This thesis investigates the influence that cultural differences have in the designing of products and services that encourage sustainable lifestyles. This was researched through a case study of dishwashing practices in Mexico and the UK, and the development of a methodological framework for supporting designers working in cross-cultural contexts. Designers can shift user behaviour to be more responsible, and by doing this, reduce a product s impact on the use phase of its lifecycle. Nevertheless, designing products that successfully drive behaviour towards a more sustainable path can only be accomplished if they are conceived to fit the user and the specific context of interaction. In order to do so, designers must truly understand the users, and take into account the complex web of factors that lay behind individual behaviour. A comprehensive review of the literature established an understanding of human behaviour and the emergence and evolution of practices and routines. This brought to light the diverse behavioural patterns in different contexts; and was further investigated with a scoping study in two different locations (Mexico and the UK), exploring general water consuming practices in the home, specifically manual dishwashing practices. The preliminary findings shaped a study that aimed to deepen the understanding of these practices in the selected sites, involving the use of Cultural Probes and videoing people in their common kitchen environment. A robust and clear image of washing-up practices emerged with rich and detailed data presented in different media, ideal to be implemented in a design process. To this end, a series of multicultural Personas were created as the direct outcome of the Cultural Probes and the scoping study, giving way to the design studies phase of the project, carried out with industrial design students in Mexico and the UK. A design brief for sustainable washing up practices was delivered. Design experiments were used to provide interesting evidence of the influence in the design process of the designers understanding of the target user. The findings indicate that designers benefit from exploration and creativity tools tailored directly from the user-research findings in the early design process. This increases the level of empathy towards the user, particularly making it easier to design for users with different needs and contexts than the designers themselves. It also helps designers to better apply design for sustainable behaviour framework to their concept designs.

Konkurrensmiljön i populära destinationer skapar ett behov för hotell att differentiera sig. Implementering av CSR är ett alternativ för att skapa mervärde och bättre relationer med det omgivande samhället. Därav får kommunikationen av CSR en strategisk betydelse. Hotell kan både påverka och bli påverkade av det omgivande samhället, även vad det gäller CSR. Samhället kan se olika ut i exempelvis Nord- och Sydeuropa, där länderna har sociokulturella och finansiella skillnader. Stockholm och Rhodos är två populära resmål i Sverige och Grekland, med annorlunda lokala omständigheter. Syftet med denna uppsats är att komparativt undersöka hur väletablerade hotell i Rhodos och Stockholm kommunicerar CSR. Vidare syftar undersökningen till att skapa förståelse om lokala omständigheter påverkar hotellens CSR-initiativ. Denna studie består av sex strukturerade intervjuer, varav tre i respektive destination, samt en text- och bildanalys av hotellens webbsidor och sociala medier. Det framkom att majoriteten av de undersökta hotellen i Rhodos och Stockholm kommunicerar CSR-initiativen primärt genom sociala medier, i synnerhet Instagram och Facebook. Innehållet i CSR-kommunikationen berör mestadels miljörelaterade initiativ. CSR är inte ett krav i hotellbranschen, endast en fördel för hotellet och den omgivande miljön. Lokala omständigheter kan påverka hotellens implementering och kommunikation av CSR. Den ekonomiska aspekten har störst påverkan på invånarna och hur hotell hjälper lokalinvånarna, främst gällande hotellen i Grekland. Vidare framkom det att en standardiserad CSR-mall inte kan gälla internationellt eftersom hotell påverkar och blir påverkade av det omgivande samhället. / The competitive environment in popular destinations creates a need for hotels to differentiate. Implementing CSR is an option for added value and better relationships with the surrounding community. Hence, the promotion of CSR has a strategic importance. Hotels can both affect and be influenced by the surrounding community, even when it comes to CSR. For example the society may look different in northern and southern Europe, where the countries have socio-cultural and financial differences. Stockholm and Rhodes are two popular destinations in Sweden and Greece, with different local circumstances. The purpose of this paper is to compare how well-established hotels in Rhodes and Stockholm promote CSR. Furthermore, the survey aims to create an understanding of how local circumstances affect the hotel's CSR initiatives. This study consists of six structured interviews, whereof three in each destination, and a text and image analysis of the hotel's websites and social media accounts. The results showed that the majority of the investigated hotels in Rhodes and Stockholm promote their CSR initiatives primarily through social media, in particular Instagram and Facebook. The content of their CSR promotion is mostly about environment-related initiatives. CSR is not a requirement in the hotel industry, only an advantage for the hotel and the surrounding environment. Local circumstances can affect the hotel's implementation and promotion of CSR. The economic aspect has the greatest impact on local residents and affect how hotels adjust their CSR-initatives, particularly in the greek hotels. Moreover, it was found that a CSR policy can’t be standardized internationally as hotels affect and are influenced by the surrounding community.

