This study used in-depth interviews with members of Hip Hop culture nationwide currently entering adulthood; those between 21-30. Its purpose being to learn what they understand Hip Hop culture to be, what it means to them and their identity and how in contributes to assessment of its history, present and predictions about its future. The project yielded 25 interviews with participants sharing various, at times contradictory, views about what Hip Hop culture is, the current condition of the culture, and its future direction and the salience it has for their identities. This research extends the current literature on Hip Hop by suggesting that it has grown to be a multigenerational culture and furthermore, begins the process of understanding the dynamics of cultural understanding and transformation within Hip Hop while it is still a burgeoning culture.

The years following World War II symbolized a new beginning for the United States. While at the height of global power, Americans founds that they were able to experience a leisurely existence where items, desired instead of necessary, could be purchased by almost anyone. This increased prosperity, however, also caused a rise in the number of addicts that included not only the hard-core drug users, but "junkies" who were addicted to filling the emptiness within through the use of illegal drugs to television to sex in order to do so. This dissertation examines the phenomenon of the rise of addicts following World War II, using the literature of addiction in order to elucidate the reasoning behind this surge. Contemporary American authors formed a new genre of writing, "junkie literature," which chronicles the rise of addiction and juxtaposes questions of identity and the use of "junk." Burroughs's Junky and Trocchi's Cain's Book are among the first to represent the shift in the postwar years between earlier narratives of addiction and the rise of junkie literature through an erasure of previously held beliefs that addiction was the result of a moral vice rather than a disease. Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries, Ann Marlowe's How to Stop Time: Heroin from A to Z, and Linda Yablonsky's The Story of Junk continue this trend of semi-autobiographical writing in an effort to show the junkie's identity in society, as well as the way addiction mirrors capitalism and consumerism as a whole. Finally, Hubert Selby's Requiem for a Dream, Bret Easton Ellis's Less than Zero, and John Updike's Rabbit at Rest explore a different kind of junk addiction, focusing on the use of television, diet pills, sex, cocaine, and food to fill an ineffable void inside that the characters of the novels find themselves unable to articulate. Using Julia Kristeva's theory of abjection, as well as various socio-historical critics, this dissertation investigates the rise of addiction narratives in the postwar years, linking the questions of identity to consumerism in contemporary American culture.

This thesis examines the various factors that influence how children in Latino/non-Latino white households are racially and ethnically identified. The question of multiracial/ethnic identity has come to prominence following the changes made to the U.S. Census questionnaire beginning with the 2000 survey which allows the option of more than one racial identifier. However, little research has focused a group which must still grapple with the complications of identification, namely Latino/non-Latino families. Latino identity is considered to be an ethnic identification rather than a racial identification, with ethnic identification still allowing only one option on the census survey. Thus, these families still must struggle with the decision as to how to identify their children. In this study, I use the 2005-2007 3-year sample of the American Community Survey to examine how various family dynamics and contextual factors can help to explain what drives the decisions of parents on how to racially and ethnically identify their children. Specifically, I use both multinomial logistic regression and multilevel binomial logistic regression to predict the outcome of the child either being identified as Latino (white or other) or non-Latino (white or other). These models incorporate characteristics of the Latino parent and the non-Latino parent as well as the ethnic composition of the area in which the family lives. The findings of this study indicate that certain characteristics of the Latino parent are most influential in determining how the child is identified. The language that the Latino parent speaks in the home, the nativity status of the Latino parent, and the ethnic origin group of the Latino parent are all important factors which influence the decision behind how to identify the children in the family. If the Latino parent speaks Spanish in the home, is Mexican in comparison to other Latino groups, and is U.S.-born, the child is more likely to be identified as Latino. However, influencing factors behind multiracial/ethnic identity go beyond the household. The percent Latino in the area in which the family lives also leads to a Latino identification for the child.

