How does the satisfaction (or the lack of satisfaction) of the innate need to have meaningful interpersonal relationships affects behavioural self-regulation? How does having/lacking interpersonal relatedness impact one’s perception of future interpersonal relationships? This doctoral dissertation aimed to answer these two fundamental questions by integrating the views of two complementary theories, need to belong theory (NBT; Baumeister & Leary, 1995) and self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000). Using a series of two laboratory experiments and one longitudinal study, this thesis examined the effects of social exclusion and inclusion on satisfaction of basic psychological needs, self-determined motivation, and self-regulation of behaviours. In Study 1 (N=72), social exclusion and inclusion were manipulated in order to examine their effects on the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs proposed by SDT, that is the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Findings from this first experiment revealed that social exclusion decreases satisfaction of the three needs, whereas social inclusion increases satisfaction of these needs when compared to the control condition. Furthermore, significant differences were found between the exclusion condition and the inclusion condition for the reported levels of satisfaction of the needs for competence and relatedness. The effects of social exclusion and inclusion on basic needs satisfaction were further investigated in Study 2 (N=70); also, the second study examined how self-determined motivation and behavioural self-regulation are affected. More specifically, it tested whether participants’ persistence at a laboratory task, as well as their intentions for a future peer interaction (intentions to compete against a peer participant and intentions to collaborate with a peer participant) are influenced by social exclusion and inclusion, through the meditating effects of basic needs satisfaction and self-determined motivation. The results suggested that social exclusion, via the effects of basic needs and motivation decreases peer collaboration, whereas social inclusion was shown to have an opposite effect on peer collaboration. The effect of condition via the mediating effects of basic needs satisfaction and motivation failed to predict persistence at the task and peer competition. Lastly, Study 3 (N=624) assessed naturally occurring social exclusion and inclusion in a population of junior high school students. This third study investigated the independent contributions of SDT and NBT in the prediction of academic motivation and high school dropout. Peer relatedness, perceived needs support from parents, and perceived needs support from teachers were examined as potential predictors of academic motivation and high school dropout. Findings suggested that peer relatedness plays an important role in the prediction of academic motivation, but, that perceived needs support from parents and perceived needs support from teachers are stronger predictors of that outcome. Results from this study also revealed that peer relatedness contributes to the prediction of high school dropout, beyond what can be explained by academic motivation, perceived needs support from parents, and perceived needs support from teachers. However, perceived needs support from parents was shown to be the most essential predictor of high school dropout. In sum, findings from this doctoral dissertation suggested that social exclusion has detrimental effects on one’s motivation and behavioural self-regulation. In contrast, social inclusion fosters social support which promotes satisfaction of the basic psychological needs, self-determined motivation, and successful self-regulation. This doctoral thesis contributed to the application of SDT and NBT by comparing elements of the two complementary frameworks. It also offered an original contribution to research on social exclusion and inclusion by examining their impacts on self-determined motivation, and basic needs satisfaction, as well as testing them in both the laboratory setting and the natural setting.

This report chronicles the process of investigating social theories and their relation to music experience in order to create a specific online community. The purpose of this community focuses on an historical perspective of music while facilitating the formation of varied knowledge-networks and relationship levels. Social theories are correlated with web applications and tools to support design choices that will appeal to users by providing opportunities for specific social functions. This research allows for an organized, detailed, and theoretical approach to the design of the online music community, Vinylsqueegee.com. / text

Sociometer Theory (Leary & Downs, 1995; Leary, Tambor, Terdal, & Downs, 1995) proposes that state self-esteem is a gauge of social inclusion. Expansions to this theory by Kirkpatrick and Ellis (2001) suggest that this is a domain specific process with different sociometers for different adaptive domains. Two studies were conducted to test predictions derived from the domain specific sociometer model of self-esteem proposed by Kirkpatrick and Ellis (2001). In Study 1, participants (N = 83) who were currently single, received feedback to indicate either acceptance (inclusion) or rejection (exclusion) for a potential dating situation. The results indicated that participants who were accepted versus rejected reported increases in state self-esteem and higher mating aspirations. The same effects were not present for either friendship aspiration or friendship investment, indicating domain specificity. The effect of the manipulation on mating aspirations was also significantly mediated by state self-esteem. Study 2 replicated Study 1 using participants (N = 81) who were currently in an intimate relationship. The results indicated that participants who were accepted versus rejected reported increases in state self-esteem and decreases in perceived relationship quality (commitment and satisfaction). The same effects were not present for either friendships aspirations or friendship investment. The association between the manipulation and resulting changes in perceived relationship quality were significantly mediated by state self-esteem, with state self-esteem acting as a suppressor. The results from both studies support a domain-specific conceptualisation of sociometer theory.