This dissertation explores children’s (6-8 years old) perspectives and experiences of well-being in two different cultural contexts: in a Tibetan day-school (India) and in a German day-school (Germany). Ethnographic research was conducted with participants of a second-grade class (mixed gender) for six months at each site, 3-4 days a week in 2012. Participant observation was complemented by interviews with the children as well as with the staff of the school, documented by fieldnotes and sound recordings. Data was collected in line with postmodern grounded theory methodology and preliminary analysis accompanied the process of the fieldwork. The thesis explores the children’s views and social practices related to well-being which prove to be different in both cultures: the Tibetan children emphasized being skilful as a basic condition for well-being, while friendship with peers was most important at the German school. At both sites, the children would establish these conditions for well-being through competitions. Furthermore, the children’s different views and the social practices are considered against the backdrop of two ‘transcultural’ indicators of well-being: self-confidence and resilience. These indicators were not selected randomly but chosen inductively during fieldwork, as the difference in self-confidence and resilience between the children’s groups at each site was noticeable. The thesis demonstrates how these differences in self-confidence and resilience are likely to have been related to a) the children’s particular views and social practices linked to well-being b) the manner in which childhood is constructed within the children’s societies and c) particular basic beliefs and worldviews prevalent within the children’s societies. The results emphasize the usefulness of researching well-being cross-culturally and suggest that (socio-culturally specific) self- and worldviews significantly influence children’s well-being.

Duas visões diferentes podem ser identificadas na literatura sobre codificação de raça no processo de formação de primeiras impressões (categorização social): 1) A codificação de raça é um processo automático, inevitável e obrigatório; 2) é um processo dependente do contexto, que diminui com a explicitação de pistas visuais indicativas da afiliação a grupos, mostrando que a codificação de raça não é obrigatória. O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi: medir a codificação de coalizão e raça e seus efeitos na presença e ausência de pistas visuais de coalizão, confrontar o desempenho de uma amostra brasileira com uma amostra norte-americana e comparar os resultados de homens e mulheres. No primeiro estudo, foi usado o protocolo de confusão de memória, uma medida discreta para revelar quais dimensões os participantes estão categorizando dos indivíduos-alvo. Através deste protocolo, 569 participantes de sete estados brasileiros (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP), 280 homens e 289 mulheres de 17 a 58 anos, foram expostos a uma situação experimental de rivalidade entre dois times em duas condições distintas: pista visual de coalizão presente (camisetas com cores diferentes para cada time) versus ausente (camisetas com cores iguais para os dois times). Foi encontrado que a codificação de coalizão aumentou e de raça diminuiu quando pistas visuais de coalizão foram amplificadas. Esses resultados são semelhantes aos obtidos na amostra norte-americana. Além disso, encontramos, de maneira geral, semelhança entre o desempenho de homens e mulheres, mas uma sutil diferença na condição onde todos os jogadores vestiam camisetas com cores iguais. Adicionalmente, foi realizado um estudo avaliando características atribuídas por juízes aos indivíduos-alvo do primeiro estudo. Verificamos que o indivíduo-alvo mais escolhido pelos homens no primeiro estudo foi julgado como o mais forte no segundo, enquanto o avaliado como mais rico e bem-sucedido tendeu a ser mais escolhido pelas mulheres quando todos os jogadores vestiam camisetas da mesma cor. Os resultados gerais sugerem a universalidade do mecanismo de detecção de coalizões e alianças, que codificação de raça pode ser um subproduto da psicologia da coalizão e que diferenças intersexuais na codificação de informações ambientais podem ter evoluído a partir de diferentes pressões evolutivas relacionadas às dinâmicas da seleção sexual. / Two different perspectives could be identified in literature about race encoding in the formation of first impressions (social categorization): 1) race encoding is an automatic, inevitable and mandatory process. 2) race encoding is a context-dependent process which decreases with the amplification of visual cues indicating group affiliation. The objective of this work was to measure the coalition and race codification and their effects in the presence and absence of coalition visual cues, to compare the results of the Brazilian sample with a North American sample, and to compare the results of men and women. In the first study, the memory confusion protocol - an unobtrusive measure developed to investigate how people use the features of others as a basis of social categorization - was used to assess encoding. 569 participants from seven different states (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP), 280 males and 289 females, between 17 to 58 years old, were exposed to an experimental context of rivalry between two teams in two different conditions: shared visual appearance (each team wore jerseys of different colors) versus absence of shared visual appearance (all individuals were wearing jerseys of same color). We found that coalition encoding increased and race encoding decreased when visual cues of coalition were amplified, which implies that race encoding is not an inevitable and mandatory process. These results are generally similar with the North-American findings. Moreover, we found, in general, resemblance in men and women performances, but a slight difference in the conditions where all individuals were wearing jerseys of same color. Additionally, another study was conducted to assess features of the experimental models attributed by judges. We verified that the model chosen more by men was judged as the strongest, and the model tended to be chosen more by women was judged as the richest and well succeed, when all models were wearing jerseys of same color. The general results suggest the universality of the detecting alliance and coalitions mechanism; that the encoding by race could be a byproduct of coalitional psychology, and sexual difference in the codification of environmental informations could have evolved by sexual selection.

