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A series of recent publications in sociology, moral psychology, and social psychology have voiced concern about the existence of "sacred" values within the social sciences. More specifically, such critics contend that the construction of sacred victims (i.e. the morally, and thus empirically inviolable) in sociology and other disciplines has biased both theory construction and the gathering and consideration of evidence. This paper argues that these contributions have incorrectly directed analysis at the field's communicated content, the opus operatum. As argued here, the correct level of analysis, one which can account for the existence of sacred valuations within a scientific field (i.e. immunity from peer criticism) is more so at the sub-cognitive, generative mental schemata more specifically, which as principles of composition are within, but therefore not of, perception. This paper outlines the content of such heuristics (oppressor-victim binaries), the psychological orientation they engender, their origin and rationalization amid and under the express theorization within the field, the vulnerabilities of intellectual fields their adoption reveal, and the recursive, selfreinforcing effect they have on the field (i.e. self-evidency resulting from accumulations of scholarship). The paper concludes with noting that areas of sociology will remain in an assimilationist phase (in the Piagetian sense) if such modus operandi are not brought into explicit recognition, hence discussion, within the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For almost two decades, U.S. public health researchers have been baffled by findings that seem to suggest that Mexican immigrants experience better physical and mental health outcomes-despite their lower socioeconomic status-than their U.S.-born counterparts. Researchers have been particularly intrigued by these patterns because epidemiological research has established a consistent and robust relationship between socioeconomic status and health, and first-generation Mexican immigrants have, in general, poorer socio-economic profiles than their second-generation counterparts. This paper examines the assumptions behind the socio-cultural explanations of the "Latino/a or Immigrant Health Paradox" through the narratives of 40 first- and second-generation Mexican immigrant women. The paper proposes a revision to the acculturation approach to incorporate an understanding of the racialization processes that Mexican immigrants and their descendants contend with as they integrate into the US. In particular, the paper examines how Mexican immigrant women negotiate their ethnic identities within the racial structure of the U.S. and learn about their location as a "minorities" in the U.S. This analysis sheds light on the racialization processes that immigrants confront as they attempt to "become American" (Waters, 1999). The paper concludes with a discussion of how these racialization processes might translate into health and wellbeing. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of this paper is the link between emotions and economic action. In particular, the paper argues that most current literature, which recognizes the importance of emotions for economy because they either help individuals perform economic roles or because they aid rationality through their influence on preference formation, investigates the link between emotions and economy from a rather atomistic perspective. More sociological research on the topic would benefit from examining emotions in economic interaction. Such emotional embeddedness research may find that emotions result and are influenced by interactions between economic actors during actual economic situations where emotional energy and its visceral and physical manifestations come to the fore. This likely complicates the neat means-ends logic of economic decision making and gives rise to economic action principles different from utility maximization. I propose two of such types in this paper: improvisation and situational adaptation. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the social and affective processes is a two-way street: society shapes its members' affective life which, in turn, affects society's basic processes. Democracy pays a heavy price when its members are emotionally illiterate, where emotional littering is rampant. This paper explores the interfaces between affective life and social processes. After discussing different ways of measuring emotional intelligence and its impact on democratic polity, the paper introduces the Emotional Template Matrix (ETM) analysis, a self-assessment tool designed to track emotional wellness, and describes the ETM Survey based on this methodology. The last section of this paper summarizes preliminary results of the ETM Survey. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing upon historical documents from a unique seminar at Harvard University in 1949, the paper examines the formation of the famous "Parsons Group" in sociology. Focusing on backstage interactions that produced the paradigmatic work Toward A General Theory of Action, the paper argues that the "theory schools" model, based on the idea of a charismatic founder-leader and a hierarchical network of adherents, needs to be supplemented by an emphasis on multivocality, dialogue and mutual peer influences. Contrary to the widespread image of homogeneity and conformity in the Parsons group, the documents reveal intellectual diversity, even dissent, among its innermost circle, as well as an upward influence of members upon their founder-leader. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to explain the generation of emotions?the formations of emotional syntax?by synthesizing Durkheimian ritual theory and Freudian psychoanalytic model. In this attempt, contemporary theories of emotions, (1) Randall Collins? interaction rituals theory, (2) Jonathan Turner?s evolutionary perspective, and (3) Thomas Scheff?s psychoanalytical approaches are applied. The objective of this paper is to present an idea and model for finding patterns of what Turner calls ?emotional syntax? in empirical encounters. Finding these patterns of how people present their emotions in encounters has theoretical implications to explain the effects of emotions for social solidarity. In particular, the study would contribute to the understanding of how positive and negative emotions effect social solidarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the late-1950s and early-1960s behavior genetics was an emerging area of interest for psychologists, psychiatrists, and students of animal behavior. Through family pedigrees and twin comparisons in humans and inbred animal strain comparisons in animals, it offered a promising set of techniques for analyzing the etiology of behavior that challenged behaviorism?the theory which explained behavior wholly or mainly through environmental causes?which dominated the study of behavior. This paper traces the way behavior genetics was transformed into a field in the Bourdieuian sense?that is, with the establishment of specific stakes and means of accumulating and expending scientific capital (credibility)?through the actions of three sets of scientists interested in the science of racial differences. These scientists, the ?segregationists,? William Shockley, and Arthur Jensen, each had their own goals and employed a different set of scientific and political practices, but the sequence and accumulation of their actions helped establish behavior genetics as a field and set the ongoing agenda