This research included male adolescents living on the U.S./Mexico border and the possible effects of a LD and racial and ethnic identification on support seeking behaviour within a bioecological framework. A sample of 34 male Caucasian, Hispanic and Latino students with and without a LD were recruited from two school sites in separate states in the southwest United States. Participants completed a social support questionnaire, selecting support options for managing various life stressors common to adolescents. Research yielded contradicting results from previous explorations of Hispanic and Latino social support behaviours. A one-way ANOVA found no significant differences between the four groups. Independent t-tests clustered students based on racial and ethnic identification with no significant differences. Significant differences were found between LD and non-LD groups in their choice of teachers, with students with a LD being significantly less likely to select teachers for support. In contrast to past research, Caucasian participants were more than twice as likely to select nobody for social support, and less likely to select their parent/guardian, peer/friend, sibling, or teacher for support. Future research should focus on students who are of community and school minority in various contexts across time to gain a more holistic understanding of social support seeking behaviour. / Graduate

Esta dissertação visa dar prosseguimento às investigações realizadas com duas associações de moradores de Porto Alegre – uma localizada numa vila popular e outra situada num bairro de classe média. Essas pesquisas evidenciaram que as distâncias estruturais e relacionais entre agentes que ocupam posições distintas em contextos de desigualdades extremas se reproduzem também na conformação das redes associativas. Frente a esses resultados, coloca-se a finalidade central desta pesquisa: identificar e analisar processos sociais que permitem explicar a associação causal entre distância social estrutural e distância social relacional – ou seja, a homofilia – observada no associativismo urbano de Porto Alegre. Devido à impossibilidade de abordar adequadamente os diversos mecanismos que concorrem para a (re)produção da homofilia, optou-se por focalizar um mecanismo que, hipoteticamente, parece desempenhar um papel central em um contexto de profunda desigualdade como o brasileiro: o mecanismo de invisibilização. Argumenta-se que a invisibilização de indivíduos e grupos em posições inferiorizadas por parte daqueles ocupantes de posições superiores na hierarquia social constitui um mecanismo importante na constituição das fronteiras sociais e simbólicas em espaços sociais marcados por desigualdades extremas. A hipótese aventada é de que a invisibilização tende a bloquear os contatos entre indivíduos desigualmente situados no espaço social ao estabelecer fronteiras sociais e simbólicas entre eles, contribuindo, assim, na reprodução das distâncias estruturais e relacionais no associativismo. Para fins de análise, tomam-se como objetos de investigação indivíduos engajados em duas associações de moradores de classe média de Porto Alegre. São investigadas as relações e os deslocamentos desses indivíduos como um recurso metodológico para analisar os padrões homofílicos observados na atuação das organizações às quais eles pertencem. A opção por indivíduos como unidade de análise se fundamenta no argumento de que as relações entre agentes sociais são conformadas pelos grupos aos quais eles pertencem conjuntamente, enquanto que os laços entre grupos são formados pelos integrantes que eles compartilham. Para compreender como opera a invisibilização nas redes de relações, empregou-se a metodologia de análise de redes sociais. As técnicas de produção de informações reticulares conhecidas como gerador de nomes e name interpreters possibilitaram construir a trama de relações dos egos entrevistados e explorar os atributos socioeconômicos dos seus alters, respectivamente. Para dar conta da invisibilização nos deslocamentos e destinos dos agentes pesquisados foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas. Foi solicitado a eles que desenhassem em um mapa até três percursos dentro do bairro e três trajetos dentro da cidade, bem como fazer comentários sobre tais deslocamentos. A análise das redes relacionais e dos deslocamentos dos oito casos investigados permite sustentar empiricamente a presença e a operação do mecanismo de invisibilização. De um lado, ela se expressa na tendência de que indivíduos em posições subalternizadas estejam ausentes dos espaços e das relações que estruturam o cotidiano dos indivíduos pesquisados. Tal ausência diminui (e, no limite, impede) a possibilidade de que relações significativas e duradouras se estabeleçam entre os desiguais. Por outro, mesmo quando aquela tendência é rompida e os entrevistados interagem com indivíduos e organizações em posições inferiorizadas, observa-se que tal interação tende a não produzir vínculos relevantes. / This dissertation aims to continue the investigations carried out with two residents’ associations in Porto Alegre – one located in a poor neighborhood and the other in a middle class neighborhood. These surveys have shown that the structural and relational distances among agents who occupy distinct positions in contexts of extreme inequality are reproduced in the conformity of the associative networks as well. Based on these results, the main purpose of this research is presented: to