Virtually all of the research on the ethnic identity development of children in intercountry adoption (ICA) has been on transracial adoptions (TRA). Little is known about the ethnic socialisation of internationally adopted children, raised in racially similar adoptive homes. Within the TRA literature, it has been found that transracially adopted children tend to ethnically identify with the white majority culture. That tendency has also been linked to adoptive parents' attitudes about the birth culture, and speculation that most parents are assimilating their children to the dominant culture. Research on TRA has also revealed that despite low ethnic identification, most adoptees score highly on indices of self-concept. In the present study, 162 New Zealand adoptive families of European descent, with children adopted predominately from Eastern Europe, were surveyed concerning their experiences and attitudes about the importance of their children's birth culture. Results from the surveys showed that the majority of families engaged in a range of cultural activities, and made efforts to socialise with people of their child's birth ethnicity. In addition, most of the adoptive parents expressed a desire that their children ethnically identify with the birth culture, as well as with the New Zealand culture. Almost all of the families researched the birth country before travelling to collect their children, and most parents kept part or all of their child's original name. A sub-sample of 52 of the adopted children was also interviewed in a second phase of the study. Measures of ethnic identity were obtained, using the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney, 1992), as were adjustment scores, using the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (Piers, 1984). Findings revealed that overall, the children had moderate identification with the birth culture, and moderate to high self-concept scores, which were not correlated with one another other. From the parent surveys, a scale was derived to assess the parent's sensitivity to culture. Known as the 'Cultural Sensitivity Measure' (CSM), this score was statistically compared to the children's ethnic identity scores, to test the assumption that the parents' attitudes about the birth culture would influence the children's ethnic identification with the birth culture. While the parents had moderate sensitivity scores, no relationship was found between the parents CSM scores and the children's MEIM scores. Overall, these findings suggest that the internationally adopted children in New Zealand are well adjusted, interested in their ethnic origins, and being parented by New Zealanders who support the children's interest in their birth culture. Future areas of research were identified, and recommendations to families, professionals and policymakers were offered.

Virtually all of the research on the ethnic identity development of children in intercountry adoption (ICA) has been on transracial adoptions (TRA). Little is known about the ethnic socialisation of internationally adopted children, raised in racially similar adoptive homes. Within the TRA literature, it has been found that transracially adopted children tend to ethnically identify with the white majority culture. That tendency has also been linked to adoptive parents' attitudes about the birth culture, and speculation that most parents are assimilating their children to the dominant culture. Research on TRA has also revealed that despite low ethnic identification, most adoptees score highly on indices of self-concept. In the present study, 162 New Zealand adoptive families of European descent, with children adopted predominately from Eastern Europe, were surveyed concerning their experiences and attitudes about the importance of their children's birth culture. Results from the surveys showed that the majority of families engaged in a range of cultural activities, and made efforts to socialise with people of their child's birth ethnicity. In addition, most of the adoptive parents expressed a desire that their children ethnically identify with the birth culture, as well as with the New Zealand culture. Almost all of the families researched the birth country before travelling to collect their children, and most parents kept part or all of their child's original name. A sub-sample of 52 of the adopted children was also interviewed in a second phase of the study. Measures of ethnic identity were obtained, using the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney, 1992), as were adjustment scores, using the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (Piers, 1984). Findings revealed that overall, the children had moderate identification with the birth culture, and moderate to high self-concept scores, which were not correlated with one another other. From the parent surveys, a scale was derived to assess the parent's sensitivity to culture. Known as the 'Cultural Sensitivity Measure' (CSM), this score was statistically compared to the children's ethnic identity scores, to test the assumption that the parents' attitudes about the birth culture would influence the children's ethnic identification with the birth culture. While the parents had moderate sensitivity scores, no relationship was found between the parents CSM scores and the children's MEIM scores. Overall, these findings suggest that the internationally adopted children in New Zealand are well adjusted, interested in their ethnic origins, and being parented by New Zealanders who support the children's interest in their birth culture. Future areas of research were identified, and recommendations to families, professionals and policymakers were offered.

