Moderation of cognition-intention and cognition-behaviour relations:a meta-analysis of properties of variables from the theory of planned behaviour

Meta-analysis was used to quantify the moderating effects of seven properties of cognitions-accessibility, temporal stability, direct experience, involvement, certainty, ambivalence and affective-cognitive consistency-on cognition-intention and cognition-behaviour relations. Literature searches revealed 44 studies that could be included in the review. Findings showed that all of the properties, except involvement, moderated attitude-behaviour consistency. Similarly, all relevant moderators improved the consistency between intentions and behaviour. Temporal stability moderated PBC-behaviour relations, certainty moderated subjective norm-intention relations, and ambivalence, certainty, and involvement all moderated attitude-intention relations. Overall, temporal stability appeared to be the strongest moderator of cognition-behaviour relations.

Governance in foreign policy-making in Germany and Poland and Polish-German relations:the role of non-state actors

This thesis examines the influence of non-state actors on Polish-German relations by considering foreign policy-making towards Poland in Germany and vice versa. The approach chosen for this thesis is interdisciplinary and takes into consideration literature from domestic politics (Area Studies), Foreign Policy Analysis and International Relations (IR). The thesis argues that IR, by purely looking into the quality of inter-state relations, too often treats these relations as a result of policies emanating from the relevant governments, without considering the policies’ background. Therefore, the thesis argues that it is necessary to engage with the domestic factors which might explain where foreign policies come from. It points out that non-state actors influence governments’ choices by supplying resources, and by cooperating or competing with the government on an issue at stake. In order to determine the degree of influence that non-state actors can have on foreign policymaking two variables are examined: the institutionalisation of the state relations in question; and the domestic structures of the relevant states. Specifically, the thesis examines the institutionalisation of Polish-German relations, and examines Germany’s and Poland’s domestic structures and their effect on the two states’ foreign policy-making in general. Thereafter, the thesis uses case studies in order to unravel the influence of non-state actors on specific foreign policies. Three case studies are examined in detail: (i) Poland’s EU accession negotiations with regard to the free movement of capital chapter of the acquis communautaire; (ii) Germany’s EU 2004 Eastern Enlargement negotiations with regard to the free movement of workers chapter of the acquis communautaire; and (iii) Germany’s decision to establsh a permanent exhibition in Berlin that will depict the expulsions of millions of Germans from the East following WWII.

The impact of information technology on organizations: A study of enterprise resource planning system influences on job design and organizational culture

The primary purpose of this research is to study the linkage between perceived job design characteristics and information system environment characteristics before and after the replacement of a legacy information system with a new type of information system (referred to as an Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP system). A public state University implementing an academic version of an ERP system was selected for the study. Three survey instruments were used to examine the perception of the information system, the job characteristics, and the organizational culture before and after the system implementation. The research participants included two large departments resulting in a sample of 130 workers. Research questions were analyzed using multivariate procedures including factor analysis, path analysis, step-wise regression, and matched pair analysis. ^ Results indicated that the ERP system has introduced new elements into the working environment that has changed the perception of how the job design characteristics and organization culture dimensions are viewed by the workers. The understanding of how the perceived system characteristics align with an individual's perceived job design characteristics is supported by each of the system characteristics significantly correlated in the proposed direction. The stronger support of this relationship becomes visible in the causal flow of the effects seen in the path diagram and in the step-wise regression. The perceived job design characteristics aligning with dimensions of organizational culture are not as strong as the literature suggests. Although there are significant correlations between the job and culture variables, only one relationship can be seen in the causal flow. ^ This research has demonstrated that system characteristics of ERP do contribute to the perception of change in an organization and do support organizational culture behaviors and job characteristics. ^

