Adoption is a social institution that is continually evolving in order to meet the needs of children and adults. The research presented in this dissertation focuses on measuring the current cultural sentiments about the practice of adoption and assessing the stigmatization of adoption and the identities of adoptive parent and adopted child. Drawing from Bruce Link and Jo Phelan's conceptualization of stigma and the assumptions of Affect Control Theory, I provide evidence that adoption and thus adoptive families continue to be stigmatized in the United States. My data indicate that adoptive parents and children are socially differentiated from parents and children who are biologically related. Adopted children, particularly children adopted out of foster care, are perceived more negatively than children who are not. The stereotypical traits predicted by Affect Control Theory for adoptive parents and adopted children indicate that these identities are more negative and notably less powerful than those for biological parents and children. In addition, the expected behavioral patterns between adoptive parents and their adopted children are more ambivalent and less supportive than those of biological children and parents. The predictions made in this work must be tested in future research.

This project examines attitude change between 1981 and 2001 for a population of young, well educated Canadians, employing evaluation, potency and activity (EPA) semantic differential ratings of approximately 800 social identities. This comprises my larger data set. I also employ a smaller subset of 102 social identities drawn from the larger data set to explore changes across three points in time (1981, 1995, and 2001) for 102 social identities, supplementing my analysis across two points in time (1981 and 2001) for 800 social identities. The objectives for this dissertation are: (1) to assess stability of attitudes for social identities over time; (2) to identify and describe patterns of change in identity attitudes and to connect observed changes in identity attitudes to historical events, and to social and cultural change in Canadian society; (3) to explore the extent to which identities that cluster together in EPA space define social institutions; and (4) to explore how changes in identity attitudes affect role expectations over time. Despite significant shifts in attitudes for a number of identities, approximately 80% of identity attitudes remained stable over time, confirming findings from past research that cultural sentiments are slow to change. Observed changes could be connected to social and cultural structure. Specifically, dramatic changes occurred for religious and sexual preference/orientation identities. Numerous religious identities decreased on evaluation for male respondents between 1981 and 1995 and then were restored to earlier levels by 2001. Female respondents were not as forgiving and 1995 decreases in evaluation were sustained. These changes are connected to increased secularization and earlier sexual scandals in religious institutions. Sexual preference/orientation identities increased significantly on evaluation for both males and females. However, increases for females were more dramatic and occurred across all three points in time while changes in attitudes for males occurred between 1981 and 1995 and then changed little between 1995 and 2001. These changes can be connected to numerous factors, including the increased visibility of gay/lesbian culture in mainstream media and the absence of a strong anti-gay counter movement. Although social identities clustered in interesting ways, cluster analysis was not very successful in defining social institutions. Computer simulations revealed how role and behaviour expectations change with changes in identity attitudes. For example, there is obvious increase in evaluation between 1981 and 2001 for the behavior of a police officer toward a homosexual. This dissertation concludes by addressing methodological issues such as sample size and generalizability. It is suggested that the corpus of identities should be continually updated to include identities that are emerging from pop culture. Finally, four areas of future research are suggested: (1) a continual monitoring of cultural sentiments; (2) a more detailed focus on individual social institutions; (3) a confirmation of computer predictions with qualitative interview data; and (4) identifying the implications of this research for trend analysis. Practical implications of this dissertation research include the use of computer simulations of identity-role processes in the areas of education and policy research.

This study argues for the need of a testable general symbolic interactionist theory of criminal behavior. I look to affect control theory, a structural symbolic interactionist theory of behavior focused on the cybernetic maintenance of affective meanings shared within a linguistic group and extrapolate from its statements and equations using a large hypothetical event simulation. Employing a novel story-telling interview method to uncover the process of definition of the situation, I interview twenty-five paroled offenders and describe a typical view of criminal actions in both violent and property crime events. I examine this view for criminogenic potential. Next, I investigate the popular view that identity controls behavior in interaction by asking parolees about themselves, and comparing their self perspectives to those of undergraduate students. No support for this view is found. Implications of different culturally-based meaning systems are then examined by measuring affective meanings of criminal events as they are perceived by three different aggregate groups: paroled offenders, probationary offenders, and undergraduate student non-offenders. Affect control predictions about the likelihood of criminal events given these perspectives are found to be in accordance with the relative surmised likelihood of criminal behavior for these groups, as extrapolated from their past behavior. This supports arguments of a culturally based explanation of criminal behavior. I argue that affect control theory presents criminology with the novel potential for a generative theory of crime that integrates micrological and macrological levels of analysis. Finally I outline a proposed affect control theory of crime for further testing.

