Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [77]-82).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2003. / Advisor: Ellen Badone. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 255-276). Also available via World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University of Wellington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-68). 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:MR11830

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2003. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 155 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

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Thesis (M.A.)--Victoria University of Wellington, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-63).

It has become commonplace for interpreters to refer to Hebrews as a 'mysteiy,' or an 'enigma.' Indeed, many questions have remained unresolved. The aim of this thesis is to provide fresh answers to several questions by employing that branch of social psychology known as social identity theory. Who were the addressees? Relating the text to social identity theory, I conclude that the addressees categorised the world into two groups, 'us' and 'them.' They understood their group, 'us,' to be the 'faithful.' Similarly, they understood 'them' (a symbolic outgroup of 'all others'), to be the 'unfaithful.' How did the addressees understand the faithfulness of Jesus? Why did the author compare Jesus with Moses, Melchizedek, and others? Relating Hebrews to the theories of 'prototypicality' and 'shared life story,' I argue that the author described the faithfulness of Jesus as 'prototypical,' and that he portrayed all others in relation to Jesus. In addition, he integrated both Jesus and the addressees into an ongoing story of faithfulness. What is the meaning of the promised 'rest?' Utilising a model of 'present temporal orientation,' I conclude that the author described the 'antecedent' faithfulness of many 'witnesses' and the 'forthcoming' promised rest of the addressees. He also encouraged them to use 'foresight,' to 'consider their future, by looking to the past.' Finally, what was the purpose of the text? Social identity theorists explain that groups with a negative social identity have two broad options: 'social mobility' and 'social change.' I argue that the author provided internal constraints which were meant to prevent 'social mobility,' and utilised 'social creativity' (an aspect of 'social change') to provide a positive social identity for the addressees.

This thesis contends that the subjective meanings and value attached to money may, in part, be a function of identity-related norms and values. This proposed relationship between identity issues and monetary attitudes/behaviour is explored across a series of methodologically diverse studies. It is argued that psychological approaches to money, despite their efforts to the contrary, frequently concur with traditional economic models of human behaviour in so far as they rest on similarly static, de-contextualised notions of the self. The research described here aims to substitute these implicit assumptions about the nature of selfhood with a social psychological account of the 'self and thus with an explicit focus on subjective identification processes, ha doing so, the present approach draws on the Social Identity tradition. First, findings from an exploratory interview study illustrate a) that identity concerns are central for people's understandings of money, b) that the relationship between money and selfhood is dilemmatic, and c) that money meanings and usage relate to identity across different levels of abstractions (i.e. personal, social, human). Second, a series of experimental studies (based on predictions derived from the Social Identity model of the self) shows that attitudes towards money can vary as a function of both social identity salience and the comparative context in which a given identity is salient. The association between social identification, specific identity contents and monetary attitudes is also addressed. Finally, an exploration of the relationship between identity concerns and decision-making processes within a Prisoner's Dilemma-type setting indicates that identity and the social knowledge derived from it play a crucial role, not only with regard to how people attempt to meet their goals in this context but also in terms of how these goals are defined. The broader implication of these findings with regard to 'rational choice' models of human agency are discussed.