identify and analyze the social processes that help explain the causal association between structural social distance and relational social distance – in other words, homophily – observed in the urban associations in Porto Alegre. Given the impossibility of adequately covering the numerous mechanisms that compete to the (re)production of homophily, we chose to address a mechanism that, hypothetically, seems to play a central role in a context of profound inequality, as it is the case in Brazil: the invisibility mechanism. It is argued that the invisibilization of individuals and groups in inferior positions by the ones that occupy superior positions in the social hierarchy constitutes an important mechanism in the formation of social and symbolic boundaries in social spaces characterized by extreme inequalities. The suggested hypothesis is that invisibilization tends to impede the contact between individuals unequally situated in the social space by establishing social and symbolic boundaries between them, contributing, thus, to the propagation of the structural and relational distances in associations. For the analysis, individuals engaged in two middle class residents’ associations in Porto Alegre are taken as objects of investigation. The relationships and displacements of these individuals are investigated as a methodological resource to analyze the homophylic patterns observed in the performance of the organizations they belong to. The choice for individuals as units of analysis is based on the argument that the relationships among social agents are shaped by the groups in which they participate together, whereas the relations between groups are formed by the participants they have in common. In order to understand how the invisibilization on the networks of relations operates, a method of social network analysis was used. The reticular information production techniques, known as name generators and name interpreters, facilitate the construction of a web of relations of the interviewed egos and the exploration of the socioeconomic attributes of their alters, respectively. To address the invisibilization on the dislocations and destinations of the participants, semi-structured interviews were made. They were asked to draw in a map up to three routes inside their neighborhood and three routes inside the city, as well as to comment about these dislocations. The analysis of the networks of relations and dislocations on the eight cases investigated allow empirical sustention of the presence and operation of the invisibility mechanism. On the one hand, it is expressed on the tendency that individuals in subordinated positions are absent in spaces and relations that structure the daily lives of the participants. This absence decreases (and, ultimately, prevents) the possibility of establishing significant and lasting relationships between the unequal. On the other hand, even when this tendency is broken and the participants interact with individuals and organizations in inferior positions, it is observed that this interaction tends not to produce relevant bonds.

Purpose: This thesis aims to research how homophily affects followers/consumers’ attitudes towards Instagram fashion influencers. In particular, the purpose is to investigate if the perceived level of identification (evaluated according the homophily variables and types of identification) between followers/consumers and fashion influencers is one of the drivers behind followers/consumers’ engagement on Instagram. Additionally, consumption patterns on Instagram will be further investigated, paying special attention in determining if followers/consumers’ identification with fashion influencers have an impact on their purchase intention towards the fashion products the influencer endorses. Methodology: This thesis uses an abductive research approach, together with qualitative methods to fulfill its aim and answer the research questions. The empirical data were gathered through an in-depth interview which eight participants, sampled by purposive sampling ,answered. Subsequently, the interviews were transcribed, coded, and analysed using thematic analysis. The main limitations of the research are the facts that the participants live in the same area and are approximately the same age. Thusly, the transferability of the results mightbe complicated. Findings: The findings of the analysis point out that followers/consumers’ engage with fashion influencers at an interpersonal level, through realization of sharing similar interests and values. Participants have also shown a desire of becoming even more similar to their favourite influencers by altering the beliefs they have in common with them. From the perspective of the theory of Homophily-Heterophily, the engagement between followers and influencers is affected by both, value and status homophily. On the other hand, it has also been demonstrated that identification influences followers/consumers’ purchase intention towards the fashion products influencers endorse on Instagram. Contributions: This paper contributes to the academia by investigating followers/consumers’ purchase intention through the theories of Identification and Homophily-Heterophily. Additionally, the context of Instagram, as well as, the qualitative nature of this investigation are novelties on this field of study. Fashion companies and influencers can also benefit from the results of this research, since they would be able of creating better collaborations.