Hyphenated cultures: Ethnicity and nation in Trinidad

This dissertation attempts to unravel why and how postcolonial Trinidad has displayed relative stability in spite of the presence of the factors that have produced conflict and instability in other postcolonial societies.^ Trinidad's distinctive social formation began in the colonial period with a unique politics of culture among the landowning European groups, Anglican English and French Creole. Contrary to the materialist assumption of landowners' class solidarity, the development of Trinidad's plantation economy into two crops, each controlled by a separate European ethno-religious faction, impeded the integration and subsequent ideological domination of European-Christians. Throughout the nineteenth century neither group dominated the other, nor did they fuse into a single ruling class. The dynamics between them both generated recurring conflict while simultaneously creating mechanisms that limited conflict. ^ Based on original in-depth fieldwork and historical analysis, the dissertation proceeds to demonstrate that Trinidad's unique intra-class conflict within the dominant European population has produced hyphenated, as opposed to hybridized cultural elements. Supplementing the historical analysis with empirical examinations of contemporary inter-religious rituals and post-colonial politics this dissertation argues that social integration is inseparable from the question of inter-cultural mixture or articulation. In Trinidad, however, the resulting combination of distinct cultural elements is neither a "plural society" (M.G. Smith 1965; Despres 1967) nor an integrated totality in the structural-functionalistic sense (R.T. Smith 1962; Braithwaite 1967). Moreover, Trinidad does not conform to the post-structural framework's depiction of the social linkage between power and culture. The concept of cultural hybridization is equally misleading in the case of Trinidad. The underlying assumption of a monolithic European population's cultural hegemony and post-structural analysis's almost exclusive focus on the inter -class politics of culture seriously misrepresent and misunderstand Trinidadian cultural and its associated social and political relations. The dissertation examines this reflexive influence of culture not as an instrument of the powerful few but as an autonomous force that reproduces social divisions, yet restrains conflict.^

Inter-subjective and transnational racial effects: The role of the United States in the formation and evolution of the collective perception and racial relations in Cuba, 1898–1902

Since the arrival of the first African slaves to Cuba in 1524, the issue of race has had a long-lived presence in the Cuban national discourse. However, despite Cuba’s colonial history, it has often been maintained by some historians that race relations in Cuba were congenial with racism and racial discrimination never existing as deep or widespread in Cuba as in the United States (Cannon, 1983, p. 113). In fact, it has been argued that institutionalized racism was introduced into Cuban society with the first U.S. occupation, during 1898–1902 (Cannon, 1983, p. 113). This study of Cuba investigates the influence of the United States on the development of race relations and racial perceptions in post-independent Cuba, specifically from 1898-1902. These years comprise the time period immediately following the final fight for Cuban Independence, culminating with the Cuban-Spanish-American War and the first U.S. occupation of Cuba. By this time, the Cuban population comprised Africans as well as descendants of Africans, White Spanish people, indigenous Cubans, and offspring of the intermixing of the groups. This research studies whether the United States’ own race relations and racial perceptions influenced the initial conflicting race relations and racial perceptions in early and post-U.S. occupation Cuba. This study uses a collective interpretative framework that incorporates a national level of analysis with a race relations and racial perceptions focus. This framework reaches beyond the traditionally utilized perspectives when interpreting the impact of the United States during and following its intervention in Cuba. Attention is given to the role of the existing social, political climate within the United States as a driving influence of the United States’ involvement with Cuba. This study reveals that emphasis on the role of the United States as critical to the development of Cuba’s race relations and racial perceptions is credible given the extensive involvement of the U.S. in the building of the early Cuban Republic and U.S. structures serving as models for reconstruction. U.S. government formation in Cuba aligned with a governing system reflecting the existing governing codes of the U.S. during that time period.

Tree Islands in Everglades Landscapes: Current Status, Historical Changes, and Hydrologic Impacts on Population Dynamics and Moisture Relations, First Annual Report

In 2005 we initiated a project designed to better understand tree island structure and function in the Everglades and the wetlands bordering it. Focus was on the raised portions at the upstream end of the islands, where tropical hardwood species adapted to well-drained conditions usually are the most prominent component of the vegetation. The study design is hierarchical, with four levels; in general, a large number of sites is to be surveyed once for a limited set of parameters, and increasingly small sets of islands are to be sampled more intensively, more frequently, and for more aspects of ecosystem function. During the first year of the 3-year study, we completed surveys of 41 Level 1 (i.e., the least intensive level) islands, and established permanent plots in two and three islands of Levels 2 and 4 intensity, respectively. Tree species richness and structural complexity was highest in Shark Slough “hammocks”, while islands in Northeast Shark Slough and Water Conservation Area 3B, which receive heavy human use, were simpler, more park-like communities. Initial monitoring of soil moisture in Level 4 hammocks indicated considerable local variation, presumably associated with antecedent rainfall and current water levels in the adjacent marsh. Tree islands throughout the study area were impacted significantly by Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma in 2005, but appear to be recovering rapidly. As the project continues to include more islands and repeated measurements, we expect to develop a better grasp of tree island dynamics across the Everglades ecosystem, especially with respect to moisture relations and water levels in the adjacent marsh. The detailed progress report which follows is also available online at http://www.fiu.edu/~serp1/projects/treeislands/tree_islands_2005_annual_report.pd

