Humans are social creatures, bound by relationships. This dissertation investigates the structure and function of such interpersonal ties in two different contexts: patient-doctor trust and the diffusion of public health interventions across social networks. Each chapter of the dissertation focuses on a particular type of relationship: in Chapter 1, the patient-doctor relationship; in Chapter 2, friendship; and in Chapter 3, ties among friends, spouses, and siblings. The hope is that a better understanding of the nature of these ties and the work they do will enable policymakers to develop regulations and programs that promote the benefits and minimize harm in these exchanges. In Chapter 1, I present the results of a randomized controlled lab study on the effects of disclosure of payments that physicians receive from the pharmaceutical and medical device industry on patient-doctor trust. I find that certain dimensions of patient-doctor trust—honesty and fidelity—are lower for individual physicians when participants view payments of over $13,000 compared to lesser or no payments, but ratings of the physician’s competence do not change. In addition, trust in the medical profession and industry are not affected by disclosure. These findings suggest that industry payments to physicians that exceed $13,000 may need to be regulated, or at least carefully monitored. In Chapter 2, I present a sex-stratified analysis of a randomized controlled field experiment on the network-based diffusion of public health interventions. While men and women are more likely to have same-sex friends, they are both more likely to distribute the public health products to women than to men, revealing a contrast between the nominated ties and activated ties. This finding demonstrates that a traditional name generator for friend ties is a poor predictor of behavior regarding the spread of health-related phenomena. Further research is needed to explore alternative ways to elicit social network data to optimize diffusion, or else network-based strategies for the spread of socially beneficial innovations may need to be reconsidered. In Chapter 3, I use simulations based on the Susceptible-Infected (SI) process to explore the generalizability of the Honduras Study findings to other contexts. In particular, I look at the spread of public health interventions in the Karnataka (India) networks and compare the spreading processes to those in Honduras. The simulations reveal underlying network processes that can variably constrain and promote access to health information and products. As a whole, these studies seek to quantify the nature of social ties and related implications for health care providers and public health programming. / Health Policy

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This thesis consists of two studies designed to further validate the construct of modern homonegativity as measured by the Modern Homonegativity Scale (MHS). Similar to the concepts of modern racism and modern sexism, modern homonegativity rests upon three core assumptions: (1) gay men and lesbian women are making illegitimate (or unnecessary) demands for changes in the status quo; (2) discrimination against homosexual men and women is a thing of the past; and (3) gay men and lesbian women exaggerate the importance of their sexual preference and, in so doing, prevent themselves from assimilating into mainstream culture. The MHS was created to measure contemporary negative attitudes toward gay men and lesbian women (i.e., attitudes that are not based on traditional or moral objections to homosexuality). The scale contains two parallel forms: one for gay men (MHS-G) and one for lesbian women (MHS-L). Using Canadian participants (N = 374), results of Study 1 indicate that the parallel versions of the MHS are reliable, unidimensional, factorially, and conceptually distinct from a measure of old-fashioned homonegativity as measured by the Attitudes Toward Lesbian and Gay Men Scale and a relatively new measure of homonegativity entitled Modern Homophobia. As well, modern homonegativity correlated in the hypothesized direction with the motivation to control prejudiced reactions. Finally, results of one-way ANOVAs indicated that individuals who reported having gay men and lesbian women as acquaintances and close friends evidenced significantly lower levels of modern homonegativity than did individuals who reported no contact experience. Study 2 was designed to examine the psychometric properties of the MHS from a cross-cultural vantage. Specifically, the psychometric properties of the MHS were investigated using a sample of American participants (N = 608). Results of this study confirmed the unidimensionality of the MHS-G, and its conceptual distinctiveness from other measures of homonegativity (the ATLG and "Modern" Homophobia scales). Also, modern homonegativity correlated in the hypothesized direction with political conservatism, religious self-schema, neosexism, and concern about acting prejudiced. Similar to Study 1, results of one-way ANOVAs confirmed that individuals who reported having both gay men and lesbian women as acquaintances and close friends evidenced lower levels of modern homonegativity when compared with individuals who reported not having gay or lesbian acquaintances or close friends. Finally, the metric invariance of the MHS-G and MHS-L factor loadings were tested. With the exception of four items on the MHS-G, the metric invariance of the parallel versions of the MHS was confirmed. In summary, the studies outlined in this thesis strengthen the argument that a new form of homonegativity exists. Further, the MHS possesses superior psychometric properties and will prove useful when used to measure negative attitudes toward homosexual men and women in college and university settings. As an adjunct to the implications of the research, future directions are outlined.

