This Ph.D. thesis is based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out amongst Muslims of Malian origin in Bouaké, Côte d'lvoire, between February 1993 and June 1995. The dissertation is concerned with the description of processes of identification in the context of urban life and international migration within West Africa. The investigation focused on these processes as they unfold in Islamic youth associations, female place-of-origin associations, madrasas (Islamic schools), and compound life. Marriage practices, the sociohistorical construction of age groups and gender, and the negotiation of differing worldviews are central to the analysis. In the thesis I argue that in the contemporary sociopolitical scene in Côte d'lvoire, Muslims of Malian origin identify with two ensembles of ethnic labels: the Dioula label and several identity labels tied to places of origin in Mali. However, for a number of young men and women, Islam, rather than ethnicity, plays a central role in their self-identity and their sense of belonging. This argument requires an examination of the respective influences of the life course and of patterns of social change in these processes of identification. In order to support this argument, I describe the politics of identity in Côte d'lvoire in the post-Houphouët-Boigny period, elements of social change over the past thirty years affecting Islamic institutions and the educational trajectories of young men and women, and the logic of marriage practices in an urban setting marked by ethnic heterogeneity. The empirical chapters of the thesis analyse versions of Islam produced within Islamic youth associations and the negotiation of conflicting worldviews in the life trajectories of Muslim women.

What part does migration play in the construction and reconstruction of social identity? What kind of social relations are produced and reproduced through the migration process? What are the manifestations of power involved in the process of constructing and negotiating social identities through space? These are the central questions in this research. This research not only draws upon current literature on migrant women, but also expands it to address the complexity of construction of social identities and places through migration processes by incorporating critical social theories and feminist geography into the research. I examine embodied geographical experiences and the geography of emotions, by looking at current Taiwanese migrant women’s everyday practices in Toronto. This research provides concrete examples – from a substantial sample of individuals – to support feminist geographers’ arguments on women’s experiences in space. I employ Bourdieu’s concept of habitus to illustrate how personal and private space is constructed and reconstructed by a complex interplay between different discourses and practices, and how new spaces and practices are created for new identity claims. I also examine how the dynamics of habitus shifts through displacement. By looking at the generative aspect of habitus, this research extends the existing scope of the notion of habitus. Collecting more than 125 hours of in-depth interviews with Taiwanese migrant women in Toronto, I examine multidimensional re-configurations of the everyday practices of Taiwanese migrant women in Toronto. Research findings regarding the hidden geography of everyday language practice, the reconstruction of food culture and the exploration of culinary practice, the negotiation of home practice, and the creation of new spaces for new identity claims provide a complicated picture that grasps the contingency and fluidity of identity construction. In addition to concepts of ‘third space’ and ‘paradoxical space,’ my research shows that metaphoric expressions, what I call ‘glass wall’, ‘comfort zone’, ‘unlocked spaces’, ‘dialogical space’ and ‘provocative space’ are important to unveil dynamic pictures of geographical experiences along migration. Indeed, space plays an integral role in the making of social identity.

Recent accounting research suggests that auditor identification or familiarity with their clients may be an additional threat to auditor independence, which may be mitigated by a strong professional identity (King 2002; Bamber and Iyer 2007). However, social identity theory suggests that a strong professional identity will only be effective if it is highly salient and thus readily activated. Yet, professional identity salience is argued to have diminished in recent years (Warren and Alzola 2009). I examine if the level of professional identity salience moderates the positive association between auditor agreement with the client and client identity strength, or the negative association between auditor agreement with the client and professional identity strength. I address these research questions using two experiments completed by experienced professional auditors. In the first experiment with an ambiguous audit judgment task, I examine client identity strength and professional identity salience at two levels each and measure professional identity strength. Results show that auditors with stronger client identities agree more with the client, but only when professional identity salience is not heightened. I do not find that auditors with stronger professional identities agree less with the client, even when professional identity salience is heightened. In the second experiment with an unambiguous audit judgment task, I examine client identity strength at two levels when professional identity salience is not heightened. Results are inconclusive as to whether auditors with strong client identities differ in their agreement with the client, relative to auditors with weak client identities. My research contributes to literature on auditor identification and independence by demonstrating the importance of professional identity salience, not just professional identity strength, on auditor judgments. I also show that threats to auditor objectivity can arise from client identity that develops even without a familiar client relationship.

