Two studies were conducted to present two new theoretical constructs based on narcissistic personality and Daoist water-like personality research. Narcissistic group orientation (NGO) was developed to incorporate both the grandiose and vulnerable expressions of narcissism into a group-oriented social variable. NGO is pathological group orientation with two distinct expressions that share a common etiology in social identity monopolization. The conditions that promote social identity monopolization and ultimately increase the salience of the particular self-category, differ amongst the grandiose and vulnerable expressions of NGO. The grandiose expression increases salience of a particular self-category to facilitate opportunistic use for self-enhancement, while the vulnerable expression increases salience of a particular self-category to facilitate threat detection and avoidance. Water-like group orientation (WGO) was developed to provide a measure of secure in-group positivity which is in contrast to defensive in-group positivity. WGO is a prosocial group orientation that is based on the Daoist principle of wuwei (non-action) or underacting which is conceived here as a lack of desire for control. Study 1 aimed to provide support for the factor structure of the newly developed scales and provide evidence of validity. The results of confirmatory factor analyses in Study 1 and Study 2 supported a two-factor NGO model and a two-factor WGO model. The two-factor NGO model is made up of a grandiose narcissistic group orientation (GNGO) factor and a vulnerable narcissistic group orientation (VNGO) factor. WGO Factor 1 (WGOF1) is an in-group confidence and satisfaction factor, and WGO Factor 2 (WGOF2) is an out-group respect and altruism factor. Study 1 also gathered evidence of convergent validity for both the NGO and WGO constructs. Both GNGO and VNGO exhibited positive correlations with social dominance orientation and blind patriotism, and negligible correlations with constructive patriotism. WGOF1 exhibited positive correlations with social dominance orientation and blind patriotism, and a negligible correlation with constructive patriotism. WGOF2 exhibited negative correlations with social dominance orientation and blind patriotism, and a positive correlation with constructive patriotism. Study 2 sought to gather support for the factor structure of NGO and WGO once again and to examine the relationship between GNGO, VNGO, WGOF1, and WGOF2 with a multicomponent measure of in-group identification that includes solidarity, satisfaction, centrality, self-stereotyping, and in-group homogeneity. GNGO, VNGO, and WGOF1 were positively related to all five in-group identification components, while WGOF2 was unrelated to all five in-group identification components. The NGO and WGO scales may be used to study groups who are experiencing acute or ongoing intergroup conflict, intense scrutiny, or aggressive groups. These scales may be used to develop a greater understanding of group and environmental characteristics that lead to defensive in-group positivity.

I detta arbete görs en undersökande fallstudie av artisten Lizzo, med fokus på attvisa hur den allmänna samhälleliga diskursen rörande större kroppar påverkar enartist som kroppsligt står utanför rådande kroppsliga ideal. Med utgångspunkt i skrivna intervjuer har ett grundresonemang etablerats, och vidare har detta följt med genom analys av konserter, en musikvideo, en musikanalys och en låttextanalys. Materialet analyseras med hjälp av Faircloughs diskursbegrepp som metod där viss fokus även lagts på Boréus tillägg om subjektspositioner, och med intersektionalitet, body positivity och Ekmans (2012) begrepp viktordningen som teoretiskt ramverk.Analysen visar på att Lizzo som enskilt fall arbetar mot den allmänt vedertagna samhällsdiskursen runt kroppsideal och den större kroppen genom både fysisk handling på olika sätt och språkligt agerande med motdiskurs diskurs där inslag från bland annat body positivity-rörelsen syns med. Resultatet visar att Lizzo reagerar mot samhällsdiskursen, med sitt artisteri och med sin persona, med en motdiskurs som går emot de rådande skönhetsideal både språkligt och fysiskt, och kan argumenteras har skapat en ny form av kroppsaktivism.

The reward positivity is a component of the human event-related brain potential (ERP) elicited by feedback stimuli in trial-and-error learning and guessing tasks. A prominent theory holds that the reward positivity reflects a reward prediction error that is differentially sensitive to the valence of the outcomes, namely, larger for unexpected positive events relative to unexpected negative events (Holroyd & Coles, 2002). Although the theory has found substantial empirical support, most of these studies have utilized either monetary or performance feedback to test the hypothesis. However, in apparent contradiction to the theory, a recent study found that unexpected physical punishments (a shock to the finger) also elicit the reward positivity (Talmi, Atkinson, & El-Deredy, 2013). Accordingly, these investigators argued that this ERP component reflects a salience prediction error rather than a reward prediction error. To investigate this finding further, I adapted the task paradigm by Talmi and colleagues to a more standard guessing task often used to investigate the reward positivity. Participants navigated a virtual T-maze and received feedback on each trial under two conditions. In a reward condition the feedback indicated that they would either receive a monetary reward or not for their performance on that trial. In a punishment condition the feedback indicated that they would receive a small shock or not at the end of the trial. I found that the feedback stimuli elicited a typical reward positivity in the reward condition and an apparently delayed reward positivity in the punishment condition. Importantly, this signal was more positive to the stimuli that predicted the omission of a possible punishment relative to stimuli that predicted a forthcoming punishment, which is inconsistent with the salience hypothesis. / Graduate / 0633 / 0317 / heydari@uvic.ca

