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Self-transformation and spirituality have not been extensively investigated in marketing research. However, these concepts are deeply impactful in an individual's life and are advocated by religious and spiritual traditions across the world. In Essay 1, I extend research on compassion, distance between self and other, and power by examining the effect of self-compassion on prosocial behavior. I test the effect of self-compassion on prosocial behavior mediated by the distance felt between self and other and moderated by felt power. Across five studies, I find that individuals in the self-compassionate and equal power mindset display higher prosocial behavior and lower empathy fatigue compared to the other conditions. In Essay 2, I examine the idea of agency in one's relationship with God which has not been investigated in business research although building one's relationship with God is the backbone of all major religious and spiritual traditions across the world and is seen to have widespread implications. Through five studies, I demonstrate that feelings of agency in one's relationship with God lead to a lower desire for retributive justice against an entity that has committed a transgression as compared to the no-agency condition. On the other hand, in line with earlier research, when one feels agency over material resources, one tends to have an increased desire for retributive justice against an entity that has committed a transgression compared to the no-agency condition. Across these essays, I examine the proposed conceptual models through mediation and moderation studies. Several theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Walter Schumm / Farrell J. Webb / There is considerable research on concepts of Blackness in America. Much of this research is conducted within a Eurocentric as opposed to an Afrocentric perspective. Social research has established that ideals, social norms, and values about Black minority groups may be shaped by dominant culture premises and that the dominant culture of any society can influence the attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors of minority group members coexisting within that culture. The White racial frame holds that over time a dominant cultural perspective in the U.S. has installed a positive orientation to “White” and whiteness and a strong negative orientation toward racial “others”, particularly toward Black Americans. The present research explores this phenomenon from an Afrocentric perspective, assessing propinquity preferences of non-native Immigrant and native-born American Blacks toward native-born Blacks. Utilizing data drawn from The National Survey on American Life 2001-2003 (Jackson, 2007) the study assessed the degree of Black propinquity (i.e., self-identified feelings of closeness and identity preferences with native-born Blacks) expressed within and between subsamples of native-born African American (n = 3,464) and non-native (chiefly Afro-Caribbean) Blacks (n = 1,118). More specifically, it hypothesized that native-born Blacks would display greater propinquity preferences than Immigrant Blacks for native-American Blacks depicted as more economically-challenged as well as socially affluent and elite; also, it expected they would report greater support for socially undesirable as well as socially desirable Blacks than would Immigrant Blacks. A series of hierarchical regression analyses modeled the unique and joint predictive variance of socio-demographic, socio-economic, and Black (derived) target characteristics within each Black subpopulation against the primary outcome variable (propinquity). Overall regression models for each Black group were highly similar in the proportion of explained variance (27% for native Blacks; 26% for Immigrant Blacks) and weighted contributions of three blocks of variables; derived variables for Black target characteristics contributed most of the total variance within each group. No statistically reliable differences for R score values were found between the two Black subpopulations on these derived variables. Findings are discussed in the context of the White racial frame perspective, secondary data methodology, and future research.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Research is limited regarding closeness in parent-adolescent relationships (PAR), particularly in marginalised communities. The research objective was to explore closeness in PAR in one semi-rural, low-income Coloured community in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. This study was exploratory in nature, making use of a cross-sectional survey research design and semi-structured interviews. Fifty families (67 parents and 50 adolescents) were eligible and willing to participate in the quantitative part of this study, while 12 families (19 parents and 12 adolescents) took part in the qualitative part of the study. For the empirical investigation into close PAR, the following questionnaires were administered to parents: Mother and Father Versions of the Inventory of Parent Attachment (IPA), Revised Inventory of Parent Attachment (RIPA), and the Relationship Closeness Inventory (RCI). The questionnaires are currently not standardized for South African populations, therefore they were adapted to suit the specific context and translated into Afrikaans. For statistical analysis of the surveys, summary statistics was performed using measures like means, standard deviations, frequency tables, and histograms. Reliability analysis was conducted using Cronbach’s alpha. For comparison of the different instruments, correlations were calculated. Comparisons between different groupings were done using two-way ANOVA. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data and to explore the participants’ constructions of close PAR. General findings were that most female participants reported close mother-daughter relationships while most male participants reported relatively close father-son relationships. Overall, mothers generally spent more time with their adolescent children. Fathers and daughters generally reported less close relationships with one another. Although fathers were relatively more involved in their children’s lives compared to fathers in prior research studies, mothers and adolescents reported to have a closer bond. