Technology acceptance research is a constantly developing field. The disciplines that contributed to its development are either beliefs focused or system focused. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) combined both. The current research model proposes an extension to the UTAUT that accounts for online usage behaviour. The proposed research model is tested in two countries (UK and Jordan) to investigate the viability of the unified model of technology acceptance in different boundaries as a model of individuals’ discretionary usage of Internet banking. The study also questions the roles of other determinants and moderators in this context. Results found support for the effect of the proposed extension, website quality perceptions, on usage behaviour in both countries’ models; the total effect of this extension exhibited website quality perceptions the most influential determinant of usage behaviour in both models and performance expectancy construct was second in effect. Social influence had no impact on the usage behaviour in both models, which is consistent with previous research that advocates a declining role of social influence under discretionary usage and increased experience conditions. Furthermore, the moderating role of performance expectancy previously established in TAM’s research was supported in the UTAUT model in both countries’ models. Moreover, both models reported a non-moderating effect of gender, which, is also in line with recent research findings that suggest declining gender differences under voluntary usage conditions and advanced experience. Education and income were moderators only for the UK model. Although the research findings demonstrated that both countries’ models were “configurally” similar with respect to model specifications, the models’ explanatory power for usage behaviour was dissimilar: the UK’s model explanatory power exceeded that of Jordan’s model presenting an opportunity for future research. The current research contributes to knowledge in the field of technology acceptance research. It demonstrated that website quality perceptions, as a multidimensional concept, play an important role in the online usage context. It also demonstrated that the unified model of technology acceptance established in the western culture can be transferred to a non-western culture although with varying degrees of explanation power.

What are the factors that shape views and attitudes toward the family, and how are these views and attitudes influenced in changing cultures? Do culture, social change/economic development, childhood experiences, and gender influence family centredness and democratisation? Are there different levels of factors that impact on family centredness and democratisation? If so, how are these factors interlinked? The studies discussed in detail in this thesis investigated family perceptions across cultures and generations, looking closely into specific aspects of family views and attitudes and various factors that impact on them. This thesis attempts to answer these questions by conducting three experiments. Study I (described in Chapter 3), which was conducted in Hungary, South Korea, and Canada (total N=403), tested a hypothesised model based on the literature review (Chapter 2). The study looked at cultural differences in family centredness and democratisation, and the impact of cultural orientation, gender, economic growth (national-level), Postmodernist Values, and political beliefs on perceptions of family centredness and democratisation. Study II (described in Chapter 4), conducted in the US and South Korea amongst young individuals in their late teens or early twenties, and their parents' generations, mostly in their forties and fifties (total N= 230). It expanded on the model by adding Schwartz' value dimensions, self-beliefs, and broader aspects of family perceptions. Furthermore, Study II investigated the intergenerational differences and the impact of childhood experiences by comparing data from two generational groups. Study III (Chapter 5) was conducted in four cultures, Canada, Britain, South Korea, and Japan on 539 university students, in order to ascertain cultural influences on values, beliefs, and family centredness and democratisation. Study III also investigated the interlinks between the factors in each culture more specifically using multi-group analysis method in SEM (Structural Equation Modelling). The final chapter summarises and discusses the implications of the major findings from these studies, and makes note of possible methodological issues. Overall, cross-cultural differences in value priorities, self-beliefs, political beliefs, and perceptions of family centredness and democratisation were found. Generation/age, country-level economic growth and gender were significant predictors for values, beliefs and family views and attitudes discussed in this work. Women and younger generations were more likely to endorse the Autonomous-Related Self-belief, believe in the importance of family democratisation. Stronger belief in the Autonomous-Related self led to higher emphases on family centredness and democratisation. Significant relationship was also found between family centredness and democratisation and individual-level values and beliefs, where stronger democratic beliefs led to stronger belief in the importance of family democratisation, higher endorsement of Self-Transcendence values predicted higher levels of family centredness and democratisation, and stronger Consevation Values predicted higher level of family centredness. By investigating factors influencing family centredness and democratisation, the current work probed into the family in the contemporary world. In line with Kagitcibasi's new model of family change, this thesis demonstrates that certain features of family views and relationship, including perceptions of family centredness, are likely to persist, and contends the individualisation theorists' (e.g., Beck, 1997; Giddens, 1992) negative predictions for the future of the family.