This thesis will discuss the two popular issues recently, which are brand identity and experiential marketing. In addition, raising a strategic experiential model to examine if the case brand FU could effectively convey their brand identity. The purpose of this study were: (1) Figure out the brand identity of case brand FU. (2) Examining the five experiential modules within the all aspects of communication vehicles (3) Whether Case brand could actively deliver brand identity in the communication process. The research method of this research was held by in-depth interview with unstructured questionnaire to explore the incentives and attitudes of interviewees. According to the research findings, four propositions were shown: (1) Each brand identity element would convey through specific communication vehicles. (2) Experiential module mixes will be different in the following of all varied of conveyance medias. (3) Sense experiential module is the corner stone of the five experiential marketing modules. (4) To build firmly long-term brand-customer relationship, all the marketing medias should be integrated to convey the consistent message to the consumers. Future research should examine further the role of experiential marketing. In addition, the approach way from the brand image, on the counter part of the brand identity, should be continued in future studies.

Creating a sense of identity is constructed through communicative processes allowing us to participate in interpersonal relationships, and understand who we are. "Much of our emotional life is bound up with the way we narrate experiences..." (Kerby, 1991, p. 48). Because experiences are told from our own perspective, what we tell is significant. It reflects our feelings regarding a situation, and in the telling of the story, we reinterpret the way we understand our life and how we know ourselves. The purpose of this study is to examine the content and structure of the narratives contained within a diary, in order to learn how an individual interprets emotional experiences and constructs identities. It is a unique opportunity to explore how individuals can cope with ambiguity and uncertainty by constructing multiple identities to functionally enact within a variety of environments.

Television is something that is a part of the everyday lives of a majority of people in America. The content of what is on television can vary in nature from being positive to being negative. However, what people are exposed to through music videos, in particular, a very popular form of artistic expression, has not been thoroughly investigated. This study uses structural ritualization affect, gender schema theory, media and audience power theories, cultivation theory, agenda setting and framing theories, and (cognitive) social learning theory in order to investigate what people are actually exposed to by watching music videos, in particular, MTV, BET, and GAC.

Compared to other professions, women's representation in engineering professions is considerably lower than men's, and this particular situated-ness or locality makes women experience a unique process of identity construction. Using qualitative methods - two focus group meetings, nineteen autobiographical essays, and twenty two individual interviews, this research focuses on what women learn from their experiences in engineering school, and how they respond to their perceived experiences. This study proposes to delineate (a) the dynamic interaction between women and the social structure of engineering school; (b) women's perception and conceptualization of the social structure they practice; and (c) women's strategic responses to the structure leading to identity construction. Becoming an engineer is problematic for women because the identity of "engineer" is based upon hegemonic ideas developed by previous generations of engineers - men. This research explores how women, standing in the borderline of being women and being engineers, account and construct their identities as women engineers. Sometimes women are subtly or not subtly coerced; sometimes they embrace dominant ideas; sometimes they creatively resist dominant approaches.

Why do some citizens of the European Union feel indeed European and others do not? Although the officials of the European Union introduced many symbols and discourses of unity, empirical studies show that the development of a sense of belonging at the popular level is slow. This dissertation, by drawing upon the established social identity theories, takes the investigation back to basics. It develops a model consisting of the basic premises of the identity theories as well as factors deriving from national and individual contexts that condition individual experiences relating to the aforementioned premises. Rather than developing new theories, this work's contribution to the study of European identity is that the study presents as complete a model as possible based on the existing theoretical frameworks as a cross-sectional analysis. Doing so, it unifies the disconnected literature on the issue within a consistent theoretical logic and cross-validates the patterns found in 15 countries through a large N multivariate analysis based on the Eurobarometer 2000. Results yield that social identity theories are confirmed in the case of European identity except for external demarcation principle.

