An attachment injury has been defined as a perceived betrayal, violation of trust, or abandonment in a critical moment of need. The injurious event is then used as a standard far the dependability of the other partner. Some events are obvious but other may appear trivial or exaggerated to an observer. Such events, if not resolved, can have a deleterious effect on the relationship bond and create impasses to relationship repair. Couples are often stuck in an attack-defend pattern and experience marital distress. A rational-empirical model of attachment injury resolution has been developed. The goal of this study was two-fold: First, task analysis was used to measure in-session performances to confirm that the model discriminates resolved from non-resolved couples. Second, the goal was to relate the process of change model to outcome. Twenty-four couples received 13 weeks of Emotionally Focused Therapy to work on resolving an attachment injury. At the end of treatment, couples were identified as either resolved or non-resolved. Couples were identified as resolved only if they met three criteria: (1) couples' perspective, (2) therapist perspective, and (3) a clinical judge. Segments of first and best sessions were transcribed and rated on depth of experiencing and the structural analysis of social behavior. Resolved couples were found to be significantly more affiliative and achieved deeper levels of experiencing that non-resolved couples. In addition, dyadic satisfaction, relationship trust, forgiveness and pain were good predictors of attachment injury resolution. An important finding was that the non-resolved couples had more than one attachment injury. Both groups benefited from therapy in that they experienced significantly less anxiety from pre- to post treatment.

In the past, people with disabilities were not encouraged to participate in physical activity beyond that of rehabilitation. As such, this group has been covertly and overtly excluded from participating in the development of a healthy lifestyle. This paper explored the factors leading to the exclusion of people with disabilities from the physically active community. The scope of justice literature was reviewed, and this area of research was taken further with the exploration of global fairness beliefs. This orientation toward others launches from previous research (e.g., Deutsch,1985; Opotow, 2000) and involves a set of beliefs (the belief that considerations of fairness apply to others, the belief in the allocation of a share of community resources to others, and belief in sacrificing to foster others well-being), which are argued to be relatively stable and fundamental to our behaviours. The first study tested a measure of global fairness beliefs (N = 206). The measure appeared to be sound with a strong one-factor model produced. The first study also showed that the measure had relatively good test-retest reliability as well as external and discriminant validity. Considering previous research (e.g., Opotow, 1994), the goal of the second study was to evaluate the moderating role of situations of conflict, dissimilarity and lack of utility in the relationship between global fairness beliefs and exclusionary attitudes and behavioural intentions toward people with disabilities within the fitness and physical activity community. A total of 282 participants were presented with scenarios depicting situations of high or low conflict, similarity and utility. Results showed little support for the hypotheses and some unexpected outcomes. Limitations of the current study, and future studies are proposed. Applications to the acceptance of people with disabilities both within the active community and beyond are discussed. Finally, the important influence that global fairness beliefs exert in the trends of the social world is discussed.

Much of the literature on the support provisions of children's relationships has been based on North American sampling. Cultural context has largely been overlooked and may be important in shaping the development of specific support provisions. The present study is a cross-cultural investigation of children's perceptions of the types of support they receive from their mothers, fathers, and best friends. A total of 1101 children in grade 6 from the Southern region of Brazil, Canada, the People's Republic of China, Cuba, and Southern Italy completed the Children's Social Networks Scale. Children were asked to select among lists of items representing different social provisions, those that best described their relationships. A Latent Class Analysis of children's responses yielded cultural differences in item selections. Canadian children tended to perceive their parents as important sources of enhancement of self worth and protection. Cuban children tended to select descriptors of parent support that reflected intimacy and emotional support. Chinese children viewed their parents as important sources of teaching, assistance, and support. Children in Brazil and Italy described their parents as offering various types of support. Findings for friendships were less differentiated across cultures and elicited fewer distinctions among types of support. Findings from the study raise the possibility of important cultural variations in support provisions, which to date remain understudied. These differences in support provisions across cultures may reflect cultural differences in prevailing ideologies and social organizations, particularly distinctions between individualistic and collectivistic orientations.

