abstract: A study was conducted to assess the effects of generational status on various measures of stigmatization, acculturative stress, and perceived social and interpersonal threat within the Mexican heritage population in the Southwest. The role of the fear of stigma by association, regardless of actual experiences of stigmatization, was investigated, including its relationships with acculturative stress, perceived threat, and social distancing. Exploratory analyses indicated that first generation Mexican Americans differed significantly from second generation Mexican Americans on the perception of Mexican nationals as ingroup members, the fear of stigma by association by Americans, and levels of acculturative stress. Additional analyses indicated that Mexican Americans with one parent born in Mexico and one in the United States held opinions and attitudes most similar to second generation Mexican Americans. Results from path analyses indicated that first-generation Mexican Americans were more likely than second-generation Mexican Americans to both see Mexican nationals as ingroup members and to be afraid of being stigmatized for their perceived association with them. Further, seeing Mexican nationals as in-group members resulted in less social distancing and lower perceived threat, but fear of stigma by association lead to greater perceived threat and greater acculturative stress. Implications for within- and between-group relations and research on stigma by association are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2010

The studies originated from research on group-based emotions and examine emotions and emotion regulation in the context of group-based provocations. In addition, the studies examined the ways in which people identify with their group and how that affects responses to group provocations. I hypothesized that the process of ruminating in contrast to reappraising would increase anger and negative action intentions and attitudes towards the provoking outgroup. I hypothesized that individual differences in ingroup glorification and trait emotion regulation would moderate the relationship between a group provocation and affective and attitudinal responses such that high glorification and high rumination would lead to more anger and more negative attitudes and behavioral intentions. The participants were University of Massachusetts-Amherst undergraduates in the psychology participant pool who identified as United States citizens. Study 1 was an experimental three-level design (rumination, reappraisal control). Study 2 was an experimental three-level design (provocation, no provocation, control). Study 1 demonstrated that response to provocation was affected by the emotion regulation manipulation and level of ingroup identification. Study 2 revealed that individual differences in chronic emotion regulation style and identification interacted to predict responses to the provocation. Implications of the research are discussed.

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Active transport contributes to increased daily physical activity (PA). Car ownership is associated with less frequent active transport and less PA. For business car ownership this relation is unknown. Therefore, we explored whether business car owners and their adult household members comply less with the Dutch moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) guideline and are more sedentary than private car owners and persons without a car. From October 2011 to September 2012 questions about use and availability of cars in the household were included in the survey Injuries and Physical Activity in the Netherlands. Multiple linear regression was used to compare six mutual exclusive groups of ownership and availability of (business and/or private) cars in the household. Business car owners complied less (15.8 percent points) with the MVPA guideline than the other respondents. They also reported 1.5 h more sitting time during workdays than the other respondents, but after adjusting for covariates, this difference was no longer significant. We concluded that owners of a business car in the Netherlands are at higher risk of not complying with the MVPA guideline and tend to spend more hours sitting during workdays than other adults. Further research in this group, e.g. with objective instruments to measure physical activity and sedentary behavior, is recommended. Policy makers on transport and fiscal arrangements, employers, employees, occupational health professionals and car lease companies should be aware of this possible health risk.

