This thesis examined how receivers who vary in Interaction Involvement and Locus of Control (LOC) might differ in their interpretations of service complaints. Locus of control was measured using Rotter's (1966) LOC scale, while Interaction Involvement was measured with Cegala's (1984) Interaction Involvement measure, including a separate assessment of the effects for each sub-scale. Individuals were assigned to four groups based on their Interaction Involvement and LOC scores. The groups were compared with one-another for differences in how complaints were interpreted. Four complaint categories and a corresponding scale were developed to measure these differences. The categories were Subject, Goal, Opportunity, and Accountability. Interaction Involvement was expected to affect how receivers interpret the subject and goal of a complaint, while LOC was predicted to affect understanding of the opportunity and accountability aspects. Two research questions explored possible relationships between the complaint categories and the independent variables for individuals within each group. The study's four hypotheses were not supported, although some evidence was found for a significant relationship between receiver Interaction Involvement and perceived complainant Opportunity, for External LOC individuals only.

L'objectif de ma thèse est de participer à la construction d'un nouveau robot humanoïde qui peut réaliser des interactions intuitives avec l'humain à travers l'observation et l'imitation. Pour cela, j'ai conduit une série d'études expérimentales chez le jeune adulte pour caractériser les propriétés cinématiques des mouvements du bras réalisés pendant des interactions motrices et sociales, autant d'éléments qui seront les patterns de référence pour le futur robot. En se concentrant sur le comportement non-verbal, nous avons testé comment les contraintes externes et internes (difficulté, prédictibilité, temporalité) façonne la cinématique des mouvements du bras et de la main dans une simple action séquentielle de prise et de pose d'un objet (étude 1 et 2). Les résultats révèlent des modulations précoces dans la cinématique de la phase d'atteinte et de saisie, en fonction de la taille et de la stabilité du réceptacle terminal sur lequel l'objet devait être placé. Ces modulations observées dans le premier élément de la séquence sont en contradiction avec les modèles d'optimisation de trajectoire utilisés en robotique pour les séquences d'action. Ils suggèrent un couplage fort entre les paramètres moteurs dans une stratégie de planification encapsulée qui rétro-propage les contraintes contextuelles sur les éléments précoces de la séquence. Pour confirmer ces résultats, une seconde série d'étude a été conduite en utilisant des tâches cinématiques et vidéos pour montrer que les intentions motrices humaines pouvaient être lues à travers la détection de ces modulations cinématiques précoces. En utilisant un système de classification artificiel, nous avons testé si les indices de bas niveau pouvaient permettre une catégorisation des essais. Les résultats montrent qu'en absence de capacité cognitive particulière, le réseau de neurone pouvait catégoriser les intentions significativement au-dessus du niveau de la chance en observant les 500 premières millisecondes de l'action (étude 3). La troisième partie de mon travail de thèse s'est tournée vers les mesures en eye-tracking. Nous avons révélé ici que la stratégie proactive de fixations oculaires utilisée pendant l'observation de l'action était similaire à celle utilisée pendant son exécution (étude 4). De plus, les catégorisations correctes d'intentions motrices étaient caractérisées par des saccades plus précises et des fixations plus longues sur l'objet. Les mouvements oculaires sont connus pour jouer un rôle important dans les interactions sociales. Ainsi, dans une dernière expérience (étude 5), nous avons mis en place un jeu compétitif en face à face révélant des effets spécifiques du contexte social qui modifie la cinématique des mouvements d'atteinte selon le type de situations interactives. Dans le manuscrit de thèse je propose une discussion qui replace les résultats dans les modèles neuronaux et cognitifs de l'intégration sensori-mmotrice. Lorsque c'est le cas, des directions futures sont suggérées à la fois pour les modèles cognitifs de contrôle moteur et pour le développement e systèmes artificiels neuro-inspirés intégrant des capacités d'interaction sociale intuitive. / The aim of my PhD thesis was to participate in the construction of a new humanoid robot that can sustain intuitive interactions with humans through observation and imitation. As such, I conducted a series of experimental studies in young adults to better characterize the kinematic properties of those arm movements performed during motor and social interactions, elements that are the reference patterns for the to-come robot. Focusing on non-verbal behavior, we tested how external and internal constraints (difficulty, predictability, timing) shaped the kinematics of both arm and hand movements in a very simple pick and place sequential action (study 1 and 2). The results revealed early modulations in kinematics in the reach-to-grasp phase depending of the size and the stability of the target pad on which the object had to be placed. These modulations observed within the first