Virtually all of the research on the ethnic identity development of children in intercountry adoption (ICA) has been on transracial adoptions (TRA). Little is known about the ethnic socialisation of internationally adopted children, raised in racially similar adoptive homes. Within the TRA literature, it has been found that transracially adopted children tend to ethnically identify with the white majority culture. That tendency has also been linked to adoptive parents' attitudes about the birth culture, and speculation that most parents are assimilating their children to the dominant culture. Research on TRA has also revealed that despite low ethnic identification, most adoptees score highly on indices of self-concept. In the present study, 162 New Zealand adoptive families of European descent, with children adopted predominately from Eastern Europe, were surveyed concerning their experiences and attitudes about the importance of their children's birth culture. Results from the surveys showed that the majority of families engaged in a range of cultural activities, and made efforts to socialise with people of their child's birth ethnicity. In addition, most of the adoptive parents expressed a desire that their children ethnically identify with the birth culture, as well as with the New Zealand culture. Almost all of the families researched the birth country before travelling to collect their children, and most parents kept part or all of their child's original name. A sub-sample of 52 of the adopted children was also interviewed in a second phase of the study. Measures of ethnic identity were obtained, using the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney, 1992), as were adjustment scores, using the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (Piers, 1984). Findings revealed that overall, the children had moderate identification with the birth culture, and moderate to high self-concept scores, which were not correlated with one another other. From the parent surveys, a scale was derived to assess the parent's sensitivity to culture. Known as the 'Cultural Sensitivity Measure' (CSM), this score was statistically compared to the children's ethnic identity scores, to test the assumption that the parents' attitudes about the birth culture would influence the children's ethnic identification with the birth culture. While the parents had moderate sensitivity scores, no relationship was found between the parents CSM scores and the children's MEIM scores. Overall, these findings suggest that the internationally adopted children in New Zealand are well adjusted, interested in their ethnic origins, and being parented by New Zealanders who support the children's interest in their birth culture. Future areas of research were identified, and recommendations to families, professionals and policymakers were offered.

Virtually all of the research on the ethnic identity development of children in intercountry adoption (ICA) has been on transracial adoptions (TRA). Little is known about the ethnic socialisation of internationally adopted children, raised in racially similar adoptive homes. Within the TRA literature, it has been found that transracially adopted children tend to ethnically identify with the white majority culture. That tendency has also been linked to adoptive parents' attitudes about the birth culture, and speculation that most parents are assimilating their children to the dominant culture. Research on TRA has also revealed that despite low ethnic identification, most adoptees score highly on indices of self-concept. In the present study, 162 New Zealand adoptive families of European descent, with children adopted predominately from Eastern Europe, were surveyed concerning their experiences and attitudes about the importance of their children's birth culture. Results from the surveys showed that the majority of families engaged in a range of cultural activities, and made efforts to socialise with people of their child's birth ethnicity. In addition, most of the adoptive parents expressed a desire that their children ethnically identify with the birth culture, as well as with the New Zealand culture. Almost all of the families researched the birth country before travelling to collect their children, and most parents kept part or all of their child's original name. A sub-sample of 52 of the adopted children was also interviewed in a second phase of the study. Measures of ethnic identity were obtained, using the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney, 1992), as were adjustment scores, using the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (Piers, 1984). Findings revealed that overall, the children had moderate identification with the birth culture, and moderate to high self-concept scores, which were not correlated with one another other. From the parent surveys, a scale was derived to assess the parent's sensitivity to culture. Known as the 'Cultural Sensitivity Measure' (CSM), this score was statistically compared to the children's ethnic identity scores, to test the assumption that the parents' attitudes about the birth culture would influence the children's ethnic identification with the birth culture. While the parents had moderate sensitivity scores, no relationship was found between the parents CSM scores and the children's MEIM scores. Overall, these findings suggest that the internationally adopted children in New Zealand are well adjusted, interested in their ethnic origins, and being parented by New Zealanders who support the children's interest in their birth culture. Future areas of research were identified, and recommendations to families, professionals and policymakers were offered.