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die navorsing is beperk ten opsigte van nabyheid in die ouer-adolessent verhoudings (OAV), veral in gemarginaliseerde gemeenskappe. Die navorsing doelstelling was om nabyheid in OAV in ‘n semi-landelike, lae-inkomste Kleurling-gemeenskap in die Wes-Kaap Provinsie van Suid-Afrika te verken. Hierdie studie is verkennend van aard, en het ‘n dwarsdeursneeopname navorsingsontwerp en semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude gebruik. Vyftig gesinne (67 ouers en 50 adolessente) was bereid om deel te neem in die kwantitatiewe deel van hierdie studie, terwyl 12 gesinne (19 ouers en 12 adolessente) in die kwalitatiewe deel van die studie deelgeneem het. Vir die empiriese ondersoek in noue OAV, is die volgende vraelyste gebruik: Vader en Moeder weergawes van die Inventaris Van Ouer Gehegtheid, Huidige Situasie Met My Kind, en die Verhouding Nabyheid Inventaris. Die vraelyste is tans nie gestandaardiseer vir Suid-Afrikaanse bevolkings nie, daarom was hulle aangepas om die spesifieke konteks te pas en in Afrikaans vertaal. Vir die statistiese analise van die opnames, is opsommingstatistiek uitgevoer met behulp van maatreëls soos gemiddeldes, standaardafwykings, frekwensietabelle, en histogramme. Betroubaarheid analise is uitgevoer met behulp van Cronbach se alfa. Vir ‘n vergelyking van die verskillende instrumente was korrelasies bereken. Vergelykings tussen die verskillende groeperings is gedoen met behulp van tweerigting-ANOVA. Tematiese analise is gebruik om die kwalitatiewe data te analiseer en om die deelnemers se konstruksies van noue OAV te verken. Algemene bevindings is dat die meeste vroulike deelnemers noue moeder-dogter verhoudings gerapporteer het, terwyl die meeste manlike deelnemers relatief noue vader-seun-verhouding gerapporteer het. Die moeders, oor die algemeen, het meer tyd met hulle adolessente kinders deurgebring. Pa’s en dogters het, oor die algemeen, minder noue verhoudings met mekaar gehad. Hoewel die vaders relatief meer betrokke in hul kinders se lewens was, in vergelyking met die vaders in vorige navorsingstudies, moeders en adolessente het nouer bande met mekaar gerapporteer.

Firm closeness or comparability is an important concept to investors. Knowing that two firms have been historically close and observing an information announcement by one of the firms gives the investor cues as to the future performance of the other firm. Furthermore, from a methodological point of view, researchers commonly control for firm--group closeness by using industrial classification schemes such as the SIC. To the extent that these schemes group dissimilar firms, the advantage of using these schemes is undermined. This paper more formally examines the comparability concept and develops two new measures of firm--group accounting closeness. Both measures are based on the co--movement of accounting fundamentals. I provide insight regarding the extent to which the SIC and GIC schemes group similar firms. Furthermore, a trading strategy utilizing information in the measures is developed and tested. Results indicate that, when industry closeness is high enough, abnormal returns in the range of 1-3% over a 1-3 day window can be earned around leader information announcement dates. Finally, I contribute to the contagion/information transfer literature, most notably Gleason et al. (2008), by showing that the contagion effects of accounting information announcements are increasing in the closeness of the industry.

La justice de proximité occupe, depuis plusieurs années, une place centrale dans les tentatives de réforme de la justice.Nonobstant la fréquence de son usage, la notion est dépourvue d'une définition clairement circonscrite par le droit positif et ne dispose pas davantage d'un statut théorique incontestable établi par la doctrine. De ce constat naît une interrogation fondamentale : quel sens donner à la justice de proximité ? Distincte de la proximité de la justice, la justice de proximité doit être appréhendée dans sa double acception pénale et civile. Tandis que la justice pénale de proximité renvoie à un mouvement de diversification du circuit de traitement des infractions de faible et moyenne gravité par la recherche d'une ou plusieurs formes de rapprochement entre la justice et le citoyen, la justice civile de proximité vise, par cette même méthode, à améliorer l'accès à la justice des litiges dont l'enjeu économique est faible ou modéré. Ainsi entendue, la justice de proximité repose sur la mise en oeuvre d'une pluralité d'instruments procéduraux et organisationnels au sein de l'institution judiciaire. Leur examen révèle les ambiguïtés dont ils sont parfois porteurs ainsi que leur manque de lisibilité et de cohérence. Cependant, certains mécanismes correcteurs sont envisageables afin que les imperfections de ces instruments ne compromettent pas irrémédiablement l'intérêt que présente la notion en vue de garantir la confiance des citoyens dans la justice. / The french expression ''justice de proximité" has been holding a specific place within the proposals for justice reforms for many years. Despite its increasing use, the concept is not clearly defined -or understood- in our discipline not even in a theoretical way. Thus, a new interrogation appears : how can we understand the precise meaning of such a concept ? Far from being defined as the "closeness justice", the notion of "justice de proximité" gets a double meaning :a criminal one and a civil one. While the first one puts the stress on the diversity in the way we deal with minor and major offenses- mainly through partnerships between the justice and the citizen- the civil dimension of the community justice concept aims at allowing to go to court all the contentions with low economical consequences. As far as this definition is right, the community justice relies on putting into practice several types of both procedural and organizational tools. A through analysis of the tools previously mentioned demonstrates a Jack of transparency and consistency. Nevertheless, some of them can be useful since they guarantee the citizens' confidence in their own justice.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen S. Myers-Bowman / The goals of this study were to investigate the definitions of influence and closeness from the perspectives of the couples, the techniques or approaches couples use to share influence and maintain closeness in their relationships, the themes associated with different relating styles, ways couples handle discrepancies and incompatibilities, and the relationship issues associated with specific relating styles. Eight married couples residing in northeast Kansas were interviewed for this study. The participants were selected through a screening survey distributed to a university student body to collect basic demographics and couple relating styles. The eight couples were chosen because the relating styles they reported were diverse enough to provide the needed maximum variation and a general representation of the sample pool. A style of relating model – couple map was created to help couples visualize how they relate to their partners in terms of influence and closeness. This study begins to fill the gap in the research by creating an integrated model to understand couple relational patterns and by giving voice to couples and allowing them to share their experiences on how they share influence and maintain closeness in their relationships. Through the lens of Symbolic Interaction Theory and Social Exchange Theory, this study sheds light on the cognitive and behavioral strategies couples use to relate to each other while striving to meet personal and mutual needs for influence and closeness in their marriages.

