University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of English

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2009. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-81).

Thesis (M.A.)--Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, 1999. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, page: 2775. Typescript. Abstract precedes thesis as preliminary leaf vi. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 27-29).

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Wheaton College, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 48-59).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Psychology, Human Development, August 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 1999. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-173). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ56194.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 139 p. Includes abstract.

Thesis (M.A.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 64 p. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-54).

The present research included gender in Person-by-Situation interaction models in the study of interpersonal behavior and affect. An event-contingent recording methodology was used to measure behavior and affect across situations and over time in natural settings for a 20-day period with adult community samples. Three dyadic situations of personal relationships that varied in gender composition and emotional closeness were examined: same-sex friendships, opposite-sex friendships, and romantic relationships. / Traditional investigations of gender, disregarding situational factors, have determined that women are generally less agentic, more communal, and more emotional than men. The present research demonstrated that the interpersonal behavior of agency and communion were influenced by both situation and gender. In same-sex friendships, women and men behaved consistently with their gender-stereotypes: pairs of women were more communal than pairs of men and pairs of men were more agentic than pairs of women. In mixed-sex dyads, individuals did not behave consistently with gender-stereotypes. Women and men behaved similarly on agency and communion with opposite-sex friends. In interactions with a romantic partner, women behaved less communally than men. Personal relationship situations were found to moderate agentic and communal behaviors, demonstrating the plasticity and variability of gender role behaviors. / Pleasant and unpleasant affect intensity was influenced by situation but not gender. The present research demonstrated that women and men reported experiencing similar levels of affect across the relationship situations. As predicted, individuals experienced both greater pleasant and unpleasant affect in romantic relationships than friendships. / The current research confirmed that there is a need to move beyond the conception that the stereotypic characteristics of men and women reside within individuals. Gender should be included in Person-by-Situation interaction models, taking into consideration psychological and social factors that shape the expression of sex-differentiated behaviors and the experience of emotions.

This thesis investigated the influence of mindset on the accuracy and bias of relationship evaluations. Because deliberation about important decisions is a time when people are more realistic and impartial in processing information about themselves and the world, a deliberative mindset was expected to increase the predictive accuracy of relationship appraisals compared to an implemental mindset. Four studies using different methodologies tested this hypothesis. In Study 1, relationship mindset assessed via content coding interacted with commitment in predicting the survival of the relationship 4 months later. In Study 2, mindset assessed via closed questions about academic goals interacted with explicit forecasts in predicting the survival of the relationship 9 months later. In studies 3 and 4, an experimental manipulation of mindset interacted with explicit forecasts or relationship assessments of relationship constructs in predicting relationship survival 6 months later. Overall, a deliberative mindset increased the accuracy of relationship predictions and the validity of relationship constructs in predicting the dissolution of a relationship compared to an implemental mindset. Importantly, deliberatives were not more pessimistic than were implementals; they were more realistic. Nonetheless, a deliberative mindset about an important goal in the relationship can be threatening. Previous work found that boosting perceptions of partner superiority is one way to cope with such threat (Gagne & Lydon, 2001, Study 1). Study 5 further showed that participants in a deliberative mindset boosted their perceptions of partner superiority only if they were sufficiently committed to their relationships. Those in an implemental mindset boosted their perceptions of partner superiority irrespective of their commitment level. In sum, a deliberative mindset about the relationship increases the accuracy of evaluations serving epistemic needs (i.e., relationship predictions) while n