Structured Approaches for Exploring Interpersonal Relationships in Natural Language Text

Human relationships have long been studied by scientists from domains like sociology, psychology, literature, etc. for understanding people's desires, goals, actions and expected behaviors. In this dissertation we study inter-personal relationships as expressed in natural language text. Modeling inter-personal relationships from text finds application in general natural language understanding, as well as real-world domains such as social networks, discussion forums, intelligent virtual agents, etc. We propose that the study of relationships should incorporate not only linguistic cues in text, but also the contexts in which these cues appear. Our investigations, backed by empirical evaluation, support this thesis, and demonstrate that the task benefits from using structured models that incorporate both types of information. We present such structured models to address the task of modeling the nature of relationships between any two given characters from a narrative. To begin with, we assume that relationships are of two types: cooperative and non-cooperative. We first describe an approach to jointly infer relationships between all characters in the narrative, and demonstrate how the task of characterizing the relationship between two characters can benefit from including information about their relationships with other characters in the narrative. We next formulate the relationship-modeling problem as a sequence prediction task to acknowledge the evolving nature of human relationships, and demonstrate the need to model the history of a relationship in predicting its evolution. Thereafter, we present a data-driven method to automatically discover various types of relationships such as familial, romantic, hostile, etc. Like before, we address the task of modeling evolving relationships but don't restrict ourselves to two types of relationships. We also demonstrate the need to incorporate not only local historical but also global context while solving this problem. Lastly, we demonstrate a practical application of modeling inter-personal relationships in the domain of online educational discussion forums. Such forums offer opportunities for its users to interact and form deeper relationships. With this view, we address the task of identifying initiation of such deeper relationships between a student and the instructor. Specifically, we analyze contents of the forums to automatically suggest threads to the instructors that require their intervention. By highlighting scenarios that need direct instructor-student interactions, we alleviate the need for the instructor to manually peruse all threads of the forum and also assist students who have limited avenues for communicating with instructors. We do this by incorporating the discourse structure of the thread through latent variables that abstractly represent contents of individual posts and model the flow of information in the thread. Such latent structured models that incorporate the linguistic cues without losing their context can be helpful in other related natural language understanding tasks as well. We demonstrate this by using the model for a very different task: identifying if a stated desire has been fulfilled by the end of a story.

The interpersonal and mental health implications of the coherence of coming out narratives for a sample of gay men in committed romantic relationships

The coming out process has been conceptualized as a developmental imperative for those who will eventually accept their same-sex attractions. It is widely accepted that homophobia, heterosexism, and homonegativity are cultural realities that may complicate this developmental process for gay men. The current study views coming out as an extra-developmental life task that is at best a stressful event, and at worst traumatic when coming out results in the rupture of salient relationships with parents, siblings, and/or close friends. To date, the minority stress model (Meyer, 1995; 2003) has been utilized as an organizing framework for how to empirically examine external stressors and mental health disparities for lesbians, gay men, and bisexual individuals in the United States. The current study builds on this literature by focusing on the influence of how gay men make sense of and represent the coming out process in a semi-structured interview, more specifically, by examining the legacy of the coming out process on indicators of wellness. In a two-part process, this study first employs the framework well articulated in the adult attachment literature of coherence of narratives to explore both variation and implications of the coming out experience for a sample of gay men (n = 60) in romantic relationships (n = 30). In particular, this study employed constructs identified in the adult attachment literature, namely Preoccupied and Dismissing current state of mind, to code a Coming Out Interview (COI). In the present study current state of mind refers to the degree of coherent discourse produced about coming out experiences as relayed during the COI. Multilevel analyses tested the extent to which these COI dimensions, as revealed through an analysis of coming out narratives in the COI, were associated with relationship quality, including self-reported satisfaction and observed emotional tone in a standard laboratory interaction task and self-reported symptoms of psychopathology. In addition, multilevel analyses also assessed the Acceptance by primary relationship figures at the time of disclosure, as well as the degree of Outness at the time of the study. Results revealed that participant’s narratives on the COI varied with regard to Preoccupied and Dismissing current state of mind, suggesting that the AAI coding system provides a viable organizing framework for extracting meaning from coming out narratives as related to attachment relevant constructs. Multilevel modeling revealed construct validity of the attachment dimensions assessed via the COI; attachment (i.e., Preoccupied and Dismissing current state of mind) as assessed via the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was significantly correlated with the corresponding COI variables. These finding suggest both methodological and conceptual convergence between these two measures. However, with one exception, COI Preoccupied and Dismissing current state of mind did not predict relationship outcomes or self-reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms. However, further analyses revealed that the degree to which one is out to others moderated the relationship between COI Preoccupied and internalizing. Specifically, for those who were less out to others, there was a significant and positive relationship between Preoccupied current state of mind towards coming out and internalizing symptoms. In addition, the degree of perceived acceptance of sexual orientation by salient relationship figures at the time of disclosure emerged as a predictor of mental health. In particular, Acceptance was significantly negatively related to internalizing symptoms. Overall, the results offer preliminary support that gay men’s narratives do reflect variation as assessed by attachment dimensions and highlights the role of Acceptance by salient relationship figures at the time of disclosure. Still, for the most part, current state of mind towards coming out in this study was not associated with relationship quality and self-reported indicators of mental health. This finding may be a function of low statistical power given the modest sample size. However, the relationship between Preoccupied current state of mind and mental health (i.e., internalizing) appears to depend on degree of Outness. In addition, the response of primary relationships figures to coming out may be a relevant factor in shaping mental health outcomes for gay men. Limitations and suggestions for future research and clinical intervention are offered.