The aim of this study was twofold: to investigate (i) the relationship between values, social identities, constructions of European Union (EU) and (ii) reactions to December 12th Copenhagen decision concerning Turkey. In order to fullfil the aim, two methodologically different analyses were carried out: A qualitative analysis of newspapers representing different ideologies, and a quantitative analysis of Turkish university students&amp / #8217 / responses to questionaries. The qualitative analysis revealed different constructions of Turkey&amp / #8217 / s relationship with EU: Advantages of joining the union in terms of human rights and economic development were made in the newspapers as well as disadvantages in terms of emperalism. In additon, historical references to Tanzimat and Islahat decrees were iii made. The quantitative analyses performed on university students&amp / #8217 / responses to questionnaires revealed three social identities: Nationalist-Islam, Turk, and European / three different constructions of EU: Europe As Different, Impermeable Boundaries, and Dissimilar but Advantageous / and two reactions to the decision, Justification and Attribution of decision to Differences and Conflict, as well as negative evaluation of decision. Further analyses revealed that values of patriotism, ethnocentrism, and antisecularism were significant predictors of Nationalist-Islam social identity. Patriotism was a significant predictor of Turk social identity and antisecularism was a significant predictor of European social identity. Seeing EU boundaries as impermeable was related to negative evaluation of the decision and Europe As Different was a significant predictor seeing the decision as a result of differences and conflict. Viewing Europe as dissimilar but advantageous was associated with justifying the decision and ethnocentrism was related to low justification (rejection) of the decision. European and Turk Identity emerged as a significant predictor of the construction of EU. Endorsement of European identity was related negatively to Europe As Different and to seeing EU boundaries as impermeable. High endorsement of European Identity was also negatively related to seeing Europe as dissimilar but advantageous.

When exploring workplace phenomena such as well-being, it is important to recognise the context in which the experience takes place. For example, many contemporary jobs require people to interact with others or to work in groups. Therefore, the social dimension of the workplace well-being experience calls for recognition in research. Keeping the social context of work in mind, the PhD programme had two research aims in order to develop current understanding further on what well-being encompasses and what the best ways are to enhance it. The first aim was to explore relevant components of individual workplace well-being. The second aim was to explore the relevance of two antecedents of individual workplace well-being: Authenticity and social identification were conceptualized through an identity lens as identity-related resources, incorporating the personal self (authenticity) and the social self (shared social identity). Well-being experience accounts of managers, consultants, and staff from different work contexts were explored in two studies through questionnaires, interviews, and focus groups and then analysed with thematic qualitative content analysis. The findings suggest that well-being descriptions from people who work are aligned with existing well-being concepts. Furthermore, the social aspect of well-being was indeed highlighted through the frequent use of indicators such as feeling connected with others, high interaction, and collaboration. In addition, depending on whose well-being was explored, different workplace well-being components were referred to in descriptions of the experience. The findings further suggest that the identity-related resources can act as positive, negative, or irrelevant resources for well-being depending on the work context (i.e. job role and work characteristics). This research indicates that the social aspect of the well-being is a prevalent part of the experience and is not just important in itself but is also for successfully working together with others. Furthermore, any action to improve well-being needs to be tailored to the characteristics of the work context and the workers themselves.

