes the prevailing landscape of the urban environment pointing to the influence of aesthetic discourses through the course of history from modernism to brutalism and place-making as well as to the prevailing regulatory, geographic and cultural conditions. Here, the landscape is taken as the point of departure where the construction project of sustainability is to take place given that its characteristics allow certain constructions of sustainability while thwarting others. I consider the built environment to be the response to the surrounding conditions that constitute the landscape and to the prevailing preferences of key players. To follow, I describe the main actors who participate in the construction of sustainability including internal and external stakeholders. I take these groups as members of the construction crew of sustainability presenting their interests as they relate to the triple bottom line and to their affiliation to multiple publics (Warner 2002). Next, I turn to the accreditation mechanisms and the dynamics followed by experts and their interlocutors defining the blueprints which the cement industry must follow while sustainability is being constructed within the company and in dialogue with stakeholders. These blueprints are the result of negotiations between experts in industry, government and academy and portray the influence of audit culture, the widespread trust in quantification and the importance of the efficiency paradigm as described by informants. Afterwards, I focus on the construction of sustainability project that takes place within the cement company where multiple avenues are followed to complete the building of sustainability as a material object, combining the blueprints defined by experts as they are translated into concrete demonstrations of sustainability with the subjective interpretations of actors within the material constraints set by concrete and the plasticity of sustainability. While this is the institutional response to comply with sustainability expectations, the final construction of sustainability needs to include the construction of the sustainable subject where individuals incorporate into their mindset sustainability considerations. As the last part of the work, I discuss the emergence of sustainable subjectivities among key participating members of the construction crew of sustainability taken as employees and other stakeholders, presenting the distinct logics followed by individuals while becoming committed to sustainability. Finally, I present the conclusions of this constructive analysis. Foucault’s (Burchell, Gordon, and Miller 1991) concept of governmentality and Strathern’s (Strathern 2000b) analysis of audit culture frame this study, offering a common thread that transforms the need of corporate legitimacy into a process of accountability and transparency that resembles Rose and Miller’s (Rose and Miller 2008) description of the neoliberal rationalities of government. Paradoxically, sustainability as an ideal is transformed into an established system that tends to be mechanical. For this to occur, experts shape the meaning of sustainability and determine the parameters that must be met, creating metrics and certification processes that define a set of procedures that track and evaluate sustainability performance, hence defining what practices are selected by cement companies to demonstrate their sustainability credentials, and how these are implemented. Furthermore, both sustainability and cement are vibrant matters (Bennett 2010) with an agency of their own which introduces further constraints into the construction of sustainability process and influences the pace of change. However, the process of becoming sustainable is far from homogenous since each individual relates to sustainability according to the gamut of personal ethical convictions, affective needs, aesthetic preferences and gender perceptions which vary among many factors, including social class, geographic region, educational level and gender. Hence, it is not suitable for a single definition even when subjected to seemingly objective standards. In addition, in the case of employees, the interaction with different groups of stakeholders raises awareness about particular interests also influencing the meaning making process for each of them. Hence, the making of sustainable subjects not only involves the creation of specific regulatory practices tied to the emergence of a greater concern for social and environmental challenges but also the particular context of the individual. Even in this highly structured environment, the affect/emotion dynamic strongly shapes the interpretation and the weight that sustainability eventually gains. The material expressions of sustainability mediate the process and materialize morality at the same time (Verbeek 2006) given the underlying ethical position that sustainability as an idea conveys. As sustainability is becoming widely adopted and introduced into the conscience of more people, it is also being transformed into a numerical parameter that makes possible the perpetuation of market efficiency parameters. Capitalism is thus legitimated through the meta-narrative of sustainability as the triple bottom line that promises to fulfill the desire of progress for all while not really transforming the life-style and consumption patterns of today. As the concept of the triple bottom line enables sustainability to be adopted by key economic, governmental and NGO actors, it also contributes to the naturalization of market forces and profit oriented priorities making it difficult to re-orient human activities towards more environmentally friendly and socially inclusive models of community organization.