Extensive research exists regarding invasive alien plant species including impacts to native ecosystems and efficacy of control methods on public lands and river corridors. Many studies have identified the need for more research regarding the social implications of invasive alien species management. More specifically, additional research is needed regarding the impacts of invasive alien plant management on the Colorado Plateau to river-based recreation experiences. It is important for public land management agencies like the National Park Service to understand recreation-based stakeholders’ knowledge, norms, and preferences toward managing prevalent alien plants like tamarisk. For this study, 330 river users were questioned about their knowledge of tamarisk and preferences for tamarisk management on the Green and Colorado River corridors of the Colorado Plateau. Results show that a majority of river users want tamarisk to be removed. The tamarisk control methods investigated in this thesis were also evaluated by respondents as acceptable. The methods evaluated to be the most acceptable were the cut-stump method and the use of tamarisk leaf beetle, while prescribed fire and the use of a machine to mulch tamarisk were found to be less acceptable. The use of chainsaws to perform the cut-stump method was found to be acceptable in both the Green and Colorado River corridors. This thesis concludes with a summary of findings and implications for land managers and future research.

Men’s underrepresentation in the female-dominated domains of healthcare, early education, and the domestic sphere, or HEED roles, remains a persistent problem despite the fact that such careers often afford more job security and wage growth than blue-collar work. A growing body of evidence suggests that their lack of participation in HEED roles is not merely due to a skills mismatch, but rather an identity mismatch. I hypothesized that using descriptive and injunctive norms to reframe a stereotypically feminine career as more compatible with manhood could effectively reduce this identity mismatch. More specifically, I predicted that using a dynamic descriptive norm framing that highlighted the growing number of men taking on a female-dominated career and an injunctive norm framing that highlighted its compatibility with men’s gender rules would increase men’s interest in the occupation. Furthermore, I believed that such framings would be particularly effective among men who are highly communal and those who do not strongly endorse traditional male role norms. To test my predictions, 342 men took part in an online study in which they were assigned to read a newspaper article about a HEED role, nursing, that was designed to manipulate the perceived prevalence of male nurses and the job’s compatibility with male gender rules. Then, they completed a variety of measures designed to assess their interest in and perceptions of nursing and other HEED careers. Minimal support was found for my hypotheses, and I discuss limitations and future directions to shed light on these null results.

The purpose of this study is to understand the experience of being a father first hand, as well as to understand how society creates expectations that influcenc their fatherhood. Fathers have expectations on how they should be in order to be a good father which, amongst other things, involves participation, gratulations and a good relationship to their child. Many times the mother is in the focus as it for many people comes most naturally to have it so. This does not always correspond well with the father’s wishes and can be cause for alienation. Fathers are today very keen to shape how they take on the role as a father and are by redrawing the boundries of fatherhood also reshaping much of masculinity and what it is to be a father. This study was made with five qualitive semi-structured interviews in Skövde, Sweden, with fathers who had a partner and had one or two children under five years of age. A thematic analysis method was used for the interviews which revealed two main themes: ”Participating fathers” and ”Fatherhood - a secondary parent”. The results showed that fathers wants to be a part of the family, not just to have one. It also showed that partners and society’s expectations effects father’s ability to create their own version of fatherhood. The study shows that even if fathers are willing to change the traditional role of fatherhood, they are not capable to do so because the role of notions of masculinity, in relation to fatherhood, is very entrenched in the norm of being a father from society. The conclusion is that there needs to be more open informational discussions with fathers and meeting groups for fathers to share their experience. Aslo, a wider understanding of the impact from the couple relationships and society regarding how fathers percieve themselves as individuals is needed.

Previous research has explored self-perception of weight and has established that women tend to overestimate their own weight while men tend to underestimate. New research has also begun to examine parental perceptions of their children's weight and has indicated that parents tend to be fairly inaccurate, particularly when it comes to recognizing overweight in their own children. No research has focused on the way in which we perceive the weight of the many other individuals we encounter on a daily basis. The present study was designed to investigate the way in which the weight of others is rated and the factors that affect the way in which these ratings are made. Undergraduate male (N = 140) and female (N = 193) students viewed a series of slides depicting male and female figures of varying levels of muscularity and adiposity. The race of the figures was also varied. Each figure was presented once in each racial category (Caucasian, Hispanic, and African American). Participants then filled out questionnaires assessing potential covariates: trait levels of body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, muscularity dissatisfaction, proximate social norms, appearance comparison, and social desirability. BMI was calculated from self-reported height and weight. The effects of target race, rater race, and rater gender on ratings were examined. Results indicated that the race of the figure affected the ratings given to the figure, though consistent patterns of influence were not identified. Males consistently rated the weight of the figures higher than females and African American raters consistently assigned lower weight ratings than did Caucasian raters. The analyses failed to identify consistent covariates of these effects. Results also provided tentative support for the hypothesis that, given two figures equal in adiposity, raters will provide a lower weight rating to the figure with more muscularity. Exploratory analyses also examined health and attractiveness ratings. The findings are discussed in the context of research on self-perception and the way in which the trends in perception of others differ from the trends seen in self-perception. Study limitations are discussed and possibilities for future research are offered.