element of the sequence were in contradiction with the current optimized trajectory models used in robotics for action sequences. They suggest in fact a strong coupling of the motor parameters within an encapsulated planning strategy that back-propagates the contextual constraints on to the early elements of the motor sequence. To confirm these findings, a second serie of studies were conducted using kinematic and video based tasks to show that human motor intentions can be read through the detection of these early kinematic modulations (study 3). Using basic artificial classification, we tested whether low-revel motor indices could afford trial categorization without the need for higher-level process such as motor imagery. results indicated that indeed without cognitive abilities the neural network could categorize the intention of an observed action within the first 500ms, significantly above chance level (study 4). The third place of my PhD work turned to eye tracking. Here, we revealed that the proactive strategy of eye-fixations used during action observation were similar to those made during executed actions. Additionally, good categorization of motor intention was characterized by more accurate saccades and longer object fixations. Eye movements are known to play an important role in social intercations. Hence, in a final experiment (study 5), we setup a face-to-face competitive game to reveal the specific effects thet the social context may play on the kinematic properties of reaching during different types of interactive situations. In the PhD mansucript, I propose a general discussion that sets these results within the current cognitive and neuronal models of sensori-motor integration. When appropriate, future directions are suggested both for cognitive models of motor control and for the development of neuro-inspired articicial systems constitued with intuitive social interaction skills.

Aim: In recent years, research has concluded that social anxiety plays a key role in quality of life. The overall aim of this research was to evaluate social anxiety in adolescents with respect to determining how social anxiety affects quality of life. Method: This study was a cross-sectional study. A pilot study was conducted to cross-culturally adapt all scales by the recommended translated and back-translated method. The correlations of socio-demographic parameters with the SAS-A scores were examined. Data from a sample of 564 students (273 boys 48.4%, 291 girls 51.6%) were analysed. Adolescents from Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom were screened and compared. Confirmatory factor analysis was utilised to build the proposed model based on prior research and theoretical findings. Finding: No significant sex difference in the SAS-A total score, fear of negative evaluation and social avoidance were found. Comparing the boys and girls on SPIN scores, Fear, Avoidance and Authority Problems, the results showed that boys reported higher in SPIN total, fear and avoidance (except authority problem subscale score) than did girls. SAS-A scores were higher in those with a low socio-economic level. Moreover, social anxiety symptoms among Saudi adolescents were more severe in boys. Results showed that adolescents without social anxiety scored higher on quality of life and its subscales than adolescents with social anxiety as measured by ASA-A. No significant difference was found in psychical health. Adolescents without social anxiety scored higher on quality of life and its subscales than adolescents with social anxiety as measured by SIAS. Adolescents without social anxiety scored on Positive Individualism more than adolescents with social anxiety. No significant difference was found in Positive Relatedness. In the cross-cultural study, the results showed no significant difference on SIAS scores for Saudi adolescents and British adolescents. However, a marginally significant differences was found on BAI scores, where Saudi adolescents reported higher level of anxiety than British adolescents. The British sample reported higher on the fear of negative evaluation than the Saudi sample. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was utilised to test hypotheses on the links between scores on the study scales. The findings indicate that the overall fit of the SAS-A model was acceptable. Direct effects between the study variables and significant positive correlation between cognitive factors and social anxiety were found. Mediation effects of SAS-A and SPIN were investigated by reporting direct effects, indirect effects and total effects. Results indicte that social anxiety significantly mediated the relationships between subjective anxiety, positive individualism, and cognitive and environmental health. Conclusion: It is therefore imperative that socially anxious students be provided with appropriate consultations and treatment so that they can improve their quality of life through integrating better with social institutions. If untreated, the impairment caused by social phobia could lead to poor academic and professional outcomes, as well as poor psychosocial outcomes.