Development Of Interpersonal Relationships in Global Virtual Teams

This study investigates the development of relationships in same global virtual team working on different projects. The purpose is to explore how do interpersonal relationships develop in terms of characteristics of virtuality and if there is any influence of project lifespan on the development of these relationships. Since relationships are dynamic in nature and are influenced by multiple levels of variables including individual, group and organizational level, therefore characteristics of virtuality have been considered from all these aspects so as to study their influence on development of relationships. In this study, relationships have been studied at two different levels. At first, dyadic relationships between two members of a GVT have been analyzed and thereafter, focus has been on the development of relationships among the team, based on these dyads. Characteristics having influence on development of relationships include trust, physical distance, time zone difference, cultural and language differences, level of formalization in the organization and means of communication used by team members. Level of formalization and means of communication are two characteristics which emerged after empirical study and are found to have direct influence on development of relationships. Remaining characteristics have been identified through literature review. In order to conduct the study, qualitative methodology has been applied. Empirical data has been collected based on a single case study while using semi-structured interviews as data gathering technique. Data analysis has been performed by applying thematic analysis along with the utilization of company documents such as work sheets, minutes of meetings and recordings of conferences. Findings of the study indicate that development of relationships, both at dyadic level and team level, is influenced by different events taking place among different members of GVT. These events have either positive or negative influence on the characteristics of virtuality, which leads to development of the relationships. It has been found that, trust, among all factors plays a greater role in development of these relations. Contrary to the belief that most conflicts arise among members of different cultures, they are equally likely to happen among the members from same culture in GVT environment. Study suggests that relationship development is not a smooth process but it fluctuates based on different events in teams. For further research, teams within large firms shall be studied along these lines. This study is an early attempt towards bringing different characteristics of virtuality together which previously, have been studied individually. It is therefore plausible to conduct similar studies so as to generalize the findings of this study which has provided a starting point.

The connection between the university and the productive sector: technological transference

This paper analyzes the process of technological transfer from the university to the industry, firstly through a brief overview of the innovation role, and particularly of universities, according to various economic theories (Neoclassical Theory, Schumpeter and his followers, and Marxism) -- Next, the Bologna Process, a specific European case of technology transfer, is considered from empirical sources, official speeches, regulations and official documents -- Finally, the general trend of explicit relation in Argentina between the university and the productive sector is briefly analyzed from certain empirical evidence, official speeches and policies, in order to guide the understanding of this process in Latin America -- The main conclusion of the study aims to consider technological transfer as intrinsic and necessary for the contemporary capitalism

Estrategias de comunicación interpersonal y pública en los movimientos sociales. Transformaciones de las redes informales y de los repertorios en la era de la Web social

El objetivo de este trabajo es contribuir al estudio del campo de la comunicación en movimientos sociales de la era de la Web social. La investigación plantea como hipótesis que han aparecido nuevas estrategias comunicativas en los “cibermovimientos sociales” para influir en el cambio social. Propone una clasificación en la que se distinguen transformaciones en el ámbito de la comunicación interpersonal (las redes informales) y la comunicación pública (los repertorios de acción colectiva). Los resultados se apoyan en una exhaustiva revisión bibliográfica y en la observación directa virtual, especialmente de los movimientos sociales de indignación global de 2011.

