Social identity between interlocutors s is an indispensable factor in the formation of a community (i e. a social unit whose members are held together by an international network and who share certain interests, beliefs, views and attitudes) In this regard, language is known to be an influential symbol of identity, an important clue to social group membership. As Einer Haugen states, language is at once `a social institution, like the laws, the religion, or the economy of a community, and a social instrument which accompanies and makes possible all other institutions. As an institution it may become a symbol of the community` (1956:8 7).

This study investigate how the players' virtual community citizenship behavior were influence by online social identity and impression management of online game discussion forum. A questionnaire was designed for the online survey that resulted in a total of 692 valid responses. The results suggested that the player were more spontaneous involved in organizational citizenship behavior when they had higher identity on discussion forum. The player had more positive action in organizational citizenship behavior when they had higher attention on self impression management. This research is different from those past gaming community researches focus on the user's addiction and motivation, and give suggestions for future research.

Using Social Cognitive Theory, Social Identity Theory, and Source Credibility, this study examined the role of instructor source credibility as related to exercise adherence. A one-time survey was given to participants of an eight-week exercise program. Hierarchical multiple linear regression was used to test hypotheses. Results indicate that perceived expertise was a significant predictor of intentions to adhere to class. Additionally, this study shows how Social Identity Theory can predict lower levels of identification in an exercise context. The scales used to text source credibility were shown to be accurate measures of perceived instructor expertise, likeability, and enthusiasm. Thus, these scales can be used to examine this subject in later studies.

The aim of the current thesis was to investigate the relationship between Alevis and Sunnis through the lenses of Social Identity Theory, Social Dominance Theory, and Contact Hypothesis to understand whether they see the current situation stable and legitimate, and perceive discrimination. It was expected that Alevis and Sunnis will differ in ingroup identifications, social dominance orientations, quantity, and quality of intergroup contact, perception of legitimacy and stability, and perceived discrimination against their ingroup. Moreover, the relationship between the dimensions of religious group identification, social dominance orientation, social contact and legitimacy, stability, and perceived discrimination is expected to differ between groups. The sample was consisted of 157 Sunni and 172 Alevi participants living in Amasya, Turkey. Participants completed a questionnaire package including the measures of religious identification, social dominance orientation, social contact, legitimacy, stability, and perceived discrimination. Results revealed that there were significant differences between Alevis and Sunnis in public religious identity, alienated religious identity, opposition to equality, contact quality, perceived legitimacy of the group status, and perception of discrimination directed against ingroup and outgroup. Moreover, religious group identification and social dominance orientation significantly predicted the perception of legitimacy and stability in both Alevi and Sunni groups. Examination of the associations among the major variables revealed that the relationship between perceived discrimination and ingroup identification was slightly stronger for Alevi group compared to Sunni group. The power of group based dominance was stronger than opposition to equality in predicting the perception of discrimination, especially for the Sunni group. Finally, intergroup contact, especially the quality of contact, had a positive effect on intergroup relations. Considering that this thesis is the first attempt to empirically examine the fundamental social psychological processes underlying the Alevi issue in Turkey, findings were discussed on basis of sociological and political aspects as well as previous work in Western cultures.

The purpose of this dissertation is to answer &lsquo / if we can live together?&rsquo / , through establishing a historical approach towards the concepts of Europeanization, European identity and the rights of minorities. The main argument reads that within the historical understanding of Europeanization, it is theoretically impossible to speak of a common European identity that European peoples and societies could agree upon. The problem is that such impossibility cannot be explained by the mainstream political identity and Europeanization literature. In this thesis, in order to account for the late-modern European self-definition which is distinguished with its banal character that carries elements from post-modernity yet at the same time is situated on the modern necessities and inventions, &lsquo / social identity&rsquo / and &lsquo / social categorization&rsquo / conceptualizations of Henri Tajfel are addressed. The aim is to communicate between the studies of Europeanization and European identity and the Social Identity Theory that proposes an instant gathering of people through social ingrouping without developing a certain sense of common culture, identity or belongingness. Having set the theoretical ground, the practical consequences of European ingrouping are examined by employing a historical perception of the development of the idea of minorities in Europe. Minorities are the traditional others of European nation-states and they are the outgroups of any social ingrouping for that matter. There are observed two fundamental results of the current European ingrouping-outgrouping on the development of minority right regimes in Europe. On the one hand, there is still the traditional security-oriented perception of national minorities in Europe that is simultaneously exposed to Europeanization and some level of improvement / yet, on the other hand, the European ingrouping itself is causing the minoritization of certain groups, excluding them from the very agenda of Europeanization.