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / William H. Meredith Jr / Walter R. Schumm / This study addresses a social capital literature that has mostly targeted a White majority population in the United States. Hispanic audiences, especially new immigrant populations, have not been primary survey respondents in most studies. Information about the social connectedness of minorities has come from secondary sources. The goal of this study was to understand to what extent Hispanic, compared to Anglo, families in rural Kansas experienced different levels of social capital in terms of social connectedness and community involvement. This study was done in English and Spanish in order to reach the under-represented population. According to political scientist, Robert Putnam (2000), it is through experiences of face-to-face interaction with those from different backgrounds that people learn to trust each other. Connections create networks that allow social trust to spread throughout society. At the individual level, there has been strong, consistent evidence that social connectedness has positive consequences. Individuals have the capacity and the choice to build their social connectedness and community engagement. Then those assets can be shared with the collective; be it family, organization, community, state, or country. When individuals have access to networks of supportive and accepting associates, it can generate an array of personal and societal benefits that include preventing or overcoming illness, preventing crime, mitigating poverty, addressing racial inequalities, supporting child development, improving health, and addressing other social ills. When one builds a stock of personal relationships and other social connections from which he or she can call upon in times of need, it is called social capital. This study, in part, assessed social connectedness and community engagement of people in Southwest County, a rural location in Southwest Kansas which has a 30% Hispanic population. Surveys were sent to selected households in English and Spanish, and two small focus groups were conducted in the two languages. Statistical analyses indicated support for the hypotheses when the independent variables gender, age, race/ethnicity, education, income, and community longevity were analyzed with dependent variables made up of scaled items to measure social connectedness and community engagement. Race/ethnicity, education, and income appeared to be the strongest predictors of social connectedness and community engagement. Implications of the results are discussed.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas State University Libraries

Background: Social exclusion of people with vision impairments is an ongoing issue. Since social inclusion emphasizes social and emotional aspects as distinct from academic ones and the aspects concerning opportunities, the focus is turned on the domain of social interactions and friendships. Adolescence is the time point when youth feels mostly the need to ‘fit in’ in social circles and groups and the social life and friendships are important aspects of young people’s well-being and development. Aim: The aim of this study is to review the existing literature on the social interactions and friendships of adolescents with visual impairments from their own perspective and investigate the interventions designed to improve their social interactions and friendships. Method: A literature search on the databases of ERIC, CINAHL and PsycINFO and a hand search on the reference lists of the relevant articles was conducted. The search was limited to recent peer reviewed studies published in English, reporting perspectives of adolescents (13-18 years old) with visual impairments on their social interactions and friendships and intervention studies aimed to support them in the aforementioned domain. Results: In the 18 included studies, adolescents with vision impairments engaged more in passive activities that were not highly interactive. They reported being satisfied with their networks and friends, however contradictions existed in the perceived quality of friendships and the feeling of loneliness. The context of school was presented often as problematic compared to other contexts, and friendships in schools were rare. According to adolescents’ voices, friendships helped to cope with the impairment, friends had a meaningful role in their life and they made school life more enjoyable. In comparison to their sighted peers, adolescents with vision impairments had smaller networks and less friends with whom they had different type of relationships. Lastly even though several barriers and facilitators were identified, which belong to domains of Body functions and structures and Physical, Attitudinal and Social environment, there was a lack of interventions aiming to support the social interactions and friendships of adolescents with vision impairments. Conclusions: Considering the importance of social interactions and friendships in adolescents’ life for them to learn, develop and enjoy, more interventions with social focus need to be designed in respect to the challenges that exist. A plethora of barriers and facilitators impacting the social interactions and friendships of adolescents with vision impairments were identified that need to be taken into consideration for future research and interventions since the existing literature provided so far is limited. Adolescents need to be engaged in this process so that their interests, preferences and their views are prioritized.