This thesis examined how international students experience life in the UK and, in particular, how these students respond to experiences with discrimination and social exclusion. Specifically, we drew on the rejection-identification model (Branscombe et al., 1999) in order to examine the impact of minority group identification as a coping strategy against perceptions of discrimination. Despite the number of studies supporting the rejection-identification model (e.g. Schmitt et al., 2002, Schmitt et al., 2003), discrepant findings were found in other research (e.g. McCoy & Major, 2003; Eccleston & Major, 2006). In order to solve these inconsistencies we proposed to extend this model in two important ways. Firstly, building on important work on the multidimensionality of social identification (e.g. Cameron & Lalonde, 2001; Ellemers et al., 1999; Jackson, 2002), we argued that a multidimensional perspective of the rejection-identification model is fundamental given that different dimensions of social identification (i.e. ingroup affect, centrality, and ingroup ties) have different effects on psychological well-being. Secondly, we hypothesised that the protective effect of the different dimensions of social identification depended upon individual preferences, beliefs and behaviours towards own and host group (i.e. acculturation strategies). These two extensions to the rejection-identification model were tested longitudinally with a sample of 160 international students. Results indicated that none of the dimensions of social identification serve to protect students from the harmful effects of discrimination. Indeed, support was found for the argument that it is important to investigate possible moderators of the rejection-identification relationship. Our results also indicated that when international students perceive discrimination, a separation strategy allows them to maintain ingroup affect, and in this way protect their self-esteem. Integration, marginalisation, and assimilation strategies were associated with lower ingroup affect leaving these students without a successful strategy to cope with discrimination. Although the aim of this thesis was to examine the experiences of international students, in Chapter 7 we replicated our previous model with a sample of Polish immigrants (N = 66) in order to test whether our results could be generalised to other minority groups. Results supported the previous findings with international students. Finally, the discussion of this thesis focused on the importance of taking into account individual acculturation strategies in order to understand the relation between perceived discrimination, minority group identification, and well-being. We also focused on how the knowledge generated by this research may support international students.

This study examined the relationships among organizational identification,work-group identification and intent to leave of online volunteers in a nonprofit organization—OCEF. A total of 245 participants completed the online questionnaire. Consonant with previous research findings, organizational identification and work-group identification has positive relationships; however, the hypothesis that both organizational identification and work-group identification negatively predict intent to leave of online volunteers was not supported in the present study. Furthermore, the level of organizational identification and work-group identification of online volunteers were high, but did not have difference in this study.

SANTOS, Walberto Silva dos; GOUVEIA, Valdiney Veloso. Explicando comportamentos socialmente desviantes: uma análise do compromisso convencional e afiliação social. 2008. 288f. - Tese (Doutorado) - Universidade Federal da Paraíba / Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Programa de Doutorado Integrado em Psicologia Social. João Pessoa (PB), 2008. / Submitted by yan bruno (yanrich01@hotmail.com) on 2016-07-28T17:27:30Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2008_tese_wssantos.pdf: 1837104 bytes, checksum: a77056a6837691823875ca321b59ebfc (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Márcia Araújo (marcia_m_bezerra@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-08-18T11:54:19Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2008_tese_wssantos.pdf: 1837104 bytes, checksum: a77056a6837691823875ca321b59ebfc (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-18T11:54:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2008_tese_wssantos.pdf: 1837104 bytes, checksum: a77056a6837691823875ca321b59ebfc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / The present thesis examines to what extent normative social values, religious commitment, authoritative styles of parental socialization, and identification with