In this research I have focused on beneficiary and service providers' perceptions toward Arab social obstacles to help-seeking, appropriate intervention methods and obstacles to reintegration into the community after seeking assistance. Through semi-structured interviews and content analysis of local policies, laws and specific service offerings, I sought to contribute to the limited literature that explores how formal institutions that originate from a Western context are adapted to meet the unique needs of Arab victims of domestic violence. I found that the main social obstacles to help-seeking were attributed to a dearth of knowledge about existing services, a lack of confidence in formal institutions such as non-governmental and government agencies, a fear of rejection or punishment from their families and communities, concerns about laws that might increase a woman's vulnerability and limited economic resources.

Understanding people from different cultures is essential but differences in thinking, which can cause misinterpretations and further on conflicts, are often neglected. To be able to understand peoples' actions as a result of their culture makes their behaviors apprehensible and acceptable. This type of understanding is important in schools and organizations as well as in societies in general. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate how Hofstede’s (2001) three cultural dimensions individualism or collectivism, uncertainty avoidance and power distance appear in Tanzanian organizations. The study was accomplished by doing interviews within each dimension, which was compared with the theory. The results showed that the respondents tended to be more collectivistic than individualistic, to have a low tolerance for uncertainties and to perceive a large power distance in some situations but a small in others. / <p>Validerat; 20101217 (root)</p>

This thesis investigates a generalisable cross-cultural model for brand loyalty by integrating extant theories of personal cultural orientation (of individualism and collectivism), self-congruity (actual, ideal, social, and ideal social self-congurity), customer satisfaction, attitudinal brand loyalty, and behavioural brand loyalty. Creating brand loyalty is a key branding issue in modern marketing. Brands are faced with the challenge of building, maintaining, and increasing their capacity to drive customer loyalty across borders with consumers of different cultures. Notwithstanding the growth of culturally centered brand loyalty research, the focus of research today continues to be on cross-cultural differences, often overlooking the generalisable cross-cultural path to consumer brand loyalty. This study instead addresses this overlooked topic of cross-cultural generalisabilities across nations. To assess the cross-cultural generalisability of the conceptual model, survey data from a non-student sample were collected from middle-class, Generation Y individuals of the relevant nationality who have always lived in China, Singapore, or the United States. After performing data cleaning procedures, 541 usable responses from three countries were analysed with the use of the SEM model. The findings show that the personal cultural orientation of collectivism has a positive effect on behavioural brand loyalty through ideal social self-congruity, customer satisfaction, and attitudinal brand loyalty. These findings extend brand loyalty research by considering how an individual’s personal cultural orientation impacts brand loyalty. Moreover, the findings offer marketers increased insight into consumers’ brand loyalty formation process in cross-cultural contexts. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are also presented.

Scholars today deem Robinson Crusoe the first British novel. Defoe's construction of Crusoe as the atypical British traveler asserts his collective subjectivity within the framework of intimate personal experiences, accentuating his individualism. Yet, as scholars of Orientalism and Transatlantic theory can attest, calling Robinson Crusoe the first novel provides problematic methodologies that arise from affiliating the novel form to a structure associated the British colonialism and fashioning a "superior" British subject. In this essay, I work to emphasize the hybridity present within the novel, utilize historical context to provide a voice to marginalized Indigenous Americans to show how the format relies upon a relationship between collectivism and individualism, assert Indigenous voices matter in the novel, and analyze the relationship of a new collectivism that arises from narratives that cross into American spaces.

Involving whole-body movements into the way games are played can provide various experiences for players, especially when the gameplay requires social interactions together with other players. In addition, a person’s cultural background influences the way they look at themselves in relation to others and how they communicate. Therefore, this thesis will explore what social elements in games involving physical activity are important to consider when designing for different cultural patterns. The research was conducted using a mixed-method approach by collecting quantitative data from an online survey and qualitative data from interviews together with associates at a golf game company. The findings show that the social environment and relationship between players influence the motivation for playing different kinds of games that require physical movements. However, understanding and measuring culture can be a great challenge and the results open up for discussion about directions for future research. / Att involvera rörelser med hela kroppen i hur spel spelas kan ge olika spelupplevelser, särskilt när spelet kräver sociala interaktioner tillsammans med andra spelare. Dessutom påverkar en persons kulturella bakgrund hur de ser på sig själva i förhållande till andra samt hur de kommunicerar. Därför kommer denna studie att undersöka vilka sociala element är viktiga att tänka på när man utformar spel som involverar fysisk aktivitet baserat på olika kulturella mönster. Metoden bestod utav att både en insamling av kvantitativa data genom en enkätundersökning online samt kvalitativa data baserat på intervjuer tillsammans med medarbetare på ett företag som utvecklar golfspel. Resultaten visar att den sociala miljön och förhållandet mellan spelare påverkar deras motivation för att spela olika typer av spel som kräver fysiska rörelser. Att förstå och mäta kultur kan dock vara en stor utmaning och resultaten öppnar därför upp en diskussion om riktningar för framtida forskning.

Despite the existence of multiple scales designed to measure authoritarianism as a personality trait, current research disagrees as to whether current measures reliably measure all three dimensions of authoritarianism: submission, aggression, and traditionalism. This study focused on the development of a new scale in response to methodological and validity concerns of previously-used measures. This new scale was found to be a reliable measure of authoritarian belief in two subsequent studies of college-aged adults. Factor analysis of responses to the items of the new measure also provided evidence of the multidimensionality of authoritarianism as a construct. Further, significant correlations were found between the Graham and Haidt’s Moral Foundations model and the dimensions of authoritarianism as measured by this scale. Analysis also revealed a significant relationship between authoritarianism and measures of social hierarchical belief, as well as salient political variables. These findings reaffirm current theoretical belief in the tridimensional model of authoritarianism and provide a new, reliable measure of the authoritarian personality. This has implications for the creation of a more productive dialogue between politically-divided groups, though further research is needed on the exact nature of authoritarianism itself.

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