Androgyny versus Patriarchy: A Historicist‐Psychoanalytic Reading of Hemingway's The Garden of Eden and Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White

This paper will examine how male and female character interactions in Ernest Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden and Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White expose the internalization, normalization, and perpetuation of current modes of patriarchy in terms of gender roles through their presentations of androgyny. This paper highlights the parallels of gender construction and the interaction within the social relations depicted in these two novels, which have not been compared previously. The premise, based on the psychoanalytic theories of Jacques Lacan and cultural materialism of Raymond Williams, is that fiction reflects historical and contemporary social relations. Lacanian and feminist interpretations have both been conducted on literature written by Collins and Hemingway; however, neither look at these particular novels as two examples for the same contemporary phenomenon of 21st century patriarchal interpellation. This paper most similarly follows the work of Slavoj Žižek who analyzes contemporary social relations through film (including classics such as Casablanca and works by Alfred Hitchcock) and other aspects of popular culture. This project’s contribution and uniqueness lie with the way it applies theory to these particular literary works, specifically concerning gender relations and the prevalence of androgyny in widely read works by well-known authors in two very different literary and historical eras. My interpretation of these two novels provides an evaluation of historical and contemporary patriarchal norms and a radical potentiality for subverting the idea of static gender roles that has remained prevalent throughout the three centuries of these texts’ existence.

Dispersion and energy relations in periodic chains and grids

In this study wave propagation, dispersion relations, and energy relations for linear elastic periodic systems are analyzed. In particular, the dispersion relations for monoatomic chain of infinite dimension are obtained analytically by writing the Block-type wave equation for a unit cell in order to capture the dynamic behavior for chains under prescribed vibration. By comparing the discretized model (mass-spring chain) with the solid bar system, the nonlinearity of the dispersion relation for chain indicates that the periodic lattice is dispersive in contrast to the continuous rod, which is non dispersive. Further investigations have been performed considering one-dimensional diatomic linear elastic mass-spring chain. The dispersion relations, energy velocity, and group velocity have been derived. At certain range of frequencies harmonic plane waves do not propagate in contrast with monoatomic chain. Also, since the diatomic chain considered is a linear elastic chain, both of the energy velocity and the group velocity are identical. As long as the linear elastic condition is considered the results show zero flux condition without residual energy. In addition, this paper shows that the diatomic chain dispersion relations are independent on the unit cell scheme. Finally, an extension for the study covers the dispersion and energy relations for 2D- grid system. The 2x2 grid system show a periodicity of the dispersion surface in the wavenumber domain. In addition, the symmetry of the surface can be exploited to identify an Irreducible Brillouin Zone (IBZ). Compact representations of the dispersion properties of multidimensional periodic systems are obtained by plotting frequency as the wave vector’s components vary along the boundary of the IBZ, which leads to a widely accepted and effective visualization of bandgaps and overall dispersion properties.