conventional groups of reference inhibits (i.e., work as protective factors) socially deviant behaviors (antisocial and delictive). Specifically, the main objective was to test the contribution of these protective factors to explain deviant behaviors, proposing an integrative model denominated of conventional commitment and social affiliation. Four empirical studies were carried out. Study 1 tested the psychometric properties of four measures used. Participants were 317 young students with mean age of 16.6 years. They answered a survey questionnaire comprising seven parts, including the Questionnaire of Antisocial and Delictive Behaviors (QADB), the Religious Beliefs Scale, the Religious Practices Scale, the Identification with Groups of Reference Scale, and demographic questions. Results suggested the adequacy of (1) reducing the QADB, (2) the factorial structure of the scales of religious beliefs and practices, and (3) the enlargement of the Identification with Groups of Reference Scale. Study 2 developed an index of religious commitment, comprising multiple indicators to achieve validity, reliability, and parsimony. In this study, participated 194 subjects identified as students or belongs to two religious groups (Catholic or Protestant), with mean age of 18.4 years. Results supported the validity and reliability of the religious commitment index. Study 3 tested the main hypotheses of this thesis, providing the first attempt for proposing the theoretical model regarding conventional commitment and social affiliation. Participated in this study 528 primary school, high school and undergraduate students, with ages ranging from 10 to 22 years (M = 15.5), most of them female (63.1%). All the hypotheses were confirmed, supporting the proposition of an explanatory model of socially deviant behaviors. In this model, normative values, authoritative style of maternal socialization, religious commitment, and identification with conventional groups of reference formed a general factor (conventional commitment and social affiliation), which correlated negatively with antisocial behaviors. These behaviors were then positively correlated with delictive ones. Finally, Study 4 replicated the conventional commitment and social affiliation model in an independent sample, considering male and female participants separately. The questionnaire was administered to 378 participants, with mean age of 15.4 years (ranging from 10 to 22 years), most of them female (59%). The analyses demonstrated the adequacy of this model: χ² (9) = 14.48, p = 0.106, χ² / df = 1.61, GFI = 0.99, AGFI = 0.99, CFI = 0.98, and RMSEA = 0.040 (CI90% = 0.000-0.077). In conclusion, the objectives of the thesis were reached, supporting the theoretical framework of the conventional commitment and social affiliation model, which allows the identification of protective factors of socially deviant behaviors. Future studies are also proposed that seek to contribute for this area of interest. / A presente tese buscou conhecer em que medida os valores sociais normativos, o compromisso religioso, o estilo de socialização parental autoritativo e a identificação com grupos convencionais de referência atuam como inibidores (fatores de proteção) de comportamentos socialmente desviantes (anti-sociais e delitivos). Procurouse, especificamente, verificar a contribuição destes construtos para explicar tais comportamentos, identificando um modelo integrador denominado de compromisso convencional e afiliação social. Neste sentido, realizaram-se quatro estudos empíricos. O Estudo 1 teve como objetivo conhecer evidências de validade fatorial e consistência interna de quatro das medidas utilizadas. Participaram 317 pessoas com idade média de 16,6 anos. Estes responderam um caderno composto por sete partes, dentre as quais o Questionário de Comportamentos Anti-sociais e Delitivos (CAD), a Escala de Crenças Religiosas, a Escala de Práticas Religiosas e a Escala de Identificação com Grupos de Referência, além de perguntas demográficas. Os resultados sugeriram a pertinência de reduzir o CAD, indicaram a adequação da estrutura fatorial das escalas de crenças e práticas religiosas e permitiram ampliar a Escala de Identificação com Grupos de Referência. O Estudo 2 pretendeu desenvolver um índice de compromisso religioso, agrupando múltiplos indicadores que atendessem aos critérios de validade, precisão e parcimônia. Neste sentido, participaram 194 estudantes e dois grupos de religiosos (Católicos e Protestantes), cuja idade média foi de 18,4 anos. Os resultados evidenciaram a confiabilidade do índice e a pertinência de utilizá-lo como medida do compromisso religioso. O Estudo 3 testou as hipóteses principais desta tese, proporcionando as primeiras aproximações para a construção do modelo teórico