The present study examines how political party leaders in Turkey strategically construct boundaries of the Turkish nation, which norms they attribute to it, and the prototypicality claims of these party leaders regarding the nation. Leaders&rsquo / national identity constructions are expected to be in line with their parties&rsquo / collective projects and serve to increase their claims of representativeness in the eyes of the electorate. A secod aim of the study is to inquire leaders&rsquo / attempts in rhetorically including the Kurdish population to the Turkish nation construction. The particular context was 2011 General Elections and the data was composed of campaign speeches of AK Parti, MHP and CHP. The campaign speeches given at Eastern and Southeastern regions of Turkey prior to the elections constituted the data. The analysis revealed that three leaders consensualized on the national flag, the official language, the unity of the land and the state as the claimed commonalities of the Turkish nation. Differences emerge when elaborating on the nature of the binding relationship between nationals. Erdogan (AK Parti) puts more emphasis on religion, Bah&ccedil / eli (MHP) underlines shared history and culture and Kili&ccedil / daroglu (CHP) depicts a nation based on citizenship. Nation constructions also involve attribution of national norms that also differ among parties and coincide with the topics over which leaders claim prototypicality. Apart from invoking national categories, party leaders argued over universal and other social categories (in this study / politician category) when constructing their rhetoric. Taking social categories for granted impairs the possibility of social change. Therefore, examining strategic purposes these categories serve, as in this study, is intended to empower those who struggle through their effects.

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether the individual political leader is important for the analysis of international relations. Traditionally the focus of investigation in international relations has been on the nation-state, or the systems level, and as a result the individual level has been somewhat neglected. Using the theory of political psychology there is a possibility of finding nuances that might not be found if the focus of the investigation is on the nation-state. With the help of key concepts such as personality, emotion, cognition, and social identity decision making that has affected world politics have been examined. An empirical examination of the political psychology has been made by applying the theory to a case study, George W Bush. By applying the theory of political psychology to the decision making process used by George W Bush and his Administration it will be shown that the individual can impact world politics, especially in the case of the invasion of Iraq. Furthermore, one of the flaws of the theory of political psychology, its problem in handling the concept of global terrorism, is briefly discussed. The conclusion that has been drawn in this thesis is that the individual level of analysis is just as important as the systems level or the domestic level of analysis.</p>

This dissertation examines weblog community as a materially afforded and socially constructed space. In a set of three case studies, this dissertation examines three separate weblog communities between 2004 and 2008. CASE STUDY I looks at knowledge management bloggers in order to better understand how bloggers form communities. In this case study, it will be shown that blogs group thematically and in temporal bursts. These bursts of thematic activity allow for movement in and out of a community, as well as act as a bridge between different weblog communities. CASE STUDY II examines two pseudonymous bloggers in order to better understand how presentation and identity is understood in blogging. It will be shown in CASE STUDY II that social identity in weblog communities is negotiated through blogging practices such as transparency in writing and truthful presentation. CASE STUDY III delves further into social identity by examining a community of academic bloggers and how traditional, institutionalized expectations influence social identity over time, and if this influence differs in the core and periphery of the community. It will be shown in CASE STUDY III that there is indeed a difference in how social identity is negotiated and performed between core and periphery members of a weblog community. Finally, a model towards an integrated approach to researching blogs is put forth.

The current project investigates exclusion in terms of racial/ethnic identity and group behavioral norms. Research concerning the "black sheep effect" evidences the tendency for group members to derogate a fellow in-group member who has violated an important social norm (Marques, Yzerbyt, & Leyens, 1988). Similarly, Oyserman's (2007) model of identity-based motivation argues that any group identity can shape behavior through a process of identity infusion such that group members are motivated to behave in ways that are in-group identity-infused and equally avoid behaviors that are out-group identity-infused. Finally, identity misclassification research provides evidence that individuals feel threatened by the notion that they may have behaved in ways that are congruent with an out-group (e.g., Bosson, Prewitt-Freillino, & Taylor, 2005). Therefore, when a behavior is infused with the identity of an out-group, avoiding such behaviors is seen as an expression of belonging to one's in-group. The current project assesses the consequences of group identity-infusion specifically in the area of academics and racial/ethnic identity. In Study 1, identity-threatened participants who were excluded by an in-group member attributed their exclusion to their out-group identity-infused behavior, but they did not expect exclusion, nor experience heightened negative emotions or anxiety as a result of exclusion. In Study 2, though strongly identified participants were more likely to choose an identity-affirmed partner regardless of task condition, no differences were found for ratings of potential partners. Future research should address ecological validity issues and attempt to make more naturalistic observations of these behavioral patterns. Additionally, a younger sample should be used in order to assess exclusion for "acting White" among students who are legally required to be in school, rather than those who have chosen to pursue higher education.

This study examines the effect of in-group bias and decision aid use on auditor judgments, confidence, and decisions in an analytical procedures task. In-group bias, a product of Social Identity Theory, may impair auditor independence by influencing auditor judgments. Auditors rely on client representations to support their opinion of the financial statements; however, clients are sometimes former auditors of the external audit firm. This prior relationship could lead the auditor to exhibit unwarranted trust of client representations. In an online mixed design experiment using staff and senior auditors, I test whether auditor judgments, confidence in those judgments, and decisions to extend testing differ based on a client's prior affiliation. I find that there is insufficient evidence of in-group bias in auditor judgments, confidence, or decisions. Lack of support could be due to the small sample size. In the same experiment, I give auditors access to a decision aid. Practice and prior literature suggest using decision aids should improve audit judgment. I find that a structured decision aid improves audit judgments and decisions for all auditors, and improves confidence for auditors who initially made good judgments. Audit managers can benefit from noting the usefulness of decision aids in improving judgment.