In Canada, a liberal democracy that constitutionally protects liberal freedoms and civic equality, how should the government respond to culturally based demands for accommodation? Should culture be recognized by a liberal democratic government? Does such recognition challenge liberal freedoms and civic equality? In this thesis I argue that there may be times when the Canadian government ought to acknowledge cultural differences for the purposes of legislating and creating public policy in the interest of fairness and to achieve good outcomes. Previous attempts at reconciling cultural diversity with public institutions have focused on protecting and affirming cultural identities. I critically examine three such approaches and argue that cultural identification is tied to fundamental liberal freedoms such that fixing cultural identities in bureaucratic and legislative frameworks conflicts with liberal freedoms in a problematic way. I propose an alternative approach to cultural accommodation that avoids the problems of cultural identification by focusing on concrete relationships between citizens and the practical consequences of cultural practices.

A generation of young people in Canada has grown up in the face of the so-called "War on Terror". Where previous generations have confronted the Cold War or the World Wars, this is the war that has shaped today's young people's narratives of collective memory. My study investigates the following research questions: How young people in Canada understand "the War on Terror"? How they see "the War on Terror" affecting their lives and their constructions of imagined communities (Anderson, 1983)? How they make collective memories of "the War on Terror" based on these understandings? I collect my data in the form of written narratives, follow-up interviews, and demographic questionnaires. Building on theoretical models from the field of collective memory studies (Halbwachs, 1980; Wertsch, 2002), nationalism studies (Anderson, 1983; Billig, 1995), and cultural representations (Said, 1980; Hall, 1980, 1997, 2000, 2002), I explore the understandings, representations and experiences of young people in the form of the collective memories of "the War on Terror". I find that the terrain of collective memory is like the topography. This topography has three main features: human agents, technologies of memory (Wertsch, 2002) and different social groups or communities. My participants construct collective memories through processes that involve a collectivity of significant 'others', including parents and teachers, or what I call 'interpretative communities'. Significantly, the hegemonic narrative, according to the participants of my study, is not the official Canadian government's narrative of "the War on Terror", rather my participants reject the image of Canada as a military nation in favor of that of a multicultural peaceful nation. I also find that "the War on Terror" has personally affected the young Canadian Muslim participants of this study in ways that it has not the non-Muslim participants.

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No description available.

Research on adolescent drinking shows that younger people are at greater risk of developing behavioral deficiencies that can be detrimental to their social relationships and health over time. Recent research has shown that changes within the microbiome-gut-brain axis (MGB) can affect social behavior. These changes involve microbiota populations that influence addictive behaviors after prolonged substance intake through neurochemical shifts that extend through the nervous, circulatory, and immune system. Using Massey's biosocial model, I aim to expand on the relationship between the MGB axis, social behavior, and adolescent alcohol use disorder through a meta-theoretical approach. I explore the strengths and shortcomings of Massey's biosocial model of segregation and stratification and its use of the allostatic load model, telomere length, and gene exposure to develop a stronger theoretical concept using the micro-gut-brain axis as a conceptual foundation. Can the MGB-axis model be used to identify potential pathways in which alcohol use disorder (AUD) persists from adolescence to adulthood? I find that adolescent drinking leads to changes in microbiota populations that are known to influence AUDs and increases the development of diseases such as liver disease and its effects on social behavior. The MGB axis can help us understand the effects of substance and dietary habits on disease and illness by connecting life science knowledge and sociological perspectives. With this modern application of cognitive sociology, I have shown that future research on addictive behaviors should consider the application of biomarker data to further expand on new theoretical and methodological approaches in the study of disease and addiction.