Esta dissertação visa dar prosseguimento às investigações realizadas com duas associações de moradores de Porto Alegre – uma localizada numa vila popular e outra situada num bairro de classe média. Essas pesquisas evidenciaram que as distâncias estruturais e relacionais entre agentes que ocupam posições distintas em contextos de desigualdades extremas se reproduzem também na conformação das redes associativas. Frente a esses resultados, coloca-se a finalidade central desta pesquisa: identificar e analisar processos sociais que permitem explicar a associação causal entre distância social estrutural e distância social relacional – ou seja, a homofilia – observada no associativismo urbano de Porto Alegre. Devido à impossibilidade de abordar adequadamente os diversos mecanismos que concorrem para a (re)produção da homofilia, optou-se por focalizar um mecanismo que, hipoteticamente, parece desempenhar um papel central em um contexto de profunda desigualdade como o brasileiro: o mecanismo de invisibilização. Argumenta-se que a invisibilização de indivíduos e grupos em posições inferiorizadas por parte daqueles ocupantes de posições superiores na hierarquia social constitui um mecanismo importante na constituição das fronteiras sociais e simbólicas em espaços sociais marcados por desigualdades extremas. A hipótese aventada é de que a invisibilização tende a bloquear os contatos entre indivíduos desigualmente situados no espaço social ao estabelecer fronteiras sociais e simbólicas entre eles, contribuindo, assim, na reprodução das distâncias estruturais e relacionais no associativismo. Para fins de análise, tomam-se como objetos de investigação indivíduos engajados em duas associações de moradores de classe média de Porto Alegre. São investigadas as relações e os deslocamentos desses indivíduos como um recurso metodológico para analisar os padrões homofílicos observados na atuação das organizações às quais eles pertencem. A opção por indivíduos como unidade de análise se fundamenta no argumento de que as relações entre agentes sociais são conformadas pelos grupos aos quais eles pertencem conjuntamente, enquanto que os laços entre grupos são formados pelos integrantes que eles compartilham. Para compreender como opera a invisibilização nas redes de relações, empregou-se a metodologia de análise de redes sociais. As técnicas de produção de informações reticulares conhecidas como gerador de nomes e name interpreters possibilitaram construir a trama de relações dos egos entrevistados e explorar os atributos socioeconômicos dos seus alters, respectivamente. Para dar conta da invisibilização nos deslocamentos e destinos dos agentes pesquisados foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas. Foi solicitado a eles que desenhassem em um mapa até três percursos dentro do bairro e três trajetos dentro da cidade, bem como fazer comentários sobre tais deslocamentos. A análise das redes relacionais e dos deslocamentos dos oito casos investigados permite sustentar empiricamente a presença e a operação do mecanismo de invisibilização. De um lado, ela se expressa na tendência de que indivíduos em posições subalternizadas estejam ausentes dos espaços e das relações que estruturam o cotidiano dos indivíduos pesquisados. Tal ausência diminui (e, no limite, impede) a possibilidade de que relações significativas e duradouras se estabeleçam entre os desiguais. Por outro, mesmo quando aquela tendência é rompida e os entrevistados interagem com indivíduos e organizações em posições inferiorizadas, observa-se que tal interação tende a não produzir vínculos relevantes. / This dissertation aims to continue the investigations carried out with two residents’ associations in Porto Alegre – one located in a poor neighborhood and the other in a middle class neighborhood. These surveys have shown that the structural and relational distances among agents who occupy distinct positions in contexts of extreme inequality are reproduced in the conformity of the associative networks as well. Based on these results, the main purpose of this research is presented: to identify and analyze the social processes that help explain the causal association between structural social distance and relational social distance – in other words, homophily – observed in the urban associations in Porto Alegre. Given the impossibility of adequately covering the numerous mechanisms that compete to the (re)production of homophily, we chose to address a mechanism that, hypothetically, seems to play a central role in a context of profound inequality, as it is the case in Brazil: the invisibility mechanism. It is argued that the invisibilization of individuals and groups in inferior positions by the ones that occupy superior positions in the social hierarchy constitutes an important mechanism in the formation of social and symbolic boundaries in social spaces characterized by extreme inequalities. The suggested hypothesis is that invisibilization tends to impede the contact between individuals unequally situated in the social space by establishing social and symbolic boundaries between them, contributing, thus, to