Traditional models of conversation treat the participants as autonomous; ideally, speakers convey information to listeners in alternating turns. In contrast, the more recent collaborative model emphasizes moment-by-moment collaboration between participants in dialogue (Clark, 1996). Two computer-mediated communication (CMC) experiments tested these models by questioning the utility of strict turn exchanges (a central feature of autonomous models) versus more flexible moment-by-moment collaboration (a central feature of Clark’s model). A novel feature of these experiments was the development of three new process measures that are relevant to the autonomous versus collaborative comparison. Conversational coherence was a quantitative measure of the adjacency of all semantically related utterances, that is, how well the conversation maintained an orderly sequence of topics. Collaborative topic development was a quantitative measure of how much participants built on one another’s ideas (versus contributing independently on separate topics). That is, to what degree did the conversations take the form of loosely related alternating monologues versus an integrated dialogue? The third measure assessed the contributions of listeners. Each process measure required detailed analysis of all messages in each conversation. Experiment 1 compared three CMC formats, ranging from highly autonomous to highly collaborative: IRC (Internet Relay Chat), in which participants compose and send messages independently; ICQ (I-Seek-You) with an imposed turn marker; and ICQ-free with no turn rules. Sixty University of Victoria students in 30 unacquainted dyads completed a brainstorming and a joint recall task in one randomly assigned condition. As predicted by the collaborative model, all dependent measures confirmed that the ICQ-free format was significantly superior to the IRC and ICQ-turn maker conditions. That is, the format without an imposed turn structure produced more coherent, more collaborative conversations, with higher performance scores and better task efficiency. Qualitative analysis revealed that, in the absence of familiar turn cues, the ICQ-free dyads used timing and text space to manage their interaction, which often did not involve strict turn taking. Experiment 2 was a replication and extension with two new communication conditions, a new measure of listener responses, and the use of three-person groups. In a within-subjects design, participants completed two tasks in a face-to-face (FTF) condition, the previous IRC condition, and an electronic bulletin board (BB) condition, which also imposed turn taking. These three conditions varied in the degree of reciprocity possible, with FTF permitting the maximum and fastest reciprocal interaction and BB the least and slowest. Twenty-seven University of Victoria students formed nine randomly assigned, unacquainted triads. Together, each triad completed a brainstorming task and a debating task with different topics in each condition. The results again showed that flexible moment-by-moment interaction was superior to the two formats that enforced turn taking. The FTF conversations were more coherent, with more collaborative topic development. Also, the rate of listener responses was significantly higher, indicating a higher rate of feedback to speakers, and the number of words used per turn was lower, suggesting more rapid turn-around (i.e., finer granularity). In sum, the FTF participants tightly intertwined their contributions to ensure understanding, maintain coherence, and develop their joint topics. Taken together, the results clearly support a collaborative model of conversation and raise new questions about the functional utility of strict turn taking. In both process and performance measures, the conditions that maximized collaboration were superior to those that favoured autonomous individual action. At the practical level, these results should inform the design of mediated communication systems by identifying the affordances that may help or hinder online interaction.

Three studies tested two hypotheses stemming from Gifford's (2004) social evaluation theory (SET) using Kenny's (1994) social relations model. SET proposes that others are judged as potential need satisfiers (e.g., perceived as potential friends, bosses, mentors, etc.). The first hypothesis proposes that others will be perceived as enemies and opponents in non-optimal social situations. The second hypothesis proposes that social success will be positively correlated with judgmental accuracy. Participants responded to a variety of personality questionnaires, which included the Ten-Item Personality Inventory (Gosling, Rentfrow, & Swann, 2003), the Big Five (IPIP, 2005), the sub-scale measuring satisfaction with social life taken from the Extended Satisfaction with Life Scale (Alfonso, Allison, Rader, & Gorman, 1996), Positive Relations with Others Scale (Ryff & Keyes, 1995), and the Need to Evaluate Scale (Jarvis & Petty, 1996), and then worked in a round-robin fashion on either a competitive or cooperative task. Participants then rated one another on dimensions of personality and needs assessment satisfiers (e.g., whether they and others felt like friends, bosses, mentors, etc.). Distributions of rating variances differed depending on whether participants were rating needs or personality

