Thesis (doctoral)--Friedrich-Alexander-Universität zu Erlangen.

Casual sexual relationships are common forms of modern sexual relationships. Researchers are paying increased attention to these relationship types, but have been remiss in ensuring that the definitions of the relationships under investigation match participants’ conceptualizations. Thus, the purpose of this dissertation is to determine whether definitions and behavioural scripts for casual sexual relationships can be identified. In Study 1, 23 young adults discussed initiation, maintenance, and termination components of various casual sexual relationships in focus groups and developed consensus definitions for each relationship. Each focus group independently identified four casual sexual relationships: One Night Stand, Booty Call, Fuck Buddies, and Friends with Benefits. These four relationships were the focus of subsequent exploration. Building on the qualitative descriptions created in the focus groups, an online survey was used to determine whether relationship definitions and associated script behaviours could be confirmed in a larger sample (N = 885). In Study 2, a restricted age subsample (i.e., 18-29 years) was used to determine if emerging adults endorsed the proposed definitions. A majority of the sample endorsed the definitions for One Night Stand (96%), Booty Call (93%), Fuck Buddies (83%), and Friends with Benefits (87%). A larger proportion of individuals with sexual intercourse experience endorsed the definitions compared to those without sexual intercourse experience, while previous casual sex experience did not affect definition endorsements. Women demonstrated greater precision in identifying the definitions. In Study 3, the full sample of 885 participants was used to identify the specific script behaviours associated with each relationship. Using behaviourally descriptive items (N = 62) derived from Study 1, participants identified 12 script items for One Night Stand, Booty Call, and Friends with Benefits and 10 script items for Fuck Buddies. Individuals with previous sexual intercourse experience were more adept at identifying the specific behavioural script items, while previous casual sex experience did not affect script endorsements. Again, women were particularly adept at identifying the specific script items. Overall, these findings suggest that specific definitions and respective scripts exist for the One Night Stand, Booty Call, Fuck Buddies, and Friends with Benefits relationships. This knowledge appears broad and may be considered as socio-cultural knowledge of young adults. Numerous implications flow from the understanding that young adults implicitly know what behaviours are associated with these popular forms of casual sexual relationships. Researchers need to ensure they use scientifically sound definitions in order to develop a more sophisticated lexicon of (casual sex) relationships and understand how modern sexual relationships fit within the scope of potential relationship options.

No description available.

USERNAME TAB PASSWORD RETURN Social Networking Site, User Generated Content, Screen Identity, Gender, Sexuality, YouTube, Booty Video, Reaction Video, Digital Culture, Archive

This thesis explored the potential patterns and connections which could be uncovered through careful analysis of the royal inscriptions mentioning horses as a form of plunder or tribute, dedicated to the kings of the Neo-Assyrian empire. This was accomplished by analysing all royal inscriptions attributed to Neo-Assyrian kings found within the RINAP and RIAo projects for passages that meet said criterium. Once all the relevant texts had been tabulated, the results were sorted into larger categories and then compared to each other. This resulted in certain patterns emerging. It became clear that during the first half Neo-Assyrian period, before the great expansion of the empire started under Tiglath-Pileser III, the mountains to the north of Assyria, which for the purposes of this thesis have been designated ‘the Caucasus’, was a major source of horses through looting and extracting tribute. It was not the region which was attacked the most, that honour falls to the mountains to the east, designated as ‘Persia’ for the purposes of this thesis. Towards the end of the Neo-Assyrian period, the importance of the Caucasus as a source of horses was severely diminished, while the importance of Persia grew. Exact numbers of horses are very rarely given, making the few instances they are mentioned stand out. Because of this, no reliable numbers or estimates can be given.

This master's thesis deals with the potential impact of natural resources on intrastate conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. The major aim is to investigate the general validity of the resource curse theory and of Ross's hypothesis about selling booty futures in civil wars. The presumed negative influence of both theories is tested on the cases of recent intrastate conflicts in the region, namely in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Liberia and Sierra Leone. However, the main contribution of the thesis is probably the analysis of another case, namely Botswana, which, unlike other countries, appears to be out of the generally valid standards of the resource curse theory, as the only one experiencing long-term positive economic growth. The partial aim of the thesis is also to analyze the Botswana's success in managing natural resources and then to suggest some possible recommendations for other states in the region. The thesis is written in the qualitative approach, particularly in the form of thorough work with academic literature. The research method is the Method of Difference by John Stuart Mill, in its revised form of the Most Similar Systems Design.