the propagation of the structural and relational distances in associations. For the analysis, individuals engaged in two middle class residents’ associations in Porto Alegre are taken as objects of investigation. The relationships and displacements of these individuals are investigated as a methodological resource to analyze the homophylic patterns observed in the performance of the organizations they belong to. The choice for individuals as units of analysis is based on the argument that the relationships among social agents are shaped by the groups in which they participate together, whereas the relations between groups are formed by the participants they have in common. In order to understand how the invisibilization on the networks of relations operates, a method of social network analysis was used. The reticular information production techniques, known as name generators and name interpreters, facilitate the construction of a web of relations of the interviewed egos and the exploration of the socioeconomic attributes of their alters, respectively. To address the invisibilization on the dislocations and destinations of the participants, semi-structured interviews were made. They were asked to draw in a map up to three routes inside their neighborhood and three routes inside the city, as well as to comment about these dislocations. The analysis of the networks of relations and dislocations on the eight cases investigated allow empirical sustention of the presence and operation of the invisibility mechanism. On the one hand, it is expressed on the tendency that individuals in subordinated positions are absent in spaces and relations that structure the daily lives of the participants. This absence decreases (and, ultimately, prevents) the possibility of establishing significant and lasting relationships between the unequal. On the other hand, even when this tendency is broken and the participants interact with individuals and organizations in inferior positions, it is observed that this interaction tends not to produce relevant bonds.

Esta dissertação visa dar prosseguimento às investigações realizadas com duas associações de moradores de Porto Alegre – uma localizada numa vila popular e outra situada num bairro de classe média. Essas pesquisas evidenciaram que as distâncias estruturais e relacionais entre agentes que ocupam posições distintas em contextos de desigualdades extremas se reproduzem também na conformação das redes associativas. Frente a esses resultados, coloca-se a finalidade central desta pesquisa: identificar e analisar processos sociais que permitem explicar a associação causal entre distância social estrutural e distância social relacional – ou seja, a homofilia – observada no associativismo urbano de Porto Alegre. Devido à impossibilidade de abordar adequadamente os diversos mecanismos que concorrem para a (re)produção da homofilia, optou-se por focalizar um mecanismo que, hipoteticamente, parece desempenhar um papel central em um contexto de profunda desigualdade como o brasileiro: o mecanismo de invisibilização. Argumenta-se que a invisibilização de indivíduos e grupos em posições inferiorizadas por parte daqueles ocupantes de posições superiores na hierarquia social constitui um mecanismo importante na constituição das fronteiras sociais e simbólicas em espaços sociais marcados por desigualdades extremas. A hipótese aventada é de que a invisibilização tende a bloquear os contatos entre indivíduos desigualmente situados no espaço social ao estabelecer fronteiras sociais e simbólicas entre eles, contribuindo, assim, na reprodução das distâncias estruturais e relacionais no associativismo. Para fins de análise, tomam-se como objetos de investigação indivíduos engajados em duas associações de moradores de classe média de Porto Alegre. São investigadas as relações e os deslocamentos desses indivíduos como um recurso metodológico para analisar os padrões homofílicos observados na atuação das organizações às quais eles pertencem. A opção por indivíduos como unidade de análise se fundamenta no argumento de que as relações entre agentes sociais são conformadas pelos grupos aos quais eles pertencem conjuntamente, enquanto que os laços entre grupos são formados pelos integrantes que eles compartilham. Para compreender como opera a invisibilização nas redes de relações, empregou-se a metodologia de análise de redes sociais. As técnicas de produção de informações reticulares conhecidas como gerador de nomes e name interpreters possibilitaram construir a trama de relações dos egos entrevistados e explorar os atributos socioeconômicos dos seus alters, respectivamente. Para dar conta da invisibilização nos deslocamentos e destinos dos agentes pesquisados foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas. Foi solicitado a eles que desenhassem em um mapa até três percursos dentro do bairro e três trajetos dentro da cidade, bem como fazer comentários sobre tais deslocamentos. A análise das redes relacionais e dos deslocamentos dos oito casos investigados permite sustentar empiricamente a presença e a operação do mecanismo de