and terms of debate for many of its practitioners and observers. These actions would inagurate a whole series of political and scientific controversies centered around the ?IQ debates,? i.e. whether ?nature? or ?nurture? determines individual and group (especially, black vs. white) differences in IQ. The paper is an initial part of the author?s dissertation. Other pieces will investigate subsequent transformations of the field and how scientific practice was organized and reorganized by new rounds of controversy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to link gender, social structure, and individual values with more nuance than has previously been reported in the literature. Melvin Kohn?s oeuvre is often cited as the defining work incorporating individuals? value-orientations into social structure. His work, while prolific and insightful, has two shortcomings that I attempt to address; first, his work has very little to say about gender. His most widely circulated work exclusively focuses on men. Second, his primary value-orientations involve what he refers to as self-direction and conformity. Aside from questions involving the validity of the measures, which I will discuss shortly, recent work on values utilizes a broader array of values than this one dimension. I incorporate cross-culturally substantiated measures of values to begin a preliminary examination of the ways in which social structure influences children?s values. This paper is self-consciously an expansion on ? not a critique of ? the Kohn-thesis, and is merely the first step in an ongoing project aiming to illustrate links between social structure and individual self-conceptions. I examine adolescents? value-structures with a focus on antecedent parental occupational rankings. In this analysis, I view both parents? occupations and children?s values with a gendered lens. I discuss each of the seven values measured in my sample and those behaviors and social factors that lead to patterned differences and similarities in the privileging of certain values over the others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a prologue to a study of the argument that Americans became ?consumerists? sometime in the 19th or 20th centuries. That thesis rests on psychological models of over-buying. The paper outlines three categories of such models ? emulation, indulgence, and signaling ? and the critiques that have been presented of the very notion of consumerism. It also sketches the sort of casual, observational evidence that makes claims of historical change difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an ethnomethodologically grounded account of how mental predicates and psychological terms feature in-and-as the doing of psychotherapeutic work. Drawing from an early unpublished formulation by Harvey Sacks concerning the manner in which speakers may come to 'just have a thought', and published findings detailing preference organisation with regard to storytelling (that the telling of a first story often invites the telling of a second story) and self-disclosure (that an initial self-disclosure can invite a second), the paper examines how utterances such as 'I suddenly thought' might feature in psychotherapeutic interactions. Drawing from a corpus of audio recordings of psychotherapy sessions, I demonstrate that the work of such utterances is anything but to referentially index some kinds of hidden cognitive, psychological mental states or processes. Rather, such utterances can work as extended 'on topic' topic markers, and when embedded in a therapist produced, self-disclosive story, can work prospectively to configure future therapeutic talk. I show how this features as an important component of the ordinary work practices that clinicians and psychotherapists engage with, and how this might yield additional insights relating to how the work of therapy gets done. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores theoretical approaches to understanding play and playing and their connection to culture. Though the work of classical theorist focused on primarily on work, most often its oppressive character, early thinkers such as Marx, Durkheim, and Simmel wrote about, if only obliquely, the importance of play as an interactional form. This paper briefly reviews classical theory on work and play and then turns to the evolving theories of play developed by contemporary thinkers.. which have been generated by thinkers outside of sociology and anthropology. Play is a force in creating culture, specifically community linkages as suggested by Robert Putnam (2000). My interest in play is based on an extended study of a play community, and is based o n the realization that ito explain the kind of community, it was crucial to look at play as an experience rather than to focus only on its functional outcomes. The paper includes discussion of this research and suggests why play merits further attention from sociologists who study community and culture. . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper elaborates processes of identity construction among aspiring street performers in public spaces. The paper establishes how aspiring performers, which I call "players," are semiotically situated between homelessness and street performer status in their own interpretations as well as in area visitors' preconceived expectations. The paper details the creative practices players engage in to shape passersby's interpretations of them in order to receive tips, while also accounting for the broader cultural structural influences -- codes (Alexander and Smith 1993) and narratives (Bird 2002, Simpson 2000) -- beyond the players' control which impose identity on them as well. The paper concludes that incorporating analyses of culture structural influences - or, symbolic environments not of social actors' choosing - with the interactionist tradition of identifying strategies will enhance ethnography's analytical purchase. The paper also argues that public spaces are both discursively constructed as well as the product of day to day interactions that occur in actual, immediate settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper asks why norms prescribing altruistic behavior occupy a central role in the normative belief systems of many religions and secular ideologies. I combine insights from evolutionary biology with a sociological perspective on the diffusion of social-cultural norms and strategies, and distinguish four types of altruism: kin altruism, reciprocal altruism, group altruism, and missionary altruism. The first two are relatively well understood. Humans are distinct, however, in their widespread usage of the two other forms, respectively directed at groups of genetically unrelated individuals who share common norms and values (group altruism), or at people with whom the giver has no prior relationship and from whom no return favors can be expected (missionary altruism). The paper offers an explanation for these two types of altruism that is based on the specific properties that distinguish the transmission of cultural traits from the mechanisms of genetic evolution. Referring to Bible and Koran texts and examples of secular forms of sacrificial behavior, I propose an evolutionary explanation for the proliferation and persistence of the altruistic behavioral prescriptions that are a core element of the doctrines of the major religions and secular ideologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the growth trajectory of the psychological well-being of Taiwanese adolescents over a six years period. Family and school context are two major