University of the Witwatersrand A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Arts by Coursework in the Department of Social Anthropology July 5, 2016 / There is a culture arising among young people in Swaziland that believes that to be young and Swazi is an ephemeral, temporary, and directionless existence, and having sex and ‘partying like a Swazi’ is desired, celebrated and the fashion. I illustrate that this construction is a reaction to the banal, routine and regulation of their social spaces. Furthermore, in addition to the spaces being limited in number, imbued within each are structures and routines that reproduce discourses that privilege performances surrounding their normative behaviour and development (including the development of their sexualities). As a result, Swazi society has excluded young people from being active agents in the very discourses that govern and inform their lives, status, agency and citizenship. Drawing from a phenomenological analysis of WhatsApp conversations combined with fieldwork in Swaziland, this dissertation explores the locality of digital space via WhatsApp in the landscape of the lives of Swazi young. The data illustrated that digital space is residual and resistive, as a reaction to the regulated and restricted spaces in their lives, in digital space young people enact performances of masculinity, secrecy and morality. As well as determined values systems and currencies around sex (and sexual status), vis a vis the exchange of social capital (nude and semi nude photos)- all of which are inherently self destructive. Lastly, in their resistance, Swazi young people are the local agents of their self-destruction / MT2017

Under den senaste 20-års perioden har dataspelande ökat i popularitet bland stora delar av befolkningen i den industrialiserade västvärlden (Interactive Software Federation of Europe, 2012). Dataspel har gått från att vara en fritidssysselsättning som ungdomar ägnar sig åt till att ha blivit ett signifikant kulturellt fenomen som stora delar av befolkningen ägnar sig åt. Dataspelande är dock fortfarande vanligast förekommande bland ungdomar av manligt kön (Verheijen, Burk, Stoltz, van den Berg, & Cillessen, 2019). Denna studies syfte är att undersöka vilka drivkrafter medelålders män har till att spela dataspel online samt att söka en djupare förståelse för hur dataspelandet påverkar de medelålders männens självbild och känsla av tillhörighet. Den valda metoden är av kvalitativ karaktär och insamling av empiri har skett genom semistrukturerade intervjuer som genomförts med sex medelålders män som spelar tillsammans via Internet. Studiens teoretiska ramverk består av Anthony Giddens och Stuart Halls teorier om identitet och identitetsskapande i det senmoderna samhället samt Randall Collins teori om sociala interaktionsritualer. Resultatet pekar på att medelålders mäns motiv till att spela dataspel i en online-miljö främst är att få tillgång till social interaktion och därigenom ha möjligheter till att bygga vänskapsnätverk. Informanternas spelande utgör ett slags virtuell och digital interaktionsritual som bidrar till att skapa en avslappnad miljö som tillåter informanterna att ladda sig med positiv emotionell energi som bidrar till att de klarar av att hantera en stressfylld tillvaro i det verkliga livet. / During the past 20 years, computer games have grown in popularity among large parts of the population in the industrialized Western world (Interactive Software Federation of Europe, 2012). Computer games have gone from being a leisure activity that young people are engaged in to being a significant cultural phenomenon that large parts of the population engages in. However, computer gaming is still most common among young males (Verheijen, Burk, Stoltz, van den Berg, & Cillessen, 2019). The purpose of this study is to investigate the driving forces behind middle-aged mens gaming online and to seek a deeper understanding of how the computer gaming affects the self-image and sense of belonging among these men. The chosen method is of a qualitative nature and the collection of empirical data has taken place through semi-structured interviews conducted with six middle-aged men who play together via the Internet. The study's theoretical framework consists of Anthony Gidden's and Stuart Hall's theories on identity and identity creation in the late modern society as well as Randall Collin's theory of social interaction rituals. The result points to the fact that middle-aged men's motives for playing computer games in an online environment are primarily to gain access to social interaction and thereby have the opportunity to build friendship networks. The informants act of gaming is a kind of virtual and digital interaction ritual that helps to create a relaxed environment that allows the informants to load up with positive emotional energy that helps them cope with a stressful existence in real life.

