This thesis investigates language variation among a group of young adults in Beijing, China, with an aim to advance our understanding of social meaning in a language and a society where the topic is understudied. In this thesis, I examine the use of Beijing Mandarin among Beijingborn university students in Beijing in relation to social factors including gender, social class, career plan, and future aspiration. Language variation in this context can further our understanding of Chinese culture in a newlyreformed society while exploring important constructs such as gender and aspiration in China, in part by establishing the social meaning of the local vernacular and its role in identity construction among speakers. The study presents data from both sociolinguistic interviews, conducted with 21 Beijingers who have di erent class backgrounds, career plans, and future aspiration, and self-recordings, from a subset of 10 Beijingers in conversation with their family and/or friends. I focus on three thus far under-examined linguistic variables { neutral tone, classi er omission, and intensi er te { while incorporating an additional variable { erhua (word- nal rhotacisation) in the discussion of stylistic variation in Beijing Mandarin. The results rst provide an overview of language variation in Beijing Mandarin, as shown in the use of di erent features and their linguistic and social constraints. We observe familiar patterns often found in sociolinguistic literature for some social factors (e.g. gender), while more complex interactions exist for others (e.g. aspiration and career path). The ndings suggest that Beijing Mandarin conveys localness and masculinity which is expected for a vernacular variety. Finer distinctions in the social meanings of these variables are found in sub-groups of Beijingers with di erent gender, future career path and/or aspiration. Moreover, speakers are seen to utilise these variables and their meanings in the construction of personae.

There is longstanding causal relationship between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. Smoke-free policies and anti-smoking campaigns have been linked to the decline in smoking acceptance and contribute to the unintended consequence of stigmatizing smokers. Lung cancer is viewed as a self-inflicted disease and patients’ feel judged in a manner different from other cancers affecting social interactions between family, friends, and healthcare professionals. Lung cancer stigma contributes to depression, anxiety, poor self-esteem, guilt, shame, blame, threatens a person’s social identity, and limits social support that deeply affects patients and their support persons. This dissertation contains a review of the literature related to smoking and stigma, an evaluation of the psychometric properties of an investigator-developed instrument, “Lung Cancer Stigma Scale” (LuCaSS) and the main findings from a cross-sectional observational study of 104 lung cancer patients assessing factors associated with lung cancer stigma. The Model of Stigma Induced Identity Threat provides the framework to examine stigma and the relationship between social constraints, self-esteem, and smoking and to test whether social support mediates the relationship between stigma, and depression/anxiety. The LuCaSS was a reliable and valid instrument measuring lung cancer stigma (alpha = 0.89). The principle components analysis determined three subscales measuring internalized stigma: social rejections/judgment, blame/guilt, and shame. Social constraints, self-esteem, smoking each significantly contributed to the prediction of stigma controlling for SES. Lung cancer patients with greater social constraints and lower self-esteem and who were smokers scored higher on stigma. Social support was a mediator for the relationship between stigma and depression but not for anxiety. The findings are consistent with Stigma Induced Identity Threat Model. A stigmatized identity can lead to stress-related health outcomes such as depression. A lung cancer diagnosis has numerous negative psychosocial effects on patients. Integrating stigma tools (i.e. LuCaSS) in practice settings may assist with determining potential stigma related distress among lung cancer patients. Emphasizing the need for social support and implementing more advocacy efforts may also help minimize the effects of stigma and depression. Future studies are necessary to further examine the role of social support in minimizing stigma and psychosocial distress.