Duas visões diferentes podem ser identificadas na literatura sobre codificação de raça no processo de formação de primeiras impressões (categorização social): 1) A codificação de raça é um processo automático, inevitável e obrigatório; 2) é um processo dependente do contexto, que diminui com a explicitação de pistas visuais indicativas da afiliação a grupos, mostrando que a codificação de raça não é obrigatória. O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi: medir a codificação de coalizão e raça e seus efeitos na presença e ausência de pistas visuais de coalizão, confrontar o desempenho de uma amostra brasileira com uma amostra norte-americana e comparar os resultados de homens e mulheres. No primeiro estudo, foi usado o protocolo de confusão de memória, uma medida discreta para revelar quais dimensões os participantes estão categorizando dos indivíduos-alvo. Através deste protocolo, 569 participantes de sete estados brasileiros (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP), 280 homens e 289 mulheres de 17 a 58 anos, foram expostos a uma situação experimental de rivalidade entre dois times em duas condições distintas: pista visual de coalizão presente (camisetas com cores diferentes para cada time) versus ausente (camisetas com cores iguais para os dois times). Foi encontrado que a codificação de coalizão aumentou e de raça diminuiu quando pistas visuais de coalizão foram amplificadas. Esses resultados são semelhantes aos obtidos na amostra norte-americana. Além disso, encontramos, de maneira geral, semelhança entre o desempenho de homens e mulheres, mas uma sutil diferença na condição onde todos os jogadores vestiam camisetas com cores iguais. Adicionalmente, foi realizado um estudo avaliando características atribuídas por juízes aos indivíduos-alvo do primeiro estudo. Verificamos que o indivíduo-alvo mais escolhido pelos homens no primeiro estudo foi julgado como o mais forte no segundo, enquanto o avaliado como mais rico e bem-sucedido tendeu a ser mais escolhido pelas mulheres quando todos os jogadores vestiam camisetas da mesma cor. Os resultados gerais sugerem a universalidade do mecanismo de detecção de coalizões e alianças, que codificação de raça pode ser um subproduto da psicologia da coalizão e que diferenças intersexuais na codificação de informações ambientais podem ter evoluído a partir de diferentes pressões evolutivas relacionadas às dinâmicas da seleção sexual. / Two different perspectives could be identified in literature about race encoding in the formation of first impressions (social categorization): 1) race encoding is an automatic, inevitable and mandatory process. 2) race encoding is a context-dependent process which decreases with the amplification of visual cues indicating group affiliation. The objective of this work was to measure the coalition and race codification and their effects in the presence and absence of coalition visual cues, to compare the results of the Brazilian sample with a North American sample, and to compare the results of men and women. In the first study, the memory confusion protocol - an unobtrusive measure developed to investigate how people use the features of others as a basis of social categorization - was used to assess encoding. 569 participants from seven different states (BA, ES, MT, RJ, RN, SC, SP), 280 males and 289 females, between 17 to 58 years old, were exposed to an experimental context of rivalry between two teams in two different conditions: shared visual appearance (each team wore jerseys of different colors) versus absence of shared visual appearance (all individuals were wearing jerseys of same color). We found that coalition encoding increased and race encoding decreased when visual cues of coalition were amplified, which implies that race encoding is not an inevitable and mandatory process. These results are generally similar with the North-American findings. Moreover, we found, in general, resemblance in men and women performances, but a slight difference in the conditions where all individuals were wearing jerseys of same color. Additionally, another study was conducted to assess features of the experimental models attributed by judges. We verified that the model chosen more by men was judged as the strongest, and the model tended to be chosen more by women was judged as the richest and well succeed, when all models were wearing jerseys of same color. The general results suggest the universality of the detecting alliance and coalitions mechanism; that the encoding by race could be a byproduct of coalitional psychology, and sexual difference in the codification of environmental informations could have evolved by sexual selection.

