This thesis explores the links between emotion processing and social participation in the acute and chronic phases of stroke. Three aspects of emotion processing are examined: 1) Emotion Perception 2) Emotion Regulation 3) Depression and Anxiety. Social Participation refers to engagement in life situations including a range of social activities and social networks. Stroke survivors are known to experience a reduction in social participation, independently of activity limitations. The current research tests the hypothesis that impairments in any of the aspects of emotion processing may affect social participation. Previous research has established that following stroke, difficulties in emotion perception and depression and anxiety occur, but there is little research on post stroke emotion regulation difficulties. While the link between post stroke depression and anxiety and social participation has been explored, this is not the case with emotion perception or emotion regulation. In a pilot study, emotion processing and social participation measures were administered to stroke patients. Emotion processing difficulties were shown to occur in stroke survivors and were significantly correlated with social participation. In the main study participants’ emotion processing, social participation and activity limitations were assessed at 2 and 18 months post stroke. In the acute phase, all three aspects of emotion processing correlated with social participation, but only emotion regulation predicted social participation restrictions independently of activity limitations. In the chronic phase, emotion processing correlated with social participation, with emotion regulation and depression predicting social participation independently of activity limitations. Further analyses revealed acute phase problems with emotion perception predicted chronic phase social participation limitations, while acute phase social participation restrictions predicted chronic phase depression and emotion regulation. These findings highlight the importance of the links between emotion processing and social participation post stroke. Future research priorities in this field are outlined.

The problem with which this investigation was concerned, was that of determining the relationships between personality adjustment, social interaction abilities and marital adjustment. The following hypotheses were investigated: 1) there will be a significant relationship between individual personality adjustment and marital adjustment, and 2) there will be a significant relationship between marital harmony and social interaction abilities.

The nature of sociability in the digital world has attracted much attention, with theories of the network society describing the formation of networked connections across distant geographies. Policymakers are optimistic about the potential for these new forms of connectivity to overcome some of the longstanding disadvantages of rural life. However, a prerequisite for full and meaningful participation in the network society is equal access to digital infrastructure, and a persistent urban–rural divide in this regard has been documented across Britain. The thesis argues that the meaning of the divide has been under-investigated with the result that our understanding of rural sociability in contemporary society is theoretically underdeveloped. This is addressed through a study of sociability in rural Britain, which adopts a “facet methodology” approach, examining the research problem from different angles using a range of methods. The first facet of the research compares the perceptions of rural and urban Internet users through an analysis of the Oxford Internet Survey. The second facet conducts a social network analysis of the online connections formed by a group of bloggers in the Scottish islands. The third facet explores the discursive interactions of the same set of bloggers through a thematic analysis of their writings. Together, the methods shed light on key aspects of the research problem. The findings reveal that people living in the country's rural areas are experiencing a different relationship with digital technology from urban residents. Rather than occupying peripheral or inferior positions in the network society, however, they are cultivating unique forms of digital sociability, informed by particular influences and motivations that set their social behaviour apart from the networked norm. Throughout the thesis, an understanding of the place of rural in the digital world is elaborated and the network society is shown to be differentiated across multiple dimensions.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

The research sought to ascertain whether or not psychological ideas and notions ("psychological models") are used to explain human behavior and human characteristics in everyday life, and if so, are these psychological models similar to the schools of thought within the field of psychology? Also of interest was whether or not "statistical categories" use psychological models as a "style of thought," and if so, are psychological models part of the current American Weltanschauungen? The convenience sample consisted of 34 respondents who were taking an introductory sociology course, and 39 respondents from non-college settings. An open-ended questionnaire containing 13 questions asking for causal explanations of human behaviors and characteristics was used. Students filled out the questionnaire during a class and returned the questionnaires at the end of the class. The questionnaires that were administered in non-college settings were distributed by research assistants at their places of employment and collected within 24 hours. Over 900 causal explanations of human behaviors and human characteristics were collected. Each causal explanation was coded in terms of the basic cause or causes given in the causal explanation of the respondent. The causes given in the respondents• causal explanations were analyzed and it was determined what "kinds of causal explanations" respondents used. Five kinds of causal explanations were found to be used by the respondents. These were: 1) psychological explanations; 2) interpersonal explanations; 3) physiological explanations; 4) social structural explanations; and 5) cultural explanations. Also, there were multi-causal explanations which consisted of combinations of the 5 kinds of mono-causal explanations. From the kinds of causal explanations given by respondents a typology of the kinds of models respondents used to explain human behavior was developed. Each causal explanation given by a respondent was cla$sified in terms of the models typology. It was the "models" variable which was derived from the kinds of causal explanations that respondents gave that was the main variable in the research. The first part of the analysis assigned each respondent a "dominant model." The dominant model used by a respondent was determined by assessing what kind of model a respondent used more frequently than any other kind of model in the 13 causal explanations the respondent gave. The second part of the analysis assigned a dominant model to various statistical "categories" which were based on age, sex, or education. The dominant model of a category was determined by assessing the dominant model used for each question, then determining what kind of dominant model was used most frequently for explaining the 13 behaviors or characteristics. When examining the dominant model used by each respondent it was found that individuals in the sample tended to use a psychological model more frequently than any other kind of model when explaining human behaviors and characteristics. Additionally, when the age, or sex, or education of the respondent was considered in the analysis of the dominant model used by an individual it was found that only the individuals between 25 and 40 years of age tended not to use a psychological model as their dominant model. When examining the dominant model used by statistical categories, categories whose membership was based on age, sex, or education, it was found that categories tended to use a psychological model as their dominant model. However, the category "25 to 40 years of age" did not use a psychological model as the dominant model. Also, when the category whose membership was based on having taken psychology courses was compared in detail to the category whose membership was based on having not taken psychology courses it was found that these two categories used dominant and other models similarly.