Master of Science - Agricultural Education and Communication / Department of Communications and Agricultural Education / Lauri M. Baker / Kansas and Oklahoma were in the top five cattle producing states in the United States. Beef cattle producers across Kansas and Oklahoma had access to best management practices (BMPs) for proper grazing land management, but were still underutilizing these practices. This study sought to understand why producers did not adopt grazing BMPs suggested by Extension professionals and to identify opportunities to improve communication and adoption. Under the postulates of elaboration likelihood model (ELM), if BMPs were communicated to producers in a way that persuaded them to adopt BMPs, the resiliency of the entire beef cattle grazing system, would increase. This study was guided by community-based social marketing (CBSM) and elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 43 producers in north central Oklahoma and south central Kansas during the summer of 2015. Initial participants were recruited using a purposive sampling method through Extension contacts with a snowball sample after initial participants were identified. Interviews were transcribed by a professional transcription service and analyzed using Glaser’s constant comparative method. Producers in the study were aware of BMPs like rotational grazing, prescribed burning, and the usage of alternative forages. The major themes discovered in this study include Producers had varying definitions of both rotational grazing and cover crops; Producers used each other, Extension and university materials and personnel as information sources; Practices producers used were determined by visual observations and past experiences. Barriers and social constrains to the adoption of BMPs that were discovered included: water availability and quality, land leases, time and labor, land lords, generational gaps, and a lack of skilled employees. Producers saw the benefits of burning practices and rotational grazing. Another major theme was drought tested the resiliency of producer’s operations. This study offers several recommendations for Extension professionals and research. The way that Extension agents were communicating BMPs should be researched and analyzed. The implementation of CBSM and ELM by Extension professionals could increase the adoption of BMPs in grazing systems. A major implication of this study was the need for Extension to more openly communicate with producers rather than just exchange information.

Bakgrund:Inflammatoriska tarmsjukdomar (IBD) är ett samlingsnamn för både Ulcerös kolit och Crohns sjukdom. Dessa sjukdomar är kroniska och kommer i skov, vilket innebär en tillfällig försämring i sjukdomsförloppet. Sjuksköterskans roll i omvårdnaden av kroniska sjukdomar är att lyssna, se patienten och inte sjukdomen samt att försöka uppnå och främja hälsa hos patienten. Syfte: Att belysa unga vuxnas upplevelser av att leva med en inflammatorisk tarmsjukdom. Metod:Uppsatsen är baserad på en kvalitativ metod där data har samlats in via bloggar. 14 bloggar har utgjort källan för den kvalitativa innehållsanalysen.  Resultat:Presenteras via kategorier och subkategorier.Redogör för ungas upplevelser av att drabbas av en kronisk tarmsjukdom. De beskrev svårigheter med att få rätt diagnos och att det bidrog till försämrad livskvalité. Sjukdomarna medförde sociala begränsningar på grund symtomen som uppstod. Konklusion:Med ökad kunskap hos sjuksköterskor och omgivning kan det bidra till en förbättrad livskvalité och kan leda till att dessa individer vågar öppna upp sig och känna sig mindre ensamma i deras sjukdom. Sjuksköterskor har ett stort ansvar att stödja patienter i deras hälsoprocess. I samförstånd med patient och närstående ska sjuksköterskor tillhandahålla vård utifrån dennes behov. Genom att individernas upplevelser uppmärksammas får sjuksköterskor en bättre inblick och förståelse för hur det är att leva med IBD. / Background: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) are a term for both Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. These diseases are chronic and come in flares, which means a temporary deterioration in the course of the disease. The nurse's role in nursing people with chronic diseases is to listen, see the patient and not the disease, and to try to achieve and promote health. Aim: To illuminate young adult people's experiences of living with an inflammatory bowel disease. Method: The thesis is a qualitative method where data have been collected via blogs. 14 blogs have been the source of the narrative analysis. Result: Presented via categories and subcategories. Describes young people's experiences of suffering from a chronic bowel disease. They described difficulties in getting the right diagnosis which contributed to a deterioration in quality of life. The diseases caused social constraints due to the symptoms that arose. Conclusion: With increased knowledge from nurses and the society, it can contribute to improved quality of life and make these individuals dare to open and feel less lonely in their illness. Nurses have a responsibility to support patients in their health process. In consultation with the patient and the relative, nurses should perform care based on their needs. By paying attention to their experiences, nurses will get a better insight and understanding into how it is to live with IBD.