This project examines attitude change between 1981 and 2001 for a population of young, well educated Canadians, employing evaluation, potency and activity (EPA) semantic differential ratings of approximately 800 social identities. This comprises my larger data set. I also employ a smaller subset of 102 social identities drawn from the larger data set to explore changes across three points in time (1981, 1995, and 2001) for 102 social identities, supplementing my analysis across two points in time (1981 and 2001) for 800 social identities. The objectives for this dissertation are: (1) to assess stability of attitudes for social identities over time; (2) to identify and describe patterns of change in identity attitudes and to connect observed changes in identity attitudes to historical events, and to social and cultural change in Canadian society; (3) to explore the extent to which identities that cluster together in EPA space define social institutions; and (4) to explore how changes in identity attitudes affect role expectations over time. Despite significant shifts in attitudes for a number of identities, approximately 80% of identity attitudes remained stable over time, confirming findings from past research that cultural sentiments are slow to change. Observed changes could be connected to social and cultural structure. Specifically, dramatic changes occurred for religious and sexual preference/orientation identities. Numerous religious identities decreased on evaluation for male respondents between 1981 and 1995 and then were restored to earlier levels by 2001. Female respondents were not as forgiving and 1995 decreases in evaluation were sustained. These changes are connected to increased secularization and earlier sexual scandals in religious institutions. Sexual preference/orientation identities increased significantly on evaluation for both males and females. However, increases for females were more dramatic and occurred across all three points in time while changes in attitudes for males occurred between 1981 and 1995 and then changed little between 1995 and 2001. These changes can be connected to numerous factors, including the increased visibility of gay/lesbian culture in mainstream media and the absence of a strong anti-gay counter movement. Although social identities clustered in interesting ways, cluster analysis was not very successful in defining social institutions. Computer simulations revealed how role and behaviour expectations change with changes in identity attitudes. For example, there is obvious increase in evaluation between 1981 and 2001 for the behavior of a police officer toward a homosexual. This dissertation concludes by addressing methodological issues such as sample size and generalizability. It is suggested that the corpus of identities should be continually updated to include identities that are emerging from pop culture. Finally, four areas of future research are suggested: (1) a continual monitoring of cultural sentiments; (2) a more detailed focus on individual social institutions; (3) a confirmation of computer predictions with qualitative interview data; and (4) identifying the implications of this research for trend analysis. Practical implications of this dissertation research include the use of computer simulations of identity-role processes in the areas of education and policy research.

<p>Subjective cultural meanings were once central to occupational stratification research. However, attempts to operationalize cultural meanings associated with occupations have been widely criticized, leading contemporary stratification scholars to largely abandon subjective measures in favor of objective characteristics. This leaves a gap in our understanding of how inequality is generated and maintained because Weber ([1958]) theorized that status, a form of social symbolic power based on cultural beliefs, represents one of the fundamental bases of inequality. Without an adequate method of operationalizing occupational symbolic meanings, the extent to which cultural beliefs influence stratified life outcomes remains largely unknown.</p><p>To address this, I used affect control theory, a quantitative general theory of</p><p>social action, and its measurement model, the semantic differential scale, to examine three issues regarding the relationship between cultural beliefs and stratified outcomes. Symbolic meaning was quantified into EPA ratings that measure three universal, affective dimensions: evaluation (good versus bad), potency (powerful versus weak), and activity (lively versus quiescent). Despite extensive support within structural social psychology, this approach has not been widely used in the field of stratification. In addition to providing a quantitative framework, because symbolic meanings are comprised of multiple dimensions, affect control theory's multidimensional construction allows for novel approaches not possible using unidimensional measures. The three chapters that follow use affect control theory and ratings of occupational meanings from a newly collected dictionary of affective meaning to address the occupational gender wage gap, the effect of occupational status on life chance outcomes, and the development and testing of a new measure of occupational status.</p> / Dissertation