referente à hipótese de compromisso convencional e afiliação social. Participaram 528 estudantes dos ensinos fundamental, médio e superior, com idades variando entre 10 e 22 anos (M = 15,5), a maioria do sexo feminino (63,1%). Todas as hipóteses foram corroboradas, permitindo propor um modelo explicativo dos comportamentos socialmente desviantes. Neste, os valores normativos, o estilo parental materno denominado como autoritativo, o compromisso religioso e a identificação com grupos convencionais de referência compuseram um fator geral (compromisso convencional e afiliação social), que se correlacionou negativamente com os comportamentos anti-sociais; estes, por sua vez, correlacionaram-se diretamente com os comportamentos delitivos. Finalmente, o Estudo 4 replicou este modelo de compromisso convencional e afiliação social, considerando uma amostra independente e tratando homens e mulheres separadamente. Participaram 378 pessoas com idade média de 15,4 anos (amplitude 10 a 22 anos), a maioria do sexo feminino (59%). As análises demonstraram a adequação deste modelo: χ² (9) = 14,48, p = 0,106, χ² / gl = 1,61, GFI = 0,99, AGFI = 0,99, CFI = 0,98 e RMSEA = 0,040 (IC90% = 0,000-0,077). Concluindo, os objetivos da presente tese foram alcançados, referendando o marco teórico do compromisso convencional e afiliação social que permite identificar fatores que inibem os comportamentos socialmente desviantes. Não obstante, propuseram-se estudos futuros que visem contribuir para esta área de interesse. / La presente tesis buscó conocer en qué medida los valores sociales normativos, el compromiso religioso, el estilo parental autoritativo y la identificación con grupos convencionales de referencia actúan como inhibidores (factores de protección) de las conductas socialmente desviantes (antisociales y delictivas). Se buscó, específicamente, comprobar la contribución de éstos constructos para explicar tales conductas, identificando un modelo integrador denominado compromiso convencional y afiliación social. En este sentido, se realizaron cuatro estudios empíricos. El Estudio 1 tuvo como objetivo conocer las propiedades psicométricas de cuatro de las medidas utilizadas. Participaron 317 personas con edad promedia de 16.6 años. Estos completaron un cuaderno compuesto por siete partes, entre las cuales estaban: el Cuestionario de Conductas Antisociales y Delictivas (CAD), la Escala de Creencias Religiosas, la Escala de Prácticas Religiosas y la Escala de Identificación con Grupos de Referencia, además de ítems para la caracterización de la muestra. Los resultados indicaron que es adecuado reducir el CAD, revelaron la adecuación de la estructura factorial de las escalas de creencias y prácticas religiosas, y permitieron ampliar la Escala de Identificación con Grupos de Referencia. El Estudio 2 pretendió desarrollar un índice de compromiso religioso, agregando múltiples indicadores que atendiesen a los criterios de validez, fiabilidad y parsimonia. En este sentido, participaron 194 estudiantes y personals de dos grupos religiosos (católicos y protestantes); éstos tenían una edad promedia de 18.4 años. Los resultados evidenciaron la confiabilidad del índice y la pertinencia de utilizarlo como medida de compromiso religioso. El Estudio 3 testeó las hipótesis principales de esta tesis, proporcionando las primeras aproximaciones para la construcción del modelo teórico referente a la hipótesis del compromiso convencional y afiliación social. Participaron 528 estudiantes, con edad promedia de 15.5 años, la mayoría mujeres (63.1%). Se comprobaron todas las hipótesis, permitiendo indicar un modelo explicativo de las conductas socialmente desviantes. En este estudio, los valores normativos, el estilo parental autoritativo de la madre y la identificación con grupos convencionales de referencia compusieron un factor general (compromiso convencional y afiliación social) que se correlacionó negativamente con las conductas antisociales; éstas, por su parte, se correlacionaron directamente con las delictivas. Finalmente, el Estudio 4 replicó el test del modelo de compromiso convencional y afiliación social con una muestra distinta de hombres y mujeres separadamente. Participaron de este estudio 378 personas con edad promedia de 15.4 años (rango de 10 a 22 años), la mayoría mujeres (59%). Los análisis comprobaron su adecuación: χ² (9) = 14.48, p = 0.106, χ² / gl = 1.61, GFI = 0.99, AGFI = 0.99, CFI = 0.98 y RMSEA = 0.040 (IC90% = 0.000-0.077). Concluyendo, los objetivos de la presente tesis fueron alcanzados, dando soporte al marco teórico del compromiso convencional y afiliación social que permite identificar factores que inhiben las conductas socialmente desviantes. No obstante, se han propuestas investigaciones futuras que contribuirán para este área de interés.