The pervasive relationship between socioeconomic status and health has been observed in virtually all Western countries, Canada notwithstanding. The relationship between higher socioeconomic status (SES) and better health has been demonstrated to be a stepwise gradient with better health at each successive level of SES, indicating that factors beyond absolute material poverty are likely to be causing this gradient. In order to attenuate social gradients in health, underlying mechanisms must be elucidated. The purpose of this thesis was to examine whether psychosocial stressors associated with lower SES explain the poorer health of poorer people. A secondary purpose of this thesis was to examine a health behaviour-mediated pathway between stressors and health. Cross-sectional analyses of the 1994-95 National Population Health Survey (NPHS), and longitudinal analyses of the 1994-95 and 1996-97 NPHS were conducted. Logistic regression analyses demonstrated that lower income was associated with a greater odds of concomitant fair/poor self-rated health, and with a greater odds of experiencing a decline in self-rated health over a two-year period. Most stressors were more prevalent among lower income groups, and with one exception, all stressors were associated with a greater odds of fair/poor self-rated health and of experiencing a decline in health status. Stressors mediated a modest proportion of the social gradient in health. In cross-sectional analyses, about a quarter of the relationship between income and health was explained for men, and from 6% to 15% for women. In longitudinal analyses, these stressors explained 16% and 10% of the relationship between the lowest and second lowest income quintiles and decline in self-rated health respectively. Furthermore, all stressors were associated with smoking behaviour, while fewer associations were observed between stressors and physical activity behaviour. Health behaviours mediated a modest proportion of the relationship between stressors and fair/poor health. The results of this thesis provide evidence for partial mediation of the social gradient in health by psychosocial factors, namely stressors. Furthermore, stress-related health behaviours may be a secondary pathway in this relationship. Future research is warranted to further refine explanatory models of the social gradient in health, in order to identify appropriate points for intervention.

Acculturation is a process of cultural change resulting from two or more groups coming into contact (Berry, 1990). Research has shown that, among minority group members, there is a tendency to adopt outgroup attributes at the expense of ingroup cultural elements (Berry & Sam, 1997; Phinney, Lochner, & Murphey, 1990). Yet studies have also documented the occurrence of cultural revitalization and biculturalism (Benet-Martinez, Len, Lee, & Morris, 2002; LaFromboise, Coleman, & Gerton, 1993). While both phenomena have been studied, if and by what mechanism they occur within a group still remains to be understood. Thus, the purpose of this thesis was to investigate the factors contributing to cultural maintenance under adverse pressures from the outgroup among a minority Francophone population. The first study explored the relationship between intergroup contact, social support, linguistic confidence, identity, and adjustment through a mediational model. As predicted, the importance of contact, social support and language confidence for shaping experienced identity and adjustment was supported. Even though English confidence supported the adoption of the Anglophone identity (i.e., subtractive trends), there were also additive benefits resulting from Francophone involvement and social support for identity maintenance and well-being. In the second study, the components of social interactions and communication were further investigated to delve into the social processes affecting identity maintenance. The results indicated that social interactions through communication networks and social support with both the in- and outgroup was important for identity maintenance, adoption, and adjustment.

