Social aspects

The purpose of this study is to understand culture as a factor in the motivation of heritage speakers of Spanish to study Spanish at the college level in South Florida. 59 participants divided into three groups of heritage speakers of Spanish at Florida Atlantic University at Boca Raton participated in a questionnaire survey, for a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses. Subjects were grouped according to the degree of involvement in Spanish-related activities at the college-level. The instrument was a combination of Likert-scale questions as well as open-ended questions aimed at clarifying or expanding on topics presented during the Likert-scale part of the questionnaire. The findings of this study indicate that most heritage speakers understood culture as a part of their identity. Students who were enrolled in Spanish classes were not just looking to expand their Spanish knowledge, but to re-connect and re-establish links with their cultural heritage. Finally, those who chose not to study Spanish cite as their most important reason a dislike for the Spanish language. The results revealed the following implications for the heritage speaker curriculum: the need to address the unique demographic make-up of Spanish heritage speakers in South Florida; the necessity for a consistent and reliable methodology for the identification of heritage speakers, and; the importance of instructors' sensitivity to regional and social dialect variation.

Two potential developmental costs of high self-esteem were investigated. One was that high self-esteem leads children to act on antisocial cognitions (the disposition activating hypothesis). The other was that high self-esteem leads children to rationalize antisocial conduct (the disposition-rationalizing hypothesis). Both hypotheses were explored in two longitudinal studies with preadolescents. In Study 1 (N = 189) the antisocial behavior was aggression; in Study 2 (N = 407) the antisocial behavior under focus was avoidance of the mother. There was little evidence for the disposition-activating hypothesis in either study but considerable support for the disposition-rationalizing hypothesis in both studies. Over time, aggressive children with high self-esteem increasingly valued the rewards that aggression offers and belittled their victims, and avoidant children with high self-esteem increasingly viewed their mother as harassing and uninvolved. Results therefore suggest that for antisocial children, high self-esteem carries costs, for both themselves and others.

This is an ethnographic study of a self-regulated Internet site that facilitates illegal female prostitution in South Florida. The purpose is to identify the social and economic characteristics of the site that can contribute to acceptable prostitution reform. The members of the site appear to sustain an orderly and mutually respectful exchange of sexual services for money, suggesting that certain social and economic features of this form of transaction diminish barriers otherwise present in typical forms of contemporary prostitution exchange. The study evaluates the thesis that when commercial sex is conducted in an open atmosphere of respect, trust and mutual understanding, within certain economic parameters, the beliefs and practices that stigmatize prostitutes and prostitution are neutralized. Evidence was generated through extensive observation of an online venue that approximates what prostitution would be like if open market exchange in sexual labor did exist. These data are supplemented by interviews with participants of the online community. Features of mutual respect, trust, and understanding, characteristically absent in traditional prostitution venues, appear to be part of an emerging community phenomenon that facilitates prostitution online. Thus, this study engages with the larger scholarly position that normalization of sex work is necessary for successful prostitution reform. This community utilizes a non-legal enforcement mechanism to facilitate cooperative exchanges based on establishing trust between participants. At the center of the cooperation system is a reputation mechanism that fosters trust between potential partners by encouraging participants to post honest reviews of their encounters with each other.

This thesis applies Higgins (1997) Regulatory Focus Theory to the study of conflict by exploring the relationship between power and promotion vs. prevention orientation. After considering the earlier work of Keltner, Gruenfeld & Anderson (2003) that established the considerable effect that power has on approach and avoidance behaviors, the present research shows that this link also applies to regulatory focus. In this study, participants had their sense of power experimentally manipulated by a set of vignettes and then answered follow-up questions to determine what effect this had on their regulatory focus orientation. Results indicated that high power is associated with a promotion focus, while low power, a prevention focus. The implication of these findings were discussed and were integrated with the work of Cesario, Higgins & Scholer (2008) on regulatory fit and persuasion to create a novel strategy for conflict resolution.