How does the satisfaction (or the lack of satisfaction) of the innate need to have meaningful interpersonal relationships affects behavioural self-regulation? How does having/lacking interpersonal relatedness impact one’s perception of future interpersonal relationships? This doctoral dissertation aimed to answer these two fundamental questions by integrating the views of two complementary theories, need to belong theory (NBT; Baumeister & Leary, 1995) and self-determination theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000). Using a series of two laboratory experiments and one longitudinal study, this thesis examined the effects of social exclusion and inclusion on satisfaction of basic psychological needs, self-determined motivation, and self-regulation of behaviours. In Study 1 (N=72), social exclusion and inclusion were manipulated in order to examine their effects on the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs proposed by SDT, that is the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Findings from this first experiment revealed that social exclusion decreases satisfaction of the three needs, whereas social inclusion increases satisfaction of these needs when compared to the control condition. Furthermore, significant differences were found between the exclusion condition and the inclusion condition for the reported levels of satisfaction of the needs for competence and relatedness. The effects of social exclusion and inclusion on basic needs satisfaction were further investigated in Study 2 (N=70); also, the second study examined how self-determined motivation and behavioural self-regulation are affected. More specifically, it tested whether participants’ persistence at a laboratory task, as well as their intentions for a future peer interaction (intentions to compete against a peer participant and intentions to collaborate with a peer participant) are influenced by social exclusion and inclusion, through the meditating effects of basic needs satisfaction and self-determined motivation. The results suggested that social exclusion, via the effects of basic needs and motivation decreases peer collaboration, whereas social inclusion was shown to have an opposite effect on peer collaboration. The effect of condition via the mediating effects of basic needs satisfaction and motivation failed to predict persistence at the task and peer competition. Lastly, Study 3 (N=624) assessed naturally occurring social exclusion and inclusion in a population of junior high school students. This third study investigated the independent contributions of SDT and NBT in the prediction of academic motivation and high school dropout. Peer relatedness, perceived needs support from parents, and perceived needs support from teachers were examined as potential predictors of academic motivation and high school dropout. Findings suggested that peer relatedness plays an important role in the prediction of academic motivation, but, that perceived needs support from parents and perceived needs support from teachers are stronger predictors of that outcome. Results from this study also revealed that peer relatedness contributes to the prediction of high school dropout, beyond what can be explained by academic motivation, perceived needs support from parents, and perceived needs support from teachers. However, perceived needs support from parents was shown to be the most essential predictor of high school dropout. In sum, findings from this doctoral dissertation suggested that social exclusion has detrimental effects on one’s motivation and behavioural self-regulation. In contrast, social inclusion fosters social support which promotes satisfaction of the basic psychological needs, self-determined motivation, and successful self-regulation. This doctoral thesis contributed to the application of SDT and NBT by comparing elements of the two complementary frameworks. It also offered an original contribution to research on social exclusion and inclusion by examining their impacts on self-determined motivation, and basic needs satisfaction, as well as testing them in both the laboratory setting and the natural setting.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:38:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 6471.pdf: 1017695 bytes, checksum: e2492a15c246c1caa4fa0ed6cb0d2e4b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-01 / Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais / Post-abolition can be conceptualized as a historical moment in which places and social hierarchies built during centuries crumble. Master and slave, essential categories to understand slaveholding societies, don´t make sense anymore in this new social reality. By bringing the promise of freedom for the former captive, abolition established new bases for negotiation and therefore potentiate certain types of conflicts. While some tried to keep, even if under other terms, the old social asymmetries, former slaves sought to assert their new legal and social status of citizen. Through an approach of a variety of documentary sources of the period, this paper aims to demonstrate that interpersonal relationships were a set of interactions in which these political struggles by redefining certain social situations were present. Through of the interpersonal relationships, one can perceive the establishment of new forms of subjection to the black population, which saw their citizenship be precarious by the racialization of social relations characteristic of this time. / O pós-abolição pode ser conceituado como um momento histórico em que lugares e hierarquias sociais construídos durante séculos se desmancham. As categorias senhor e escravo, essenciais para se entender as sociedades escravistas, deixavam de fazer sentido nessa nova realidade social. Ao trazer a promessa de liberdade para o antigo cativo, a abolição estabeleceu novas bases de negociação e, consequentemente, potencializou determinados tipos de conflitos. Enquanto alguns tentavam manter, mesmo que sob outros termos, as antigas assimetrias sociais, os ex-escravos buscavam afirmar seu novo estatuto jurídico-social de cidadão. Através da abordagem de uma variedade de fontes documentais do período, este trabalho pretende demonstrar que as relações interpessoais constituíam um conjunto de interações nas quais essas lutas políticas pela redefinição de certos lugares sociais estavam presentes. Nas relações interpessoais, pode-se perceber o estabelecimento de novas formas de sujeição para a população negra, a qual via a sua cidadania ser precarizada pelo processo de racialização das relações sociais característico dessa época.