This thesis aims to investigate how, and under what circumstances, intimacy in grandparent-grandchild relationships is enabled, enacted and sustained in the early years of grandchildren. Previous work on emotional closeness of grandparent-grandchild relationships suggests that grandmothers and maternal grandparents are more likely to feel stronger bonds with their grandchildren, and that grandparents with a good quality of relationship with parents and living geographically close to grandchildren have greater opportunities to develop a strong emotional tie. The majority of previous research involves data on perceptions of closeness of grandparents focusing on one of their grandchildren or by young adult grandchildren reporting on closeness with a specific grandparent. In addition, qualitative research with grandparents indicates the diversity of ways they exercise agency, and involvement in the life of grandchildren, as well as gendered changes in grandfatherhood. However, there has been limited scholarly attention given to practices of intimacy, emotions and masculinities in grandparent-grandchild relationships, and the ways grandparents interpret and negotiate intimate relationships with their grandchildren amid changes in individual, familial and relational aspects over time. This study uses quantitative data to examines the extent to which individual, family and socio-structural factors influence the mothers' perception of emotional closeness of the relationship of an infant child with four types of grandparents. This is supplemented by qualitative data on grandparents' views of closeness with all their grandchildren. There is a limited scholarly literature on the relation of grandparents' lived experiences, and shared normative understandings, and a sense of being close and special to their grandchildren. The 'practices of intimacy' approach highlights the significance of practices of everyday life enacted by individuals in relation to others in building the quality of being close, and the processes through which individuals attach meaning to such practices. This approach is adopted to understand the diversity of ways grandparents interpret and do intimacy with their grandchildren. The thesis aims were achieved through a mixed methods research process combining secondary data analysis of the Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) study and in-depth interviews with 24 cases of grandparents (12 solo, either with a grandmother or grandfather, and 12 with couple). GUS maps the emotional closeness of grandchild-grandparent relationships through the grandchild's mother's perception. Analysis revealed that perceived emotional closeness was more likely if the grandparent had social contact with the mother, lived geographically close, and looked after and engaged in outings more regularly with the infant child. In general, social contact and propinquity impacted less on grandmothers, particularly maternal grandmothers, and more on paternal grandfathers. Also, looking after grandchildren on a regular basis was distinctly salient for grandmothers, whereas going more frequently on outings was more salient for grandfathers than grandmothers. As regards practices of intimacy, grandparents emphasised the importance of communication through verbal, bodily and relational forms enacted through a large variety of activities in the daily living related to forms of caring, playing and spending time together, which construct a sense of emotional closeness. The study suggests that intimate grandparent-grandchild relationships are intersected by moral understandings of 'good grandparenting', which are challenged or find contradictions in lived experiences of grandparenting that produce asymmetrical emotionalities among grandchildren, and ambivalences in relation to children and grandchildren. The study suggests that grandparents reflect on their emotionality, and enact embodied emotions, depending on relational and family circumstances, and throughout changes in the relationship with their grandchildren as they get older. The study shows that grandfathers engage in emotional forms of caring, which may challenge hegemonic masculinities, and that the relation between masculinities and practices of intimacy are troubled, particularly in the event of parental divorce.

I investigate the differences between Hispanic high school graduates, both male and female, who chose not to attend college, who chose to initially enroll into a two-year college, or who chose to initially enroll into a four-year college or university. The 1994-1995 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health was used to determine how family structure, family responsibilities and family closeness influenced the decisions made by Hispanic youth. There are five major findings regarding Hispanics and their decisions after high school graduation. The findings show that socioeconomic status (parents' education), grade point average and college aspirations influence the decision to attend college. Males who enrolled into four-year colleges were more influenced by participating in household chores compared to females; females who initially enrolled into four-year colleges were more influenced by the number of household members than males. High school graduates with fewer household members were more likely to initially enroll into a four-year college and participate in more household chores compared to students who attended two-year colleges. Parental aspirations were influential for high school graduates whether they attended two- or four-year colleges. Last, living with two biological parents compared to living with a single mother was highly influential for high school graduates who initially enrolled into a four-year college. Overall, the findings indicate that family structure, family closeness and family responsibilities affect the college decisions of Hispanic high school graduates.