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-86). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 120 p.; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-120). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-123). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11786

This thesis studied the nature and consequences of close intergroup contact in Nigeria. Chapter 1 provides a background to intergroup relations between the ethno-religious groups in Nigeria. Chapter 2 provides an introduction to the theoretical framework, which is the intergroup contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954), with special emphasis on the role of friendship in intergroup contact research. The chapter addresses the possibility that negative intergroup contact exacerbates prejudice and outlines the role of indirect forms of intergroup contact, namely extended contact (Wright, Aron, McLaughlin-Volpe, & Ropp, 1997), vicarious contact (Mazziotta, Mummendey, & Wright, 2011), and imagined contact (Crisp & Turner, 2009) in prejudice reduction. Indirect forms of contact have been suggested as alternatives to direct contact, if no or only limited direct contact opportunities are available. All empirical studies in this thesis were conducted in south-west Nigeria with respondents who belong to the Yoruba majority group. The target groups were Hausas, Edos, and Igbos (minority groups in the area). Chapter 3 consists of two repeated measure studies (Studies 1 and 2) which compare the quality of in-group (Yoruba and Yoruba) and cross-group (Yoruba and Igbo) friendships. The findings showed that, provided the duration of friendship is controlled for, cross-group friendships are rated as largely similar in quality and closeness to in-group friendships, fulfilling key functions of friendship. Chapter 4 consists of two cross-sectional studies (Studies 3 and 4) which tested the secondary transfer effects from direct and extended cross-group friendships. The findings showed that direct and extended cross-group friendship with Igbos was associated with more favourable attitudes towards Hausas. The studies showed for the first time that extended cross-group friendship yields secondary transfer effects. Chapter 5 focuses on the effects of positive and negative intergroup contact with Igbos on out-group attitudes (Study 5). It was shown that negative intergroup contact had an effect on attitudes over and above the effect of positive contact. As expected, positive contact with Igbos was associated with more favourable attitudes towards Igbos, and negative contact with Igbos was associated with less favourable attitudes towards Igbos. Additionally, Study 5 showed secondary transfer effects of negative intergroup contact. Chapter 6 contains a multilevel-study (Study 6) which explores the effects of roommate diversity (i.e., having at least one Igbo roommate) on out-group attitudes. Roommate diversity was linked to more positive attitudes towards Igbos, the roommate’s ethnic group. Moreover, it was shown that contact with Igbos was associated with more positive attitudes towards Edos and Hausas on the within-level. On the between-level roommate diversity was associated with more positive attitudes towards Egos. Chapter 7 summarizes the key findings of the studies and discusses theoretical and practical implications of the research.

African-American students commonly experience many personal difficulties while attending predominantly Caucasian universities. According to the literature, these students often report feelings of isolation and alienation, and have comparatively high attrition rates, even when compared with members of other minority groups. Researchers have found that for African-American students, the experience of affiliation counters feelings of isolation. Participation in athletics is one way for students to feel that they are important members of the university community. This study was a qualitative investigation of small samples of African-American and Caucasian athletes and nonathletes at a large, public, predominantly Caucasian university. Particular attention was paid to African-American students and the relationship between athletic participation and feelings of affiliation within the university community. Students participated in a semi-structured interview, completed The Participation Motivation Questionnaire, The Collective Self-Esteem Survey, and the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, and responded to selected stimuli from the T.A.T and R.A.T.C. For all of the athletically involved individuals in this study, regardless of race, athletic participation has been important throughout life. These students view their childhood athletic involvement as having provided a valuable and enjoyable learning experience in which they increased their self-awareness and self-confidence, and in which they developed and used skills in cooperation and competition. At the university, students of both races acquired valuable skills and insight that they believed would be useful in their lives after college. For African-American students who experienced feelings of alienation at the university, athletics gave them a peer group in which they could feel safe and accepted. Several of the African-American students spoke about negative experiences before college associated with their being visibly distinct from the majority. Athletic participation gave these students a way to be visible in a positive way, and to feel like important members of the larger university community.

