Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2007. / Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 223 p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 1999. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 57 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 33-35).

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2007. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-123). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR38827

Thesis (M.S.)--Villanova University, 2009. / Chemistry Dept. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

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Over the last few decades there has been a growing trend in scholarship which has focused upon conceptualisations of gender in the representations of characters in medieval narrative literature. Thus far, depictions of women have received a disproportionate amount of attention to the side-lining of the man, although recently the man has slowly been reinstated. However, questions as to the nature of masculinity and what behaviours constituted an appropriate expression of a man's manliness in the sagas have remained. In this dissertation, I first set out to identify a foundation masculinity from which other representations of masculinity can be said to derive. Two behavioural principles are defined (the ability to provide and the ability to protect) before being explored primarily in the representations of kings and martial champions in a selection of medieval Norse and Irish sagas. Discussion of kings focuses upon the literary depictions of Conchobor mac Nessa and Óláfr Haraldsson, while for the martial champions, representations of Cú Chulainn, Caílte mac Rónáin and characters within four Norse sagas (Njáls saga, Fóstbroeðra saga, Bósa saga ok Herrauðs and Ọrvar-Odds saga) are examined. Given that wider gender studies highlights that a number of variables affect depictions of gender in the medieval sagas, a comparative approach allows scope for an exploration into the impact of geographical location on expressions of masculinity. However, the main research question of this dissertation centres upon an inquiry into the role that status plays in depictions of manliness in characters from the saga. While making a judgement upon the degree of influence of this particular factor, other variables affecting the formation of gender – such as textual purpose and genre – are also discussed.

Much of the previous research on systematic variation in social judgements has focused on attractiveness judgements and factors that are related to inter-sexual competition (reviewed in Chapter 1). By contrast, there has been relatively little work on the extent to which factors that may be more closely related to intra-sexual competition, such as the outcomes of aggressive conflict with own-sex individuals and competition for resources, may have shaped perceptions of potential rivals. Correlational studies showed that indices of men’s (Chapter 2) and women’s (Chapter 4) own dominance were negatively correlated with the extent to which they perceived masculine own-sex individuals to be more dominant than feminine own-sex individuals. These findings suggest that those individuals who are likely to incur more substantial costs if they underestimate the dominance of potential rivals may find cues of others’ dominance (i.e., masculine characteristics) to be particularly salient. Further evidence for this proposal came from priming experiments in which men who were primed with scenarios in which they lost confrontations were more likely to ascribe high dominance, but not trustworthiness, to masculine men’s faces than were men who were primed with scenarios in which they won confrontations (Chapter 3). Further priming experiments suggested that priming women with cues to the sex ratio of the local population (Chapter 5) or priming women’s concerns about resources versus pathogens (Chapter 6) altered the salience of facial cues of others’ attractiveness and dominance. While previous research on systematic variation in social perception has tended to focus on attractiveness judgements and factors related to inter-sexual competition, the findings reported in this thesis highlight the potential importance of dominance perceptions and factors related to intra-sexual competition. Directions for future research, such as establishing whether dominance perceptions predict real world social outcomes, are then discussed (Chapter 7).

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-94). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11795

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2007. / Title from title screen (site viewed July 12, 2007). PDF text: 274 p. UMI publication number: AAT 3252835. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.