Many people experience a romantic breakup at some point in their lives, but people's reactions can vary considerably. A common way of coping with the dissolution of a romantic relationship is to seek support and opportunities to talk with close others. Although talking with social network members may prove helpful for some, the Social-Cognitive Processing (SCP) model posits that interpersonal interactions can hinder emotional recovery and adjustment if the disclosers feel the social network members are responding in a socially constraining way. As a result of perceiving social constraints, individuals may try to avoid thinking and talking about the breakup altogether, which, in turn, may interfere with the cognitive processing necessary to move forward from the breakup. The current research marked the first time the SCP model was explored with regards to the dissolution of romantic relationships, and it evaluated the utility of the SCP model in potentially explaining the variable nature of adjustment to a romantic breakup. One hundred and seventy-four eligible participants completed this online study. Participants completed various questionnaires pertaining to their previous relationship and subsequent breakup, their feelings and experiences following the romantic dissolution, their tendencies to think about the breakup, and the degree to which they discussed the relationship dissolution with others and the reactions they received during these conversations. In support of the SCP model, the results indicated that social constraints were associated with greater psychological distress. Furthermore, avoidance partially mediated the relation between social constraints and psychological distress as levels of social support decreased. This suggests that higher levels of social support might help buffer against engaging in avoidance in response to social constraints. In an initial attempt to examine whether the extent of avoidance displayed varied as a function of a dispositional variable (i.e., self-monitoring), no support was found. Future research should continue to investigate additional factors that may moderate the relation between social constraints and psychological distress through avoidance. / Psychology

Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) posits that survivors of a traumatic event have the ability to influence their own outcomes and do so most aptly when they perceive they can exert control over their outcomes. Posttraumatic growth outcomes are associated with a greater perception of controllability, while posttraumatic stress outcomes can be related to the lack of perceived control. In the context of the Virginia Tech shootings, several social factors were examined three months after the trauma (T1) and one year later (T2) to further explore the dynamic interplay between these factors and psychological outcomes. Social support seeking was conceptualized as both a coping strategy (situational) and as a coping style (dispositional) and was hypothesized to predict greater growth outcomes, while social constraints were hypothesized to predict higher levels of posttraumatic stress outcomes. These variables were also examined as moderators of the relationship between perceived threat and psychological outcomes at both time points. As expected, dispositional social support seeking was negatively related to posttraumatic stress at T1, and positively related to posttraumatic growth at T1 and T2. Social constraints were positively related to posttraumatic stress at T1 and negatively related to posttraumatic growth at T1 and T2. Situational social support seeking served as a moderator for the relationship between perceived threat and posttraumatic stress at T1. Lower levels of situational social support seeking lessened the relationship between perceived threat and posttraumatic stress, while high levels of situational social support seeking exacerbated this relationship. / Master of Science

在日常對話中，通常一次只有一個人說話，然而，卻常常發現有不只一個談話者同時說話的情形。這種違反常規的重疊現象(overlappings)可分為疊話(overlaps)跟插話(interruptions)。大部份的學者依據句法結構或音韻觀點來區分疊話跟插話，似仍有遺漏，故本篇論文嘗試依據插話的語意內容來區分這兩種重疊現象，又本文的重點是放在插話的研究，作者試從語法角色(grammatical roles)、順序(linear order)、語用功能、及社會因素來探討插話者如何成功的襲奪被插話者的說話權利。 本篇論文的語料採自十一個雙人面對面的日常對話，其中男生和男生的對話其三份，女生和女生的對話以及男女之間的對話各四份。此分類方式是基於觀察交談者之間性別的異同所帶來的權力(power)以及等同性(solidarity)是否會影響插話的頻率、位置、和語用功能的分配。在語料中將區分所有疊話和插話，同時標記語用功能，及插話者和被插話的性別以便於做統計分析。 本篇論文發現插話現象主要是受順序先後的影響，百分之八十的插話發生在前5到8個位置，且這些位置不受特殊語法角色的限制，此外，插話通常發生在詞組外而非在詞組內。至於插話的語用功能，以做澄清功能(clarification)為最多，反對功能(disagreement)次之，確認功能(confirmation)最少。而單就插話者的性別而言，女生所引發的插話頻率跟男生相近，這可能是由於女生的高教育背景，使女生有獨立思考的能力、較高的社會地位，與充分的發言權，再加上過於強調男女平權，使女生的插話頻率提高。而在考慮插話者與被插話者的性別方面，的確發現了權力的影響力，男生打岔女生的頻率確實高於女生打岔男生的頻率，但兩者差距不大，一方面可能是男生為要表現社會禮儀以示對女生的尊重，另一方面可能是漠視女生的知識能力而不與之爭辯，故其打岔的頻率不如預期的高。 在高教育背景的影響之下，女生開始要求男女平等，進而嘗試跳脫中國傳統性別角色的限制。於是，女生和男生的插話行為將因性別限制的解除而趨於一致。 / Transition of turn in daily conversation is not always rule-governed. Violation of turn-taking rules may result in overlapping, which includes overlap and interruption. Differentiation of the two by syntactic and phonological criteria may sometimes fail. To remedy the problem, it is suggested that the communicative purpose of overlapping should be taken into consideration. That is, if the overlapping evokes cooperation, it should be counted as overlap; if it entails antagonism and competition, it should be judged as interruption. The focus of this study is to find out how syntactic structure, timing, pragmatic functions, and social constraints influence the emergence of interruption. The data needed in this study were collected from eleven dyadic face to face daily conversations, including three male-male conversations, four female-female conversations, and four male-female conversations. In each conversation, interruptions are identified and categorized by their pragmatic functions and by the interrupter's and interruptee's gender. The results of this study indicates that timing is more influential to the occurrence of interruption than the grammatical roles of the syntactic sites in which interruptions take place. It is found that about 80% of interruption occurs in the first eight positions in sentences with transitive verbs and the first five positions in sentences with intransitive verbs. In these positions, grammatical roles of all kinds may appear. In addition, interruptions are found to occur more frequently on syntactic junctures than within syntactic constituents. As to pragmatic functions of interruptions, there is a priority order among three of the pragmatic functions that interruptions serve, with interruption for clarification overrides interruption for disagreement, which suppresses interruption for confirmation. As for the social constraints on interruption, first, females, unexpectedly, interrupt their interlocutors as frequently as males do. Promotion of social-economic status through education and emergence of self-confidence are offered to explain why women initiate many interruptions. On the other hand, superficial courtesy and man chauvinism are provided to explain why men interrupt less often than expected. Next, when both the interrupter's and the interruptee's genders are taken into consideration, the influence of power is revealed only in cross gender conversation, with males' interrupting females more than their being interrupted by females. On the surface, both men and women interrupt their interlocutors. However, underlyingly, men interrupt to show power to control, while women interrupt to show power to resist control. It seems that men, in Chinese society, are still the dominating sex. It is predicted that the power difference between men and women will be alleviated in the future. At that time, the two sexes will share the same patterns of interruptions.

« Deffense aux François d’épouser des négresses, cela dégoûterait du service, et deffense aux noirs d’épouser des blanches, c’est une confusion à éviter ». L’article XX de l’ordonnance de Jacob Blanquet de La Haye, vice-roi, amiral et lieutenant pour le Roy dans tous les pays des Indes, pose clairement l’interdiction de l’intermariage à l’île Bourbon en 1674. Cette législation, ignorée dans les débuts du peuplement de la colonie, se voit renforcée par la suite lors du passage d’une société de subsistance à une société esclavagiste. Pourtant, certains sont déterminés à « faire famille » et à déjouer les obstacles juridiques et sociaux mis en place contre ces unions interdites. C’est à dire rendre possible la transmission d’un héritage symbolique et matériel. Ces amours invisibles sont-ils vraiment secrets ? Au fil de l’archive, nous avons retrouvé ces familles, tolérées dans un entre-deux que révèlent les actes notariés et d’état civil, mais qui doit avant tout rester discret. Familles minoritaires, gommées des mémoires, elles relatent la capacité de ces hommes et de ces femmes à résister aux modèles clivés de la société coloniale esclavagiste. / « It is strictly forbidden for French men to marry Negroes, it would divert them from work, and it is forbidden for Negro Slaves to intermarry with white women, it is an embarrassment to avoid ». The article 20 of the order taken by Jacob Blanquet de la Haye, viceroy, admiral and lieutenant for the King on all East Indies, sets clearly the ban on the intermarriage in Bourbon island in 1674. This legislation, initially ignored by the populating of the colony, sees itself strengthened afterward during the passage from a society of subsistence to a slave-owning society. Nevertheless, some are determined « to start a family » and to thwart the legal and social obstacles set up against these forbidden unions. That is make possible the transmission of a symbolic and material inheritance. Are these invisible love relationships really secret ? In the course of the archive, we have found these families, tolerated in an in-between which reveal notarial and civil status documents, but which has to remain discreet. Minority families, erased from memories, they tell the capacity of these men and these women to resist the cleaved models of the slave colonial society.

