Thesis (Ph. D.)--Wayne State University, 1965. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [206]-281).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2000. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 188-198). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis--Stockholm. Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. / Bibliography: p. 189-202.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1966. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [106]-109).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1967. / Vita. Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Allison Calhoun-Brown, committee chair; Michael Binford, Richard Engstrom, committee members. Electronic text (83 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed May 10, 2207; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-81).

Research into the origins of our own social behavior begins with understanding how environmental elements lead to complex social interaction. Social structure emerges from these interactions as a bottom-up process, whose patterning constitutes the very framework of a society. Studies of behavioral mechanisms are important in determining the full repertoire that results in the social and dominance structures of a species. Hormones such as oxytocin and cortisol facilitate and fluctuate in response to social interactions and measuring their relative values among individuals is a valuable tool in testing functional hypotheses of behavioral mechanisms. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate several fundamental, under-, or previously unstudied behavioral mechanisms and hormonal correlates that shape the unique social system of bonobos. The first study describes the pattern of expression of harassment behavior among immatures and tests predictions generated by the Exploratory Aggression and Rank Improvement hypotheses. Results demonstrate that immatures use harassment to test the nature of existing inter-individual relationships and to explore the parameters of aggressive behaviors and furthers our understanding of juvenile development of aggression and integration into the dominance hierarchy. The second study describes the pattern of occurrence of infant handling and tests predictions generated by several functional hypotheses, including examining the relationship between oxytocin and handling behaviors. Results show a significant sex difference in expression of handling where, during adolescence, male interest in infants sharply declines whereas females continue to handle infants, the expression of which was correlated with oxytocin. These results primarily support the Learning-to-Mother hypothesis and provide insight into the role oxytocin may play in facilitating care-giving behaviors in young females. The final study explores the patterning of female sexual behavior and male aggression, and investigates whether male constraint of female choice imposes a cost to females through induction of a stress response. Results show that while females exercise unconstrained mate choice through proceptive behaviors, males influence female receptivity through aggression and sexual coercion, shedding light on the degree to which rank related asymmetry in male mating success reflects female choice vs. constraint of choice. This dissertation includes previously published and unpublished co-authored material.

Starting at preschool is a big step in the child's life, that is when the child is forced to create affiliation with other adults and children. From being at home in a safe environment with their parents /guardians to come to a whole new environment with new people to associate. The purpose of the study was to see educators' thoughts about in-school education and related education, what they emphasize as extra important in meeting a new child, but also how their education goes on. The survey is based on qualitative interviews with 5 educators. The results show that the reason is that the parents are safe and that they have a good contact. In order to build a safe connection with the new children, educators raise the importance of making an attachment to the child's initiative. Pre-schools use different education models, but the reason is the same that schooling takes place at the child's rate.

Background: People who are religiously unaffiliated (including self-identifying atheists and agnostics, as well as those who say their religion is "nothing in particular") made up 16.4% of the world's population in 2010. Unaffiliated populations have been growing in North America and Europe, leading some to expect that this group will grow as a share of the world's population. However, such forecasts overlook the impact of demographic factors, such as fertility and the large, aging unaffiliated population in Asia. Objective: We project the future size of religiously affiliated and unaffiliated populations around the world. Methods: We use multistate cohort-component methods to project the size of religiously affiliated and unaffiliated populations. Projection inputs such as religious composition, differential fertility, and age structure data, as well as religious switching patterns, are based on the best available census and survey data for each country. This research is based on an analysis of more than 2,500 data sources. Results: Taking demographic factors into account, we project that the unaffiliated will make up 13.2% of the world's population in 2050. The median age of religiously affiliated women is six years younger than unaffiliated women. The 2010-15 Total Fertility Rate for those with a religious affiliation is 2.59 children per woman, nearly a full child higher than the rate for the unaffiliated (1.65 children per woman). Conclusions: The religiously unaffiliated are projected to decline as a share of the world's population in the decades ahead because their net growth through religious switching will be more than offset by higher childbearing among the younger affiliated population.

Master of Science / Department of Psychological Sciences / Donald A. Saucier / The current research examined whether participants’ levels of racial prejudice impact their perceptions of a Black racial slur (“nigga”) used by a Black individual toward a White individual. The “racism justification hypothesis” predicts racial prejudice will be negatively related to perceptions of offensiveness due to motivations to trivialize racial slurs which allows for increased use of the slur by individuals higher in prejudice. The “hierarchy defense hypothesis” predicts racial prejudice will be positively related to more negative perceptions of the slur due to White individuals seeking to resist affiliation with Black individuals and perceiving affiliative attempts as threatening. Consistent with the hierarchy defense hypothesis, the results showed racial prejudice predicted greater offensive and negatively expressive perceptions, and lower positively expressive perceptions following “nigga” being used by a Black individual toward a White individual (Study 1). In Study 2, the current research examined whether motivations to trivialize racial slurs (i.e., racism justification) versus participants’ experiences of threat (i.e., hierarchy defense) mediated the relationships between racial prejudice and perceptions of “nigga” used by a Black individual toward a White individual. Consistent with the hierarchy defense hypothesis, racial prejudice, through status hierarchy threat, predicted greater offensive and negatively expressive perceptions, and lower positively expressive perceptions. The racism justification hypothesis was also supported. Participants’ levels of racial prejudice, through racism trivialization, were generally related to lower perceptions of the slur as offensive and greater perceptions of the slur as positively expressive. The current research then examined participants’ perceptions of “nigga” reciprocated by the White individual toward the Black individual. Interestingly, racial prejudice, through status hierarchy threat, predicted greater offensive and negatively expressive perceptions and lower positively expressive perceptions. Racial prejudice, through racism trivialization, predicted generally lower offensive perceptions and greater positively expressive perceptions. Thus, participants may have used their experiences of threat as justification for explicit prejudice toward the Black individual (i.e., perceiving the slur as more offensive and negative), while individuals who experienced trivialization motivations attempted to decrease their experiences of suppression factors by perceiving the slur as less offensive, allowing for increased use of the slur. Implications for these findings are discussed.