Exchange, know-hows, and interpersonal segmentation : an assessment of the archaic component of the Gaudreau (BkEu-8) site, Weedon, Quebec

Le site Gaudreau est un site perturbé et à occupations multiples situé dans le sud-est du Québec, et présente des occupations datant du Paléoindien Récent jusqu’à la période historique. Les occupations Archaïques du site, noté par la présence de bifaces diagnostiques de l’Archaïque Supérieur et de l’Archaïque Terminal et par des Macrooutils de l’Archaïque Moyen et de l’Archaïque Supérieur, sont le sujet principal de ce mémoire. Puisqu’aucune occupation ne peut être différencié horizontalement ni verticalement, et qu’aucun objet non-diagnostique ne peut être associé avec certitude, seul un échantillon de 32 objets ont été observés. Étant donné la faible taille de l’échantillon analysé, il est fort probable qu’un plus grand nombre de sources de matières premières aient été utilisés durant les occupations de l’Archaïque. Toutefois, un réseau de matières premières lithiques similaire à ceux des sites du Lac Mégantic a été observé, avec une forte représentation de la rhyolite Kineo-Traveller et des cherts Appalachiens. Des cherts des Grands Lacs et le quartzite de Cheshire sont aussi présents. Le mudstone silicifié d’origine locale et le quartz sont par contre faiblement représentés dans l’échantillon, probablement dû à un biais de proximité de source. L’analyse technique de l’échantillon, sans contrôle pour les pratiques techno-économiques, dénote plusieurs récurrences techniques à l’intérieur des unités typologiques, sans toutefois appuyer des différences récurrentes significatives entre les matières premières de régions différentes. À cause de la taille de l’échantillon et du contexte perturbé, la pertinence des fortes similarités entre certains objets est douteuse. La segmentation interpersonnelle des chaînes opératoires ne pouvait être déterminée dans l’échantillon. Cependant, les résultats incitent plutôt à croire que les matières premières devaient circuler sous diverses formes. Il peut être considéré que, en dehors des matières premières locales, les occupants Archaïques du site Gaudreau n’avaient pas d’accès direct aux matières premières exogènes.

Exchange, know-hows, and interpersonal segmentation : an assessment of the archaic component of the Gaudreau (BkEu-8) site, Weedon, Quebec

Le site Gaudreau est un site perturbé et à occupations multiples situé dans le sud-est du Québec, et présente des occupations datant du Paléoindien Récent jusqu’à la période historique. Les occupations Archaïques du site, noté par la présence de bifaces diagnostiques de l’Archaïque Supérieur et de l’Archaïque Terminal et par des Macrooutils de l’Archaïque Moyen et de l’Archaïque Supérieur, sont le sujet principal de ce mémoire. Puisqu’aucune occupation ne peut être différencié horizontalement ni verticalement, et qu’aucun objet non-diagnostique ne peut être associé avec certitude, seul un échantillon de 32 objets ont été observés. Étant donné la faible taille de l’échantillon analysé, il est fort probable qu’un plus grand nombre de sources de matières premières aient été utilisés durant les occupations de l’Archaïque. Toutefois, un réseau de matières premières lithiques similaire à ceux des sites du Lac Mégantic a été observé, avec une forte représentation de la rhyolite Kineo-Traveller et des cherts Appalachiens. Des cherts des Grands Lacs et le quartzite de Cheshire sont aussi présents. Le mudstone silicifié d’origine locale et le quartz sont par contre faiblement représentés dans l’échantillon, probablement dû à un biais de proximité de source. L’analyse technique de l’échantillon, sans contrôle pour les pratiques techno-économiques, dénote plusieurs récurrences techniques à l’intérieur des unités typologiques, sans toutefois appuyer des différences récurrentes significatives entre les matières premières de régions différentes. À cause de la taille de l’échantillon et du contexte perturbé, la pertinence des fortes similarités entre certains objets est douteuse. La segmentation interpersonnelle des chaînes opératoires ne pouvait être déterminée dans l’échantillon. Cependant, les résultats incitent plutôt à croire que les matières premières devaient circuler sous diverses formes. Il peut être considéré que, en dehors des matières premières locales, les occupants Archaïques du site Gaudreau n’avaient pas d’accès direct aux matières premières exogènes.

De la cooperativa agroalimentaria a la “Learning Netchain". Hacia un planteamiento teórico interorganizativo e interpersonal

Se propone un planteamiento teórico/conceptual para determinar si las relaciones interorganizativas e interpersonales de la netchain de las cooperativas agroalimentarias evolucionan hacia una learning netchain. Las propuestas del trabajo muestran que el mayor grado de asociacionismo y la mayor cooperación/colaboración vertical a lo largo de la cadena están positivamente relacionados con la posición horizontal de la empresa focal más cercana del consumidor final. Esto requiere una planificación y una resolución de problemas de manera conjunta, lo que está positivamente relacionado con el mayor flujo y diversidad de la información/conocimiento obtenido y diseminado a lo largo de la netchain. Al mismo tiempo se necesita desarrollar un contexto social en el que fluya la información/conocimiento y las nuevas ideas de manera informal y esto se logra con redes personales y, principalmente, profesionales y con redes internas y, principalmente, externas. Todo esto permitirá una mayor satisfacción de los socios de la cooperativa agroalimentaria y de sus distribuidores y una mayor intensidad en I+D, convirtiéndose la netchain de la cooperativa agroalimentaria, así, en una learning netchain.

