China and India, demographically being the two largest countries in the world, are together accounting for more than a third of the world’s total population. This makes the Sino-Indian relationship critical not only for those living in China and India, but for the whole world. Regardless of a history filled with conflicts and a contemporary competition over regional influence have the two Asian powers managed to increasingly deepen their economic ties. Even though the relationship seems to be moving in a more peaceful direction of mutual understanding and cooperation, it is still a very fragile relationship. The focus of this research lies in the contemporary Sino-Indian relations, which aims to understand the role trade and cooperation have had in moving the attention away from security-related issues on to more positive fields. The empirical observations that will be tested in the case of Sino-Indian relations are the border dispute at Arunachal Pradesh and the political and economic interdependence. Together these will represent the empirical foundation of the research, which will be tested and interpreted by the neo-realist and neo-liberal perspective. The concluding remarks on the research is that trade and cooperation unlikely is the main factor in the Sino-Indian relationship, preventing or reducing attention from being given to security-related issues, but should rather be seen as the foundational source on which a process towards confidence-building measures, institutions, mutual interests and a political goodwill has been established.

This thesis is an effort to apply Elias’s thinking on social development to the Chinese social situation. At first glance his account of the civilizing process would appear incompatible with this context, in that, after state formation with the Qin and Han dynasties beginning in 221 BC, Chinese civilization remained both stable and highly traditional for well over two millennia. It is argued, however, that closer scrutiny reveals a process that was merely interrupted for a considerable period. The traditional system relied upon a symbiotic relationship between local society and the centre whereby the centre remained relatively small and aloof, not interfering with local social relations, as long as local society provided the required taxes and labour. In this situation the state had the monopolies of both violence and taxation that Elias would look for, but left local society to its own devices primarily because it was already pacified. This self-reinforcing system was enshrined and codified in the Confucian cannon over the course of centuries from the Han dynasty. Central control of the distribution of resources was eventually required to re-start the Chinese civilizing process, for this was the mechanism through which the local social structure would finally be altered. This only happened within the past century as the Chinese people struggled to grapple with their own ‘backwardness’ in the face of incessant Western and Japanese incursions. At this point the old system was toppled and replaced by progressively more aggressive central governments who saw as their most important task the destruction of the traditional social order in the interest of modernization. As the Chinese state consciously and forcibly took control of the distribution of resources at all levels of society, traditional social relations were stretched and warped, and the Chinese civilizing process re-commenced its long-stalled march toward modernization. This has been evidenced both by the dramatic growth in mobility and the rapidly extending chains of interdependence in the form of guanxi connections primarily during the Post-Opening period after 1978.

The purpose of this study was to compare couples who experienced a pregnancy early in their courtship, late in their courtship, or not pregnant at all on their development of behavioral interdependence across three levels of involvement; regularly dating , a couple, and committed to marriage, and into marriage. Data were collected by means of a semi-structured interview schedule which permitted couples to retrospectively graph their courtship from the first time they met until marriage. Partners divided their courtship into the three levels of involvement and then completed questionnaires which ascertained the activities they performed and with whom they performed them for each of the three levels of involvement and once for marriage. Analyses of variance were performed on properties derived from the graphs and the behavioral variables obtained from the activities questionnaires. Partners in the early pregnant group spent more time in the couple 1evel of involvement than in the regularly dating and committed 1evel s and partners in the late pregnant group spent more time in the committed level of involvement than the other levels. Partners in the early and late pregnancy groups performed fewer female activities alone than did the partners in the nonpregnant group; an indication that partners in the two pregnancy groups are less traditional than partners in the nonpregnant group. Partners in the early and late pregnancy groups also reported performing more affectionate activities early in their courtship than did the partners in the nonpregnant group, but the performance of affectionate activities by the early pregnant partners was lower than the late and nonpregnant pairs at marriage. Partners in the early pregnant group seemed to be more isolated in their performance of leisure activities. They performed proportionately fewer leisure activities with family members or friends only than did partners in the late and nonpregnant groups.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This study sought to better understand the communication of commitment in monogamous romantic relationships, including how one communicates his/her commitment to his/her partner and how one interprets messages from his/her partner. Focusing on the fundamentals of communicating commitment to one’s partner proves beneficial in understanding the commitment processes in daily life. In an effort to understand this concept, I used themes from interdependence theory and the investment model to formulate the interview questions and develop the findings. The findings and interpretations demonstrate that couples are communicating their commitment to each other in words/verbal expressions, especially in the beginning stages of the committed relationship; the commitment global construct employed most to communicate commitment in relationship is relational maintenance behaviors; and people perceive that nonverbal expressions of commitment are the best way to interpret messages of commitment from one’s partner.