Psychological needs are innate strivings that are theorized to relate to personal values, which are elaborate acquired cognitive structures. It seems plausible to infer that an intermediate process intervenes between these two end states. The main goal of the present thesis was to examine the possible mediating role of self-orientation in the relationship between the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and the endorsement of intrinsic and extrinsic values. This project rests on manifold theoretical foundations. Psychological needs are conceptualized according to Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985a, 2002). Values are approached using Schwartz's Theory of Universal Values (1992, 1994). The theoretical underpinnings for self-orientation are provided by the taxonomy of self-systems proposed by Hodgins and Knee (2002). As postulated by many key authors in humanistic psychology (e.g., Maslow, 1970), it was hypothesized that a fundamental association between psychological need satisfaction and personal values would be observed. Self-orientation (integrated, ego-invested, or impersonal) was hypothesized to mediate this relationship. Specifically, psychological needs satisfaction was expected to display a high positive association with the integrated self, a modest negative association with the ego-invested self, and a high negative association with the impersonal self. The integrated self was expected to be positively associated with intrinsic values and unrelated to extrinsic values. Conversely, the ego-invested self was expected to be positively associated with extrinsic values and unrelated to intrinsic values. The impersonal self was expected be unrelated to both intrinsic and extrinsic values. The present project comprised three studies. Study 1 (N=333) consisted of a preliminary undertaking in which an instrument to measure self orientation was developed and successfully validated. The Ego Functioning Questionnaire presented a clean factorial structure, meaningful construct validity, and satisfactory internal properties (i.e., reliability, homogeneity, and representativeness). The hypothesized network of associations between the variables under study was tested using cross-sectional surveys and structural equation models in Studies 2 and 3. Results of Study 2 (N=300) provided clear support for all research hypotheses. Model fits were satisfactory. The fundamental association between need satisfaction and values was successfully documented. Moreover, self-orientation did indeed mediate this relationship. The pattern of associations between psychological need satisfaction, self orientation (integrated, ego-invested, and impersonal), and values (intrinsic and extrinsic) was exactly as anticipated. The goal of Study 3 was to provide a cross cultural validation of the results of Study 2, using a sample of participants from Serbia and Monte Negro (N=300). Structural equation models were generated and results from Studies 2 and 3 were compared using multigroup invariance testing. Model fits were adequate. As for the expected pattern of relationships between the variables under study, all results corroborated research hypotheses, with two minor exceptions. Specifically, when testing the fundamental relationship between needs satisfaction and values, a significant association was obtained for intrinsic, but not for extrinsic, values. Also, within the full structural equation model designed to test for the mediating effect of self orientation, a modest positive association between need satisfaction and ego-invested self was obtained, rather than a negative one. All other expected paths were in the anticipated direction. To summarize, interesting initial support was obtained for research hypotheses. Yet, future studies are necessary to further our understanding of the mediating role of self orientation in the relationship between psychological needs satisfaction and personal values.

Depuis leur arrivée en Ontario, les Canadien(ne)s-Francais(e)s, devenu(e)s par la suite Franco-Ontarien(ne)s, ont lutté pour assurer leur survie, la reconnaissance de leurs droits et pour garder leur identité. Aujourd'hui, ce groupe compte plus d'un demi-million de membres. Toutefois, les données statistiques ne cessent de démontrer les tendances à l'assimilation au groupe majoritaire anglophone. Confronté à de profondes mutations sociales, le groupe des Franco-Ontarien(ne)s connaît un virage identitaire sans précédent. Il semble ainsi pertinent de se demander: quel est l'apport des faits historiques marquants (i.e. luttes, échecs et gains) dans l'attachement préponderant des Franco-Ontarien(ne)s à leur groupe? Pour y repondre, deux études ont fait appel au construit théorique de la mémoire collective et à la théorie de l'identité sociale. La première étude présentée avait pour but d'examiner comment le rappel, la valence, l'importance et la signification émotionnelle d'évènements historiques marquants sont reliés à l'identification au groupe minoritaire. Les résultats obtenus auprès de 211 Franco-Ontarien(ne)s, âgé(e)s de 40 ans et plus, montrent que la mémoire collective est reliée à l'identité sociale. Plus précisement, le rappel d'événements marquants positifs à plus d'impact que les événements négatifs sur l'identification au groupe. Une deuxième étude effectuée auprès d'un sous-groupe de 111 Franco-Ontarien(ne)s, âge(e)s entre 18 et 30 ans, a permis de reproduire ces résultats. Cette étude va plus loin dans l'investigation du lien entre la mémoire collective et l'identité sociale; elle tient compte du contact intergroupe, de l'identification au groupe minoritaire francophone et au groupe majoritaire anglophone, et traite des aboutissants de l'identification à ces deux groupes, c'est-à-dire du favoritisme endogroupe et du dénigrement exogroupe. Les résultats sont discutés en soulignant comment l'étude de la mémoire collective peut contribuer à l'avancement des connaissances dans le champ fort étudie de la théorie de l'identité sociale.