Can IT Security be improved with better IT Leadership in the 21st Century University?

Organizations generally are not responding effectively to rising IT security threats because people issues receive inadequate attention. The stark example of IT security is just the latest strategic IT priority demonstrating deficient IT leadership attention to the social dimension of IT. Universities in particular, with their devolved people organization, diverse adoption of IT, and split central/local federated approach to governance and leadership of IT, demand higher levels of interpersonal sophistication and strategic engagement from their IT leaders. An idealized model for IT leaders for the 21st century university is proposed to be developed as a framework for further investigation. The testing of this model in an action research study is proposed.

The use of technology-based self-service on assessments of consumer satisfaction and consumer commitment

Technology-based self-service (TBSS) enables consumers to complete services themselves using a technological interface. As evaluations of consumer satisfaction and commitment have typically focused on interpersonal interactions, the effect of TBSS on these is under researched . This paper explores the impact of TBSS on consumer satisfaction and on a multidimensional measure of consumer commitment.Data are collected from 241 hotel guests. The results suggest personal-service is more important for satisfaction and commitment. This has implications for marketing as the benefits of adopting TBSS are not clear. Multi-dimensional commitment provides some interesting findings and suggests the need for further research into TBSS and commitment.

E-marketing : the impact of self-service technology on consumer satisfaction and consumer commitment

Traditionally, service encounters have included an interpersonal interaction between the service provider and the customer. The introduction ofself-service technologies to the service encounter, however, is reducing and in some cases, eliminating this interpersonal interaction. Self-se rvice technology is where the customer delivers the service themselves using a technological interface. This CIM funded research programme investigates the effect of self-service technology on the service encounter, and in turn on consumer satisfaction and consumer commitment. This paper reviews the literature relevant to the current study and outlines the constructs of interest in this study. The resear ch hypotheses and conceptual model are also introduced.Finally, the agenda for future research is presented.

The adjustment of leadership styles in intercultural workplace – some evidences from the multinational construction companies in Hong Kong

This study investigates the existence of intercultural adjustment in the multicultural construction workplaces by examining the leadership orientations (task-/people-orientation), communication and conflict resolution skills (high/low-context culture), and power relationship styles (high/low power distance) of local Chinese and the British expatriate project managers in the multinational construction companies in Hong Kong. A sample of project managers (N = 40) and their subordinates (N = 61) were surveyed using the structured questionnaires. Statistical techniques (independent-samples t-test, and Pearson correlation analysis) were employed to evaluate the data. The results revealed a number of interesting findings. First, it was found that both project manager groups equally considered the importance of task performance and interpersonal relationship. The results of correlations analysis provide support for the linkages of the length of working abroad with the change in task/people orientation for Chinese and expatriate managers. The analysis revealed that those Chinese managers who have the longest length of time living or working in Western countries tended to measure higher on task-orientation. Similarly, those British expatriate managers who have the longest period of working in Hong Kong tended to be less task-orientated. Second, local Chinese managers were found to be more confrontational when they strongly disagree with their team members than their British expatriate counterparts. It would appear that stress from project deadline which increase the directness and terseness in communication acts, and retain the composure of project managers in dealing with the subordinates. Finally, our findings show that there is significant difference between local Chinese and British expatriate managers in their power relationship with subordinates. This implies that although the intercultural adjustment might influence perceptions of local and expatriate managers, some dominant deep-rooted cultural values and beliefs are still not easily altered. Conclusions are presented along with suggestions for future studies.

Towards a literacy of attention

In 1997, business trend analyst Linda Stone proposed the term "continuous partial attention" to characterise the contemporary experience of wanting to be ‘a live node on the network’. She argued that while it can be a positive and functional behaviour, it also has the potential to be disabling, compromising reflective and creative thought. Subsequent studies have explored the ways in which technology has slowly disrupted the idea and experience of a "centred" and "bounded" self. Studies of ‘Gen Y’ show the ease with which young people accommodate this multiplying of the self as they negotiate their partial friendships and networks of interest with family and work. In teaching and learning circles in tertiary education we talk a lot about problems of student ‘disengagement’. In characterising our challenge this way, are we undermining our potential to understand the tendencies of contemporary learners? This paper begins a consideration of how traditional models, frameworks and practices might oppose these partially engaged but continuously connected and interpersonal "dividuals". What questions does this provoke for learning environments towards harnessing yet counterpointing the crisis students might experience; to recognise but also integrate their multiple selves towards what they aim to become through the process of learning?