The disertation work focuses on currently highly observed issue of intercultural cooperation. Following the change of social situation the topic has become both a practical issue and a subjekt of research study. It compares and analyzes crosscultural and intercultural approach and criticizes both approaches for supporting social stereotypes, especially thein negative aspects. It further emphasizes social psychological aspects of the issue, particularly social perception, social groups, hierarchical structure and organization of joint activities as systemproducing and meaningful source of mutual relationships. Supporting this by own research in ŠKODA AUTO it perceives such perspective as very efficient since it is based on practical experience and it also aims at practical problems. Key words: Social perception, social groups, organization of common activities, crosscultural and intercultural approach, cultural standards. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This research has utilised Antonovsky's SOC construct and explored its role in a group relations training event. A quantitative and qualitative design was used. A sample of eight (N = 8) human resources practitioners was recruited through convenience sampling. The qualitative analysis of the group relations training event was facilitated by split mean procedure analysis of the SOC results. The research demonstrated that the SOC is a pervasive disposition in determining the way in which one appraises and copes with group relations· training. All participants experienced anxiety, stress, defensive behaviour, negative emotions and learning associated with a group relations training event. However, the high-SOC participants were better able to cope, manage and make sense of the group relations training than low-SOC individuals. Recommendations were formulated in doing future research for human resource practitioners on the role of SOC in group relations training. / Industrial and Organizational Psychology / M.Admin. (Industrial Psychology)

The aim of this study is to investigate the relevance of social class in relation to general support for the Labour Party both within a national and localised context, with a specific focus placed upon the area of North-West Cumbria. This is achieved by following the research hypothesis that states that the party since the emergence of New Labour, is with their classless brand, more effective on a political level than their collectivist Old Labour predecessor. Such analysis, using a mixture of primary and secondary methods, is framed within a three-themed research phenomenon. The phenomenon begins via the first theme ‘Class/Identity’ which defined the extensive atomised shift in perceived class categorisation in contemporary Britain. The analysis of the latter then links to the second theme ‘(Labour) Party’ which evaluates such shifts to that of Labour support, ranging from the historic ‘Old’ and ‘New’ eras to the present ‘Post New’ incarnation. This primarily states how the rise of the New Right inspired New Labour to modernise their core political message to accommodate the new atomised class culture, so as to gain broader levels of support. The research phenomenon concludes with the third theme ‘Geography (North-West Cumbria)’ which explores how such class atomisation affected Labour support on a broad locational basis, particularly within North-West Cumbria. The thesis findings generally concur with the research hypothesis since the New Labour brand was somewhat successful in rural areas which hitherto had been deemed unattainable by Old Labour. Such findings, be it nationally and/or locally, are a symptom of contemporary class times where political allegiance has become less ideologically centred, and more brand-orientated and homogeneous. This thesis structure also makes a contribution to qualitative methods research as it provides a template of how such a research hypothesis and phenomenon can be theoretically and practically integrated.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / New ways of sociability can be perceive in a historical context marked by the social change. The investigation developed by this thesis follow this idea, pointing the emergency of social relations established between individuals in drift. The foremost aim of this research was to assay, using a case study, the bonds constructed among the people that attend the Terminal Central - Pratic Shopping of Uberlândia-MG, the main responsible for the reception and distribution of public transport of the city. With the growth of the urban centers, their population became attractive objects of analysis in the social science field and the understanding of the city, in their core, by the dwellers displacement. Thus, after the separation of the people that use the Terminal Central in seven groups (students, families and couples, elderly, deaf and/or mute, employees of the stores in Terminal and of the bus companies), their interactions tried to be understood, by identifying the similarity with the sociability in traffic studies. In places with a great flow of people, the sociability in traffic suggests bonds of friendship, kindness, as foray, impersonality, frailty and the sudden break of contact. / Em um contexto histórico marcado pela mudança social, novas formas de sociabilidade passam a ser percebidas. A investigação desenvolvida por esta dissertação segue tal ideia, apontando para a emergência de relações sociais tecidas entre indivíduos em situação de trânsito. O principal objetivo da pesquisa foi analisar, por meio de um estudo de caso, o modo como são estabelecidos os vínculos entre os circulantes do Terminal Central - Pratic Shopping de Uberlândia-MG, que é o maior responsável pelo recebimento e distribuição dos usuários do transporte coletivo da cidade. Com o crescimento dos centros urbanos, suas populações se tornam objetos de análise atrativos para o campo das ciências sociais. Assim, a compreensão da cidade, em um de seus aspectos centrais, passa pelo deslocamento de seus moradores. Após a separação dos frequentadores do Terminal Central em sete grupos (estudantes, famílias e casais, idosos, indivíduos desacompanhados, jovens trabalhadores, surdos e/ou mudos, trabalhadores das lojas do Terminal e das empresas de ônibus), buscou-se entender suas interações, identificando-as como formas de sociabilidade em trânsito. Em locais de passagem e com grande fluxo de indivíduos, a sociabilidade em trânsito sugere tanto a presença de laços pessoalizados, de amizades, de manifestações afáveis e de gentileza, quanto a correria, a impessoalidade, a efemeridade e o rompimento abrupto do contato. / Mestre em Educação