The purpose of this study was to explore relationship satisfaction among adult, cohabitating heterosexual and homosexual dyads. The United States has the highest rate of divorce among all the industrialized nations. Divorce has been linked to declines in mental and physical health, financial and social instability, unhealthy patterns of over-compensation, and higher levels of separation among the offspring of such couples. Hawaii has the fourth lowest rate of divorce in the country, despite also having the one of the highest rates of interethnic marriage worldwide. Researchers of relationship satisfaction and minority issues have yet to explore the correlates of relationship satisfaction and the veracity of attachment theory, the leading theory addressing couples' interactions, in this subpopulation. This study was grounded in Bowlby's attachment theory. The Dyadic Adjustment Scale was used to measure relationship satisfaction as it interacted with 3 independent variables: each couple's attachment style combination, as measured by the Experiences in Close Relationships scale; place of nativity and rearing; and parental separation status. A factorial analysis of variance indicated statistically significant attachment and parental separation status main effects as well as a statistically significant attachment by parental separation status interaction effect among 160 diverse couples. Place of nativity and rearing did not have a statistically significant impact on relationship satisfaction however. Establishing effective couples' relationship education programs can promote social change by reducing relationship dissolution and enhancing physical, mental, and financial well-being among couples and their offspring.

This qualitative study focused on mothers who were sexually abused as children and whose children disclosed incest before turning eighteen. It describes the ways nine women between the ages of 30 and 49, who volunteered to be interviewed, discussed their history of multigenerational sexual abuse and its impact on their lives and their parenting. Semi-structured clinical interviews which took approximately two to three hours each, provided the data for the study. The interview questions were divided into three sections. The questions in the first section asked for the participant's ideas about the parenting relationship. The second section included questions about how she discovered and responded to the sexual abuse of her children. The third part asked for information about how her parents responded to her own childhood victimization, and for her ideas about multigenerational patterns of abuse. Each interview was adapted to be sensitive to the emotional needs and level of understanding of each participant. Embedded in the interview questions were two social-cognitive developmental assessments: one which looked for stages of self-understanding, and one which looked for levels of conceptualizations about the parenting relationship. A high level of correspondence was found between the results of the two assessments. The interviews were transcribed and then analyzed in two phases. The theme analysis is a summary of the major relevant content themes which emerged during the early combing of the data. Among these themes are participants' ideas about connections between childhood sexual victimization in their own lives and childhood incest in their children's lives, and their thoughts about breaking multigenerational patterns of abuse. The next phase, the developmental analysis, summarizes and demonstrates how each of the six themes was negotiated by participants at three different stages of social cognitive development. Many consistencies were found in the ways women at each developmental stage described their thoughts and ideas about abuse in both generations. The results speak to the usefulness of social cognitive developmental schemas in explaining and organizing the various ways mothers who are coping with multigenerational victimization make meaning of their experiences. They indicate a strong relationship between social cognitive development and how people understand, recover from, and change patterns of multigenerational sexual abuse in their families. The findings have implications for clinical practice. They suggest that clinicians attempting to facilitate recovery from sexual victimization might better meet the differing needs of clients when equipped with an understanding of the ways in which social cognition develops and has impact on the process.

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) remains a serious public health issue, and many social factors are involved in virus transmission and treatment. The current conceptualization of how HIV status disclosure and perceived stigma of HIV diagnosis interact is undeveloped. This study was based on social cognitive theory and tested hypothesized positive relations between HIV serostatus disclosure, social support, and self-efficacy. In addition, self-rated HIV stigma was examined as a potential mediating variable. Participants were 109 HIV positive, mostly White gay men recruited via an online bulletin board. They completed the medical outcomes study social support survey, the general self-efficacy scale, the HIV stigma scale, a HIV serostatus disclosure questionnaire, and a demographic questionnaire. Linear regression revealed that social support significantly and positively predicted HIV serotatus disclosure. HIV stigma mediated this relation by lowering the perception of support. Sexual orientation disclosure significantly and positively predicted HIV serostatus disclosure and social support. It is recommended that future research examine the impact of HIV stigma in different groups (racial and sexual minorities, and women). Culturally-sensitive assessments may also be used to measure individual levels of perceived stigma, HIV status disclosure, and social support. Action for social change includes raising general public awareness regarding HIV misconceptions, such as transmission risk; lowering stigma and raising support through public education; and increasing sexual minority status self-identification via outreach in low self-disclosure communities.