Au regard des problématiques sanitaires, économiques et environnementales liées à l'augmentation de la population âgée au cours des prochaines décennies, l'identification des déterminants du maintien ou de la dégradation de l'état de santé physique lors de l'avancée en âge représente un enjeu de santé publique majeur. Un consensus existe sur la relation entre les traits de personnalité définis par le Modèle en Cinq Facteurs (MCF, Digman, 1990), et la santé physique des seniors. Toutefois, peu de travaux ont identifié les processus sous-tendant cette relation. Sur la base d'un programme de recherche composé de cinq études, ce travail doctoral avait pour objectif de contribuer aux connaissances existantes, par l'identification d'un certain nombre de facteurs susceptibles de moduler et d'expliquer la contribution des traits de personnalité sur des indicateurs de santé physique lors de l'avancée en âge. Ce travail a permis la mise en évidence du rôle modérateur de l'âge chronologique dans la contribution de certains traits de personnalité, et principalement l'ouverture aux expériences, sur la santé perçue (étude 1), qui s'avère dépendant de l'état de santé objectif des individus (étude 2). De plus, la contribution de la personnalité sur des indicateurs de santé physique chez les seniors n'est pas activée par l'exposition aux stéréotypes liés à l'âge (étude 3). Par ailleurs, ce travail confirme la relation entre l'ouverture aux expériences et la tendance au rajeunissement, qui est reconnue comme étant un facteur de protection de l'état de santé lors de l'avancée en âge, et met en évidence le rôle médiateur d'une faible identification au groupe d'âge dans cette association (étude 4). Cette dissociation du groupe d'âge et le biais de rajeunissement associés à l'ouverture aux expériences semblent se manifester indépendamment du contexte et de l'environnement dans lequel la personne âgée évolue (étude 5). Ce travail doctoral permet donc un approfondissement des mécanismes qui sous-tendent la contribution des traits de personnalité sur la santé physique lors de l'avancée en âge, et contribue à une littérature relativement récente et en expansion insistant sur les implications de l'ouverture aux expériences pour la santé et le fonctionnement global des seniors. / Given the economic, environmental, and health issues related to the increasing number of people over 65 years in the coming decades, the identification of the factors associated with the maintenance or the degradation of physical health with advancing age is a major public health concern. Personality, as defined by the Five-Factors Model (FFM, Digman, 1990), is consistently associated with physical health in old age. However, few studies have focused on the underlying mechanisms of this relation. Based upon a five studies research program, the present doctoral dissertation aimed to contribute to current knowledge by identifying a number of factors which may modulate and explain the contribution of personality traits on markers of physical health with advancing age. This research revealed a moderating role of chronological age in the relation between personality, and openness to experiences in particular, and perceived health (study 1), which appeared to be dependent upon disease burden (study 2). Moreover, the contribution of personality on markers of physical health does not seem to be activated by the exposure to age-related stereotype (study 3). Finally, the present doctoral project confirmed the relation between openness to experience and a youthful subjective age, which is a recognized protective factor for physical health in old age, and identified the mediating role of age-group dissociation in this relationship (study 4). The tendencies to dissociate oneself from one's age group and to feel younger among open older people seem to be independent of the context and the environment (study 5). This doctoral dissertation contributes to an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms underlying the contribution of personality traits on physical health with advancing age, and adds to a growing body of research emphasizing the implications of openness to experience for global health and functioning of older people.

“Social integration” is a construct referred to in workgroup and organisational research, in particular in research focused on understanding workplace diversity. The present research examined how the social integration construct could be more clearly conceptualised and measured in the South African context. Guided by Hinkin’s (1998) scale development framework, the research seeks to contribute to the early stages of the development of a scale of social integration, suited for use in South African workplaces. Items were generated theoretically, leading to a final pool of 72 items. 620 usable responses were received from individuals employed in organisations in South Africa and this sample was randomly split into two samples of 310 participants each: a “calibration” and “validation” sample. On the calibration sample, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in order to examine emerging first- and higher-order latent variable structures. EFA led to the development of a first-order, seven-factor model. Exploratory extension analysis generated three possible higher-order latent variable structures. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), both the first- and higher-order models were fitted to the “validation” sample to test if the models generalised to a second sample drawn from the same population. Results indicated that the first-order model demonstrated an adequate fit, as well as two of the three higher-order models. The fit of these two higher-order models did not differ significantly. Post-hoc analyses determined that, while social integration can be considered a meaningful higherorder construct, the construct has theoretical rather than practical relevance for researchers. Responses to the proposed scale of social integration should be interpreted at the level of the identified first-order constructs rather than as a single scale representing the higher order, abstract social integration construct. The generalisability and contextual nature of the research findings, suggestions for future research, and the theoretical and practical limitations of the present research are discussed.

No description available.