While existing literature describes strong brand relationships along several dimensions, this research sheds light on the identity perspective of brand relationships through the lens of consumer identity fusion, aiming to understand the extent to which consumers incorporate brands into their self-perceptions. Specifically, this research investigates the nature and effects of consumer identity fusion and its motivational consequences following brand transgressions. Study One examines whether consumer identity fusion out-predicts brand identification in estimating the tendency for consumers to endorse pro-relationship behavior with regard to minor or severe transgressions. The results show that highly fused consumers are more likely to undertake constructive coping strategies and are less likely to engage in destructive coping strategies than are weakly fused consumers. The fusion × perceived severity interaction effect is found only for the exit coping strategy. Study Two assesses how consumer identity fusion influences consumers’ responses to personal-related versus societal-related brand transgressions. The findings demonstrate that the effect of consumer identity fusion is stronger than that of brand identification across different behavioral outcomes; it has a greater effect on participants’ relationship-serving responses to personal-related transgressions than to societal-related brand transgressions. However, the fusion × brand transgression types interaction effect is found only for exit responses. Finally, Study Three incorporates an additional self-affirmation manipulation to determine the interplay of consumers’ personal and social identities, aiming to disentangle the source of the motivational machinery needed for consumers’ pro-relationship behaviors. The findings underscore that highly fused consumers in the affirmation condition are less likely to exit the brand relationship than those in the no affirmation condition when facing personal-related brand transgressions, even though self-affirmation should reduce the negative effect of brand transgressions. Nevertheless, the expected relationships are not found for consumers’ change in brand evaluation and other behavioral measures. The findings of this research together suggest that consumer identity fusion is applicable for understanding connections between consumers and the brand relationship partner in consumer-brand relationships. Implications of these findings and directions for refinement and future research are discussed. / text

Research on differences in STEM outcomes for females and students of color has been an ongoing educational research imperative, but Latinas continue to be under-represented in high school and college science classes and majors (National Science Foundation, 2011; Riegle-Crumb & King, 2010). The aim of this study was to investigate how Latina adolescents seek to establish themselves as future scientists within their environments and how others help sustain these developing identities. I used a mixed method procedure called an exploratory sequential design that starts with a qualitative stage followed by a quantitative stage (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2007). In the qualitative stage, 32 college-aged Latinas in science majors participated in focus groups with an additional 12 in interviews. Using Interactive Qualitative Analysis (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004), eight factors of science identity development were identified: home environment, teacher influences, school experiences, environmental factors, media influences, using your brain, emotions, and career planning. Participants saw the first four factors as drivers of their development, with media as an irregular contributor. These social factors were filtered through the individual factors of using your brain and emotions, with career planning as the outcome. The qualitative results were used to develop a survey given to middle school students in the next stage. The majority of the survey consisted of previously validated scales that corresponded in content to the qualitative factors. One new measure was developed to address science-related experiences. In the quantitative stage, 90 middle school Latinas from two central Texas school districts participated in the survey study. Univariate analysis showed differences in science-related experiences by demographic variables of parent occupation, parent nativity, first language spoken, and school district. Multivariate regression analysis found positive emotions about science to be the best predictor of science career related outcomes, and that emotions act as a mediator between science experiences and career outcomes. These results are discussed in light of current career theories. / text

Many learning organizations are using communities of practice as a strategy for knowledge sharing among members. Ensuring those members' participation in the activities of the community remains a problem for instructional designers, particularly in the case of communities that use an electronic environment as a means of communication. Wenger (1998) suggests that developing an "identity of participation" is the basis for an individual's motivation to participate in the practices of a community. In order to better understand the interplay of identity and motivation, this study supplemented Wenger's work with self-determination theory, which focuses on how motivation is produced by an individual's personality developing and functioning in a social setting. This framework was used in a mixed-methods study of a distributed community of practice for instructors from many different universities, in order to better understand the interplay between identity, motivation, and participation in such a community. The study found that age was an identity factor that made a statistically significant difference in motivation in this community, with participants over 60 years of age indicating that their basic needs for motivation were not being met as well as other age groups. It was also found that those who identified themselves as experts within the community did not feel motivated to share their knowledge, but instead saw their role as a passive receiver of information. Contrary to expected outcomes, community members did not report having technical concerns that hampered their motivation to participate, nor did they indicate having issues with the overseeing organization for this community. However, members did feel that the universities that employed them exerted undue control over their participation within this community, particularly in regards to demands on their time. / text