Depuis les années cinquante la sociologie a été concernée par le phénomène des mouvements sociaux. Diverses théories ont essayé de les expliquer. Du collective behaviour à la mobilisation des ressources, par l`entremise de processus politiques, et de la perspective de framing jusqu'à la théorie des nouveaux mouvements sociaux, la sociologie a trouvé certains moyens pour expliquer ces phénomènes. Bien que toutes ces perspectives couvrent et saisissent des facettes importantes des angles de l'action collective, ils le font de manière disparate, en regardant un côté et en omettant l'autre. Les différences entre les points de vue proviennent, d'une part, d'un changement dans les contextes sociaux, historiques et scientifiques, et d'autre part du fait que les différentes approches ne posent pas les mêmes questions, même si certaines questions se chevauchent. Poser des questions différentes amène à considérer des aspects différents. En conséquence, ce n'est pas seulement une question de donner une réponse différente à la même question, mais aussi une question de regarder le même objet d'étude, à partir d'un angle différent. Cette situation réside à la base de la première partie de ma thèse principale: le champ de la théorie des mouvements sociaux n'est pas suffisant, ni suffisamment intégré pour expliquer l'action collective et nous avons besoin d'une théorie plus complète afin d'obtenir une meilleure compréhension des mouvements et la façon dont ils remplissent leur rôle de précurseurs de changement dans la société. Par conséquent, je considère que nous avons besoin d'une théorie qui est en mesure d'examiner tous les aspects des mouvements en même temps et, en outre, est capable de regarder au-delà de la forme de l'objet d’étude afin de se concentrer sur l'objet lui-même. Cela m'amène à la deuxième partie de l'argument, qui est l'affirmation selon laquelle la théorie générale des systèmes telle que formulée par Niklas Luhmann peut contribuer à une meilleure compréhension de l'action collective. Il s'agit d'une théorie intégrale qui peut compléter le domaine de la théorie de l`action collective en nous fournissant les outils nécessaires pour rechercher dynamiquement les mouvements sociaux et de les comprendre dans le contexte social en perpétuel changement. Une analyse du mouvement environnementaliste sera utilisé pour montrer comment les outils fournis par cette théorie nous permettent de mieux comprendre non seulement les mouvements sociaux, mais également le contexte dans lequel ils fonctionnent, comment ils remplissent leur rôle, comment ils évoluent et comment ils changent aussi la société. / Since the fifties sociology has been concerned with the phenomenon of social movements. Various theories tried to explain them. From collective behaviour to resource mobilization, through political processes and framing perspective all the way to the theory of new social movements, sociology found ways to explain these phenomena. Although all these perspectives cover and capture important facets and angles of collective action, they do so in disparate ways, looking at one side and neglecting the other. The differences between the perspectives come, on the one hand, from a change in the social, historical and scientific contexts, and on the other hand from the fact that the various approaches don’t ask the same questions, even though some questions overlap. Asking different questions leads to looking at different things. Thus, it is not only a matter of giving a different answer to the same question, but also a matter of looking at the same object of study from a different angle. This situation resides at the root of the first part of my main thesis: the field of social movement theory is not sufficient nor integrated enough to explain collective action and we need a more comprehensive theory in order to obtain a better understanding of movements and the way in which they fulfill their role of promoters of change in society. Hence, I consider that we need a theory that is able to look at all facets of the movements at the same time and furthermore, is able to look beyond the form of the object in order to focus on the object itself. This brings me to the second part of the argument, which is the claim that the general systems theory as formulated by Niklas Luhmann can contribute to a better understanding of collective action. It is a comprehensive theory that can supplement the field of social movement theory by providing us with the necessary tools to look dynamically at social movements and understand them within the shifting social context. An analysis of environmentalism will be used to show how the tools provided by this communication theory help us to better understand not only social movements but also the context in which they function, how they fulfill their role, how they are changed and in turn change society as well.

This dissertation attempts to test the effect of the willingness to fight, which the realist perspective considers to be essential in order to enhance a state's bargaining position during wartime. Controlling for the effects of military power, resolve has an independent influence on bargaining behavior for war termination. From a leader's perspective there is an incentive to terminate war through negotiations as early as possible, given its inefficiency. For the leaders, however, "audience" effects increase as a result of efforts toward negotiation. Domestic politics can produce support or criticism for any conciliatory gesture by the leader; the attempt to negotiate can either damage its reputation or avert accusations of war-mongering from the international community. / Three game-theoretic models are set up to assess bargaining behavior during wartime. Information conditions vary across the models. There are three models: complete, asymmetrical and two-sided incomplete information about the opponent's level of resolve. Perfect information about military power and resolve does not necessarily bring about war termination. Two contending states with negative audience effects may fight without negotiations even if they know the other's military capabilities. Under asymmetrical information, a state with perfect information about the opponent's resolve does not always manipulate the adversary's image such that the display of a strong willingness to fight prolongs the fighting without a bargain. Under two-sided incomplete information, each side may be more likely to misperceive the other's resolve than in the other situations above. Misperception can extend or shorten a war. / Interstate wars sometimes cannot be solved efficiently in a purely coercive relationship. Instead, cooperative tactics may help to reduce the costs of both sides. Therefore, exhibiting a higher resolve often puts the states in a trap in which they obtain Pareto-suboptimal outcomes. In contrast to the realist perspective, all other things being equal, domestic politics can determine the decision process for war termination. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-07, Section: A, page: 2133. / Major Professor: Patrick James. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.