This research is based on an ethnographic study conducted in 2008. The study took place in Ecuador's coastal province of Manabâi and investigates the lives of a community of transvestite males, known locally as travestâis. This research holds that the social space in which the travestâis live and work, in Puerto Lopez, is negotiated and maintained through a complex interchange of three key factors: the experience of mother's love, the local economy, and sexual desire. The social space itself is defined as a "binary passage." Most of the travestâis are employed as hairdressers, and they draw a wide range of clientele from Puerto Lopez and surrounding smaller villages. Yet, how is it that travestâis can lead open and productive lives in a region that highly values machismo? This research focuses on both the origins of the travestâis' social space and the means by which it is maintained through key discourses.

The purpose of this qualitative research, which utilized a narrative design strategy, was to describe the process of self-regulation of a child who has bilateral cochlear implants within the social environment of school. The study investigated the use of self-regulatory strategies by the cochlear implant recipient. It also examined how the child made modifications and monitored learning during activities within the classroom as related to Vygotsky's activity theory and John Dewey's theory of social control. Through data collection of documents, observations, interviews, and researcher field notes, it was found that the child demonstrated several self-regulatory strategies.

This design thesis project explores the psychology, significance, and power of play. The value of play is supported through historical and cultural context. Research for the subject unfolds the relationship between play, productivity and the mastery of creative thinking. Examination of the engagement of play addresses its power to inspire in both design education and practice. It also touches upon crucial dynamics of physical, intellectual, social, and emotional development in the human life cycle of learning. As the facilitator of play in the context of three-dimensional space, I seek to elucidate the value of activating human behaviors that stimulate play such as curiosity, imagination, spontaneity, and personal expression. Serious fun is no game; play provides a meaningful strategy for solving serious design problems and developing mastery in the classroom and the practice of design.

Research on social judgment typically emphasizes one of three processes that enable unequivocal understanding of events with ambiguous causality. In the social influence perspective, people are susceptible to the interpretations offered by others. In the explicit attitudes perspective, people interpret events in line with their consciously held attitudes and values. In the implicit attitudes perspective, people interpret events in line with unconscious biases. The model investigated in the present study assumes that these processes vary in salience depending on people's mindset. Participants with low versus high implicit racial bias toward Blacks read a narrative concerning this altercation under either a lowlevel or a high-level mindset and then read a summary that blamed one of the parties or they did not read a summary. As predicted, low-level participants allocated responsibility to the African-American if they had a high implicit racial bias and to the White if they had a low implicit racial bias, regardless of the summary manipulation. Contrary to prediction, however, high-level participants' allocation of responsibility did not reflect their explicit prejudicial attitudes. Instead, they corrected for their implicit biases in their trait inferences and affective reactions, in line with research suggesting that a high-level mindset promotes self-regulatory processes in social judgment.

I create opportunities for nourishment that are physical, emotional and spiritual with my functional porcelain vessels. They reference the human body's sensual curves, dimples, and bulges, establishing the experience of eating as a metaphor for the sensual experience of human interaction. The tactility is heightened by the variety of glazes dancing around the vessels, from satiny smooth and skin-like, to wet and dripping. Handmade vessels connect the users not only more deeply to the food that provides them nourishment, but also connects them more deeply to one another, and to the maker of the work. The slow, deliberate work of making one-of-a-kind objects is similar to the act of carefully preparing a homemade meal, and in turn, dedicating time to the ritual of sitting down together to enjoy that meal. Whether I'm working in my studio creating vessels, or in my kitchen creating a meal, I derive the same experience of spiritual wellbeing. In these moments I am completely present and mindful.

This study was designed to measure the relation of education and ethnic identity to attitudes towards bilingualism in two different ethnic groups, Asian and Latinos in the United States. In order to do this, an instrument was developed to measure attitudes towards bilingualism. No significant relations were found among education or ethnic identity and attitudes towards bilingualism in either group, but analyses revealed several other significant relationships. The two subscales of ethnic identity, MEIM-R Commitment and Exploration, were related to each other both within Asian and Latino groups and in all participants combined. In the combined sample, education levels of participants' mothers was correlated with the MEIM-R subscale of Exploration. In addition, participants with a Bachelors Degree or above were found to have significantly higher ethnic identity levels of MEIM-R Commitment than participants with an Associates Degree or below. Participants with mothers who possess a Bachelors Degree or above were found to have significantly higher ethnic identity levels of MEIM-R Exploration than participants with mothers who possess an Associates Degree or below. Finally, Asian participants were found to have lower levels of MEIM-R Commitment when compared to Latino participants.