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Theoretical perspectives (ATF, Lerner & Keltner, 2000, 2001) on emotion and risk- taking posit that differences in risk-propensity and risk choice between angry and anxious individuals can be predicted on the basis of the appraisal dimensions which define these emotions. The thesis aimed to test these predictions across three studies of trait emotions, incidental affective states and integral emotions. Study one examined differences in reported risk-taking between trait angry and trait anxious individuals. A large scale study (N = 1961) was conducted which saw the development and validation of the General Risk Accessibility and Behaviour scale (GRAB); differences between trait angry and trait anxious were then assessed in terms of current risk-taking behaviours. Findings indicated a reliable and stable factor structure as well as strong construct validity of the GRAB. Hypotheses were partially supported insofar as trait anger was found to be more strongly associated with risk- taking than trait anxiety. However, trait anxious individuals were found to take greater dietary risks than trait angry individuals and were also found to demonstrate positive associations with risk-taking with regards to health-threatening behaviours. Study two focused on the manipulation of immediate anger and anxiety during an emotional Stroop task in order to assess whether angry and anxious individuals differed in their attentional bias towards risk-related stimuli. No Stroop effect however, was demonstrated. Possible explanations were offered in terms of distraction effects caused by the manipulation techniques. Difficulties encountered with the emotion manipulations during study two, prompted the need for a more naturalistic method for inducing emotions. The final study therefore aimed to test ATF predictions in a more naturalistic context. The use of the Leeds Advanced Driving Simulator (LADS) enabled manipulations of immediate integral emotions based upon other driver behaviour. Findings from the final study demonstrated that angry drivers drove at faster speeds and demonstrated shorter time headway and shorter time to collision compared to fearful drivers during the lane drop and contraflow scenarios. However, fearful drivers were found to drive faster throughout the narrow lanes scenarios. Overall the thesis provides partial support for the Appraisal Tendency Framework (Lerner & Keltner, 2000, 2001) in predicting differences in risk-taking between angry and anxious individuals. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Despite the prevalence of mental health problems in the United Kingdom, there is a disparity between the number of individuals suffering with such difficulties and those that seek professional psychological help. Specifically, young adult men account for the least frequent users of psychological services. A wide body of literature has found that men's reluctance to seek help is associated with traditional masculine ideologies. The present research aimed to investigate this further by asking how a sample of young adult men from London and the surrounding boroughs constructed psychological helpseeking and masculinity, and the implications these had for their subject positioning and help-seeking practices. The research adopted a qualitative methodology, incorporating a social constructionist paradigm. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten men aged 18-25 years old. The participants were predominantly white British, and had no mental health problems or previous experience of psychological service use. An integrative form of discourse analysis was carried out, which drew on discursive and Foucauldian features to explore the different interpretative repertoires, ideologies and subject positions that were available for the participants to work up in their talk. It was found that the men in the sample drew on a number of interpretative repertoires in order to construct help-seeking, and also constructed particular masculine identities within which to position themselves and others. Specifically, psychological helpseeking presented some ideological dilemmas to the men in the sample, where they risked being positioned as abnormal within society or weak, feminine men. The participants discursively managed this by drawing on several discursive strategies and discourses of 'macho' men who are brave to seek help, and 'new' men who are comfortable with expressing their emotions. It was concluded that this enabled psychological help-seeking to become a legitimate practice. However, it was also discussed how the dominance of traditional hegemonic masculinity constrained the way in which these men were able to construct psychological help-seeking. The findings of the present study contribute to therapists' awareness of masculinity-related issues with their male clients, and also inform the way psychological services could be marketed to men. The findings also provide support to the literature that has criticised and extended Connel's (1995) theory of hegemonic masculinity.

This thesis is an exploration of the concepts of knowledge, sociality and relatedness amongst the Nivacle indigenous people of the Paraguayan Chaco, concentrating particularly on the community of Jotoicha in the Mennonite Colonies of the Central Chaco region. A central issue in this thesis is the concept of "knowledge" as a relational capacity and the ways in which knowledgeable behaviour can be constitutive of aesthetically pleasing forms of sociality. Such practices can be generative of increased similarity between individuals over time. The thesis begins with an exploration of Nivacle understandings of "knowledge" and shows it to be an eminently social concept that is created in an organ located in the stomach known as the cachi. "Knowledge" for the Nivacle is the basis for an individual's social conscience, their productive and reproductive skills, as well as their inter-personal relationships. "Knowledge" is also a central aspect of Nivacle understandings of relatedness. Rather than being based on a static genealogical structure, relatedness is best understood within the context of lived relationships that are constantly evolving. These relationships are generated through the practices of feeding and caring for one's "close" kin, with such practices also being generative of sociality itself. However,"close" relationships are neither static nor geographically bounded and are always open to the possibility of re-activation through visiting and gift giving. The Nivacle have been inserted into the market economy for several decades. Wage labour is conceptualised alongside other "subsistence activities" and productive activities are generative both of gender relations and sociality itself. In the final chapter I discuss Nivacle notions of reciprocity within the context of team-based sporting events. I show that whilst such community-based divisions appear to be premised on relations of "sameness" and "difference," they are best understood within the context of an overarching desire for people to generate similarity between different kinds of people in a variety of contexts.