Identity Change Impacts Autobiographical Reconstruction of Identity-Relevant Events: Influences of the Self-System on Remembering

The focus on how one is behaving, feeling, and thinking, provides a powerful source of self-knowledge. How is this self-knowledge utilized in the dynamic reconstruction of autobiographical memories? How, in turn, might autobiographical memories support identity and the self-system? I address these questions through a critical review of the literature on autobiographical memory and the self-system, with a special focus on the self-concept, self-knowledge, and identity. I then outline the methods and results of a prospective longitudinal study examining the effects of an identity change on memory for events related to that identity. Participant-rated memory characteristics, computer-generated ratings of narrative content and structure, and neutral-observer ratings of coherence were examined for changes over time related to an identity-change, as well as for their ability to predict an identity-change. The conclusions from this study are threefold: (1) when the rated centrality of an event decreases, the reported instances of retrieval, as well as the phenomenology associated with retrieval and the number of words used to describe the memory, also decrease; (2) memory accuracy (here, estimating past behaviors) was not influenced by an identity change; and (3) remembering is not unidirectional – characteristics of identity-relevant memories and the life story predict and may help support persistence with an identity (here, an academic trajectory).

Psychological and Interpersonal Implications of Believing that Everything is One: Identity, Personality, Values, and Worldviews

For thousands of years, people from a variety of philosophical, religious, spiritual, and scientific perspectives have believed in the fundamental unity of all that exists, and this belief appears to be increasingly prevalent in Western cultures. The present research was the first investigation of the psychological and interpersonal implications of believing in oneness. Self-report measures were developed to assess three distinct variants of the belief in oneness – belief in the fundamental oneness of everything, of all living things, and of humanity – and studies examined how believing in oneness is associated with people’s self-views, attitudes, personality, emotions, and behavior. Using both correlational and experimental approaches, the findings supported the hypothesis that believing in oneness is associated with feeling greater connection and concern for people, nonhuman animals, and the environment, and in being particularly concerned for people and things beyond one’s immediate circle of friends and family. The belief is also associated with experiences in which everything is perceived to be one, and with certain spiritual and esoteric beliefs. Although the three variations of belief in oneness were highly correlated and related to other constructs similarly, they showed evidence of explaining unique variance in conceptually relevant variables. Belief in the oneness of humanity, but not belief in the oneness of living things, uniquely explained variance in prosociality, empathic concern, and compassion for others. In contrast, belief in the oneness of living things, but not belief in oneness of humanity, uniquely explained variance in beliefs and concerns regarding the well-being of nonhuman animals and the environment. The belief in oneness is a meaningful existential belief that is endorsed to varying degrees by a nontrivial portion of the population and that has numerous implications for people’s personal well-being and interactions with people, animals, and the natural world.

The many voices of Piedmont: language, identity and alterity in the works of modern and contemporary Piedmontese writers

The aim of this project is to carry out a linguistic analysis of a group of modern and contemporary narratives written by authors from the same Italian region: Piedmont. The novels and short stories examined stand out for the intriguing ways in which they move between a variety of idioms – Italian, Piedmontese dialects, English and pastiches, with some rare excursions into French. A sociolinguistic study and an overview of political changes that Piedmont underwent from the sixteenth to the twenty-first centuries are provided, with the purpose of outlining the region’s sociogeographical and historical background which can be seen to have fostered multilingualism in a group of writers. With the support of linguistic studies and philosophical theories on the relation between identity, alterity and language (such as Edwards’s Language and Identity and Bakhtin’s reflections on language), I then elucidate the presence of diverse linguistic varieties in selected narratives by Cesare Pavese, Beppe Fenoglio, Primo Levi, Nanni Balestrini, Fruttero & Lucentini, Benito Mazzi and Younis Tawfik. In other words, my purpose is to explain the reasons for multilingualism in each writer, as well as to underscore the ideological positions which lie behind the linguistic strategies of the authors. With this study I attempt to fill a gap and cast new light on Piedmontese literature. Although some critical studies on the use of dialect or English exist on individual authors and works (e.g. Meddemmem on Fenoglio’s use of English and Beccaria on Pavese’s inclusion of Piedmontese dialect), and some important contributions to the history of Piedmontese literature have appeared in print, to date no current, systematic study that compares different Piedmontese writers under the language/identity theme has been published. The study concludes with a summary of the evolution of plurilingualism in Piedmont and highlights the common trends in the use of multiple linguistic varieties as tools for both social demarcation and an opening up to alternative, marginalised andforeign cultures.