Magister Artium - MA / Social networking sites are used on a daily basis, to communicate with friends we have known for quite some time as well as make new friends from all over the globe - a global phenomenon. According to Aparicio (2011) the use of social networking sites have given way to a new “social dynamic” where friendships are formed with individuals from diverse backgrounds and geographical locations. Larsen (2007) continues to state that social network sites make for the creation of new friendships and the maintenance of new relationships. Using social networking sites to develop relationships provides us with new social skills, but through constant use of these sites we lose valuable interpersonal skills learnt through the use of face to face interaction (Aparicio, 2011). This thesis investigated the notion of social networking sites, specifically focusing on interpersonal relationships and language use within the networking context. The social networking site in question is that of Twitter, as majority of existing studies in this area focuses on the more popular Facebook. The main objective was to determine whether social networking sites, specifically Twitter, influence the development and maintenance of interpersonal relationships and language use. Participants included a group of 11 males and 11 females (22 in total), ranging from the ages of 17 to 33 and from different geographical locations (e.g. United Kingdom, South Africa, Tokyo, and so on). These participants frequently keep in contact with each other. Four ways in which Twitter has been adapted to emulate face to face communication have been found, namely: (1) the use of Paralinguistic and Prosodic Features to imitate speech, (2) Ustream, although not prominent within the data collected, is used to make up for the lack of face to face communication.This, however, is one-way; only one user provides a video link while those communicating with him or her (as there can be more than one) would type messages, (3) as expected a variety of shortenings can be found within the data collected. Shortenings imitate speech among the younger generation, and (4) participants make use of an informal register, as the most common type of relationship found on Twitter is that of friendships. Both strong and weak ties exist in the collected data; with weak ties being the majority. It is possible for weak ties to become strong ties. All online relationships start off as weak and gradually, over time, become strong ties. This is done through establishing trust between participants and communicating on a regular basis. Paolillo (1999) found that online relationships manifests as both weak and strong. However, “online ties are not ‘branded’ as weak ties” and these ties differ in quality; “those who have regular contact have strong ties and those with less frequent contact have weaker ties weak”. Social support is evident in the collected data and possible in online, textbased communication. In is manifested in four types of support, namely: instrumental, emotional, informational, and appraisal. The most common type of support found in the collected data is that of informational support. With regards to support activation strategies, most tweet fall under the ‘ask’ and ‘cry’ types of strategies. Also, considering the amount of emoticons found in the data, little or no emoticons were found in the activation strategies. There are also more indirect support activation strategies as opposed to direct. This could possibly be due to the fact that majority of the ties are ‘in the weak stage’. Textese has not been adapted in anyway; the same elements used by texters and IMers are used by tweeters, such as initialisms, phonetic spellings and contractions. Although present in the Twitter data, elements of textese did not occur as frequently as that found in e.g. Bieswanger’s (2007) and Thurlow’s (2003) studies; however more elements of Twitter language was found. If anything, the characteristics of textese are well-suited for Twitter; as shortened forms of words would make it easier for users to maintain a character count below the imposed limitation and it promotes the idea of writing quick and concise messages instead of filling message space with irrelevant content. With regards to the difference in the way male and female participants use language in terms of the linguistic characteristics of textese and the language unique to Twitter and the use of paralinguistic and prosodic features, it can be said that females tend to use these characteristics more than males do.