Socioemotional selectivity theory posits that as people age, they become motivated and successful at maximizing positive emotions and minimizing negative ones. Yet, 70% of older adults report physical pain, which is associated with negative affect. The strategies and resources that older adults use to maintain positive affect in the face of pain remain largely unknown. Specific positivity-enhancing strategies include recalling, recognizing, and responding to positive stimuli and prioritizing close over knowledgeable social partners. Executive functions (EF, i.e., task-switching, working memory, and inhibition) and heart rate variability (HRV) may be important resources for coping with pain. The current project used two studies to test whether older adults used positivityenhancing strategies and maintained emotional wellbeing following pain more than younger adults; associations with EF and HRV were also investigated. In Study 1, 50 older and 50 younger adults experienced a control and a pain condition, were given the chance to employ positivity-enhancing strategies, and provided EF and HRV data. Study 2 used longitudinal data from community-dwelling older adults (n =150) to test whether task-switching moderated the within-person relationship between pain and wellbeing. In Study 1, after the pain condition, younger adults demonstrated lesser preference toward knowledgeable social partners than older adults (γ = -0.15, p = .016). No other age group x pain condition x valence interactions were found. Older and younger adults did not differ in changes in positive or negative affect following pain. Task-switching and HRV were both associated with reduced preference for knowledgeable social partners following pain, but no other significant EF or HRV interactions were found. Study 2 failed to support the hypothesis that task-switching protected against pain-related declines in wellbeing. Future research on strategies that older adults use to maintain emotional wellbeing in the face of pain is needed.

Despite an increase in interventions targeted at lowering the rate of HIV/AIDS among college students, the rate of HIV/AIDS infections has not decreased. The purpose of this study was to identify factors (i.e., HIV-sexual knowledge, self-positivity bias, peer norms, acculturation, perceived risk of HIV, HIV-related stigma, and condom use) that may affect condom use among college students who live in an area where the prevalence of HIV is relatively high. The current study utilized a sexually active sample (N=397) of diverse college students (predominantly African American and White) in an urban setting to examine the relationships. Path analysis was used to explore hypotheses. Results indicated that students who endorsed higher levels of self-positivity bias were more likely than other students to report not using condoms the last time they had sex and to perceive themselves at less risk of HIV/AIDS infection. In addition, students who reported unsupportive peer norms regarding safe sex practices perceived themselves at a higher risk of HIV/AIDS. With respect to gender differences, females reported more stigma towards individuals with HIV/AIDS than males, and males reported more perceived risk of HIV/AIDS than females. Lastly, African American college students perceived themselves to be at greater risk of contracting HIV/AIDS than other students and minority students endorsed greater stigma towards individuals with HIV/AIDS than White students. Results emphasize the need for college HIV/AIDS interventions to target peer norms and personal bias as well as cultural and gender differences that might impact condom use.

Although sleep has been linked to changes in positive and negative affect across the lifespan, the prediction of sleep from affect has not been explored completely. As such, the main objective of this study was to examine the association between affect and sleep across the adult lifespan, using a novel gauge of affect, the positivity ratio. Both subjective and objective assessments of sleep were used in analyses. This study was an archival analysis of data collected as a part of the Midlife in the United States Study (MIDUS-II), with participants ranging from 34 to 83 years of age. Results revealed the positivity ratio to be a significant predictor of self-reported sleep quality and global sleep, but not of objective sleep measures. Additionally, the positivity ratio was found to increase with age and appears to predict better global sleep and sleep quality across all age groups. Implications of the findings are discussed.