Research shows that friend/family opinions influence romantic relationships, with approval leading to positive outcomes (e.g, increased intimacy) and disapproval leading to negative outcomes (e.g., couple dissolution). The impact the network's opinion has on their relationship with the person is less examined. Balance theory suggests when their network disapproves, people try to change the network’s mind about the partner, their mind about their partner, or their mind about their network. If so, disapproval could lead to lowered network relationship quality, which may lead to increased romantic relationship dependence. Participants read one of four vignettes manipulating friend/parent opinion (approval/disapproval) and completed dependence/relationship quality scales. The study found that romantic and network relationship quality is hurt by network disapproval, but dependence was not affected. Any approval for the romantic relationship acted as a buffer to disapproval. Changing the source of the network listened to was another way found that people balance these relationships

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Yes / Objectives: The quality of the relationship between people with dementia and their informal caregiver maybe an important determinant of life satisfaction and well-being for both members of the dyad. Taking a dyadic perspective, the aim of this study was to examine whether self- and partner- rated relationship quality influences life satisfaction and well-being for both people with dementia and their caregivers. Design and methods: Using data from 1283 dyads in the Improving the Experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life (IDEAL) cohort, we examined the impact of current relationship quality on life satisfaction and well-being in dementia caregiving dyads. Data were analysed using the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) framework. Results: Self-rated relationship quality was associated with own life satisfaction and well-being for both people with dementia and caregivers. Partner-rated relationship quality did not influence own life satisfaction or well-being for either member of the dyad. Conclusion: This study is the first to use the APIM framework to explore the dyadic associations between relationship quality and life satisfaction and well-being in a large cohort of dementia caregiving dyads. The obtained findings suggest that the individual perception of the quality of the caregiving relationship held by each member of the caregiving dyad is an important factor for that member’s life satisfaction and well-being, while the partner’s perception of relationship quality is not. The findings highlight the importance of considering the individual perspective of both the person with dementia and the caregiver and enabling each to maintain positive perceptions of relationship quality. / ‘Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life: living well with dementia. The IDEAL study’ was funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) and the National Institute for Health Research (UK) through grant ES/L001853/2 ‘Improving the experience of dementia and enhancing active life: living well with dementia’

Yes / This study explores how British South Asian parents perceive their children’s technology consumption through their collectivist lenses and interdependent values. The findings for this qualitative study indicate that second and third generation South Asian parents acknowledge the benefits of children’s technology use; but largely perceive technology as a disruptive agent, whereby children are becoming isolated and increasingly independent within the household. The analysis aims to understand how parents view their children’s relationship with others as a result of technology consumption. Accordingly, this paper proposes an extension of the Construal of self conceptualisation and contributes a Techno-construal matrix that establishes a dyadic connection between technology consumption and cultural values. Overall, the study reveals that children display less inter-reliance and conformance typically associated with collectivist cultures, resulting from their technology use. Consequently, parents interpret their children’s shift from interdependence to more independence as a disruptive and unsettling phenomenon within the household.

Strategic international public-private partnerships (SIPPPs) involve private multinational and public domestic sector parties. SIPPPs are a more complex but less studied form of international strategic alliance (ISA) and increasingly important in the development of emerging economies. A growing body of ISA research has suggested the importance of cultural differences in the often-reported failure of such cross-cultural relationships, but their exact nature remains unknown. This study examines the effects of both national and organisational cultural value systems on trust-building in SIPPPs. It uniquely also tests whether the two types of cultural values are accorded differently by the two types of partner, private and public. The complex relationship building processes were studied through the combined lenses of social-exchange and cultural-exchange theories, providing a rich perspective on the phenomenon under study. The sample, based on purposive sampling, consisted of successful and unsuccessful SIPPS of various sizes, from different industries, operating in a number of African countries. Africa, with its challenging environment and increasing focus on SIPPPs, represented an "extreme context" within which hypotheses could be rigorously tested. The relationships were tested empirically using structural equation modelling. The study confirmed a strong relationship between partners’ economic and collaborative interdependency on the one hand, and mutual trust-levels on the other. Cultural difference was shown to have both a negative direct effect as well as a positive moderating effect on trust building, providing support for the notion of a “cultural paradox”. Strong evidence was provided that partners from opposite sides of the dyad, informed by their respective cultural backgrounds, have different perceptions of the relative importance of these relationships in building trust. The findings have theoretical and practical significance, suggesting that SIPPP partners can improve trust levels and sustain their relationship by building ties of economic interdependence and engaging in collaborative actions to build their collaborative interdependence. The importance of partners being sensitive to each other’s needs and perceptions, and of engaging in reciprocity to build mutual confidence and trust seems critical. The findings have important implications for SIPPP design and needed management skills, as well as for future cross-cultural dyadic research. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2018. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / PhD / Unrestricted

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