This thesis investigates how Japanese doctors create and maintain patient-centred consultations through their verbal interaction with patients, and the extent to which features of Japanese interpersonal communication influence the institutional discourse. Audio recordings of 72 doctor-patient interactions were collected at the outpatient department of a Japanese teaching hospital. All consultations involved new cases. There were two kinds of consultations: a preliminary history-taking interview with an intern and a diagnostic consultation given by an experienced doctor. After transcribing the recordings sequences of the discourse were analysed qualitatively on a turn-by-turn basis and a corpus of the data was analysed quantitatively to establish frequencies of discourse features related to patientcentredness. A review of literature (Chapter 2) establishes the standard structure of medical consultations and the relationship of the doctor and patient during consultations in terms of the asymmetry of speaking initiative according to consultation phases. The second part of Chapter 2 is an examination of Japanese communication style, attested to be influenced by culturally specific norms of behaviour that are demonstrable through verbal interactions. Chapter 3 describes the research method, and this is followed by four chapters of analysis. Chapter 4 describes the nature of the two kinds of consultations; the phases they include, and how the participants shift from one phase to the next with phase transition markers. Particular attention is paid to opening and closing phases, as they are most relevant to the establishment and consolidation of a patient-centred relationship. Chapter 5 investigates patterns of questioning by doctors, identifying functional categories of questions to see how they are used to coax information from the patient. Chapter 6 examines how the doctor encourages the patient’s narrative through backchanneling; how the doctor accommodates the patient through sensitive explanations of treatments and procedures; and how the voice of the patient emerges through calls for clarification, and voicing concerns. Chapter 7 highlights discourse sequences that may indicate culturally specific influences, and examines the emergence of laughter as an indicator of Japanese interpersonal interaction. The features of these Japanese consultations are consistent with medical consultations described in English speaking settings regarding phases and the discourse strategies used to achieve patient-centredness. While there appear to be Japanese cultural influences in the interactions consistent with previous cross-cultural studies the author argues that the institutional setting (clinical framework) is more immediately relevant to the conversational dynamics of the interactions than the Japanese cultural setting. Finally, medical consultations involving new cases have more features of service encounters and therefore not controlled by the guidance-cooperation model of doctor-patient interaction.

This study discusses the experiences of international students studying in English-medium business programmes in three countries: the United Kingdom, Germany and Taiwan. The purpose of this comparative study is to investigate how the students’ identity is constituted in the multicultural business classroom and on the multi-cultural campus, the role in this of cultural components of the curriculum in international business programmes, the ways in which the wider student experience operates in such multi-cultural settings and the implications of each of these facets for teachers and institutional managers. Inter-/cross-cultural competence is held to be a vital skill that business graduates should be equipped with in order to be capable of working in an increasingly diverse global village, and it is believed that such competence can be developed through frequent communication and negotiation with people from other cultures. Sojourners in this study attempted to negotiate new identities in the multicultural learning environment in the alien context in ways that were strongly influenced by individuals’ biographical and life experiences. There were several influential factors in these sojourners’ processes of learning and transition, including: interpersonal and intrapersonal factors; motivations for studying abroad; the nature of the learning environment they encountered; and the settings in which these interactions took place. Holliday’s (1994) “small cultures” theory and Wegner’s (1998) “communities of practice” are concepts used to help explain sojourners’ experiences in terms of where and with whom they interacted, and how this influenced their perception of the learning experience in the international contexts. The three institutes were selected through the purposive sampling method, with pre-set criteria such as the percentage of courses taught in participants’ second or foreign language(s) and the percentage of international students in the student population of the university. The sample of twenty-two student participants was obtained by using opportunistic sampling and snowball sampling methods. The qualitative data set comprised 18 individual interviews, 3 group interviews and 40 diary entries. Data analysis took the form of typological analysis (LeCompte & Preissle, 1993) by dividing the overall data set into categories or groups based on predetermined typologies. One of the main findings of this study is that international students experienced high levels of isolation and marginalisation, which affected their academic confidence and social involvement. The universities concerned were aggressively recruiting international students and making efforts to internationalise curricula, yet the academic and social support on offer was perceived as narrow and very marginalised.

The study utilized the covariance structure comparison methodology - Multigroup Analysis in Structural Equation Modeling - evaluating measurement equivalence of English and Spanish versions of an employee opinion survey. The concept of measurement equivalence was defined as consisting of four components: sample equivalence, semantic equivalence, conceptual equivalence and scalar equivalence. The results revealed that the two language versions of the survey exhibited acceptable measurement equivalence across five survey dimensions Communications, Supervision, Leadership, Job Content & Satisfaction and Company Image & Commitment. Contrary to the study second hypothesis, there was no meaningful difference in opinion scores between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking respondents on the latent construct of Job Content & Satisfaction.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between narcissism, cultural adjustment, and leadership of expatriates. Specifically, it was predicted that cultural adjustment would partially mediate the relationship between narcissism and selfperceptions of leadership effectiveness such that narcissism would be negatively related to cultural adjustment, and cultural adjustment would be positively related to selfperceptions of leadership effectiveness. It was also predicted that cultural adjustment would partially mediate the relationship between narcissism and LMX perceptions such that narcissism would be negatively related to cultural adjustment, and cultural adjustment would be positively related to LMX perceptions. Fifty-three participants completed an online survey through Qualtrics. Participants consisted of individuals who were teaching abroad for an extended period of time. Results indicated support for the mediating role of cultural adjustment in the relationship between narcissism and perceived leadership effectiveness, but not in the relationship between narcissism and LMX perceptions. Results also indicated positive correlations between narcissism and cultural adjustment. The implications and limitations of these findings are discussed, and multiple directions for future research are suggested.