Research concerning New Taiwanese issue is focused on New Taiwanese students’ family environment, academic achievement, school life adaptability, behavioral development in the past years. Although New Taiwanese adolescents will be an emerging population, there has no research that looks specifically at the identity development during early adolescence. There is considerable literature on school life; however, no of it addresses New Taiwanese psychological development. This study, informed by Erikson’s (1959) model of psychosocial development and Marcia’s (1966) four statuses of identity, compared ego- identity development in New Taiwanese junior high students to local Taiwanese junior high students. The purpose in the present study was to provide an approach to the investigation of identity formation among local Taiwanese and New Taiwanese junior high students. The hypothesis of this study is that there are differences in ego- identity development between local Taiwanese and New Taiwanese junior high students. Variations in identity status will be measured by administering the EOM-EIS- 2 (Adams & Bennion, 1989) and a demographic survey to junior high students from three different schools in Xindian City, Taipei County. The study also utilized the qualitative approach method to provide a sound basis for analyzing respondents’ experience and/ or perspectives by Marcia’s Identity Status Interview (ISI). Identity scores and distributions were examined for 550 (422 local Taiwanese, 128 New Taiwanese) junior high students. Results indicated that the significant difference in Foreclosure Identity between New Taiwanese and local Taiwanese was observed with local Taiwanese scoring higher. Local Taiwanese may therefore be more inclined to adopt their parents’ commitments to religious and political beliefs, occupational preferences, and philosophical lifestyles. Results also indicated that New Taiwanese were founded to be significantly more ideological diffused than their local Taiwanese peers. The environment for New Taiwanese was more constricted and less likely to provide room for the adolescent’s exploration and have not made decision regarding. Additionally, the present study revealed that 52% of the sample (245 participants including 196 local Taiwanese and 49 New Taiwanese junior high students) fell into one of the four discrete identity status categories, with 56% of this group classified as either diffused or foreclosed. Within these two less sophisticated statuses, New Taiwanese less frequently fell into Identity Foreclosed than local Taiwanese but more frequently fell into Identity Diffusion than local Taiwanese. To gain in- depth information of participants’ experience and/ or perspectives, 43 (32 local Taiwanese, 11 New Taiwanese) of the 245 participants were also assessed using Marcia’s Identity Status Interview (ISI). Although this finding highlights the differences ego- identity development during early adolescence among local Taiwanese and New Taiwanese junior high students, most of the identity developmental outcomes were the same between the two groups. / Research concerning New Taiwanese issue is focused on New Taiwanese students’ family environment, academic achievement, school life adaptability, behavioral development in the past years. Although New Taiwanese adolescents will be an emerging population, there has no research that looks specifically at the identity development during early adolescence. There is considerable literature on school life; however, no of it addresses New Taiwanese psychological development. This study, informed by Erikson’s (1959) model of psychosocial development and Marcia’s (1966) four statuses of identity, compared ego- identity development in New Taiwanese junior high students to local Taiwanese junior high students. The purpose in the present study was to provide an approach to the investigation of identity formation among local Taiwanese and New Taiwanese junior high students. The hypothesis of this study is that there are differences in ego- identity development between local Taiwanese and New Taiwanese junior high students. Variations in identity status will be measured by administering the EOM-EIS- 2 (Adams & Bennion, 1989) and a demographic survey to junior high students from three different schools in Xindian City, Taipei County. The study also utilized the qualitative approach method to provide a sound basis for analyzing respondents’ experience and/ or perspectives by Marcia’s Identity Status Interview (ISI). Identity scores and distributions were examined for 550 (422 local Taiwanese, 128 New Taiwanese) junior high students. Results indicated that the significant difference in Foreclosure Identity between New Taiwanese and local Taiwanese was observed with local Taiwanese scoring higher. Local Taiwanese may therefore be more inclined to adopt their parents’ commitments to religious and political beliefs, occupational preferences, and philosophical lifestyles. Results also indicated that New Taiwanese were founded to be significantly more ideological diffused than their local Taiwanese peers. The environment for New Taiwanese was more constricted and less likely to provide room for the adolescent’s exploration and have not made decision regarding. Additionally, the present study revealed that 52% of the sample (245 participants including 196 local Taiwanese and 49 New Taiwanese junior high students) fell into one of the four discrete identity status categories, with 56% of this group classified as either diffused or foreclosed. Within these two less sophisticated statuses, New Taiwanese less frequently fell into Identity Foreclosed than local Taiwanese but more frequently fell into Identity Diffusion than local Taiwanese. To gain in- depth information of participants’ experience and/ or perspectives, 43 (32 local Taiwanese, 11 New Taiwanese) of the 245 participants were also assessed using Marcia’s Identity Status Interview (ISI). Although this finding highlights the differences ego- identity development during early adolescence among local Taiwanese and New Taiwanese junior high students, most of the identity developmental outcomes were the same between the two groups.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wyoming, 2007. / Adviser: Garth Massy. Includes bibliographical references.