John Bowlby made a profound contribution to the field of early parenting with his theory of attachment. He suggested that attachment theory has universal applicability. However, it has been argued that attachment theory is based upon a Western worldview, and as such, lacks applicability in cross-cultural contexts. In light of this objection, this study aimed to examine the relevancy of attachment theory within the South African context. In order to do this, a qualitative research design, employing focus groups, was set up to explore isiZulu-speaking mothers’ constructions of infant-caregiver relationships. Participants were recruited from two Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in KwaZulu-Natal. Each participant partook in three focus groups. The focus group data was analyzed using a form of thematic analysis. The group discussion provided support for attachment theory in the South African context. However, there appeared to be some cultural variations in the ways in which the attachment relationship is carried out within this context. In particular, it appeared that isiZulu-speaking mothers employ physical touch and a rapid response style with their infants. Furthermore, evidence emerged to suggest that there are certain barriers to the attachment relationship in South Africa. Finally, this research study showed that urbanization has had an important impact on parenting. As such, from this research, it can be concluded that attachment interventions are useful in South Africa, yet these may need to occur alongside other interventions. There is also room for further research to explore understandings of attachment within broader population groups, including fathers and grandmothers. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.

The current PhD thesis aimed to cross-culturally investigate the effectiveness of gain- and loss-framed physical activity messages among the university students in Turkey and the UK. This study sought to test the impact of the physical activity messages focusing on stress-related effects on physical activity intentions, attitudes and behaviours of the target group. The messages were developed based on the findings of a series of preliminary studies targeting to determine the characteristics and needs of the target groups, and identify the barriers to engage in physical activity. Two quasi-experimental studies were conducted with 309 university students from the two countries (200 participants from Turkey and 109 participants from the UK) to test the effects of framed messages on intentions and attitudes towards physical activity, and physical activity behaviour change in two weeks after message exposure. Results showed that immediate effects of both gain- and loss-framed messages on physical activity intentions and attitudes were significant in Turkey and the UK. However, these effects could not be maintained in the two weeks following the message exposure. Moreover, the loss-framed message led to a message reactance in the UK, and physical activity intensity of the participants in the loss-framed group were significantly decreased compared to their baseline physical activity levels. The present study was the first message framing study comparing Turkey and the UK in terms of the impact of gain- and loss-framed framed physical activity messages. Therefore, this study contributes to the literature through providing evidence on the effects of message framing interventions which are developed and implemented in different cultures. Recommendations for future message framing research include measuring physical activity behaviour through objective methods, and examining the impact of the tailored messages through using different dissemination methods in larger samples.