Framing a Blaxicana Identity: A Cultural Ethnography of Family, Race and Community in the Valley Homes, Lincoln Heights, Ohio, 1955-1960 (Blaxicana Identity) is set within the construct of identity formation, against a backdrop of color and culture clash, and the social construction of race. The author's narrative will constitute contextual introductions to discussion topics and iterate direct correlations of her lived experience to larger community and cultural accounts that helped to shape aspects of her Blaxicana identity. The individual and community perceptions of what it means and what it feels like to grow up Negro, Mexican and female in an all black town will determine the scope and complexity of the identity formation factors that may be brought forth in Blaxicana Identity. Geographically situated in the Valley Homes housing projects located in Lincoln Heights, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati, this ethnography will engage the area's background, environment and residents in a dialogue with the larger arenas of race and racism, history, migration, critical race theory, interracial marriage, cultural studies and black towns as they inform the aspects involved in the creation of the author's Blaxicana identity. This multi-perspective engagement will produce a cultural ethnographic portrayal of the Valley Homes, its residents and the author and comprise the ways in which the social and cultural phenomenon of mixed-race identity may be constructed, observed and understood - a depiction that may differ from the historical concepts of identity formation based on color and race. This research will draw its conclusions regarding the construction of a Blaxicana identity by using a critical, self-reflexive method of inquiry that incorporates the author's memories, impressions and artifacts from the 1950's. The author's interracial family experience, defined by an African American father from Nashville, Tennessee and a Mexican mother from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, presents the opportunity to examine what was then, considering the time and place, an uncommon combination.

The current study examined the protective effect of parenting-adolescent communication about sex on four risky sexual behaviors (age of onset of sex, number of sex partners, condom use, and STDs) among youth, framed by the Theory of Planned Behavior. It also tested for potential mediation effects between parent-adolescent communication and risky sex measures by sexual cues, date rape attitudes, and acceptance of dating violence in a sample of 2,245 college students from Japan, Slovenia, Spain, and the United States. Results provided evidence of a weak effect of parent-adolescent communication about sex on risky sexual behaviors across samples. A number of cultural influences were also found in the effects by mediators: sexual cues predicted risky sexual behaviors only in the Japanese sample; date rape attitudes was a predictor in the American and Slovenian samples; acceptance of dating violence predicted more risky sexual behaviors only in the American sample; and no significant effects were found in the Spanish sample. Several competing explanations were examined in the discussion to better understand the complex and dynamic interaction between parents and their adolescents as well as the role of culture. More studies are needed to better understand the associations between parent-adolescent communication about sex and risky sexual behaviors.

With the increasing emergence of multinational companies and the increased popularity of these companies, the question of the organization of their activities becomes interesting for the HR community worldwide. These companies are renowned for deliberate management structure of human resources and their effective use. For effective use of employees’ skills and knowledge the company has to constantly motivate them by intrinsic and extrinsic motivational tools. Motivational tools which use a company may be different depending on specific features of the country that the office is located. The purpose of this research is the study of how multinational companies organize the motivational system in different countries taking into account cultural characteristics and needs of the personnel in the offices of a particular country. On the basis of data derived from interviews with 12 representatives of 6 companies (4 of them Swedish companies, Oriflame, SCA, Volvo, IKEA, and two American companies, IBM and Deloitte, that have representative offices in Sweden and in Russia) it was revealed that modern multinational companies use similar motivational tools that partly standardized to keep the specifics of the company, and partly adapted to the local requirements.

The present study investigates the phenomenon of organisational acculturation of Egyptian Host Country National middle managers working in three foreign subsidiaries of US, UK, and Swedish MNCs. Host Country National staff (HCNs) are those who work in foreign subsidiaries established in their own countries. HCNs are exposed to the organisational culture of the MNC which is affected by the national culture of the parent company. Accordingly, the concept of cultural adaptation, or organisational acculturation, has been stressed as an essential process for MNCs to deal with problems arising from cultural differences and achieve cross-cultural effectiveness. The topic of the present study is an understudied topic and only few studies addressed the acculturation of HCNs, most of which within the context of Asian-only cultures. The study used a multiple case design and the data were collected using a mixed methods design in which both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The study was conducted in two phases; the first phase was to compare the work values of the Egyptian middle managers and their UK, US, and Swedish expatriates using a questionnaire on work values, in order to find similarities or differences in work values between the Egyptian managers and their expatriates. To measure the work values of the host national culture, the study used a comparison group of Egyptian middle managers in three local Egyptian firms. In the second phase, in-depth interviews and observation were conducted with a number of Egyptian middle managers who were found to have work values significantly similar to or different from their expatriates work values in the three subsidiaries. This phase was conducted in order to further examine the acculturation phenomenon, and to understand the influence of the Egyptian national culture and the type of control mechanisms used by MNCs on the acculturation process. The results showed that some acculturation effects might have occurred in some work values of Egyptian managers, while other work values might have not been influenced due to the strong effect of the Egyptian national culture. Also, the study found that Egyptians needed both formal bureaucratic and informal cultural mechanisms of control, though with more stress on the formal bureaucratic ones.