loci accounted for the developmental outcome. Due to the competitive educational environment, different contextual effects are assumed as samples move from early to later adolescence. Possible gender variation is also explored. Data are taken from the Taiwan Youth Project. In six waves of panel study, 2500 students with an average age of 13 in year 2000 are surveyed annually. For this paper, the psychological well-being is indicated by individual depressive symptoms. Special efforts are made to investigate the relationship factors such as family cohesion and family strategy in the family context. For the school context, the importance of classroom effect will be emphasized, and class cohesion, inter-class competition, teacher's unfair treatment are chosen to indicate the classroom culture in Taiwan.Since there is non-linear growth patterns of individual depressive symptoms, latent growth curve method are utilized. The result shows that family and school factors do produce different effects overtime. Family context is salient at the initial status, but not for the subsequent development. Class cohesion also determines the relative level of the psychological status. After getting used to the school environment, these pre-conditional factors give way to the school context. In addition to the academic performance as an expected significant predictor, the analysis points out that inter-class competition, a common practice for junior high schools in Taiwan, has pronounced negative effects for the depression slope. Further analysis shows that this particular effect is pronounced for males who may be affected negatively if situated in such a competitive context. Another important finding is that the unfair treatment of teachers in favor of students with good academic performance is vital for the depressive symptoms from beginning status to subsequent years. The paper concludes that family and school have different impacts on the growth curve of individual depressive symptoms among f Taiwanese youth. While school context is more salient, the effect at the classroom level deserves more attention. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the emergence of new cultural repertoires of action within the American corporation due to the massive presence of psychology and the massive intervention of psychologists in the work process since the 1930s. The paper makes two main claims: 1. Under the aegis of psychologists, the deployment of rationality inside economic organizations counter intuitively went hand-in-hand with an intensification of emotional life. Psychologists, acting simultaneously as professionals and as producers of culture, have not only codified emotional conduct inside the workplace, but also and maybe more crucially made "self-interest," "efficiency," and "instrumentality" into cultural repertoires which shaped and guided action. 2. The cultural repertoires of "self-interest" and "efficiency" -derived from the marketâ?”when intertwined with the emotional models offered by psychologists, generated new models of sociability, most noticeably the model of "communication." Such models of sociability have in turn transformed the definition and exercise of power. Under the cultural influence of psychological cultural frames and strategies of action, power becomes divorced from the outward display of hostility and from the defense of one's honor, which have traditionally been attributes of the display of male power. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws from Pierre Bourdieu's field theory to analyze interdisciplinary science as scientific capital exchange. That is, some instances of interdisciplinary science occur when scientists maintain membership in multiple fields and seek to improve their scientific status in one by accumulating and exchanging scientific capital in another. I illustrate how this works in the field of behavior genetics. Behavior Genetics is an interdisciplinary field that intersects at least four other disciplines. I show how most Behavior Geneticists view their participation in the field as a means to compete successfully in neighboring disciplines. However, the ability to exchange the scientific capital of Behavior Genetics for capital in other disciplines varies by discipline and the "exchange rates" among disciplines are interdependent. This situation drives social conflict in the field. The paper concludes with some suggestions for rethinking interdisciplinarity and expanding Bourdieu's theory of scientific fields. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While differences between men and women have long been a major topic of interest for sociologists, research in emotion has only recently gained favor in our field, leaving us with some gaping holes in our understanding of gender differences in emotionality. In addition, because emotions themselves are so difficult to define and to disentangle from their stimuli and responses, the research on gender differences in emotion that has been conducted has been limited in scope and generalizability. In this paper I extend these criticisms to question not only the method of inquiry involved in such research, but also the foundation on which it is based. I begin with a description of how the topic of gender differences in emotion has been examined in both psychology and sociology, followed by a discussion of some inherent flaws in emotion research. Next, I highlight the ways in which both emotion and gender are socially constructed and how gender is performed. Finally, I suggest that emotionality acts as a form of gender performance, and highlight the resulting tautology at the heart of research on gender and emotion. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Role of the Self in Social Identity and the Formation of StereotypesDaniel Acorn, University of Notre Dame Sociology Graduate Program, 810 Flanner Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556. (574) 634-3215. dacorn@nd.eduAbstract Stereotypes are beliefs about the characteristics of group members; these characteristics are then attributed to other individuals on the basis of their real or perceived group memberships. I begin with this question: What are the underlying factors that motivate individuals to categorize others? There are many theories attempting to explain the process of categorization and stereotyping. It is my belief that group identity is an important part of the self and individual identity. In this paper, I will use social identity theory along with microsociological theories of interaction in analyzing this process. The use of stereotypes is part of how individuals make sense of the world around them. Theories of interpersonal interaction are useful for illustrating this and for illustrating the development of the self through this process. Stereotypes can be dangerous and lead to lack of understanding between groups and can prevent one group from learning about or interacting with another group, and to intergroup conflict. Better understanding of the categorization and stereotyping process can help us to figure out ways to look beyond these generalizations and value the uniqueness of other individuals and the groups they represent. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines historical transformations of Japanese collective memory of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by utilizing a theoretical framework that combines a model of reiterated problem solving and a theory of cultural trauma. I illustrate how the event of the nuclear fallout in March 1954 allowed actors to consolidate previously fragmented commemorative practices into a master frame to define the postwar Japanese identity in terms of transnational commemoration of "Hiroshima." I also show that nationalization of trauma of "Hiroshima" involved a shift from pity to sympathy in structures of feeling about the event. This historical study suggests that a reiterated-problem-solving approach can be efficacious in analyzing how construction of national memory of a traumatic event connects with the recurrent reworking of national identity, on the one hand, and how a theory of cultural trauma can be helpful in exploring a synthesis of psychological and sociological approaches to commemoration of a traumatic event, on the other. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