Priests and Weavers in the Inka Province of PachacamacBy following the principle that offerings, accompanying the dead, can be used effectively to determine the former occupation the deceased, we can extend our knowledge of the social organisation of the Province of  Pachacamac. The meaning of offerings in terms of level of social status and occupation is interpreted by artifacts which probably belonged the deceased, including those which would include personal items and the tools of the trade, both of which would confirm what kind of social status the deceased enjoyed and what trade he or she pursued. This suits particularly well if the tools and other instruments for specific tasks show signs of wear and if there are half-finished products, such as textiles or nets. In this article I want to identify aspects concerning two specialists groups: the priests and weavers. / Investigaciones arqueológicas han comprobado que, durante el Periodo Intermedio Tardío y el Horizonte Tardío, algunos contextos funerarios son diagnósticos en la identificación de especialidades u oficios laborales. Esto puede demostrarse en la provincia inka de Pachacamac y en este artículo se intenta caracterizar algunos aspectos de dos grupos de especialistas identificados por el análisis arqueológico, apoyado por importantes y reveladoras informaciones etnohistóricas. Es interés del autor mostrar los resultados de sus investigaciones respecto a los sacerdotes y tejedores andinos.

Doctorat en sciences psychologiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

One aim of emancipatory social movements is to make political communities more inclusive. The way in which a movement pursues transformative political change depends on its account of how political actors understand one another as members of a shared community. Drawing on the antebellum political thought of Black abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Martin Delany, I argue that acknowledgement is a mode of practical understanding that effectively combats exclusionary ideas of political community. I acknowledge you as a fellow member of my political community because you enact a commitment to the community's fundamental principles; enacting such a commitment is what makes you a member of the community. My acknowledgement itself consists in a responsiveness to the fact—independent of my own judgment— that you are a member of the community. This responsiveness manifests in how we comport ourselves in relation to one another in daily political life, which is the primary locus of intervention for effective efforts at making political communities more inclusive.

