This study investigates ethical argumentation in Perelman and Gadamer to claim that the central theoretical framework in each philosophy simultaneously inflects and deflects available avenues of persuasion. I argue in each system there is a “confused notion” whose ambiguity underpins the available methods of rhetorical argument. For Perelman, the confused notion of the universal audience and its relationship to epideictic rhetoric determines the form of ethical persuasion that requires consensus in order to incite action for justice. For Gadamer, the confused notion of Vorurteil (prejudice, or fore- judgment) is used to critique tradition, Enlightenment reason, and historical hermeneutics. This mode of ethical argument suggests that open dialogue with an other is the best means for addressing prejudice in order to reach mutual understanding. I argue that by placing these two approaches to ethical argument into critical dialogue, their respective capacities, limitations, and distinctive rhetorical outcomes can be more clearly apprehended. / 10000-01-01

Drawing upon intergroup contact theory (Allport, 1954; Pettigrew 1998) and the emerging literature on intergroup climate (e.g., Christ et al., 2013, 2014), I utilised various antipathetic intergroup relationships (e.g., Black people vs. White people; non-Muslims vs. Muslims), and various models of contact (e.g., Pettigrew, 1998; Koschate & van Dick, 2011) to test whether the effect of higher quality contact on less prejudice was facilitated by perceptions of a more positive intergroup climate. Results supported Allport’s (1954) classic model of four contact conditions independently predicting prejudice, although the conditions of ‘equal status’, ‘goal interdependence’, and ‘cooperation’ loaded strongly onto a separate factor than did ‘authority support’. Intergroup climate was successfully modelled as perceptions of intergroup norms, ingroup norms, and sociohistoric norms; further, there was some indication that beliefs regarding authority – traditionally considered a contact condition – might also impact intergroup climate in the form of macro authority norms. Results further supported the position that individuals are sensitive to intergroup climate, perceptions of which exhibited a separate – and stronger – effect on outgroup attitudes than did quality of personal contact. Regarding the proposed moderating effect of intergroup climate on contact effects, results were equivocal across studies. Some results supported the prediction of a facilitating effect of warmer ingroup norms on stronger contact effects. However, analyses of cross-sectional data revealed some evidence for an inhibitory effect, such that more negative (vs. positive) perceptions of intergroup climate were associated with a stronger relation between higher quality contact and warmer outgroup attitudes. Therefore, some aspects of intergroup contact might be most effective in negative intergroup climates. Theoretical and practical implications for contact researchers, prejudice researchers, and practitioners, are discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychological Sciences / Mark A. Barnett / In the current study, 141 White third- and fourth-grade children were asked to provide their attitudes, feelings, and behaviors toward White, Black, and Hispanic peers several days before and after being read a personalized or non-personalized storybook that depicted the children, themselves (personalized) or an unfamiliar White character (non-personalized), in a cross- or same-race friendship with a target Black (cross-race) or White (same-race) storybook character. Further, children were asked to provide their attitudes, feelings, and behaviors toward the target Black or White storybook character immediately before and after being read the storybook, and report how much they felt imaginatively transported into the narrative of the story after being read the storybook. In general, and consistent with Harwood’s (2010) two-dimensional framework of contact space, it was predicted that a personalized storybook that depicted the children, themselves, in a cross-race friendship with a Black storybook character would be more effective than a non-personalized version of the storybook at improving their ratings of the Black storybook character as well as their attitudes, feelings, and behaviors toward the Black and Hispanic peers. Although analyses of the data yielded several interesting findings, no support was found for the main predictions involving the potential impact of a personalized storybook on White children's ratings of the Black storybook character, Black peers, and Hispanic peers. In fact, the only significant effect of the personalization of the storybook that merits attention involved the children’s imaginative transportation into the cross-race friendship story. Specifically, and consistent with prediction, children in the cross-race friendship storybook condition reported feeling more imaginatively transported into the narrative of the storybook when it was personalized than when it was not personalized. In sum, although personalization was indeed “powerful” in elevating White children’s imaginative transportation into a storybook that depicted a cross-race friendship, it was not powerful enough to influence their attitudes, feelings, and behaviors toward the Black storybook character, the Black peers, or the Hispanic peers. The implications and limitations of the present study, as well as directions for future research, are addressed.