Brands, Close Relationships, and Consumer Well-Being

Consumers have relationships with other people, and they have relationships with brands similar to the ones they have with other people. Yet, very little is known about how brand and interpersonal relationships relate to one another. Even less is known about how they jointly affect consumer well-being. The goal of this research, therefore, is to examine how brand and interpersonal relationships influence and are influenced by consumer well-being. Essay 1 uses both empirical methods and surveys from individuals and couples to investigate how consumer preferences in romantic couples, namely brand compatibility, influences life satisfaction. Using traditional statistical techniques and multilevel modeling, I find that the effect of brand compatibility, or the extent to which individuals have similar brand preferences, on life satisfaction depends upon power in the relationship. For high power partners, brand compatibility has no effect on life satisfaction. On the other hand, for low power partners, low brand compatibility is associated with decreased life satisfaction. I find that conflict mediates the link between brand compatibility and power on life satisfaction. In Essay 2 I again use empirical methods and surveys to investigate how resources, which can be considered a form of consumer well-being, influence brand and interpersonal relations. Although social connections have long been considered a fundamental human motivation and deemed necessary for well-being (Baumeister and Leary 1995), recent research has demonstrated that having greater resources is associated with weaker social connections. In the current research I posit that individuals with greater resources still have a need to connect and are using other sources for connection, namely brands. Across several studies I test and find support for my theory that resource level shifts the preference of social connection from people to brands. Specifically, I find that individuals with greater resources have stronger brand relationships, as measured by self-brand connection, brand satisfaction, purchase intentions and willingness to pay with both existing brand relationships and with new brands. This suggests that individuals with greater resources place more emphasis on these relationships. Furthermore, I find that resource level influences the stated importance of brand and interpersonal relationships, and that having or perceiving greater resources is associated with an increased preference to engage with brands over people. This research demonstrates that there are times when people prefer and seek out connections with brands over other people, and highlights the ways in which our brand and interpersonal relationships influence one another.

Obesity and Overweight among Black American Adolescent Females: The Role of Social Influences in Everyday Dietary Practices

Obesity and overweight disproportionately impact Black American adolescent females—placing them at a lifetime of elevated physical health risks. Despite this burden, the literature that explores the contributors to obesity and overweight among Black American adolescent females remains limited and unclear. This dissertation aims to develop knowledge related to obesity and overweight in Black American adolescent females, by appraising the current understanding of factors that contribute to their obesity and overweight, and explicating the everyday social influences on dietary practices. The primary study conducted for this dissertation used a mixed method, multiple case study design to examine the mother, daughter, and other household contributors to Black American adolescent daughters’ everyday practices of food consumption, acquisition, preparation, and planning. Findings reveal the importance of understanding the complex and dynamic ways mothers and other household members contribute to a holistic view of everyday dietary practices among adolescent daughters. By deeply examining the nuanced ways the multiple cases varied, context-dependent knowledge essential to understanding the complicated health challenge of obesity was produced. Subsequently, recommendations are provided for health providers and scholars to more holistically approach and examine obesity—particularly among populations who are disproportionately affected.

The relationship of E. coli and total coliform culture to the quantitative molecular detection of various fecal indicators, sources, and pathogens in private drinking water wells

Water remains a predominant vector for human enteric pathogens not just for developing countries but also developed nations, where numerous infectious disease outbreaks, linked to the contamination of drinking water have been documented. Private drinking water wells are a source of drinking water that is largely unstudied even though a significant percentage of the population in Ontario relies on wells as their primary water source. As there exists little to no systematic surveillance for enteric infections or outbreaks related to well water sources, these individuals may be at higher risk of waterborne infectious diseases. The relationships between various fecal indicators in the water of private drinking water wells, including E. coli, Total Coliforms (TC) and Bacteroides, and enteric pathogens, including Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella spp., and Shiga toxin producing E. coli, were studied. Convenience private well water samples collected from various regions of interest during the summer of 2014 underwent membrane filtration and culture to determine quantities of E. coli and TC colony forming units. 289 E. coli positive and 230 TC-only waters were successfully analyzed by individual qPCR assays for the aforementioned enteric pathogens. Microbial source tracking methods targeted to specific Bacteroides were used to determine the source of fecal contamination as either human or bovine. The source of fecal contamination varied by geographic region and is thought to be due to such things as differences in septic tank density and underlying geology, among others. Fecal indicators, E. coli and Bacteroides, were significantly correlated. E. coli as measured by qPCR was more strongly correlated to both total and human-specific Bacteroides genetic markers than culturable E. coli. Lastly, 1.9% of samples showed molecular evidence of contamination with enteric pathogens. Although low, this finding is significant given the limited volume of water available for testing, and suggests a potential health risk to consumers. Knowing the extent of contamination, as well as the biologic source, can better inform risk assessment and the development of potential intervention strategies for private well water in specific regions of Ontario.