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This research study examines the role and significance of ethnic identity upon tourism participation within the Pakistani community. The aim of the research is to analyse the inter-relationship between a Pakistani ethnic identity and participation in tourism of a Pakistani diaspora (Luton, United Kingdom). The research concentrates upon the importance of the return visit to the ancestral homeland of Pakistan and the impact of this visit upon the formation of identity. This thesis argues that a Pakistani ethnic identity is a significant force in shaping the tourism mobilities, behaviours and experiences of first and second-generation Pakistanis. The research enquiry uses a qualitative methodological approach to investigate the tourism journeys of the Pakistani community. Interpretive ethnography is chosen to interpret the understandings and meanings of tourism to the Pakistani diaspora researched in this study. Researcher reflexivity is also included to examine the impact of the research process on the personal and professional identity of a Pakistani fieldworker investigating a community she considers as her 'own'. The interpretive ethnographic findings illustrate a close association exists between tourism and ethnic identity amongst the Pakistani diaspora. The research findings show understandings of tourism in the Pakistani community are predominately based upon journeys to the ancestral homeland. The three main motivations for retuming to Pakistan are for purposes of reunification, diasporic networking and preservation of a Pakistani ethnic identity. Migration is a key factor influencing post-migration tourism mobilities of the Pakistani diaspora to Pakistan. The tourism journey to Pakistan is held as being fundamental for the confirmation of a Pakistani ethnic identity and establishing a collective sense of 'Pakistaniness' with the local and global Pakistani diaspora. The research findings indicate several barriers to travel exist in the Pakistani community, which restrict the tourism mobilities of the Pakistanis to tourism places other than the ancestral homeland. The research study concludes that across all generations the meanings of tourism, motivations to travel, the importance of the history of migration and the impact of the return visit bring to the forefront matters of identity and belonging. These issues give rise to evolving questions of identity in terms of what it is to be a Pakistani and a British Pakistani in Pakistan and Britain, which subsequently affect attitudes to travel, tourism experiences and patterns of behaviour. The research contributes to furthering the understanding of the role of tourism in diasporic and ethnic communities, theoretically comprehending the role of tourism as an actor in identity formation and developing methodological practice for analysing the relationship between tourism and identity. Suggestions for future research are proposed to investigate the tourism mobilities of the Pakistani diaspora in Britain and in other global diasporic communities.

I develop a feminist critique of three features in contemporary views of race: the meaning of race is essentially biological; each of us has exactly one kind of racial identity; and our racial identities are permanent. Having revealed each of these features to be confusions about the language of racial identification, I contend that our racial concepts currently permit a wider range of racial identifications than we currently acknowledge. Finally, I critically evaluate the political and ethical ramifications of treating race as a unified, permanent identity. Resistance to systems of racial and gendered oppression should challenge our identities as unified and permanent. / text

Relationships can shape the self-concept, draw out unique aspects of an individual’s personality, and influence individual perspectives and goals. Yet the self is not a passive player in relationships as self-related goals and motives can also influence how relationships form and develop. While the field is replete with research on the unidirectional influence between self and relationships, surprisingly little has been done on synergistic effect of combined self and relationship influences. I present a new theory of couple identity negotiation that captures how two individuals in a relationship negotiate their independent identities to form a unified couple identity. I hypothesize that the process through which an individual and his/her partner merge to create a new couple identity is crucial in determining relationship longevity and satisfaction. I draw from social identity theory (Turner et al., 1987) and identity fusion theory (Swann et al., 2009) to propose three models of couple identity negotiation: Model A involves the self being subsumed by the partner; Model B involves a negotiation wherein the self and partner both contribute to the couple identity; Model C the self subsuming the partner’s self. Study 1 tests the links between the different models to relationship outcomes, namely relationship satisfaction and commitment. Study 2 explores personality correlates of the models. Results demonstrate that couple identity negotiation models predict different levels of relationship quality. Furthermore, the models are not significantly correlated with personality variables, suggesting that the models are specific to the relationship, and are not driven solely by individual differences. / text

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Graphical trademarks, or logos, represent important aspects of organizational identity and have become ubiquitous in society. Although the conventional wisdom of practitioners in design and business dictates that trademarks should be unique and distinctive, anecdotal evidence suggests that many trademarks appear to be similar to one another. This dissertation attempts to understand patterns of similarity and difference in graphical trademark design through the lens of neoinstitutional theory in sociology. Using data on trademarks from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the designs of the over 750,000 graphical trademarks filed in the United States between 1884 and 2003 are analyzed in terms of their content, design complexity, and degree of design realism or abstraction. A series of hypotheses regarding trademark design dynamics is tested. Evidence is found suggesting that, rather than providing distinctiveness, trademarks serve to provide legitimacy to organizations by imitating the symbols employed by other organizations, particularly those within the same industry. Further analysis examines the institutionalization and deinstitutionalization of norms in trademark design within industries over time. Finally, the survival of trademarks that deviate from design norms, relative to more normal trademarks, is studied. While such "deviant" trademarks do not seem more likely to be abandoned or cancelled or to expire, further study suggests that trademarks that adhere most strictly to design norms are more likely to survive in use over time.