Postpartum depression is an illness that is frequently unreported and undetected for a variety of reasons and may be potentially devastating for the mother affected as well as her family. Routine screening of postpartum women enables health practitioners to detect symptoms of PPD early and provides an opportunity for early intervention which may improve the outcome and increase the mother’s chances of an earlier recovery. It is therefore important that reliable and convenient screening tools are available to health practitioners who have contact with postpartum women. The primary objective of this research was to make an Afrikaans version of an existing screening scale available – the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS), designed specifically to encompass the multifaceted phenomenon of PPD. In accordance with this objective, the validity and reliability of the PDSS and its Afrikaans version was investigated in English- and Afrikaans-speaking South African mothers. A further objective of this study was to compare the performance of the PDSS with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS-SR16). Various factors have been reported to be associated with the development of PPD. The final objective of this study was to explore the relationship between known risk factors for PPD and high scores on the PDSS amongst women in South African. A total of 365 South African mothers, between 4 and 16 weeks postpartum participated in this study. English-speaking mothers (n = 187) completed the PDSS, EPDS, QIDS, and a demographic and psychosocial questionnaire, while Afrikaans speaking mothers (n = 178) completed the respective Afrikaans versions of these questionnaires. A multiple translation method – Brislin’s back-translation method and the committee approach – was used to translate the PDSS and the QIDS into Afrikaans. An item response theory (IRT), Rasch analysis, was used to examine dimensionality, item difficulty, differential item functioning, and category functioning of the PDSS and the Afrikaans PDSS. Results reveal excellent person reliability estimates for the Afrikaans PDSS as well as for the PDSS in a South African sample. Both language versions performed reasonably well and the majority of items in the PDSS dimensions and the Afrikaans PDSS dimensions demonstrated fit statistics that supported the underlying constructs of each dimension. Some items were identified as problematic, namely Item 2, Item 25, Item 28, and Item 30. The item person construct maps show reasonably good spread of items. There were, however, persons that scored higher than the items could measure and an overrepresentation of items at the mean level. The Likert response categories proved to be effective for all the Afrikaans PDSS items and almost all the PDSS items. Results indicate that 49.7% of mothers screened positive for major PPD using the PDSS. A further 17.3% of mothers obtained scores indicating the presence of significant symptoms of PPD. Statistically significant correlations were obtained between total scores on the PDSS, the EPDS, and the QIDS-SR16. Stepwise multiple regression analysis identified 11 variables that were significantly associated with a high PDSS total score. These were a history of psychiatric illness, postpartum blues, feeling negative or ambivalent about expecting this baby, fearful of childbirth, infant temperament, antenatal depression in recent pregnancy, lack of support from the baby’s father, concern about health related issues regarding the infant, lack of support from friends, difficulty conceiving, and life stress. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Psychology / unrestricted

Human mate choice is far from random. Assortative mating can be either positive (homogamy), when people prefer and choose partners with self-similar characteristics, or negative (heterogamy, complementarity), when people prefer self-dissimilar partners. Over one hundred years of research, it has been shown that people generally couple based on the principle of homogamy. This thesis seeks to address the following two goals. First, it critically reviews the current state of knowledge in positive assortative mating (in particular, empirical support, factors affecting homogamy, mechanisms of homogamy, relationship and genetic impact of homogamy, and methodological pitfalls of research). This section includes theoretical papers deal with further mechanisms of assortative mating (homogamy, imprinting-like effect, heterogamy, complementarity). Second, the thesis provides further test of assortative mating in 'ideal partners' (preferences) and actual partners, in the context of sex, sexual orientation (heterosexual and non-heterosexual), and population (Brazil and Czech Republic). Results of these studies show that the principle of homogamy is valid irrespective of sex and population. However, they find a stronger tendency for homogamy in actual partners among heterosexuals than in homosexuals, although...

Mgr. Václav Hrnčíř Mobility of individuals and populations in the prehistoric period. Confrontation of archaeological, ethnological and natural scientific methods. Abstract of dissertation thesis This thesis focuses on the use of natural scientific methods and cross-cultural research to study the mobility of individuals and populations in the prehistoric period and confronts these methods with the results of traditional archaeological approaches. In the first part, the advantages and limits of multiple-tooth strontium isotope analysis are critically assessed. Analysis of published strontium data of more than 1,000 individuals across the world reveals a high degree of variability in childhood mobility patterns between different regions and periods. In the second part, the association between post-marital residence and dwelling size is tested using phylogenetic comparative analysis methods and a global sample of 86 pre-industrial societies. The results confirm that large dwellings are associated with matrilocality (whereas smaller with patrilocality) and suggest that average dwelling size can be used as a material proxy for inferring post-marital residence rules in prehistoric societies. The last part of the thesis combines various types of evidence (archaeological, strontium and ethnographic) to determine...