invisibilização. De um lado, ela se expressa na tendência de que indivíduos em posições subalternizadas estejam ausentes dos espaços e das relações que estruturam o cotidiano dos indivíduos pesquisados. Tal ausência diminui (e, no limite, impede) a possibilidade de que relações significativas e duradouras se estabeleçam entre os desiguais. Por outro, mesmo quando aquela tendência é rompida e os entrevistados interagem com indivíduos e organizações em posições inferiorizadas, observa-se que tal interação tende a não produzir vínculos relevantes. / This dissertation aims to continue the investigations carried out with two residents’ associations in Porto Alegre – one located in a poor neighborhood and the other in a middle class neighborhood. These surveys have shown that the structural and relational distances among agents who occupy distinct positions in contexts of extreme inequality are reproduced in the conformity of the associative networks as well. Based on these results, the main purpose of this research is presented: to identify and analyze the social processes that help explain the causal association between structural social distance and relational social distance – in other words, homophily – observed in the urban associations in Porto Alegre. Given the impossibility of adequately covering the numerous mechanisms that compete to the (re)production of homophily, we chose to address a mechanism that, hypothetically, seems to play a central role in a context of profound inequality, as it is the case in Brazil: the invisibility mechanism. It is argued that the invisibilization of individuals and groups in inferior positions by the ones that occupy superior positions in the social hierarchy constitutes an important mechanism in the formation of social and symbolic boundaries in social spaces characterized by extreme inequalities. The suggested hypothesis is that invisibilization tends to impede the contact between individuals unequally situated in the social space by establishing social and symbolic boundaries between them, contributing, thus, to the propagation of the structural and relational distances in associations. For the analysis, individuals engaged in two middle class residents’ associations in Porto Alegre are taken as objects of investigation. The relationships and displacements of these individuals are investigated as a methodological resource to analyze the homophylic patterns observed in the performance of the organizations they belong to. The choice for individuals as units of analysis is based on the argument that the relationships among social agents are shaped by the groups in which they participate together, whereas the relations between groups are formed by the participants they have in common. In order to understand how the invisibilization on the networks of relations operates, a method of social network analysis was used. The reticular information production techniques, known as name generators and name interpreters, facilitate the construction of a web of relations of the interviewed egos and the exploration of the socioeconomic attributes of their alters, respectively. To address the invisibilization on the dislocations and destinations of the participants, semi-structured interviews were made. They were asked to draw in a map up to three routes inside their neighborhood and three routes inside the city, as well as to comment about these dislocations. The analysis of the networks of relations and dislocations on the eight cases investigated allow empirical sustention of the presence and operation of the invisibility mechanism. On the one hand, it is expressed on the tendency that individuals in subordinated positions are absent in spaces and relations that structure the daily lives of the participants. This absence decreases (and, ultimately, prevents) the possibility of establishing significant and lasting relationships between the unequal. On the other hand, even when this tendency is broken and the participants interact with individuals and organizations in inferior positions, it is observed that this interaction tends not to produce relevant bonds.

It is well-documented that adolescents tend to befriend those who share demographic characteristics like gender. Less clear is how culture connects to these homogeneous relationships. This study examines the effects of gender-typed behavior on adolescent friendships at dyadic and school levels. The friendship network data are drawn from the well-known wave 1 ‘saturation school’ component of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. I show that adolescents tend to befriend those who share similar gender-typed behavior, above and beyond simple demographic affiliation. Also, when students in particular schools exhibit more heterogeneous gender-typed behavior, the expression of gender-typed behavior homophily within schools becomes stronger, whereas gender homophily declines. The results support previous research showing cultural dispositions shape network patterns, but also provides evidence of contextual network formation processes.

No description available.