Late-career international migration and reproductive work. A comparison between Peruvian and Ukrainian women in the Southern Europe

Research on the relationship between reproductive work and women´s life trajectories including the experience of labour migration has mainly focused on the case of relatively young mothers who leave behind, or later re-join, their children. While it is true that most women migrate at a younger age, there are a significant number of cases of men and women who move abroad for labour purposes at a more advanced stage, undertaking a late-career migration. This is still an under-estimated and under-researched sub-field that uncovers a varied range of issues, including the global organization of reproductive work and the employment of migrant women as domestic workers late in their lives. By pooling the findings of two qualitative studies, this article focuses on Peruvian and Ukrainian women who seek employment in Spain and Italy when they are well into their forties, or older. A commonality the two groups of women share is that, independently of their level of education and professional experience, more often than not they end up as domestic and care workers. The article initially discusses the reasons for late-career female migration, taking into consideration the structural and personal determinants that have affected Peruvian and Ukrainian women’s careers in their countries of origin and settlement. After this, the focus is set on the characteristics of domestic employment at later life, on the impact on their current lives, including the transnational family organization, and on future labour and retirement prospects. Apart from an evaluation of objective working and living conditions, we discuss women’s personal impressions of being domestic workers in the context of their occupational experiences and family commitments. In this regard, women report varying levels of personal and professional satisfaction, as well as different patterns of continuity-discontinuity in their work and family lives, and of optimism towards the future. Divergences could be, to some extent, explained by the effect of migrants´ transnational social practices and policies of states.

Perspectives on gender, migration and transnational work: joint work of social reproduction and care in Southern Europe

This paper presents the "state of the art" and some of the main issues discussed in relation to the topic of transnational migration and reproductive work in southern Europe. We start doing a genealogy of the complex theoretical development leading to the consolidation of the research program, linking consideration of gender with transnational migration and transformation of work and ways of survival, thus making the production aspects as reproductive, in a context of globalization. The analysis of the process of multiscale reconfiguration of social reproduction and care, with particular attention to its present global dimension is presented, pointing to the turning point of this line of research that would have taken place with the beginning of this century, with the rise notions such as "global care chains" (Hochschild, 2001), or "care drain" (Ehrenreich and Hochschild, 2013). Also, the role of this new agency, now composed in many cases women who migrate to other countries or continents, precisely to address these reproductive activities, is recognized. Finally, reference is made to some of the new conceptual and theoretical developments in this area.

TTIP vs. BRICS: Consequences on Geopolitics and Internacional Relations of the XXIst. Century

The TTIP is a proposal on negotiations between the EU and the USA in order to create the largest free international trade area by extension, population and volume of trade of all existing ones. In our view, TTIP would be the geoeconomic answer to BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), as a comercial, geopolitical and cooperation space in other areas such as the military, in both that TTIP reproduce on a commercial scale the political and military alliance already existing between good part of the EU and USA by the NATO. In this paper we will try to explain why the possible rivalry between TTIP and BRICS would reproduce in the XXIst. Century the schemes of “Cold War” inherited from XXth. Century, that in turn reproduced the geopolitical confrontations arising from the theory of Haltford McKinder pivot area and the traditional opposition between thalassocratic imperialisms (government on the seas and oceans) and tellurocratic imperialisms (government on an enormous portion of emerged land). Likewise, we will try to show why, at a dialectic of States level, the most populated, territorially extensive and with greater amount of resources political societies will be those that have the greatest ability to impose a particular model of international relations and its geopolitical hegemony on a universal scale in response to this viable confrontation between TTIP, plus TTP, vs. BRICS.

Looking for Determinants of Ontological Security in the Spain of the Crisis

The concept of ontological security has a remarkable echo in the current sociology to describe emotional status of men of late modernity. However, the concept created by Giddens in the eighties has been little used in empirical research covering various sources of risk or uncertainty. In this paper, a scale for ontological security is proposed. To do this, we start from the results of a research focused on the relationship between risk, uncertainty and vulnerability in the context of the economic crisis in Spain. These results were produced through nine focus groups and a telephone survey with standardized questionnaire applied to a national sample of 2,408 individuals over 18 years. This work is divided into three main sections. In the fi rst, a scale has been built from the results of the application of different items present in the questionnaire used. The second part explores the relationships of the scale obtained with the variables further approximate the emotional dimensions of individuals. The third part observes the variables that contribute to changes in the scale: These variables show the structural feature of the ontological security.