War is contraindictated for physical, emotional, and social reasons, according to Physicians for Social Responsibility. However, this has not curtailed the escalation of war in target areas, such as Iraq, the MIddle East, and Afghanistan. Looking at war from a child's perspective puts an entirely different spin on how war is, and should be, perceived. The data overwhelmingly indicates that war is bad for children in a variety of reasons that far exceed the obvious death and injury statistics. This paper explores the health, psychological, educational, and social consequences of war on the future of the planet, our children. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has indicated that chronic problems in adult children's lives may influence parents' psychological well-being. Data from the Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) used in this paper (N = 1,146) show that almost two-thirds of parents with adult children reported that at least one of their children had problems during the past year and those who reported a greater number of problems in their adult children's lives showed higher levels of psychological distress. The relationship between perceptions of problems in their adult children's lives and psychological distress was partly due to intergenerational similarities, i.e., parents with troubled children were also likely to have experienced problems in their own lives, such as divorce, financial strains, and poor health, partly due to strains experienced by parents, such as lower parental competence, greater disappointment with children, and increased emotional strain with family members, but remained significant after controlling for those factors. The link between perceptions of adult children's problems and psychological distress was less strong for those who were financially better-off, those whose spouse had problems, and those who reported poorer health. There was little difference by parents' gender and life stage. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College educated white collar workers have increasingly become subject to the vagaries of contingent and insecure new economy employment relations. Yet when these otherwise empowered professionals become unemployed and gather in support organizations, there is no discussion of the structural underpinnings of or the collective solutions to their shared plight. Instead, they become engaged in the pseudo-job of job searching. Drawing on one year of participant-observations and in-depth interviews, this paper explores how constructing the unemployed as professional workers individualizes their experiences and renders the subjective, structural and political dimensions of unemployment beyond discussion. A novel theoretical approach is deployed which advances the current literature by investigating job searching as a kind of work which produces an individualizing "work-game." The dynamics of this game and the required emotional labor depoliticize the unemployment experience. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the primary questions researchers on aging seek to answer asks whether the aging process is primarily characterized by loss and decline or by an increase in wisdom and well-being. In this paper, we take up a portion of this question by examining changes in perceived self efficacy and levels of depression across age groups. Using the 1986 wave of American's Changing Lives (House 1986), we argue that past research which has contrasted these two perspectives has obscured opportunities for self enhancement during later years. Guided by maturation theory and its more recent sociological and psychological extensions, we locate opportunities for enhancement among older persons in improvements in interpersonal mastery as well as declines in feelings of sadness and depressed mood. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the importance of several contexts to the ways in which jazz musicians hear musical signs as meaningful, such as performers' individual backgrounds and the various other styles of music available in the aural landscape, and how those contexts influence what the musicians play. Through discussion of several examples from an ongoing ethnography of jazz jam sessions, findings are presented that support the conclusions that: 1) musical meaning is contingent on contexts of hearing and on the personal histories of those listening; 2) conventions of artistic production, which art worlds approaches tend to seek out, are weak in jazz music, if not other art forms, as producers rely on shifting contexts to constantly re-form their strategies of action; and 3) the role of style or genre is best understood in light of the backgrounds of individual performers, which color understandings of and abilities to reproduce characteristic aspects of musical style. This counters understandings of style which hold that different styles are the metaphoric expressions of bounded, coherent cultures. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract:In this paper, I argue that bankruptcy is a particular ritual dealing with violations of exchange-based market systems. Bankruptcy as we know it came about as a means to deal with both a practical problem (gaining the assets of unwilling debtors) and a social problem (the idea that debtors exhibited a moral flaw and should be punished). The ritual that developed in the earliest days to move firms from market violation to appropriate behavior did not change over time, even as beliefs about its purpose or the way that it should be done changed. Bankruptcy today still follows the three stage process of traditional rites of passage with transitions between the stages marked by two important ceremonies of declaration and discharge. Firms go through bankruptcy to move symbolically from violating market norms to operating in compliance. Bankruptcy also offers a salve to tensions directly-by forcing the creditors and debtors to work together-and indirectly, by providing a model whose mere existence makes markets more stable. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the meaning of religiosity as it relates to mattering and psychological well-being. It is proposed that the extent to which one acknowledges God as an important and central other will likely influence states of mattering. Therefore, for people who are strongly affiliated with religiosity, meaning or purpose in life is achieved through their feelings that they matter to God. Then, the sense of mattering may develop from the extent to which people feel that 1) God is a source of strength and support to them and cares about their well-being and 2) through God, they become a source of support to others. I believe these two conditions have important consequences for the self-concept, and in turn, can contribute to psychological well-being in both positive and negative ways. Further conceptual and methodological development of the concept of mattering including the social psychological underpinnings of religiosity are needed to better understand the ways in which they are linked and how they promote optimal mental health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a model for teaching undergraduate students how to read, think and write critically, and one that I have used in my last two (and only) years of teaching. Though a college education is frequently defined as such, specific transferable skills to accomplish a critical stance is rarely, if ever, taught to most college students. I argue that the critical stance can be used in most college courses as it is centered on the development of skills that are required regardless of discipline or topic. I present the model as basic steps of teaching students how to critically read (through use of an Annotation System, use of Key Principles of Reading and use of Speed Reading), critically think (through use of a method which reflects THESIS, ARGUMENTS and EVIDENCE on each other) and critically write (through the use of the Author Analysis writing exercise which emphasizes rigorous use of theses, arguments, evidence and evaluative language). Additionally I discuss how to distinguish critical listening the grading policy that best accompanies the use of this model. NOTE: This model has met with unprecedented success with students who have given its usage near perfect evaluation scores. It has also merited wide University recognition with four (4) teaching awards given to the author in the first year of its usage, an all-expenses-paid trip to the University of Boulder to do a workshop in January of this year, and an invitation by Arizona State University to do the same workshop this Spring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research has shown that having control over household finances may impact one's mental health. Previous literature also suggests that a new mother may suffer from dampened psychological wellbeing, and that her age at first birth may relate to depression. In this paper we bring together these strands of literature and examine whether types of household financial management condition the effect of motherhood and age at first birth on mental health. The research questions are (a) whether mothers living in different management systems experience different levels of mental health, (b) whether their age at first birth impact on their psychological wellbeing differently, and (c) whether either (a) or (b) type of differences change over the course of being a new mother up to five years postpartum.. The data for the study are from the first five waves (1991-1995) of the British Household Panel Survey. A random-effect negative binomial model is estimated to answer the research questions. We found that mothers would have a lower level of mental health, regardless of the type of financial management systems, and that their age at first birth made no difference in the first five years post partum. However, mothers living in a household with a balanced management system would recover sooner and better after a birth than mothers living in a household with an imbalanced management system. The policy implications include a suggestion of programs for prospective mothers that include topic on not only birthing and parenting but also equality in household financial management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to first systematically review the most relevant literature on corruption at the individual, organizational, national and supra-national level in order to identify the main existing arguments grounded in psychology, sociology and political economy. Then, we propose a multi-level theory of corruption that captures the complexity of individuals embedded in organizations that in turn are immersed in different national institutional and cultural settings. We provide this discussion in the context of organizational corruption (white-collar crime) in different models of national corporate governance. We conclude with some suggestions for future theoretical and empirical research as well as managerial implications of our suggested theoretical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers interested in the areas of gender and sexuality have found that whether or not a man is perceived as being sufficiently masculine ? whether or not he is seen as a ?real man? ? is intimately connected with his sexual behavior. This is to say that perceptions of a man?s masculinity are largely dependent on his heterosexuality ? or minimally the appearance of being heterosexual. Research has also shown that one?s attitudes about masculinity affect one?s beliefs about sexual practices. The goal of this paper is to explore this connection between masculinity and sexuality. Specifically, it looks at the extent to which the attitudes of adolescent males about masculinity influence their beliefs about the appropriateness of premarital sex and the extent to which their attitudes about premarital sex in turn influence their ideas about masculinity. Using data from the 1995 National Survey of Adolescent Males, a system of equations is defined in which masculinity ideology and attitudes about premarital sex are each endogenous variables. Preliminary support is found that attitudes about sex affect one?s masculine ideology while there seems to be less support for the claim that masculine ideology influences one?s sexual beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A basic idea in symbolic interactionism is that we actors strive to maintain the identities of each other during interaction. In this paper we investigate the role of emotion displays in shaping the character of that identity management process. When responding to an other who has suffered identity damage, what role does that person?s emotion display play? Drawing from the impression management and emotion management literatures, we argue that in addition to behavioral events, others? emotions help us determine how best to manage their identities. Drawing from affect control theory (Heise 1979; Smith-Lovin and Heise 1987; MacKinnon 1994), we derived specific predictions about how we will respond to insulted others who show anger or sadness, compared to non-insulted others. We then tested the predictions in a laboratory setting. Results suggest that when actors are insulted and display the normative emotion (sadness/distress), we accommodate them more on an influence task than we do non-insulted actors. In contrast, when actors are insulted and display a non-normative emotion (anger), we accommodate them less on an influence task, compared to non-insulted actors. We discuss the implications of this for the sociology of emotions as well as the literature on nonverbal cues in influence settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kanazawa (2003) tests hypotheses derived from Evolutionary Psychology (EP) that wealthy men should (1) have a greater number of lifetime and recent sex partners and (2) copulate more frequently than poor men. The author uses seven consecutive waves (1988-1996) of the General Social Survey (GSS) to test this hypothesis. The author estimates the effects of respondent?s income on the lifetime number of opposite-gender sex partners, the frequency of sex in the previous twelve months, number of sex partners in the last five years, and the number of sex partners in the last twelve months. However, the author does not test for interaction effects between gender and income. Additionally, EP predictions about sex differences should hold up in any subgroup. This paper uses