Identity, Purpose, and Well-Being Among Emerging Adult Hispanic Women

Few studies apply the Eriksonian model of identity formation to cross-cultural samples (3), even though issues of ethnicity and culture may inform a Hispanic woman’s self-concept (Phinney, 1996). Hispanic women may also be influenced by traditional gender role behaviors such as passivity or dependence that are outlined by marianismo (Stevens, 1973). A recent study of a multiethnic sample of emerging adult women and men found that purpose commitment mediated the effects of identity commitment on hope and life satisfaction (Burrow & Hill, 2011). The current research consists of two studies that replicate and expand upon the work of Burrow and Hill (2011). Study I replicated the work of Burrow and Hill (2011) among a sample of emerging adult Hispanic women, in order to assess the extent to which the original findings would replicate in a culturally distinct sample. Study II examined the role of marianismo, ethnic identity, and acculturation on identity commitment among emerging adult Hispanic women. Both studies utilized a sample of 532 female undergraduate psychology students, age 18 to 25, who self-identified as Hispanic and submitted data via online surveys. Both studies used self-report, quantitative data, which was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results from Study I indicated good model fit and replicated the findings from Burrow and Hill (2011). Specifically, the direct effect of identity commitment on hope was fully contingent upon an individual’s level of purpose commitment, while the effect of identity commitment on life satisfaction was not contingent upon an individual’s level of purpose commitment. Results from Study II indicated that marianismo, Spanish proficiency, familiarity with Latino culture, and familiarity with American culture demonstrated statistically significant direct effects on identity commitment among emerging adult Hispanic women. Results indicated cultural convergence regarding the association of an individual’s identity with well-being through a sense of purpose. Findings also revealed the role of cultural factors in the extent to which Hispanic women commit to a personal identity. Future studies should employ mixed method research designs as a means to better ascertain implications of findings.

The Genesis Of The Mycenaean Citadel: A Philosophical Quest For The Origins Of The Architectural Forms

This thesis deals with the origins of the architectural forms as expressed in the Homeric Mycenaean citadel. The Genesis of the Mycenaean Citadel is a philosophical quest which reveals the poetic dimension of the Mycenaean architecture. The Introduction deals with general theories on the subject of space, which converge into one, forming the spinal idea of the thesis. The ‘process of individuation’, the process by which a person becomes ‘in-dividual’ that is a separate, indivisible unity or ‘whole’, is a process of transformation and renewal which at collective level takes place within the citadel. This is built on the archetype which expresses both the nature of the soul as a microcosm and of the divinely ordered Cosmos. The confrontation of the rational ‘ego’ with the unconscious is the process which brings us to the ‘self’, that organising center of the human psyche which is symbolised through the centre of the citadel. . Chapter I refers to ‘the Archetype of the Mycenaean citadel’. The Mycenaean citadel, which is built on a certain pattern of placement and orientation in relation to landscape formations, reproduces images which belong to the category of the ‘archetypal mother’. On the other hand, its adjustment to a central point with ‘high’ significance, recalls the archetypal image of Shiva-Shakti. The citadel realises the concept of a Kantian ‘One-all embracing space’; it is a cosmogonic symbol but also a philosophical one. Chapter II examines the column in its dual meaning, which is expressed in one structure; column and capital unite within their symbolism the conscious and unconscious contents of the human psyche and express the archetype of wholeness and goal of the individuation process. 33 Chapter III is a philosophical research into the ‘symbolism of the triangle’, the sacred Pythagorean symbol which expresses certain cosmological beliefs about the relation between human nature and the divinely ordered Cosmos. The triangular slab over the Lion Gate is a representation of the Dionysiac ‘palingenesia’, that is the continuity of One life, which was central to the Mycenaean religion. Chapter IV deals with the tripartite ‘megaron’. The circular hearth within the four-columned hall expresses the ‘quaternity of the One’, one of the oldest religious symbols of humanity. Zeus is revealed in the ‘fiery monadic unit-cubit’ as an all-embracing god next to goddess Hestia, symbolised by the circular hearth. The ‘megaron’ expresses the alchemical quaternity and the triad but also the psychological stages of development in the process towards wholeness. In the Conclusions it is emphasised that the Mycenaean citadel was created as if in a repetition of a cosmogony. It is a ‘mandala’, the universal image which is identified with God-image in man. Moreover it is built in order to be experienced by its citizen in the process of his psychological transformation towards the ‘self’, the divine element within the psyche which unites with the divinely ordered Cosmos