The Chinese community is the fastest growing non-European ethnic group in the UK, with 11.2% annual growth between 2001 and 2007. According to the National Statistics office (2005), there are over a quarter of a million Chinese in Britain. Compared to other ethnic minority groups, the Chinese group is socio-economically widespread, characterized by high academic achievements and high household income. It is estimated that there are about 30,000 Chinese immigrant children studying in British schools, 75% of who were born in the UK. These children face a complex process of establishing their social identity, maintaining their own cultural roots whilst adapting to the British cultural contexts. The predominant psychological interpretation of social identity formation is founded on Social Identity Theory (Tajfel, 1978). Social identity creates and defines an individual’s place in society. One of the key features in social identity theory is ingroup favouritism and out-group derogation (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). The function and motivation for in-group and out-group attitude construction is to promoting a positive self-concept and related self-esteem. Theoretical approaches to understanding social identity that take a developmental perspective are Cognitive Development Theory (CDT) (Aboud, 1988, 2008) and Social Identity Developmental Theory (SIDT) (Nesdale, 2004, 2008). These theories attempt to explain the age related development in children’s inter- and intra-group attitudes. There are different types of social identities, and ethnic identity as well as national identity are the central focus of the current research. Some researchers have pointed out that ethnic identity is relevant to self-esteem and it is particularly important to children from ethnic minority backgrounds (Phinney, 1992). However, the research on social identity is predominantly conducted in Western contexts and there is lack of evidence supporting the generalization of developmental models of social identity in children to all ethnic groups and particularly those growing up in different cultures and national contexts. The research reported in this thesis is a cross cultural and developmental study which compares social identity in relation to self-esteem among British born Chinese (BBC), white British, Hong Kong Chinese and Mainland Chinese children. The overarching aim is to explore the influence of social context and ethnic culture on social identity development and self-esteem. Three research studies were conducted in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Scotland with 464 children across three age groups, age 8, 11 and 14 years (148 children from Mainland China, 155 Hong Kong Chinese children, 70 British born Chinese children, and 91 Scottish children). In addition, 46 parents of BBC children were surveyed to investigate their cultural orientation. The first study was designed to explore cultural similarities and differences in social identity and its relation to self-esteem across four groups of children in three age groups. Social identity (self-description questionnaire) and self-esteem (Harter’s Self-esteem questionnaire) were measured with all four groups of children. The result revealed significant differences of social identity across the groups. Four cultural groups of children think individual self was the most common form of identity. All the Chinese groups emphasized show more collective self than white Scottish children whereas the white Scottish sample of children placed more focused on individual identity. All four groups of children had high self-esteem, and no correlation was evident between social identity and self-esteem. Furthermore, analysis found no significant developmental change in social identity or self-esteem with age. The second study focused on BBC and white Scottish children: these share national context, but differ in ethnic identity. The study was designed to explore children’s national self-categorisation, the degree of national/ethnic identification (Chinese, Scottish, or both), and their perception of the positive and negative traits of Chinese and Scottish people across the age (using a Trait Attribution Task). BBC children’s sense of national identity varied in different national contexts, whereas white Scottish children were more fixed in their sense of national identity. Furthermore, BBC children attributed more positive traits to Chinese than to Scottish people, and white Scottish children attributed more positive traits to Scottish than to Chinese. BBC and white Scottish children evaluated both Chinese and Scottish groups positively, but they both attributed more positive traits to in-groups than out-groups. Some age-related differences were identified for degree of national identification. The third study introduced a novel social identity vignettes task to examine BBC and white Scottish children’s perceptions of ethnic identity of a Chinese character within two contrasting socio-cultural contexts (Scottish versus Chinese). This study addresses the question of whether children’s social identifications are adaptive and sensitive to social context, and how this contextual sensitivity might change with age. It also explored the link between parents’ attitudes towards their children’s cultural orientation and children’s national/ethnic identity in identity vignettes. The study revealed that both BBC and Scottish children judged the vignette characters as having a stronger Chinese identity or Scottish identity according to whether they were described in a Chinese or Scottish vignette. This cultural sensitivity increased with age. Both groups had a positive evaluation of the vignette characters’ self-esteem in both Chinese and Scottish cultural situations. Parental cultural orientation attitudes (using General Ethnicity Questionnaire) towards their children were also examined and differences of language proficiency among BBC children were identified. There is no connection between children’s strength of Chinese and Scottish identification and parents’ strength of cultural orientation towards Chinese or Scottish. Together, the findings presented in this thesis extend our understanding of social identity development, ethnic and national attitudes and the developmental intergroup attitudes among children from different national and ethnic groups. Furthermore, findings indicate that social identity is a complex and dynamic process in children’s development that cannot be understood without considering national and specific socio-cultural contexts as frames of reference. The findings of this research have important implications for child-related policy and practice and for future research on social identity development.

Although cohesiveness has been studied for more than half a century, there is no common definition and associated measure. The current focus of research has moved from general explanations to context specific approaches. This particular thesis focuses on organisationally based, limited life, project teams. Despite the increasing use of these types of teams over the last 15 years, there is no published literature dealing directly with them, and no instrument designed specifically to measure their cohesiveness. This study has defined the construct of cohesiveness for these teams, using team members themselves, and a psychometrically sound measure of cohesiveness has been devised. It is made up of two sub-scales: task and people, and 20 component items. This tool is designed not only as an indicator of cohesiveness but also as a diagnostic tool to allow teams to increase their cohesiveness. Meta-analytical research has found that cohesiveness and performance are related, but that a number of factors moderate this relationship, e.g. type ofteam (Mullen and Copper, 1994). Using the task/people cohesiveness measure, three studies relating cohesiveness to performance and other variables were undertaken. Since project teams are of limited life and each team's output is unique, a correlational design was utilised. Altogether, data from over 500 teams was collected. Studies were carried out with 'real' teams and also a number of teams undertaking a business simulation game. Cohesiveness was found to be related to performance across a basket of performance measures in both circumstances. Task cohesiveness was more strongly related to performance than was people cohesiveness. By comparing levels of performance feedback, evidence was found to support Mullen and Coppers' (1994) suggestion that performance and cohesiveness have a reciprocal effect on one another and that the performance to cohesiveness effect is the larger of the two. The relationship of a number of variables to both cohesiveness and also the cohesivenessperformance relationship were investigated. This thesis contributes to the literature by using Social Identity Theory as an approach to defining and producing a measure of cohesiveness for a specific type of group - project teams. Its application has provided data on the cohesiveness-performance relationship that supports earlier meta-analytical findings where these are comparable.

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