The current study aimed to simultaneously examine cognitive, social and personality development in a cross-sectional sample of 3rd, 4th and 5th grade children to explore the interplay among these processes and how they relate to changes in children's understanding of alcohol. To replicate previous work, this study comprehensively examined relative increases in types of expectancies as a function of development. Results demonstrated that children in higher grades held more positive, negative and sedating expectancies of alcohol and positive alcohol expectancies increased more than negative alcohol expectancies. Improved performance on cognitive measures were associated with positive alcohol expectancy endorsement, indicating that children's ability to incorporate positive beliefs about alcohol, which are conflicting with information typically taught to children in this age range, may be related to their ability to form and articulate concepts with age. Among male participants, sensation seeking increased with age and was strongly associated with positive ideas about alcohol use, such as wanting to experiment with alcohol or planning to drink as an adult. Social influences on alcohol expectancies included exposure to drinking. When children's parents drank more, they had higher positive, negative and sedating alcohol expectancies, indicating that they had a greater understanding of all potential consequences of drinking, while children whose friends drank had higher positive but not other types of expectancies. Additionally, children who turned to adults for advice held increasing levels of negative and sedating alcohol expectancies across age, while children who sought support from their peers showed higher levels of positive and arousing expectancies across age groups. The interplay between cognitive development and risk factors such as social awareness of alcohol, source of social influence, and sensation seeking personality begins to demonstrate key relationships to alcohol expectancies in late childhood. These social and personality risk factors are likely to play an even greater role in early adolescence as children move to middle school and experience puberty. This study provides a basis for future elaboration of the roles these constructs play in an individual's ability to understand the multifaceted expectations that are held in our society about the effects of alcohol on human behavior.

This thesis examines the ways in which a small group of young Pākehā women use underwear to construct a range of complex gendered subjectivities. I explore how these subjectivities are influenced by both material and discursive spaces. Three underwear shops in Hamilton, New Zealand - Bendon Lingerie Outlet, Bras N Things and Farmers, and various visual representations depicting contemporary notions of normative femininity, are under investigation Feminist poststructuralist theories and methodologies provide the framework for this research. One focus group and three semi-structured interviews were conducted with young women who purchase and wear underwear. Participant observations of shoppers in Bendon Lingerie Outlet, Hamilton and autobiographical journal entries of my experiences as a retailer and consumer of underwear continued throughout the research. Advertising and promotional material in underwear shops and a DVD of a Victoria's Secret lingerie show are also examined. Three points frame the analysis. First, I argue that underwear consumption spaces are discursively constructed as feminine. The socio-political structures governing these spaces construct particular types of bodies. These bodies are positioned as either 'in' place or 'out' of place. Second, underwear shops can be understood as feminised, young and thin embodied spaces. Bodies that fit this description are hence positioned as 'in' place. However, female bodies that are 'fat' and/or old and male bodies are marginalised within the space and thus positioned as 'out' of place. Third, I consider particular forms of normative femininity by examining the ways in which underwear disciplines and contains the body. Women's underwear moulds and shapes flesh to fit contemporary feminine norms. Examining the specific relationship between the body, underwear and space provides a means to re-theorise geography and makes new ground for understanding how clothed bodies are constituted in and through space.

<p>The purpose with this essay was to examine how the European Union is working to</p><p>transfer norms to states they signed an agreement with and provide support for in</p><p>frame of the Barcelona process and the Tacis programme. The theory which we</p><p>used was Ian Manners (PhD in Political Science) theory of "the EU as a unique</p><p>normative power". The aim was to examine whether the EU - which Manners mean</p><p>- has had a normative power to influence states to change. We used a qualitative</p><p>approach through the use of a multiple case study and qualitative text and content</p><p>analysis. The States which formed the basis of our study were within the Barcelona</p><p>Process; Morocco and Tunisia as well as Azerbaijan and Armenia funded by the</p><p>Tacis programme. To this end, we were to answer the following questions: Can we</p><p>identify transfer of norms in the written bilateral agreements with these states, and</p><p>are there any normative demands? Can we on the basis of our study answer</p><p>whether the EU holds a normative power to influence these countries to change, in</p><p>accordance with the normative theory? The agreements that we studied was the</p><p>bilateral agreements that the EU signed with these States. In order to make</p><p>Manners five norms (peace, freedom, democracy, rule of law and human rights),</p><p>which he argues that EU is based on measurable; we used the Freedom House</p><p>freedom index, and also by a historical study the development of the country. The</p><p>results we found were the following; in all the studied bilateral agreements we</p><p>found clear - but to varying degrees - the transfer of norms. Although it differs in</p><p>degree of regulatory requirements and also in the formulation of how the country is</p><p>committed to abide by and comply with the normative requirements differ</p><p>according to the agreements, we can find the so-called "carrot and stick</p><p>relationship" that Manners believes that the EU use in the transfer of norms. Three</p><p>of the states that we investigated under the Freedom House freedom index did not</p><p>developed in a democratic way did, and the positive steps taken cannot be directly</p><p>traced back to the EU's efforts. It may also be due to other States or other forces</p><p>influence. We can’t, through our study confirm that Manners is right in these states</p><p>but we can’t either rule out the possibility that the EU through the written</p><p>agreements has changed the norms of the state in question, although progress</p><p>seems to go very slowly.</p>