nine waves of the GSS (1988 to 2000) and tests for an interaction effect (between gender and income) on sexual behavior by religious group (Protestants, Catholics, Jews, No Religion, and Other Religions). The pooled analysis of men and women by religion reveals that a sex difference in the return to income (in terms of increased numbers of lifetime or recent sex partners and coital frequency) is not universal across all religious groups within American society. Furthermore, similar analyses are conducted using International Social Survey Program (ISSP) data from four other industrialized societies (Australia, Bulgaria, Ireland, and Poland) and evidence in favor of the prediction derived from EP is found, at most, for 1 out of 4 countries across the four different dependent variables. Additionally, since the term ?sex partner? may be ambiguous to GSS respondents, I also use data from the National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS) and analyze a variable that measures a specific type of sexual activity that seems more germane to EP; the total number of vaginal intercourse (VI) partners. Using this measure as a dependent variable, I find no evidence of a sex difference in the relation between income and the number of VI sex partners. Therefore, given the range of evidence considered, the sex difference in the effects of income on sexual behavior does not appear to be universal across all groups within the American society or within five different societies. Additionally, there also appears to be no link, in American society, between men?s income and their number of VI sex partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For decades social scientists have been interested in how education contributes to the reproduction of social order. This paper examines the existing body of literature on the social psychological dimensions of the relationship between race and school tracking - the practice of grouping students of similar abilities for instruction. The literature suggests that social inequality exist in American schools, due in part to the practice of educational tracking with race as a key factor. More often than not, it is the already marginalized minority and lower SES students who suffer most from the negative effects of ability grouping and consequent social reproduction. The antecedents and consequences of the relationship race and school tracking will be discussed from a macro level perspective (namely, social reproduction, institutional racism, and standardized testing) and from a micro level perspective (namely, family background, social capital, and assessments by counselors and teachers). In addition, the short and long-term consequences for academic success and life course outcome will be discussed. After reviewing the literature, the author assesses the limited amount of research in which the social psychological dimensions of race and tracking are examined, and will suggest areas where further research is needed. Despite ideological beliefs and efforts to make education an equalizer, the educational ?sorting machine? started years ago will continue to run and produce the same results, further reproducing the hierarchy of inequality that exists in our schools and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present a formal model, the ?Happiness Equation,? that encompasses and is consistent with much of the empirical research findings on the topic of happiness. This model moves beyond the simplistic by incorporating a weighting factor, k, which facilitates the consideration of social components sometimes overlooked by naive relativist representations. This assessment implies that happiness is not merely relative to what others have so much as it is influenced by comparisons with one?s own pass and current situations. The Happiness Equation helps understand and resolve the contradiction between common assumptions and empirical findings, for example why increased wealth, beauty, and intelligence do not make us happier. It clarifies why and when techniques of psychotherapy such as ?positive psychology? and ?self-esteem enhancement? make us happier. It points to strategies that political and religious leaders might employ to maintain popular support. The Happiness Equation suggests how individuals can maximize happiness in their daily lives. It is a useful tool for generating hypotheses for future study. Finally, it meets the most demanding rule for such mathematical paradigms: it is both elegant and parsimonious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data collected through a two-year ethnographic study of ?Costen Elementary School,? this paper examines the social organization of turmoil. After defining turmoil as conflict around a disruption to an established social order, I argue that turmoil is organized in four ways. First, turmoil involves changes in the broad context in which the setting exists. In the case of Costen School, this change involves the rise of bureaucracy and accountability policies that compete with the norm of teacher autonomy. Second, turmoil involves pointed disruptions in the immediate social order. At Costen, these disruptions include efforts by a new principal to create a tighter coupling between accountability policies and school practices. Third, turmoil is organized by authority relations that enable disruptions, for example the rational-legal authority of principals to implement policy. Fourth, turmoil is organized by informal symbolic power relations. Once acquired through social interaction, school personnel can use symbolic power to define disruptions as legitimate, and thereby avoid turmoil. The study of turmoil has important implications for educational policy and practice, and the organization of schools. While the data presented here is limited to one case, I demonstrate the utility of the model by comparing the turmoil at Costen School to turmoil in a gypsum mine (Gouldner 1954), churches (Becker 1999), social movement organizations (Polletta 2002), and social movements more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social psychological paradigm used in sociology and the other social sciences is derived almost exclusively from the work of those in European nations and their former colonies, and it unintentionally incorporates a wide range of Western cultural assumptions and biases. This paper presents the main principles of what is arguably the world?s most developed non-western psychological system?Yogacaran Buddhism. Parallels and contrasts between these two traditions are drawn, and suggestions for constructing a less Eurocentric social psychology are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I reexamine the relationship between cultural and reproductive success using data from a probability sample of Americans from the 1988-2000 General Social Surveys. I find in an OLS regression analysis that high income men have more biological children than all others. I also find that more educated men have more biological children than more educated women. Second, in an ordered probit analysis controlling for age, I find that more educated men report greater potential fertility than both lower educated men and more educated women, and higher income men have greater potential fertility than both lower income men and higher income women. Results also suggest that intelligence may depress achieved and potential fertility for both men and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research involving psychological contracts has generally viewed the psychological contract as an explanatory variable rather than an outcome, resulting