Multiraciality Enters the University: Mixed Race Identity and Knowledge Production in Higher Education

“Multiraciality Enters the University: Mixed Race Identity and Knowledge Production in Higher Education,” explores how the category of “mixed race” has underpinned university politics in California, through student organizing, admissions debates, and the development of a new field of study. By treating the concept of privatization as central to both multiraciality and the neoliberal university, this project asks how and in what capacity has the discourses of multiracialism and the growing recognition of mixed race student populations shaped administrative, social, and academic debates at the state’s flagship universities—the University of California at Berkeley and Los Angeles. This project argues that the mixed race population symbolizing so-called “post-racial societies” is fundamentally attached to the concept of self-authorship, which can work to challenge the rights and resources for college students of color. Through a close reading of texts, including archival materials, policy and media debates, and interviews, I assert that the contemporary deployment of mixed race within the US academy represents a particularly post-civil rights development, undergirded by a genealogy of U.S. liberal individualism. This project ultimately reveals the pressing need to rethink ways to disrupt institutionalized racism in the new millennium.

Pinning Down Identity in Social Media: Food Cultural Transfer on Pinterest

This research has been conducted within the realm of where today’s digital media society and the timeless concept of cultural identity overlap. The aim of this thesis is to explore the nature of online cultural identity management. By focusing on the social media platform, Pinterest, this study considers the food-pinning behavior of a group of Americans living in Finland and connects their online actions with their cultural identity. Through an examination of Pinterest as a social space, and even a third place, the relative theoretical literature provides and interesting background for a contemporary discussion on the matter. Literature on food as a cultural marker is also brought into consideration. Using the methods of introspection and an adapted version of virtual ethnography, a study was conducted, and ultimately, the analysis of data obtained from the Pinterest boards of ten individuals shows that the vast majority of food-related information in this setting is US-sourced. A questionnaire provides further insight into the individuals’ Pinterest usage. I argue that pinning is an act of online identity management, whether it is a conscious act or a situational effect, and that using Pinterest maintains and even strengthens these individuals’ cultural identity as Americans. This study adds to current discussions pertaining to transnationalism, globalization, and online cultural identity, as well as opens channels for further research on this dynamic topic, which is needed to understand ourselves as cultural beings in the digital age.