Restriktionerna och rekommendationerna införda för att bromsa besmittningen av Covid-19,har implicerat en livsstilsförändring hos individen. Restriktionerna har hindrat människanfrån att delta i sociala sammanhang som var normen innan pandemin ochrekommendationerna har uppmuntrat individen att förändra delar av sin livsstil, i syfte attanpassa sig till de nya samhällsförutsättningarna. Uppoffringarna som individen har behövtgöra, intresserade i synnerhet den sociala dimensionen. Till följd av de minskade socialainteraktionen mellan individerna i samhället, har den ekologiska dimensionen upplevtoväntade förmåner. Man kan i stort sett säga att restriktionerna har gjort individens livsstilmer hållbar, ur en ekologisk synpunkt. De ekologiska fördelarna med restriktionernaförväntas dock försvinna när de så småningom lyfts, om inte livsstilen som individen harbedrivit hittills, behålls kvar. För att detta ska ske, behöver den nya, hållbara livsstilen blinormen för standarden för hälsa och välstånd som finns i samhället. Kulturen som driversamhället ska därför präglas av individens hållbara idéer, tankar och handlingar.Den hållbara livsstilsförändringen har varit startpunkten för denna undersökning. Syftet medstudien är att undersöka ifall individen är villig att fortsätta leva efter livsstilen som bedrevsunder pandemin och hur individens inställning till hållbar livsstil i framtiden har förändratsmed införandet av restriktionerna. Under arbetets gång kommer individens beteenden och valatt problematiseras utifrån två teorier som det teoretiska ramverket består av: kulturellresiliens och hållbart medborgarskap. För att uppnå syftet användes en enkätundersökningsom datainsamlingsmetod, där 70 personer svarade och en blandning av en tematiskinnehållsanalys och en deskriptiv statistisk analys som analysmetod. Av resultatet framgår atten stor del av respondenterna är för en fortsatt användning av klimatfrämjanderekommendationer som riktlinje för en mer hållbar livsstil. Samtidigt, har restriktionernapåverkat individen negativt ur en social synpunkt, men medvetenheten att miljön gynnas avdet är något som anses vara positivt av individen. / The social constraints and recommendations that were introduced to mitigate the spread ofCovid-19 virus, has had implications on the individual’s lifestyle, making it more sustainable.The social constraints have prevented the individual from taking part in any social activitieswith numerous people, but the recommendations have motivated the population for a changein some parts of their lifestyle to better accommodate the forced changes many communitieshave experienced due to the pandemic. The sacrifices that the individual had to make werefocused on its social sphere and as a result of that, the environment has experiencednumerous benefits. The pandemic has made the individual’s lifestyle more sustainable for theenvironment. These environmental benefits though, are expected to disappear when thepandemic is over and the social constraints ceases. Although, if this more sustainable lifestylecould continue, this would be a great opportunity to make a step in the right direction. Thiscould only happen if it becomes the new norm for what a good and sustainable lifestyleshould be lived. The culture, with its norms, should therefore be influenced by theindividual’s sustainable ideas, thoughts and actions.The change into a more sustainable lifestyle has been the starting point of this study. Thepurpose of this paper is to examine if the individual is willing to accept a more sustainablelifestyle and if its attitude towards environmentally conscious lifestyle has changed since theintroduction of sustainable recommendations. During the course of the paper, the individual’sattitudes and choices will be problematized through two theories that makes up the theoreticalframework of this study: cultural resilience and sustainable citizenship. To achieve thepaper’s main purpose, a survey was sent digitally, and 70 people answered, and a mixedmethod approach was used to analyse the result. The survey’s outcome was that the strongmajority of individuals would keep the sustainable recommendations as guidelines towards amore sustainable lifestyle. Besides that, the social constraints have influenced the individual’ssocial sphere negatively, but they have also contributed to many advantages for theenvironment.