Virtually all of the research on the ethnic identity development of children in intercountry adoption (ICA) has been on transracial adoptions (TRA). Little is known about the ethnic socialisation of internationally adopted children, raised in racially similar adoptive homes. Within the TRA literature, it has been found that transracially adopted children tend to ethnically identify with the white majority culture. That tendency has also been linked to adoptive parents' attitudes about the birth culture, and speculation that most parents are assimilating their children to the dominant culture. Research on TRA has also revealed that despite low ethnic identification, most adoptees score highly on indices of self-concept. In the present study, 162 New Zealand adoptive families of European descent, with children adopted predominately from Eastern Europe, were surveyed concerning their experiences and attitudes about the importance of their children's birth culture. Results from the surveys showed that the majority of families engaged in a range of cultural activities, and made efforts to socialise with people of their child's birth ethnicity. In addition, most of the adoptive parents expressed a desire that their children ethnically identify with the birth culture, as well as with the New Zealand culture. Almost all of the families researched the birth country before travelling to collect their children, and most parents kept part or all of their child's original name. A sub-sample of 52 of the adopted children was also interviewed in a second phase of the study. Measures of ethnic identity were obtained, using the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (Phinney, 1992), as were adjustment scores, using the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (Piers, 1984). Findings revealed that overall, the children had moderate identification with the birth culture, and moderate to high self-concept scores, which were not correlated with one another other. From the parent surveys, a scale was derived to assess the parent's sensitivity to culture. Known as the 'Cultural Sensitivity Measure' (CSM), this score was statistically compared to the children's ethnic identity scores, to test the assumption that the parents' attitudes about the birth culture would influence the children's ethnic identification with the birth culture. While the parents had moderate sensitivity scores, no relationship was found between the parents CSM scores and the children's MEIM scores. Overall, these findings suggest that the internationally adopted children in New Zealand are well adjusted, interested in their ethnic origins, and being parented by New Zealanders who support the children's interest in their birth culture. Future areas of research were identified, and recommendations to families, professionals and policymakers were offered.

Master of Science / Department of Psychology / Mark A. Barnett / The term “moral rebel” describes an individual who refuses to comply, remain silent, or conform to others when doing so would compromise his or her values. Although researchers have identified individuals whose moral judgments reflect an adherence to “individual principles and conscience,” little attention has been given to the assessment, correlates, and perceptions of individuals who follow their own moral convictions despite considerable social pressure not to do so. The present study examined (1) the extent to which adolescents, peers, and teachers agree in their ratings of adolescents’ tendencies to be a moral rebel, (2) some characteristics potentially associated with differences in adolescents’ tendencies to be a moral rebel, and (3) the extent to which adolescents’ attitudes toward a moral rebel (vs. a non-moral rebel) are influenced by their own level of “moral rebelness” (as assessed by self, peers, and teachers). Results revealed significant positive correlations among all of the self-report, peer, and teacher ratings of moral rebelness for the entire sample (and for male and female participants considered separately). Contrary to predictions, self-report, peer and teacher ratings of adolescents’ moral rebelness were not robustly associated with any individual difference variable. Generally, adolescents reported relatively favorable attitudes toward a moral rebel (compared to a non-moral rebel), especially when they themselves had heightened ratings on this characteristic. The implications and limitations of the present findings, as well as directions for future research on the topic of moral rebelness in adolescents, are addressed.

Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Bronwyn S. Fees / Research has determined three main pathways or orientations to happiness: Meaning, Pleasure, and Engagement (Peterson, Park, & Seligman, 2005). Each has shown to have a substantial impact on an individual's satisfaction with life. These orientations to happiness and their impact on life satisfaction were investigated among 342 emerging adults between the ages of 18-25 attending college. Linear multiple regression was conducted to assess the relationship between Life satisfaction and the three orientations of happiness after identifying the variance explained by demographics factors and personality traits. Results indicated first that each orientation to happiness was empirically distinguishable and related among the emerging adult population. Secondly, both Meaning and Pleasure were significant predictors of Life Satisfaction beyond the variance explained by personality; however, Engagement was not. Congruent with previous personality studies (Lykken & Tellegen, 1996; Lynn & Steel, 2006), life satisfaction was positively correlated with extraversion and negatively correlated with neuroticism. These findings indicate a need to understand how happiness and life satisfaction are filtered through a cultural, developmental, and academic lens. Further studies are necessary to determine the attitudes and behaviors in other countries, other life stages, and emerging adults not attending college.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Ann Murray / As the number of adoptable infants within the U.S. has declined, many families have chosen to adopt internationally. According to the U.S. Department of State, for the 2002 fiscal year 19,139 immigrant visas were issued to orphans coming into the U.S. A majority of these adopted children came from China, South Korea, Romania and Russia. Previous studies have found attachment problems in some adopted populations in early childhood. However, a majority of studies have focused on other problem areas for older adopted children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors associated with attachment in children adopted from these four countries in early childhood. All of the agencies within the U.S. that provided adoption services to these four countries were contacted through letters describing the study. The agencies that agreed to participate contacted potential participants directly through a form letter describing the study and that contained a website address for them to visit. At this website address, the potential participants were asked to fill out a survey regarding their adoption experience. A total of 242 families who had adopted children who were currently between one and six years of age agreed to participate in the study. Results indicated that secure attachments with their adoptive families were more likely in instances where the parenting style was authoritative, there was a positive emotional reaction from the parents on the day of adoption, the parents received strong social support, there were fewer health/developmental problems at arrival for the adopted child, there were fewer health/developmental services needed for the adopted child, the child spent more months in the adoptive home at the time of the survey and the parent spent more time with child before returning to work. Also, results indicated that adopted children displayed more indiscriminately friendly behavior the more months spent in the adoptive home at the time of the survey and the more time the child spent in the institution. The findings of this study support and extend previous research done on this topic while simultaneously opening up new avenues for international adoption research to explore. The findings of this study also provide useful information for adoption agencies to incorporate in their training of social workers and informing parents of the factors associated with developing secure attachments with their internationally adopted children.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / Mark A. Barnett / When adolescents are the subjects of developmental research into prosocial behaviors, the evidence suggests that both peers and parents are contributors to adolescents’ helping behavior. However, these two predictors are rarely studied concurrently. The present study explored the relative influence of parents and peers on (1) different types of adolescent helping (i.e., planned and spontaneous) and (2) different targets of spontaneous helping (i.e., friends, non-friends, and strangers) in 51 early (mean age = 12.54 years, 24 boys and 27 girls) and 57 middle (mean age = 16.82 years, 25 boys and 32 girls) adolescents. Adolescents and their parents completed parallel forms asking them to describe their planned helping as well as a questionnaire assessing past and anticipated future spontaneous helping of friends, strangers, and (for adolescents only) non-friends. Adolescents also reported their perception of their friendship group’s norm of helping as well as their level of identification with their friendship group. There was no clear age-related helping pattern, though a sex difference (females were generally more helpful than males) and an effect of target (friends were helped more than non-friends, who were in turn helped more than strangers) found in the adolescents was paralleled in the adults. Fathers’ planned helping was generally more strongly related to their adolescents’ planned helping than was mothers’ planned helping, though both mothers’ and fathers’ spontaneous helping of friends and family (though not of strangers) was strongly associated with their adolescents’ spontaneous helping. In contrast to parental variables’ relationship with both adolescent planned and spontaneous helping, peer variables were more consistently related to spontaneous than planned helping. Implications of the present findings, and proposed directions for future research, are discussed.

Master of Science / Department of Computing and Information Sciences / David A. Gustafson / The use of hidden Markov models in autism recognition and analysis is investigated. More specifically, we would like to be able to determine a person's level of autism (AS, HFA, MFA, LFA) using hidden Markov models trained on observations taken from a subject's behavior in an experiment. A preliminary model is described that includes the three mental states self-absorbed, attentive, and join-attentive. Futhermore, observations are included that are more or less indicative of each of these states. Two experiments are described, the first on a single subject and the second on two subjects. Data was collected from one individual in the second experiment and observations were prepared for input to hidden Markov models and the resulting hidden Markov models were studied. Several questions subsequently arose and tests, written in Java using the JaHMM hidden Markov model tool- kit, were conducted to learn more about the hidden Markov models being used as autism recognizers and the training algorithms being used to train them. The tests are described along with the corresponding results and implications. Finally, suggestions are made for future work. It turns out that we aren't yet able to produce hidden Markov models that are indicative of a persons level of autism and the problems encountered are discussed and the suggested future work is intended to further investigate the use of hidden Markov models in autism recognition.