Pinning Down Identity in Social Media: Food Cultural Transfer on Pinterest

This research has been conducted within the realm of where today’s digital media society and the timeless concept of cultural identity overlap. The aim of this thesis is to explore the nature of online cultural identity management. By focusing on the social media platform, Pinterest, this study considers the food-pinning behavior of a group of Americans living in Finland and connects their online actions with their cultural identity. Through an examination of Pinterest as a social space, and even a third place, the relative theoretical literature provides and interesting background for a contemporary discussion on the matter. Literature on food as a cultural marker is also brought into consideration. Using the methods of introspection and an adapted version of virtual ethnography, a study was conducted, and ultimately, the analysis of data obtained from the Pinterest boards of ten individuals shows that the vast majority of food-related information in this setting is US-sourced. A questionnaire provides further insight into the individuals’ Pinterest usage. I argue that pinning is an act of online identity management, whether it is a conscious act or a situational effect, and that using Pinterest maintains and even strengthens these individuals’ cultural identity as Americans. This study adds to current discussions pertaining to transnationalism, globalization, and online cultural identity, as well as opens channels for further research on this dynamic topic, which is needed to understand ourselves as cultural beings in the digital age.

Rational choice, social identity, and beliefs about oneself

Social identity poses one of the most important challenges to rational choice theory, but rational choice theorists do not hold a common position regarding identity. On one hand, externalist rational choice ignores the concept of identity or reduces it to revealed preferences. On the other hand, internalist rational choice considers identity as a key concept in explaining social action because it permits expressive motivations to be included in the models. However, internalist theorists tend to reduce identity to desire—the desire of a person to express his or her social being. From an internalist point of view, that is, from a viewpoint in which not only desires but also beliefs play a key role in social explanations as mental entities, this article rejects externalist reductionism and proposes a redefinition of social identity as a net of beliefs about oneself, beliefs that are indexical, robust, and socially shaped.

Chicano identity and discourses of supplementarity on Mexican cinema: from ‘The Man Without a Fatherland’ (Contreras Torres: 1922) to ‘Under the Same Moon’ (Riggen: 2008)

A radical change took place in Mexican narratives of belonging during the 1990s, when NAFTA was first negotiated. Narratives of migration drastically changed the status of Mexican migrants to the US, formerly derided as ‘pochos’, presenting them as model citizens instead. Following Derrida, I argue the role of the migrant became that of a supplement, which is, discursively, at the same time external to and part of a given unit, standing for and allowing deeper transformations to take place in the whole discourse of bilateral relations and national identity more generally. I use Derrida’s concept of the supplement to discuss changing representations of Chicanos in Mexican cinema, and to assess the extent that they have succeeded in reframing the discourse on national identity, with a focus on gender.

URIs and Intertextuality: Incumbent Philosophical Commitments in the Development of the Semantic Web

Examines two commitments inherent in Resource Description Framework (RDF): intertextuality and rationalism. After introducing how rationalism has been studied in knowledge organization, this paper then introduces the concept of bracketed-rationalism. This paper closes with a discussion of ramifications of intertextuality and bracketed rationalism on evaluation of RDF.

Un aporte a la comprensión de las estrategias emergentes en las organizaciones a través del concepto de improvisación y la metáfora musical

Este trabajo se inscribe en uno de los grandes campos de los estudios organizacionales: la estrategia. La perspectiva clásica en este campo promovió la idea de que proyectarse hacia el futuro implica diseñar un plan (una serie de acciones deliberadas). Avances posteriores mostraron que la estrategia podía ser comprendida de otras formas. Sin embargo, la evolución del campo privilegió en alguna medida la mirada clásica estableciendo, por ejemplo, múltiples modelos para ‘formular’ una estrategia, pero dejando en segundo lugar la manera en la que esta puede ‘emerger’. El propósito de esta investigación es, entonces, aportar al actual nivel de comprensión respecto a las estrategias emergentes en las organizaciones. Para hacerlo, se consideró un concepto opuesto —aunque complementario— al de ‘planeación’ y, de hecho, muy cercano en su naturaleza a ese tipo de estrategias: la improvisación. Dado que este se ha nutrido de valiosos aportes del mundo de la música, se acudió al saber propio de este dominio, recurriendo al uso de ‘la metáfora’ como recurso teórico para entenderlo y alcanzar el objetivo propuesto. Los resultados muestran que 1) las estrategias deliberadas y las emergentes coexisten y se complementan, 2) la improvisación está siempre presente en el contexto organizacional, 3) existe una mayor intensidad de la improvisación en el ‘como’ de la estrategia que en el ‘qué’ y, en oposición a la idea convencional al respecto, 4) se requiere cierta preparación para poder improvisar de manera adecuada.