<p>This master essay is about teenagers, alcohol and the preventing measures taken by the Swedish government. Consequences of the rising consumption of alcohol among adolescents and how to prevent dangerous alcohol consumption in the future is one of the most prioritized issues in the Swedish society today. Today there is no prevention that clearly shows any effect on teenager’s alcohol consumption and the education about the dangerous effect of alcohol is clearly not the same in schools around Sweden. To gain knowledge about how teenagers view their own consumption of alcohol we have used the Grounded Theory. This means that you collect all data from field studies. We have used questionnaire and group interviews with teenagers to collect data but we have also studied other researches about this topic. All information that we have gained from field studies generated more and more questions and theories that we try to enlighten in our research finding and then discuss in our analysis. To consume alcohol is dependent of culture; adolescents imitate adults when it comes to behavior, customs and the pattern of alcohol consumption. We can conclude that alcohol prevention needs to change focus since it is not working. Instead of only targeting teenagers the prevention program should also include adults. If you can influence adults, parents and other groups in society that may influence teenagers to change their attitude and behavior towards alcohol, then we can hope for a change in the attitude among adolescents.</p>

<p>Den svenska lagstiftningen lägger en stor del av ansvaret och kostnaderna för källsortering på hushållen trots att det inte finns några formella tvång. Den här uppsatsen bygger på en enkätundersökning som utförts på hushåll i Linköping och undersöker varför många hushåll frivilligt källsorterar och bidrar till den kollektiva nyttan miljön. Detta analyseras först utifrån individens ansvarskänsla för miljön, där syftet är att undersöka om detta kan fungera som en förklarande faktor till att individer källsorterar. För att få in ytterligare ett perspektiv på analysen beaktas även individens uppfattning om att han gör nytta när han källsortera, genom ett experiment där respondenterna får ta ställning till hur han förhåller sig till källsortering efter ny kritisk information.</p><p>Respondenternas uppfattning om att källsortering är miljövänligt verkar ha betydelse för deras motivation till att källsortera. Vidare kan ansvarskänslan och vilken information respondenterna har tillgång till mycket väl vara viktiga faktorer för deras källsortering, även om detta inte med säkerhet går att visa i undersökningen.</p> / <p>The Swedish legislation is placing a great deal of the responsibility and costs for recycling on the households in the society despite no formal coercion. This thesis is based on a survey of households in Linköping, Sweden, and are investigating why so many households are recycling, and thereby voluntarily are contributing to the public utility of environment. To start with this matter will be analysed with regard to the individual’s responsibility for the environment, where the purpose is to investigate if this may be an explanation to why individuals are recycling. To receive an additional perspective on the analysis the individual’s understanding that he does something good by recycling is also taken into consideration; this by an experiment where the respondents are showing how they relate to recycling after new critically information regarding this matter has been added.</p><p>The respondents’ understanding that recycling is good for the environment seems to be of some importance for their motivation to recycle. Further on may the feeling of responsibility for the environment and the information be important factors for their recycling, even though this can not be shown with certainty.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>Title: Correlation between the levels of education and conformity to traditional masculine norms</p><p>Authors: Larsson, M., & Ljungqvist, D. (2008)</p><p>Objective: This study is an attempt to explain correlations between the levels of education and conformity to traditional masculine norms. It is mainly based on the social construction of gender. Background: A high level of education is associated with a healthy living, and a high conformity to traditional masculine norms associated with harmful health behaviours. The background also presents different views of masculinity, the construction of gender and the construction of norms. It also reflects about the recruitment to higher education. Methods: A questionnaire with three diffrent variables: level of education, number of years working after last graduation and a total score of the 22-item Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory, CMNI, which measures eleven different norms. 51 questionnaires from one particular arena were filled in for this study. The participants were all male and could be divided into three groups, by level of education. Results: The findings indicate that the average CMNI-score tends to decline with a higher level of education. It also indicates that, even if there is a difference in the average CMNI-score between the groups, it tends to correlate over time. Discussion: The present study proposes in the discussion that the social background is linked with the level of education, and goes on with theories of the creation of norms early in life. Furthermore, it focuses on the social environment of the workplace and its influence on the men working there.</p>