Two hundred and eighty-one dual-income parents (140 men and 141 women) employed full-time, with at least one child aged 12 or younger completed a questionnaire on perceptions of work-family interference and enhancement. It was hypothesized that both types of perceptions would contribute unique variance to explanations of well-being (marital, parenting and job satisfaction) in this sample, and that levels of interference and enhancement may vary by gender and by direction of interference and enhancement. No gender differences in total enhancement were found; however, after controlling for employment and household labour hours, women perceived more total interference and work-to-family interference than did men. There were no gender differences in family-to-work interference, or in direction-specific enhancement. Multiple regression analyses supported hypotheses in that perceptions of interference and enhancement both contributed to explanations of well-being; however, support depended on gender, the direction of interference and enhancement, and the aspect of well-being assessed. Men and women were similar in how specific directions of interference related to well-being. For both men and women, family-to-work interference predicted marital satisfaction, whereas work-to-family interference predicted parenting satisfaction. Men and women differed in how specific directions of enhancement related to well-being. All three aspects of women's well-being were related to one or the other direction of enhancement, whereas only job satisfaction was related to enhancement (work-to-family) for men. Results provide preliminary empirical support for the theory that perceptions of interference and enhancement are independent dimensions of the work-family interface which conjointly influence well-being. Support is also provided for the independence of subtypes or directions of both interference and enhancement. It is concluded that work-family research models should include measures of both enhancement and interference, because exclusion of enhancement measures risks overstating the negative effects and understating the positive effects of work-family role combination. Further, measures should assess direction-specific enhancement and interference, because levels of interference and enhancement and their relation to well-being vary depending on direction of interference and enhancement. Finally, models should continue to test for gender effects, particularly if direction-specific measures of both enhancement and interference are to be used. Implications for families, policy and organizations are discussed.

Male and female students continue to be under or over-represented in specific study domains suggesting a selection criterion not always reflective of interest, ability, and good fit (Statistics Canada, 1992). In order to understand the social, cognitive and personal attributes which underlie the choices that maintain this imbalance, undergraduate university students were given problem solving, attitudinal and attribution measures. The aim of this study was to predict male or female dominated educational choices with the future intent of enhancing occupational suitability. The Impostor Phenomenon questionnaire, Social Problem Solving Inventory-R, Sex-Role Egalitarianism Scale, and the CAVE attribution procedure were selected for their potential utility as predictors. Study participants included male (n = 185) and female (n = 177) undergraduate students (N = 362) majoring in traditional and non-traditional studies (i.e., computer science, engineering, psychology, education, nursing) from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. Hypotheses testing utilized Logistic Regression Analyses (LRA) and results revealed primary measures to possess only weak predictive ability for non-traditional (NTS) vs. traditional study (TS) choice. Overall, students were not overly influenced by selected social and cognitive factors in their study choice. Exploratory LRA for the male sample identified parental SES, certain types of problem solving skills, and a desire for an alternate career as factors that resulted in the best fit (81% correct classification) and statistical significance (p < .001). Exploratory LRA for the female sample was non-significant. Recommendations for improving predictive ability in future studies include utilizing behaviorally driven intentional measures linked closely to past and future educational and occupational decisions (i.e., Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980). Future investigations should follow the noteworthy perceptual differences in the male and female sample groups supported through empirical and theoretical distinctions reported in this study. This line of inquiry continues to pose a worthwhile challenge directed toward the identification of factors that potentially block ability and interest from directing educational pursuits and the harmonization of persistent imbalances in career choices.

Improvements in transportation have made it more feasible for families to relocate greater distances, sometimes even to other countries. Although this is now a frequent occurrence, the family dynamics associated with adjusting to a new culture have been virtually ignored by researchers. When investigating sojourner families (families who live in foreign countries), researchers rarely integrate the family stress literature, which focuses on stresses incurred in one's native country, and the sojourner literature, which is based on stresses inherent in living in a foreign country. The aim of the present study was to develop and test a model of intercultural family relocation based on an integration of the family stress and sojourner literatures. The model, based on the Double ABCX model, was tested with expatriate couples $(N=205)$ stationed in Nepal with aid agencies, mission organizations, and corporations. More specifically, personal resources identified in the sojourner literature and traditional family stress mediators were investigated to determine whether they played a significant role in mediating the stress-satisfaction relation. The model was tested using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that personal resources (locus of control and self-esteem) and social support did mediate the stress-satisfaction relation, as hypothesized. The family variables, on the other hand, coherence (confidence and acceptance) and couple resources (communication, adaptability, and cohesion), did not directly influence the stress-satisfaction relation. Even though the Double ABCX model is one of the most popular models in family psychology, it was only partially supported by empirical investigation with the sojourner couples living in Nepal. Thus, the results call into question the model's overall validity and generalizability. Future research will need to address this question by testing the model with families in various contexts.