Stereotyper påverkar människors attityder och förväntningar. Människor identifierar sig lättare med personer av sitt eget kön. Chefsstereotypen gör det svårare för kvinnor att avancera. Vinjettstudien undersökte, i en neutral organisationskontext, om den kvinnliga chefens ledaregenskaper bedömdes sämre än den manliga vid misstag. Chefens kön och chefens agerande manipulerades för att upptäcka attityder. MellangruppsANOVOR testade Deltagarens kön x Chefens kön x Chefens agerande mot beroendevariablerna som var könsstereotypa egenskaper som manipulativ, omhändertagande, demokratisk och förebild. Sex items behandlades också i övriga resultat. I det tillgängliga urvalet fanns 269 deltagare, 148 var kvinnor. Deltagarens kön hade fler effekter där männen uppfattade chefen som mer demokratisk och bättre förebild än kvinnorna. Ingen statistisk skillnad avseende chefens kön beroende på misstag fanns. Männen hade lättare att relatera till chefsstereotypen än kvinnorna. Slutsatsen är att deltagarens kön har större påverkan hur chefens ledaregenskaper bedöms vid misstag än chefens egna kön.

This thesis is a multilevel analysis of relationships between religion, intolerance towards ethnic out-groups and homophobia across 47 European countries based on European Values Study data (EVS 2010, wave 4). The analysis accounts for associations between the religiosity of individuals and their likelihood of being disinclined to accept people of a different race, immigrants and homosexuals as neighbours, or to accept homosexual behaviour as justifiable. Secondly, relationships between religious and socio-economic national contexts on the two forms of intolerance are studied. Religion is conceptualised as a three-dimensional phenomenon, thus a distinction is made between believing, belonging and religious practice. The main research question motivating the individual-level analysis is: To what extent is religion in Europe associated with intolerance towards ethnic out-groups and homosexuals? The research question of the contextual analysis is: How do the national religious, socio-economic and political contexts citizens live in matter for their tolerance towards out-groups? The key results of the analyses can be summarised as follows: religion is significantly related to both ethnic intolerance and homophobia. Believing in a Higher Power was found to be strongly negatively and fundamentalism strongly positively related to ethnic intolerance in most countries. Religious devoutness and observance, on the other hand, are positively related to ethnic intolerance only in a minority of mostly South-Eastern European countries. All of them have legacies of ethno-religious conflict, poverty and political instability. High religiosity, alongside poverty, nationalism and right-wing authoritarianism are strong predictors of ethnic prejudice in these contexts. In most of Europe, however, neither religious belonging nor religious practice is statistically significantly related to ethnic intolerance. Regarding homophobia, strong positive relationships with all three dimensions of religiosity were found. Contrary to the author’s expectation, religion matters most for the citizens’ dislike of homosexuals in Western European countries where the overall levels of homophobia are comparatively low. In large parts of post-communist Eastern Europe homophobia appears to have a secular face. The finding surprises, given the frequent utilisations of Orthodox and Catholic Christian symbolism that could be observed at public protests against eastern European gay pride parades of the last couple of years. Plausible explanations are explored alongside modernisation- and identity theory: religion has less impact on homophobic attitudes in societies where homophobia is generally more socially acceptable, while in highly modernised Western societies, where liberal values and a general acceptance of homosexuality are prevalent, religious fundamentalism appears to be strongly associated with anti-modern and traditionalistic identities that are exclusive towards out-groups.

The purpose of the present study is to measure the amount of liberality of college students, freshman through graduate, in the schools of psychology and business administration at North Texas State University, toward the Negro. This purpose was accomplished through the use of a variation of the semantic differential which was developed by C. E. Osgood to measure the meaning of various concepts.

Thesis (M. A. (Clinical Psychology)) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / A qualitative study was conducted to investigate challenges faced by gay and lesbian students at the University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus). Semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. Purposive sampling (snowball sampling) was used to find participants for focus groups. Data were analysed using Thematic Content Analysis (TCA). The results of this study gave an insight into challenges faced by lesbian and gay students at the University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus). It also indicated the impact of these challenges on their psychological, emotional and academic functioning. Results indicate that gay and lesbian students face a multitude of problems on campus environment which includes among other things bullying, discrimination, victimisation, abuse, academic disruption and derogatory remarks from their peers (heterosexual students) and staff members. KEYWORDS: Homophobia, LGBTI, Discrimination, Prejudice, sexuality.

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abstract: This thesis project explores the nature of power dynamics in the dialogue of video gamers within designated online forums of discussion. Previous scholarly work has noted the lack of diverse representation and tolerance in the gaming community, despite statistics revealing that the video game community is not as homogeneous as it is often represented. Specifically, the prominent literature analyzing gaming culture focuses on poor representations of gender within video games and the gaming community itself, including sexualized and objectified depictions of women as well as prejudice toward women as members of the gaming community. More recent entries to the field of research draws attention to the experiences of other marginalized communities in gaming. This thesis, then, begs the question – what power dynamics emerge in the dialogue of people who consider themselves to be gamers? How are concepts of social identity expressed or constructed in communication, and what reinforces and legitimizes these relationships? This project will review a foundation of literature structuring the framework of this project, propose methodology for data collection and analysis, and explore themes discovered within the data analysis, which support or negate existing research and give insight to the proposed research questions. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Communication Studies 2020