People in society with high levels of generalized social trust and political trust are more likely to engage in civic activism and participation. Therefore, people involved in social and political groups will likely have higher levels of generalized social and political trust than the general public. What lacks in this realm of scholarship is a solid comparison of trust among people involved in social and political groups. This case-study analysis of generalized social trust and political trust among social and political groups shows the trust that is not only generated within each group, but also which types of groups are more effective at developing citizens that participate in society. Using a researcher-designed survey instrument, two social groups and two political groups have been evaluated and compared to demonstrate members' propensity to trust others in society and those in political office at all levels of government. Sample size is 115 respondents. Among other demographic data analyzed and compared to a larger population data set in the World Values Survey, six hypotheses have been tested. Typical analysis shows demographic data or group membership as the independent variable with trust values acting as the dependent variable. Graphic and cross-tabular data show that social groups recorded higher levels of political trust than political groups. This is probably due to the ideological leanings of the political groups. Political groups showed higher levels of generalized social trust than social groups. Political group members probably feel that their actions are benefiting the greater good. Additionally, participation variables showed that not only are political group members more interested in politics than social group members, but they also have higher levels of registering to vote and to participate in the voting process. They are probably seeking to make significant change in the political system through their actions. The research conducted does not seek to provide a comprehensive analysis of trust among members of social and political groups. However, it is intended to promote the analysis of trust among people in society that have a predisposition to trust as they have shown through the act of participating in a social or political group. As foci for the development of trust, analysis of social and political groups provides a shortcut for scholars interested in the development and proliferation of trust in society. This research provides analysis of four case-study groups at one point in time. Further research using larger sample sizes and time-series analysis could advance trust analysis among social and political groups.

This thesis develops the prioritization guidance and action guidance provided by Iris Marion Young’s Social Connection Model of responsibility for injustice. Young’s parameters of reasoning are limited in their ability to assist responsible agents in determining what they ought to do to fulfill their responsibilities, as they are severed from the structural analysis characteristic of the rest of the SCM. This thesis addresses the resulting limitations by developing categories of prioritization and an action guidance framework. I develop 6 categories of prioritization: power, benefit, interest, centrality, contribution, and control. Applied to social-group-based analysis, these categories determine the strength of the prioritization claim which a given injustice holds over a given social group. The action guidance framework takes the perspective of the political community and works its way through three questions and their corresponding considerations: “What can we do?” –structural change, altering practices, and harm alleviation; “How can we do it?” –understanding sub-issues and sub-options, determining interests, and organizing collectives; and “What can I do?” –eliminating contributory behaviours, and considering personal circumstances. Through this framework, agents can analyze the capacities of the political community and the structures of an injustice to determine which projects should be undertaken and how agents ought to contribute. Finally, the developments of this thesis are applied to the case of landlords and housing, therein establishing the necessity of landlords abandoning rental profits so as to fulfill and not contradict their responsibility to eliminate housing injustice. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA) / This thesis develops the prioritization guidance and action guidance provided by Iris Marion Young’s Social Connection Model of responsibility for injustice. Young’s parameters of reasoning, meant to provide this guidance, are limited in their ability to assist responsible agents in determining what they ought to do to fulfill their responsibilities. This thesis addresses these limitations by developing 6 categories of prioritization and an action guidance framework. The categories of prioritization determine which social groups ought to prioritize a given injustice. Through the action guidance framework, agents can analyze the capacities of the political community and the structures of an injustice to determine which projects should be undertaken and how agents ought to contribute to them. The developments of this thesis are applied to the case of landlords and housing injustice, therein establishing the necessity of landlords abandoning rental profits.

This study presents general themes concerning identity preservation and identity formation among Afghan male refugees living in Sweden and who obtained Swedish citizenship. This study is based on an ethnographic survey of habits and practices of Afghan refugees living in Sweden who in a process of transition must adjust their previous values and expectations as they confront often hostile surroundings. While seeking to preserve their identity, their identity formations take place in the contextual realities and cultural influences existing in their host country Sweden. This study analyzes the narratives of Afghan refugees in Sweden to examine their sense of self. For the purpose of this research the definition of ‘identity’ is derived from the field of social psychology; specifically, the social identity theory. The social identity theory states that an individual’s self-concept is partially defined by the membership in a social group. The main finding of this research is that none of the men solely identify as Afghan. This is mainly because they left Afghanistan at a young age, encounter stereotypes and because Afghanistan is a fragmented and unsafe country. The hierarchy of salience theory and theories on multiple and hybrid identities are employed to demonstrate how they embrace different aspects of their identity at different times and in different situations. More specifically, the findings show that they embrace four strategies to do this: pragmatic, hybrid, religious and globalist. These four strategies show the hierarchy of salience.