No description available.

The rapid growth of the internet over the past decade has provided increasing opportunities for individuals to engage in computer-mediated social interaction in virtual environments. Despite this rapid growth there has been limited research into the way people use the Internet, and the effect Internet use has on their lives (Kraut, 1996). The overall aim in the research presented in this thesis was to explore how characteristics of the individual interact with characteristics of computer-mediated communication to enable socio-emotional communication and behaviour in social text-based virtual environments. Three studies are presented. Studies One and Two are qualitative studies of social interaction in two text-based, synchronous ('real time') virtual environments: MOOs (Multi User Dimensions, Object Oriented) and Internet Relay' Chat (IRC). Grounded Theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) methodology was used to develop formal theories of social interaction within these environments. Stage models of virtual environment use were developed that described changes in social interaction over time. In MOOs, changes in social interaction over time reflected the process of coming to terms with what was initially viewed by users as an alternative reality. In IRC the central feature of social interaction that emerged was the perceived ease of communication. This was attributed to the effortlessness of meeting a wide range of potential communication partners in a social context where the communication itself was simplified to text only communication. The hypotheses developed from the qualitative research in Studies One and Two were tested in Study Three. This was a longitudinal study of new Internet users that examined the bi-directional effects of personality characteristics and computer-mediated communication on behaviour. Personality measures were poor predictors of time spent in ++ / both specific types of virtual environments and on-line in general. Based on the usage patterns across the three studies a decision pathway for the use of virtual environments was developed. A key finding across the studies was the potential for virtual environments to enhance psychological well-being for individuals who experience social discomfort in off-line settings. Limitations of the research were discussed and suggestions made for future research.

This thesis is concerned with the ways Imperialism (and consequently colonialism) has pervaded the indigenous �primitive� world. Protectorates and �the colonies� reflected imperialist ideals, expansion, territory, external revenue and power. Missionaries were the footmen of colonial policy. The relations forged between these evangelists and the indigene have been thoroughly studied and scrutinised. However, reported interaction has been about missionaries and the �native�, with less about that between the indigenes, individual and tribe, elder and young. The thesis intends to redress this imbalance in the Bay of Islands from 1814 to 1834. The following work is an examination of a process of social change in Aotearoa. In the early 19th century the physical, spiritual and intellectual contact made between Maori peoples and the European explorers, scientists, and missionaries involved a deliberate cultural entanglement. It is the processes of acculturation, assimilation, or simply misunderstanding that are of interest. The study will have several foci involving the reaction of peoples of the Bay of Islands to the missionary institution of religious education. Chapter One addresses the theoretical location of the peoples that interacted in the Bay, while the second chapter is a brief description of a Maori coastal society prior to the arrival of literate missionaries. Chapter Three is about the cultural and social engagements of Ruatara, Marsden, Kendall and Hongi. The final chapter is a biographical exploration in the life of Rawiri Tawhanga and his interactions with missionaries and Maori of the Bay. Fundamentally it is the indigenous interaction during the initial periods of external European contact and, therefore, the effects of internal societal change that the author wishes to examine.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-69).

Den ökade tillgången till datorer samt den ökade enkelheten att använda datorer och internet har ökat mängden personer över 65 år som använder sociala nätverk. Tidigare forskning visar bland annat att personer över 65 känner sig i större utsträckning mer ensamma och isolerade. Annan tidigare forskning menar att internetanvändarna som är över 55 år ökar avsevärt och att detta beror på den ökade tillgängligheten samt kunskaperna rörande datorer och internet. I studien genomfördes 15 kvalitativa intervjuer, med respondenter som rekryterades genom en kombination av ett kriteriebaserat urval samt snöbollsurval. Resultatet visade att Facebook bland annat har bidragit till ett ökat kontaktnät samt ett förbättrat informationsflöde när det gäller familj och vänner. Dessa ökningar bidrar till en större gemenskap och förmildrar de eventuella ensamhetskänslor som kan uppstå.