Self-concept stability was tested in three studies to examine the relationship between stability in one's self-concept and the ability to adapt to changes in the social environment. Much of the literature on the topic of self-stability emphasizes the functional benefits of stability and the negative outcomes associated with instability. Dynamical systems theory purports however that stability in a dynamical system is indicative of a loss of complexity that limits the range of the systems behavior. Accordingly, this series of studies tests the idea that a stable self-system may have a more limited range of behaviors than unstable self-systems and this may have implications for adapting to changes in one's social environment. The overarching hypothesis is that compared to those with less stable self-views, those with stable self-views will demonstrate lower levels of flexibility of behavior in response to changing social demands. Study 1 assessed the dynamics of participants' evaluations by asking them to complete a self-descriptive recording and evaluate their self-descriptions using the mouse paradigm procedure. Participants also completed a series of questionnaires assessing personality factors and behavioral and cognitive flexibility. Study 2 expanded on the first study by adding a well-validated measure of self-esteem stability and a social conceptualization of behavioral flexibility. Study 3 tested participants' willingness to demonstrate behavioral flexibility in an actual social situation and examined the effects of stress on the relationship between stability and flexibility. / Results suggest that those with more stable self-concepts demonstrate less flexibility in response to their social environment than those whose self-concepts are less stable and that stress tends to amplify this relationship. Future research is also recommended to achieve a fuller understanding of stability in the self-system and its implications for social functioning. / by Susan L. Wiese. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

A pesquisa buscou compreender as formas de sociabilidade vigentes na rede social Facebook especialmente, sob a perspectiva das representações do eu, conforme presente na sociologia de Erving Goffman (1985). O estudo deteve-se sobre o seguinte problema de investigação: De que forma um certo grupo de jovens moradores da cidade de São Paulo, com condições de vida similares e oriundos das regiões oeste e norte do município, utiliza as ferramentas interativas do Facebook para manipular virtualmente a impressão que causa nos demais? Quais são as semelhanças e diferenças nessa participação? A partir dessa questão, investigamos algumas das principais estratégias de manipulação de impressões adotadas para a administração de representações de si em ambientes virtuais de sociabilidade. O processo investigativo contou com uma abordagem qualitativa ancorada em grupos focais, entrevistas semiestruturadas, observações etnográficas virtuais e análises de conteúdo de publicações expostas nessa rede social. Como hipótese, especulou-se a existência de diferenças significativas entre os jovens na condução de estratégias de representação, que variariam de acordo com as características da rede de sociabilidade administradas pelo indivíduo nesse ambiente interativo. Optou-se pela seleção de um perfil jovem, supondo haver relação entre faixa etária e volume e diversidade da rede de sociabilidade (ou seja: com o número total de pessoas com as quais esses indivíduos se comunicam e com a variedade de pessoas dentro dessa rede). No fim do processo investigativo, pretendeu-se fornecer uma contribuição teórica clara acerca dos impactos sociais resultantes da difusão de formas virtuais de comunicação na sociedade em especial, entre essa parcela dos jovens paulistanos. / This research aimed to understand means of sociability operating on Facebook specially under the perspective of the \"presentations of self\", as in the sociological thought of Erving Goffman (1985). This study aimed the following investigation problem: How certain young residents of São Paulo, with similar life conditions and from West and North regions of the city, use Facebook´s interactional tools to virtually manipulate the impression caused on others? What are the similarities and differences in this use? Thus, we investigated the main strategies of impression manipulation adopted to administrate presentations of self on virtual environments of sociability. The investigative process counted with a qualitative approach flagged on focal groups, semi-structured interviews, virtual ethnographical observations and content analysis of publications published on this social network. As hypothesis, it was speculated the existence of significative differences on the exercise of representative strategies of presentation according to the main characteristics of the social network managed by the individual on this interactive environment. It was selected a young profile, understanding the existence of a relation between age and volume and diversity of social networks (in other words: the total number of people with whom those individuals communicate and the diversity of people inside this network.) At the end of the investigative process, it was aimed the offering of a clear theorical contribution about the social impacts of the diffusion of virtual ways of communications on society specially, among residents of São Paulo of a determinate income profile.