The aim of the thesis is to evaluate personnel activities in the selected company and to suggest changes to improve them. This thesis consists of theoretical and practical parts. The theoretical part explains the basic personnel activities. It explains the following activities: job analysis, personnel planning, recruitment, selection and adaptation of employees, performance management and appraisal, placement and termination of employment, remuneration of employees, motivation and employee benefits, education and development, interpersonal relationships, employee care and personnel information system. The practical part describes the personnel activities in the limited liability company GEFOS Inženýring, based on an interview with directress of the company. She allowed me to look into company´s documents. The next chapter analyzes the results of the questionnaire inquiry. These results are supplemented by information from my direct observation. The final part of this thesis evaluates the personnel activities of the company and suggests changes to improve the current situation.

The quality of employees is the most important criterion for the success of any company. However, to allow people to exploit their potential, it is necessary to motivate them. Motivation in the workplace essentially determines the quality of work. Globally successful companies devote more resources and efforts to improving their motivational system. Therefore the objective of this diploma thesis is the analysis of the performance of employees in connection with their motivation. The objective is also the research of the motivational system and the different forms of stimulation in the chosen company including the analysis of corporate culture. This research survey required a study of basic theoretical concepts related with working performance, motivating employees to better perform at the workplace, using appropriate stimulus means, interpersonal relations in the workplace and corporate culture. The performance of employees in connection with their motivation was analysed by using statistical methods (Pearson's correlation coefficient and Student's paired t-test) and by using labor productivity in comparison with the average wage. Motivation at the workplace was examined through a observation, interviews and a structured questionnaire with taking into account motivational profiles of employees. Corporate culture was analyzed through a system of symbols and test VSM and TBSD. Based on the data and its analysis, problem areas were defined and appropriate recommendations were made. These recommendations should contribute to the improvement of motivation, followed by greater work efficiency in the company.

The aim of the research was to establish how accurate an Objective Thematic Apperception Test can measure typical behavioral constructs of adolescents such as anxiety, stress, aggression, interpersonal relations and self-concept. An empirical investigation was carried out using a newly developed questionnaire, the Structured Objective TAT (SOTAT) as well as a control questionnaire (CQ). The items of the SOTAT were based on a selection of TAT cards and the CQ measured certain affective variables in the traditional way. Both questionnaires were completed by 378 adolescents. The SOTAT was found to be reliable but not construct valid since low correlation coefficients between the SOTAT and CQ were obtained. There is the possibility that projection did not occur during completion of the SOTAT. / Psychology / M. Ed. (Voorligting)

Much research has been done on the job satisfaction of secondary school teachers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The aim of this research was to investigate factors that influence the job satisfaction of these teachers. A literature review of theories on job satisfaction was undertaken. In the empirical investigation, a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was used. In the quantitative phase, the data collection was done by means of a self-constructed structured questionnaire that focused on four work factors that were identified during the literature review, namely salary and benefits, management, work characteristics, and interpersonal relationships. The stratified, random sample consisted of 300 secondary school teachers in Addis Ababa. The data were statistically analysed using the Statistical package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software programme, and the results were appropriately interpreted. In the second, namely the qualitative phase, interviews were conducted with a sample of 10 teachers who were purposefully selected from a larger sample. The data were analysed by using the constant comparative method. The results make a significant contribution to new knowledge and understanding of current issues relating to the job satisfaction of teachers in selected secondary schools in Addis Ababa. The results indicated that the teachers were significantly dissatisfied with most aspects of their work. Salary and benefits emerged as the primary dissatisfying aspect of all the work factors. Other areas of dissatisfaction related to poor fringe benefits and opportunities for promotion, the management style of the principals, the lack of decision-making opportunities for the teachers, as well as the opportunity to develop personally, and the poor relationships teachers have with the principals and the parents. The data also indicated that teachers who were 50 years and older, were significantly more satisfied with their work than the younger teachers. Accordingly, teachers with 21 years and more experience were also significantly more satisfied with their work than the less experienced teachers. In addition, all four of the identified factors were found to have statistically significant correlations with job satisfaction. Qualitative data confirmed the quantitative results. Finally, recommendations were made in order to enhance the job satisfaction of secondary school teachers in Addis Ababa, and for further research. / Psychology of Education / D. Ed. (Psychology of Education)