in a gap in understanding how the psychological contract develops and varies. This paper develops a sophisticated theoretical understanding of psychological contract types that moves beyond the transactional-relational dichotomy to produce a dual scale measure of psychological contract type that simultaneously and independently considers the varying amounts of both relational and transactional elements. Data from the 1997 Harris Workforce Survey is used to formulate a refined measure of the psychological contract that allows for greater application of this concept in the general population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper links role theory with recent research on social cognition. In this way, I revisit the old Parsonian problem of multiple orientations to action, basing it on a more up to date psychology. By treating the cognitive and behavioral aspects of role performance as equally weighted realms of experience, I present a model to explore the ways social actors "balance", "overlap", and "switch" between multiple roles. Four ideal-typical states of "role-being" are identified: single focus, behavioral prevalence, cognitive prevalence, and multi-focus. Proposed are three separate strategies - migration, emigration, and relocation - as ways that actors travel among states of role being. This approach invites full consideration into the largely unexplored conditions of simultaneous salience and role switching, setting the stage for future research on role playing dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although computer scientists and engineers have at least implicitly recognized the interactive relation between humans and computers, to date, most research has failed to recognize the social dimensions of human-computer interaction. In this paper, I propose that social psychological theories of social interaction may provide insight on how humans perceive computers and how those perceptions, in turn, guide human responses to computers and computer outputs. I demonstrate how affect control theory, a microsociological theory of social interaction can be extended to human-computer interactions. Early results from a pilot study suggest the plausibility of this approach and provide guidelines for the development of a theoretical extension of affect control theory to human-computer interaction settings. The general strategy of applying sociological theories of social interaction to human-computer interaction may be generalizable to other technologies that humans confront and suggests potentially fruitful ground for interdisciplinary collaborations between social scientists and engineers. For instance, this strategy may inform the design of technology interfaces as well as approaches to the training people in the use of new technologies. In addition, the research I describe suggests that sociological theories, such as affect control theory, may reflect a fundamental orientation of actors that leads them to perceive the world in social terms. This orientation, in turn, may guide people’s perceptions and behaviors toward both human and non-human entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the extent to which Detroit-area Black and White Americans endorsed or rejected stereotypes of Arab Americans in 1992 to assess how Arab Americans fit into the current racial hierarchy in the United States. We assess respondents' rankings of Arabs vis-à-vis other racial groups (e.g. how Whites rank Arabs, compared to how they rank Blacks, compared to how they rank themselves) on a seven-point scale for each of five dimensions: wealth, intelligence, work ethic, compatibility with others, and ability to speak English. In addition, we conduct multivariate analyses to estimate the independent effect of race after considering demographic and socioeconomic variables that differ for Whites and Blacks. We find that for each stereotype, White Americans view themselves most positively, Arab Americans more negatively than whites view themselves, and Black Americans most negatively. The patterns for Black Americans, however, are more complex. Arab Americans are between Whites and Blacks in terms of wealth and work ethic, but fall behind both White and Black Americans in their intelligence and ability to speak English. White and Arab Americans are equally difficult to get along with. Multivariate analyses show that even after accounting for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, Blacks are still more likely than Whites to classify Arab Americans as wealthy, as difficult to get along with, and as speaking English poorly. Our future research plans include an investigation of whether the amount of contact that Black and White Americans have with Arab Americans affects their attitudes toward this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociological research on aging has historically been dominated by two competing paradigms: role theories which focus on adjustment to role losses and maturation theories which link aging to youth by framing it as part of a progressive development process. Most of this work has focused on the objective and subjective experiences of aging persons while relatively little of it has examined the perceptions of those with whom aging persons interact. This paper is an attempt to close that loop by exploring the utility of these two theories for understanding the perceptions of other people towards the aging using a nationally representative data set. After controlling for cohort specific differences in educational attainment, we find support for the maturational perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists and philosophers provide a number of different ways to distinguish "real" science from pseudo-science, ranging from boundary maintenance (Gieryn 1999) to institutional norms (Merton 1973), from the social construction of scientific knowledge (Bloor 1991) to the rhetorical analysis of science (Taylor 1996). Each approach focuses on a different aspect of science and scientific activities in an effort to demarcate legitimate science from pseudo- (or non-) science. I do two specific things in this paper. First, I present a new way to demarcate science from other systems. I then present the findings of an exploratory project that compares parapsychologists with cognitive psychologists as a way of examining whether theoretical implications are accurate. The findings tentatively indicate that the structural theory of legitimacy does help explain how to differentiate science from other systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the research on multiple role-identities has centered on the effects of role accumulation on psychological well-being, but there has been little work done on role accumulation?s effects on other outcomes. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, this paper examines the possibility that the number of roles an actor assumes has an effect on how well he or she performs one of the roles in their constellation of role-identities. Stripped of the confounding effects of socioeconomic background, peer group effects, gender, and previous academic performance, levels of academic achievement?measured here by grades and test scores?become reasonable indicators of how well the actor performs the student role. Findings suggest that there is a positive, and slightly nonlinear, relationship between total number of identities (role summation), changes in number of roles (role accumulation), and academic achievement. I also explore the effects of student performance on future role accumulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that it is premature to judge the weaknesses and strengths of the rational choice approach without more clearly defining what we mean by "rational choice". In particular, it is important to go beyond the well-worn sociology vs. economics controversy and examine other academic disciplines. One then finds that there a contrasting "flavors" of rational choice present in political science, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, and even linguistics. In particular, these different versions can be contrasted along the following dimensions: (1) whether the purpose of rational choice models is viewed as primarily normative, predictive, or interpretive; (2) whether the approach is associated with formal, quantitative models or with informal, "common sense" models; (3) whether the approach is seen as depicting an optimizing or a heuristic procedure; and (4) whether it is "thick" in asserting certain preferences and beliefs or "thin" in leaving these unspecified. The disciplines embrace very different and contradictory views along these dimensions. Examining these differences in turn helps us to identify what, if anything, is the essence of the rational choice approach, as well as which aspects of it are worth retaining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Findings from research on identity theory and health reveal two key points: stressors related to one's identity can explain status differences in psychological distress; and the strength of identification with one's own ethnic group is associated with better mental health. What remains unclear is how identity salience influences the lives of immigrant groups when the boundaries of identification are contested. For Dominicans of Haitian descent, recent legislation has called national identities into question. As of 2005, the Dominican Republic grants citizenship to all those born on Dominican soil, except those born "in transit". Previously, this definition was applied to migrant workers and children of diplomats. In 2013, however, "in transit" was re-defined to include persons born to undocumented parents. This change disproportionately affects Dominicans of Haitian descent. Dominicans of Haitian descent face social exclusion and discrimination. This paper uses ethnographic data to examine how ethnic identity impacts mental health. Specifically, two key aspects of ethnic identity are discussed: identity salience and positive/negative perceptions of ethnic Haitians in the Dominican Republic. Evidence offers support for the buffering effect of ethnic identity when examining the relationship between perceived discrimination and mental health. Further, ethnic identity becomes more salient when faced with discrimination. Also, positive perceptions of ethnic Haitians increase pride in one's ethnic identity and are employed to reinterpret individual discrimination and diminish its impact on mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I show the multiple and conflicting ontologies of autism through the lens of discourse, and thus ultimately through the multiple and conflicting epistemologies of autism. The autism of biopsychiatry and cognitive neuroscience is not the same as the autism of the DSM, despite ultimate dependence upon traditional psychiatry and the medical model of autism for the purpose of classifying people. The autism of the PET scan cannot exist without the classifications set forth in the DSM, for without pre-identifying some brains as autistic based upon behavior, there is no way to distinguish the autistic brain from the non-autistic brain. So far, there is little consensus as to what actually does constitute an autistic neurology, and researchers have taken strides to mask what the autistic neurology might have in common with the non-autistic neurology. Instead, alternative epistemologies of autism - as a queer performance of cognition - that do not deny the biological ontology foreclosed in traditional critiques of biomedicine - are foreclosed in the name of biopower. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: In this paper, I attempt to develop a working sociological understanding of irony. I examine previous scholarly attempts to understand the ironic and then situate my understanding within the framework of cultural sociology, using previous work on narrative forms in philosophy, literary theory, and the social sciences to examine how irony might be understood as a narrative that takes different shapes depending on social stakes. Rather than a simply linear notion of irony, though, I use Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of the carnival to put irony within a two-dimensional map, creating a map of irony. I then demonstrate how this map might work by comparing a 2006 episode of The Office with a 1992 episode of Seinfeld along with segments from both the early and late versions of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although pregnancy loss—especially miscarriage—is a relatively common experience among reproductive-aged women, much of our understanding about the experience of pregnancy loss has come from small clinic-based or other non-representative samples. Furthermore, the various factors (individual, familial, economic, medical, cultural, and religious) that affect the psychological response to pregnancy loss are not well understood (Bennett et al., 2005). In this paper we compare general and fertility-specific distress among three groups of women: women who have experienced stillbirth, women who have experienced miscarriage, and women who have experienced neither loss. We use the National Study of Fertility Barriers (NSFB), a probability-based study of 4,712 American women of reproductive age. We demonstrate that women who have experienced stillbirths constitute a distinct, more distressed group, and we provide hope for women who have experienced loss that distress is likely to decrease over time and with the presence of other children. The multiple regression results provide an important step toward more nuanced studies of the psychological consequences of pregnancy loss. Our findings suggest the need for research on the psychological consequences of pregnancy loss to include type of loss as well as other fertility-related variables such as childlessness, subfecundity, recency of loss, and number of losses. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper treats the expression of emotion as social performance. It investigates the often overlooked quality of reflexivity in "emotional meltdowns." It pushes the cultural thesis of emotion further by arguing that culture not only serves to guide people's assessment of their emotion in retrospect, but culture is at work at the very moment when emotion is expressed. Our study features a comparative analysis of live data. By analyzing two episodes of unrehearsed emotive performances by two well-known politicians, Bill Clinton and Jiang Zemin, the study demonstrates how emotion can be analyzed as a domain in which some genuine, culturally specific, social expectations interact with the situational agenda of actors. The conventional belief that emotion defies reasoning cannot account for the highly narrated nature of these episodes. We found that both performances studied are rooted within a certain cultural preserve, in the sense that different dominant schemas can be found to encase their expressions of anger. The robustness of our cultural thesis is further demonstrated by the lack of cultural resonance if the two performances were each transplanted to the alien context of the other case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]