During the course of human evolution, being a member of a group has been more beneficial for survival than being alone. Food gathering, protection from predators, cooperation, and care for offspring are distributed among group members, increasing the likelihood for survival. It is as if there is an interplay between agent and environment that interprets being socially cooperative as pleasurable and being left out as painful. Studies have been dedicated to examine how our social life is one of the most important aspects of health and well-being, particularly social relationships. Since this link has been demonstrated, it would be interesting to incorporate the field of neuroscience to understand the involvement of the human brain in our social experiences, specifically the experience of social connection. The current state of neuroscience does not allow researchers to examine this kind of subjective experiences, simply because of the lack of proper tools and knowledge. Research in this field has come a long way since the early stages, and studies have indicated on significant results regarding the involved neural regions. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the anterior insula (AI) are active when threats to social connection is experienced. They are also active in situations were survival is threatened. An experience of social connection evokes a feeling of (social) safety, in part because it activates regions of the brain associated with physical safety, such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC). In similar fashion, a sense of social closeness ("warmth") activates the ventral striatum (VS), which is associated with physical warmth and studies have shown that social and physical warmth share overlapping neural activity in VS. Finally, Mu-opioids have been shown to be responsible for social bonding; while using an opioid antagonist such as naltrexone, decreases the feeling of social connection. Studies in this field are few; one should take their results with caution. The field continues to grow, and the studies that have been done to date give exciting hints of the influence of social relationships on physical health and mental well-being.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第19920号 / 理博第4220号 / 新制||理||1606(附属図書館) / 33006 / 京都大学大学院理学研究科生物科学専攻 / (主査)教授 古市 剛史, 教授 湯本 貴和, 教授 平井 啓久 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Relationship/collaborative selling, as opposed to traditional, transaction oriented selling, stresses the need to form relationships with prospects and customers across all stages of the buyer-seller relationship (Jolson, 1997). The problem is that applying the relationship selling process to all types of customers may lead to inappropriate interpersonal interaction if the customer's orientation is only short-term in nature (Jackson, 1985a, 1985b). Anderson and Narus (1991) make the point that significant variations within industries (i.e., hotel industry) can exist in the buyer's expectation of working relationships with sellers, from a collaborative relationship desire to a transactional (i.e., discrete) relationship. This study developed and empirically tested a model of international buyer-seller relationships in the hospitality industry. The model analyzed several relationships: 1) the relationship between National Culture (Hofstede, 198oa, 1980b & 1997) and the interpersonal interaction "success" variables (i.e., structural bonding, social bonding, communication content, communication style, and trust) in the buyer-seller relationship (Wilson, 1995); 2) the relationship between the "success" variables and the outcomes of the buyer-seller relationship (i.e., relationship commitment and long-term orientation of the buyer); and 3) the relationship between the level of knowledge of the selling strategy used by the salesperson and the buying preferences of the buyer, as perceived by the salesperson. In addition, each of these relationships was examined in terms of the differences that may exist in base of operation of the salesperson (i.e., North America or Asia). The study specifically focused on the hotel industry salesperson and the relationship he or she has with his or her top account. The cross-cultural differences were captured by use of a sample of salespeople that were based either in North America or Asia. The results of this study showed that the relationship/collaborative selling strategy is not necessarily appropriate for all selling situations, but the salesperson may not be knowledgeable enough of his or her customer's preference for interpersonal interaction to be able to identify that fact. It also indicated that different importance is placed on different "success" variables in the buyer-seller relationship in different bases of operation. Specifically, trust is more important in North America than Asia, but it is still an important factor in both selling environments. It was also concluded that social bonding might be overrated in regards to the top account buyer-seller relationship. The conclusion can be made that more emphasis needs to be placed on the building and maintaining of trust than the need to "build a relationship" through social bonding, at least with the top account. The implications of the study can be applied to the improvement of how sales training is taught on a global basis. / Ph. D.

This study explores the influence of music sharing at work on social relationships between colleagues. Music sharing has been proven to facilitate friendship and maintenance in various social environments (Brown, Sellen, & Geelhoed, 2001; Voida, Grinter, & Ducheneaut, 2006). However, music sharing at work in its influence on friendships between colleagues has never been explored, even though establishing and strengthening social relationships within the workplace have become increasingly important within organisations (Berman, West, & Richter, 2002). Informal relationships are beneficial for the overall well-being of an organisation as they increase the exchange of resources between colleagues. For the individual workers these relationships satisfy their need for social interaction. The study applied a mixed methods approach involving quantitative as well as qualitative methods. Twenty-nine employees from design agencies throughout New Zealand participated in an online survey and seven in semi-structured interviews. Both online survey and interviews were used in combination in order to achieve complementarily and triangulation between quantitative and qualitative data. The results suggest that music sharing contributes to the development of social bonding that occurs in the workplace. On the basis of the music that was shared through various technologies colleagues appeared to form impressions of each other. This involved determining each others’ music preferences and associating other personality aspects with those music preferences. It appeared that the more similarly colleagues perceived each others’ musical tastes, the more likely they were to become friends and/or to form informal music taste groups at work. The degree of reciprocity of music predicted the degree of intimacy between colleagues. When colleagues who were friends shared music with each other, they were much more concerned about reciprocating the music adequately than when they shared with colleagues they knew only superficially. The findings of this study are relevant for employers who want to promote relationship development between colleagues in a work environment where employees are passionate about music.

What motivates extreme pro-group action, such as heroism and self-sacrifice on the battlefield? Despite much scholarly attention in recent years, the question is yet to be fully explained. Recent research suggests that shared dysphoric experiences are one way of generating identity fusion, a visceral sense of 'oneness' between individual and group that has been shown to motivate willingness to fight and die for the group. Using two special populations - British and Brazilian football fans - this thesis investigates the causes and consequences of fusion. Football fan cultures are diverse, globally popular, and ripe for examining intergroup conflict. This thesis focuses on two related components of the 'shared dysphoria pathway' to fusion: emotional arousal (e.g. watching one's team suffer a particularly bitter defeat) and the sense of 'self-transformativeness' that ensues from intense, shared experiences. Across four studies, it is shown that for some individuals, sharing the agony of defeat can be emotionally and physiologically arousing to such a degree so as to transform their sense of personal identity. In turn, this leads to a more porous boundary between group and individual identities, i.e. individuals become 'fused' with their groups. Fused people are documented as engaging in some of the most extreme and potentially dangerous social behaviours we know. Two related consequences of fusion are examined: extreme pro-group action and outgroup hostility. Football hooliganism is a persistent, global problem, which is addressed in a fifth study. This thesis refutes past work suggesting that hooligans are social misfits, instead contending that hooligans are especially fused to their group and motivated to defend their 'brothers-in-arms', which results in outgroup violence. These findings suggest that a more thorough understanding of the causes and consequences of fusion could conceivably impact a great many areas, perhaps most importantly conflict resolution and policies relating to intergroup conflict.