Yes / It is often assumed that exposure to nude stimuli in advertising influences consumer behavior positively. However, the empirical evidence concerning the effects of nudity on consumer reactions is inconclusive. The goal of this study is to disentangle the effects of opposite-gender and same-gender nudity on female and male consumers' reactions. This study, thereby, offers a framework for the appropriate choice of seminude or fully clothed human stimuli based on advertisers' objectives and consumer–model gender interactions. The empirical data were derived from a large-scale market research initiative from Germany with 61,399 consumer evaluations of 147 real ads from 16 product categories. Female consumers show positive same-gender results for both seminude and fully clothed female models, indicating strong homophily, but nonsignificant opposite-gender effects on information search, positive attitude change, integration of brand into consideration set, and purchase intentions. In contrast, male consumers demonstrate a significantly positive and equally strong influence of opposite-gender and same-gender seminude stimuli on all of the four variables.

The research presents a study of ethnic homophily, i.e. the tendency of agents to be connected to similar others, in the school context. It uses two observations of the complete social network of a cohort of Swedish students (n=115) in a secondary school. The study analyses the scope of the selective attachment and the student’s possible motivations to seek similarity, as well as its interrelation to homophily induced by structural organization or foci. It focuses in the interrelation between the individual motivation to seek similarity and how the context of opportunity is organized. Sociometric data was collected during a school year and the model is based in crosscuts of the friendship network. Homophily in respect to ethnic origin was found in the first time point, with students making connections within the in-group. The effect of ethnic homophily seems to decrease between the time points, with evidence of an effect of structural constraints that gained importance over time. Results suggest that organisational divisions in classrooms play a decisive role in the pattern of friendship connections in the school

Cette thèse étudie le rôle du leadership d’opinion dans un contexte particulier : celui de la résistance du consommateur à la marque. Afin de répondre à cet objectif, trois études sont menées. Une étude ethnographique permet de définir les caractéristiques et les rôles des leaders d’opinion dans un groupe de résistance. Les leaders se distinguent par leur statut, à la fois formel et informel. Ils présentent des caractéristiques socio-démographiques, psychologiques et relatives à leurs habitudes de consommation. Ils endossent trois types de rôles : l’influence sur la résistance des militants et des autres consommateurs, la transmission et le maintien des normes du groupe, et les relations hors du groupe. La deuxième étude qualitative, fondée sur une approche clinique, permet de comprendre l’exercice du leadership d’opinion contre la marque. L’analyse de contenu de 15 entretiens semi-directifs fait émerger des facteurs qui l’impactent, positivement et négativement. Ils sont de trois natures : contextuelle, individuelle et relationnelle. L’étude quantitative, basée sur une quasi-expérimentation (n=260), montre que le leadership d’opinion dans une cause a un effet indirect sur l’intention du consommateur de résister à une marque qui la transgresse, via l’expertise perçue du leader dans la cause. L’homophilie perceptuelle (similarité en matière de goûts, dégoûts, valeurs et expériences) et la force des liens (proximité affective) exercent un effet modérateur dans le modèle / This Ph.D. dissertation studies the role of opinion leadership in a particular context that is consumer resistance to brand. To this end, three studies are conducted. First, an ethnographic research helps to better define the characteristics and roles of opinion leaders in a resistance group. Results show that these leaders have particular status, both formal and informal. They also possess sociodemographic and psychological characteristics, as well as characteristics related to their own consumption habits. Finally they can take on three different roles: influencing militants and other consumer’s resistance, transmitting and maintaining group norms, and managing external relations. The second study draws from a clinical approach and uses 15 in-depth interviews to understand leaders’ actions against the brand. Data analysis emphasizes contextual, individual, and relational factors which all have consequences – whether positive or negative – on the opinion leadership process. Finally, a quantitative study based on a quasi-experiment (n=260) shows that opinion leadership in a cause has an indirect effect on consumer intention to resist against a particular brand (boycott, complaints, negative word-of-mouth), via leader’s perceived expertise in the cause. Perceptual homophily (similarity of tastes, distastes, values and experiences) and ties strength (affective closeness) have moderator effects in the model