In this thesis we consider continuity and positivity properties of pseudo-differential operators in Gelfand-Shilov and Pilipović spaces, and their distribution spaces. We also investigate composition property of pseudo-differential operators with symbols in quasi-Banach modulation spaces. We prove that positive elements with respect to the twisted convolutions, possesing Gevrey regularity of certain order at origin, belong to the Gelfand-Shilov space of the same order. We apply this result to positive semi-definite pseudo-differential operators, as well as show that the strongest Gevrey irregularity of kernels to positive semi-definite operators appear at the diagonals. We also prove that any linear operator with kernel in a Pilipović or Gelfand-Shilov space can be factorized by two operators in the same class. We give links on numerical approximations for such compositions and apply these composition rules to deduce estimates of singular values and establish Schatten-von Neumann properties for such operators.   Furthermore, we derive sufficient and necessary conditions for continuity of the Weyl product with symbols in quasi-Banach modulation spaces.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:38:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Thalita Lacerda Nobre.pdf: 2860440 bytes, checksum: 6ae666c84c882989d714b5b6b21c2395 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-11-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This present work brings a doctoral thesis that in some cases of hysteria, the phallicity, when articulates with Eros force, promotes a sublimatory condition called me by the condition of positivity. The interest for this study began in my practice in both private practice and in public service desk, where I observed that some patients who considered carrying hysterical neurosis, had a tendency to sublimation. This mode of pulsional satisfaction employed by these patients allowed their psyches to leave making use of phobic symptoms or conversive, besides bringing social recognition from the cultural establishment. In order to deepen these clinical questions, I used as an object of study French designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, who can be recognized until the current days as one of the most creative designers. Her revolutionary creations have allowed the woman of the twentieth century a freedom to be in the public space, from the changes that were taking place in the private sphere. Besides comfortable clothing that guaranteed elegance and appreciation of female body, Chanel created a specific haircut model, created pants, perfumes, fake jewelrys and exclusive shoes that bear her name until the current days. Her life history is marked by suffering and rejections, and some hysterical symptoms were impossible to overcome, however, which can be obtained in this research, as a result, is that her sublimatory condition allowed to remain productive until the last days of her life, valuing and being valued by the production, which made her symptoms remained in a secondary condition, that is, they do not incapacitated her / O presente trabalho de doutorado traz a tese de que em alguns casos de histeria, a falicidade, ao se articular à força de Eros, promove uma condição sublimatória, denominada por mim de condição de positividade. O interesse por este estudo teve início em minha clínica tanto em consultório particular como em serviço de atendimento público, onde pude observar que algumas pacientes, que considerei portadoras de neurose histérica, apresentavam uma tendência a sublimação. Este modo de satisfação pulsional utilizado por estas pacientes permitiram que seus psiquismos deixassem de lançar mão de sintomas fóbicos ou conversivos, além de trazer reconhecimento social, a partir da criação cultural. A fim de aprofundar essas questões clínicas, utilizei como objeto de estudo a estilista francesa Gabrielle Coco Chanel, que pode ser reconhecida até os dias atuais como uma das mais criativas estilistas. Suas criações revolucionárias permitiram à mulher do século XX uma liberdade para situar-se no espaço público, a partir das modificações que decorriam do espaço privado. Além de roupas confortáveis que garantiam elegância e valorização do corpo feminino, Chanel criou um modelo específico de corte de cabelo, inseriu calças, perfumes, bijuterias e sapatos exclusivos que levam seu nome até a atualidade. Sua história de vida é marcada por sofrimento e rejeições, além de alguns sintomas histéricos impossíveis de serem superados, porém, o que se pode obter nesta pesquisa, como resultado, é que sua condição sublimatória permitiu que se mantivesse produtiva até os últimos dias de sua vida, valorizando e sendo valorizada pela produção, o que fez com que seus sintomas se mantivessem em uma condição secundária, isto é, que não a incapacitavam

Optimal decision-making entails outcome evaluation, comparing received costs and benefits with predicted costs and benefits. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a brain area with major connections to the appetitive and aversive motivation systems, may provide the neural substrate of this evaluation process. One way to measure the relative contribution of these systems on decision-making is to measure individual differences in risk-taking behaviors. For individuals who make risky choices, this evaluation step may be biased: some show a preference for immediate, short-term rewards (increased appetitive system), while devaluing the long-term consequences of their choices (decreased aversive system). However, most studies supporting this theory have utilized monetary loss as the punishment. Other punishments that represent the presence of an aversive outcome, such as delivery of a painful stimulus, may be processed in a separate brain area and thus, may have differing effects on decision-making. The current study aimed to answer two main questions. First, we asked: is the ACC engaged by both appetitive stimuli and aversive stimuli? To answer this question, we recorded the Feedback-Related Negativity (FRN) response, a component thought to represent activity of the ACC, during a passive reward and punishment prediction task. Results indicated that the FRN responded to whether the outcome was A) unexpected and B) delivered or withheld, but not to the valence of the outcome. Second, we asked: do individual differences in these two systems have a differential impact on decision-making? To answer this question, participants completed a gambling task where they had to choose between large and small bets based on a probability of winning while we recorded their FRN response. They also completed self-report questionnaires indicating their sensitivity to reward/punishment and risk-taking behaviors. Results indicated that increased sensitivity of the appetitive system and decreased sensitivity of the aversive system (measured by both self-report and ERPs) predicted risky choice on the self-report measure and less so on the behavioral measure. Taken together, these results complement those that suggest the ACC is involved in evaluating both costs and benefits and may be influenced by both appetitive and aversive motivational systems.

In the study of the Degasperis-Procesi dierential equation, an eigenvalue problem called the cubic string occurs. This is a third order generalization of the second order problem describing the eigenmodes of a vibrating string. In this thesis we study the eigenfunctions of the cubic string for discrete and continuous mass distributions, using the theory of total positivity, via a combinatorial approach with planar networks.