Psychological attachment to an entrepreneurial opportunity may motivate the entrepreneur to persevere but can also bias decisions made in the entrepreneurial process, especially on market entry. This thesis investigates how psychological attachment to an entrepreneur’s idea influences decision making at the commercialization stage with special emphasis on control tendencies. Data collected from 106 fourth-year students from the Engineering Design Program at a top engineering-focused Canadian university revealed some interesting results. In the model estimated, the higher the subject’s psychological attachment to the opportunity, the more control oriented the subject was. Interestingly, psychological attachment is a strong predictor of control tendency even when subjects’ perceptions of projected returns (value) are statistically controlled in the analysis. Furthermore, psychological attachment correlates with proxy measures of the level of cognitive evaluation: the indication, affective constructs like psychological attachment elicit affect-laden evaluation of outcomes in a way that is divergent from the cognitive evaluation of commercialization situations. Within a framework of financial decision making, even as subjects generally acknowledged outside investor expertise in a potential commercialization partnership, the main finding was that high levels of attachment are more likely to lead to control-oriented funding preferences over optimal financing preferences. Further, alternative research explanations for control tendency failed to hold, as individual personality-type factors were not significant in explaining the variability in control tendency. Therefore, control tendency may be dependent on attachment to the creative process as opposed to an individual’s personality construct. The results provide insight into the role that affective constructs like psychological attachment and control tendency may play in important decision making in the entrepreneurship process.

Psychological attachment to an entrepreneurial opportunity may motivate the entrepreneur to persevere but can also bias decisions made in the entrepreneurial process, especially on market entry. This thesis investigates how psychological attachment to an entrepreneur’s idea influences decision making at the commercialization stage with special emphasis on control tendencies. Data collected from 106 fourth-year students from the Engineering Design Program at a top engineering-focused Canadian university revealed some interesting results. In the model estimated, the higher the subject’s psychological attachment to the opportunity, the more control oriented the subject was. Interestingly, psychological attachment is a strong predictor of control tendency even when subjects’ perceptions of projected returns (value) are statistically controlled in the analysis. Furthermore, psychological attachment correlates with proxy measures of the level of cognitive evaluation: the indication, affective constructs like psychological attachment elicit affect-laden evaluation of outcomes in a way that is divergent from the cognitive evaluation of commercialization situations. Within a framework of financial decision making, even as subjects generally acknowledged outside investor expertise in a potential commercialization partnership, the main finding was that high levels of attachment are more likely to lead to control-oriented funding preferences over optimal financing preferences. Further, alternative research explanations for control tendency failed to hold, as individual personality-type factors were not significant in explaining the variability in control tendency. Therefore, control tendency may be dependent on attachment to the creative process as opposed to an individual’s personality construct. The results provide insight into the role that affective constructs like psychological attachment and control tendency may play in important decision making in the entrepreneurship process.

Vocational psychologists have theorized that the congruence between self and occupations is the key to find fulfilling careers for individuals (Vondracek & Porfeli, 2011). However, the typical use of vocational interests to capture information about the self has been limited because it does not disentangle identity and work preferences in people’s responses in vocational assessments. People cannot be fully informed of careers most fitting to them if the vocational assessment does not capture distinct information about their identity. In this study, we strive to disentangle identity from preferences by including affective identity, which is sentiments that people hold towards themselves, as a predictor for career intent. Focusing on the context of entrepreneurship as a career, we examine how the congruence of affective identity and affective ratings of entrepreneurs provide additional information in predicting entrepreneurial intent beyond work preferences congruence. We invited undergraduate students from a Canadian University to complete an online-survey for an extra credit in their psychology course. We examined the impact of different congruence form of intent by including linear and polynomial terms of self and entrepreneur ratings when conducting a hierarchical linear regression. In general, we found support for the validity of our developed measure and demonstrated that contemporary congruence forms based on factors of affective identity brings new information in career choice perception. Affective identity accounts for unique predictability of self perception beyond vocational preference, which suggests the potential use of affective identity for career search feedback.

Vocational psychologists have theorized that the congruence between self and occupations is the key to find fulfilling careers for individuals (Vondracek & Porfeli, 2011). However, the typical use of vocational interests to capture information about the self has been limited because it does not disentangle identity and work preferences in people’s responses in vocational assessments. People cannot be fully informed of careers most fitting to them if the vocational assessment does not capture distinct information about their identity. In this study, we strive to disentangle identity from preferences by including affective identity, which is sentiments that people hold towards themselves, as a predictor for career intent. Focusing on the context of entrepreneurship as a career, we examine how the congruence of affective identity and affective ratings of entrepreneurs provide additional information in predicting entrepreneurial intent beyond work preferences congruence. We invited undergraduate students from a Canadian University to complete an online-survey for an extra credit in their psychology course. We examined the impact of different congruence form of intent by including linear and polynomial terms of self and entrepreneur ratings when conducting a hierarchical linear regression. In general, we found support for the validity of our developed measure and demonstrated that contemporary congruence forms based on factors of affective identity brings new information in career choice perception. Affective identity accounts for unique predictability of self perception beyond vocational preference, which suggests the potential use of affective identity for career search feedback.

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