Landscape Identity: implications for policy making

Landscape is recognised to be an important asset for people’s quality of life and people and the landscape interact in multiple and complex ways. Both in science and policy, this interaction has been dealt with in a fragmented way, depending on the objectives, the disciplinary perspective, as well as the used concep- tual backdrop. In this wider framework, landscape identity emerges in policy discourses as a powerful argument to value landscape but it lacks an operationalised framework for policymaking. This paper has two major goals. One is to review the conceptual dialogue between landscape’s and people’s identity. The other is to identify contents of identity in the landscape (i.e. attributes used to define landscape identity) and the complexity of the identity (i.e. dimensions used to define landscape identity) as a way to increase efficiency in more spatially targeted policies. Above all, this paper discusses how landscape identity has been approached, in order to get an improved understanding of its potential for introducing the landscape concept at multiple levels of governance and how an increased knowledge base might be useful to inform policy making.

Valuing landscape identity of local inhabitants through a tourism discourse

Landscape, people and identity Landscape is about the interaction of a place or an area with people, which is reflected in the material interaction of people creating or shaping the landscape as well as in their mental perception, valuation and symbolic meaning of that landscape (Cosgrove 1998). This mutual and dynamic interaction forms the fundamental principle of the concept of landscape identity. Landscape identity has been described in scientific literature as a concept to bridge the physical, social and cultural aspects of landscapes. Also policy documents related with landscape and heritage (for example the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, the European Landscape Convention, the Faro Convention) are mentioning identity and landscape as key concepts. In those examples, landscape identity can refer to either the landscape itself - its features that makes the landscape unique (thus the landscape character), or to the social and personal construction. However, there is an interdependency between those two perspectives that needs to be conceptualised. Landscape identity is therefore defined as the multiple ways and dynamic relation between landscape and people (Loupa Ramos et al 2016).

The “FRA wheel” as a teaching tool to elaborate on the identity aspects of physics and mathematics as disciplines in interdisciplinary contexts

This thesis project is framed in the research field of Physics Education and aims to contribute to the reflection on the importance of disciplinary identities in addressing interdisciplinarity through the lens of the Nature of Science (NOS). In particular, the study focuses on the module on the parabola and parabolic motion, which was designed within the EU project IDENTITIES. The project aims to design modules to innovate pre-service teacher education according to contemporary challenges, focusing on interdisciplinarity in curricular and STEM topics (especially between physics, mathematics and computer science). The modules are designed according to a model of disciplines and interdisciplinarity that the project IDENTITIES has been elaborating on two main theoretical frameworks: the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA), reconceptualized for the Nature of science (Erduran & Dagher, 2014), and the boundary crossing and boundary objects framework by Akkerman and Bakker (2011). The main aim of the thesis is to explore the impact of this interdisciplinary model in the specific case of the implementation of the parabola and parabolic motion module in a context of preservice teacher education. To reach this purpose, we have analyzed some data collected during the implementation in order to investigate, in particular, the role of the FRA as a learning tool to: a) elaborate on the concept of “discipline”, within the broader problem to define interdisciplinarity; b) compare the epistemic core of physics and mathematics; c) develop epistemic skills and interdisciplinary competences in student-teachers. The analysis of the data led us to recognize three different roles played by the FRA: FRA as epistemological activator, FRA as scaffolding for reasoning and navigating (inhabiting) the complexity, and FRA as lens to investigate the relationship between physics and mathematics in the historical case.