Browsing by Subject "Socialization"

Now showing 1 - 12 of 12

Changing careers : how newcomers seek information in three types of career transitions
(2018-06-15) Frei, Seth Steven; Stephens, Keri K.; Treem, Jeffrey W; Donovan, Erin; Beebe, Steven A; Houser, Marian L
Workplace transitions are increasingly common as individuals move between jobs and occupations more frequently. Socialization literature looks at the process organizations use to help individuals meet their needs and acquire information about the new job (Kramer, 2010; Van Maanen & Schein, 1979). While many scholars study socialization, the most recent Handbook of Organizational Communication suggests nonentry-level newcomers are relatively unexplored (Kramer & Miller, 2014). To further understand the behaviors of nonentry-level newcomers, especially as mid-life and early-life career transitions grow more common, future research is warranted. This dissertation focuses on the information-seeking behaviors of organizational newcomers. Using theory-based models of information seeking (Miller & Jablin, 1991; Morrison, 2002), this study seeks to further understand the behaviors of newcomers when changing careers. This study focuses on three types of career transitions: (1) Occupational (Moving from outside the typical work progression to a new occupation); (2) Job (Changing jobs within the same field for the purpose of advancement or salary increase); and (3) Education to paid work (Transitioning from a full-time educational setting to full-time paid work). This investigation highlights a number of significant findings in information-seeking behaviors. Across all three types of career transitions, the most common source of information is peers, the most common tactic is overt, and the most common communication medium is the internet. Results suggested need for control over others, intrinsic motivation, and learning orientation were significant predictors of landline phone use for information seeking. The study demonstrated coworker influence as a significant predictor of information seeking through the organizational intranet. There was also a significant difference between individual use of third parties for information seeking between job transitioners and those making transitions from education to paid work. This study offers insights to both communication and management scholars who study socialization and information seeking, as well as human resource development practitioners. These findings contribute to the socialization literature by further describing how individuals make career transitions at various life stages. Additionally, these findings are helpful to practitioners who anticipate career transitioners into their workforce. Taken together, these results facilitate both a theoretical and practical application of newcomer socialization in these contexts.
Contextualizing children’s imitation : an examination of children’s flexible use of imitation in distinct cultural and child-rearing contexts
(2016-05) Clegg, Jennifer Marie; Legare, Cristine H.; Bannard, Colin; Booth, Amy; Buss, David; Markman, Art; Yeager, David S
Despite experimental and ethnographic evidence of imitation in the context of skill-based or instrumental learning there has not yet been a systematic cross-cultural account of imitative behavior in the context of learning cultural conventions. Moreover, very little is known about how children’s social interaction with their caregivers scaffolds the development of imitation. New research suggests that the causal opacity associated with conventions results in high fidelity imitation due to children’s interpretation of a behavior as a conventional act (based on social conventions) rather than an instrumental act. This dissertation examines children’s flexible imitation based on their interpretation of the purpose of a behavior in two different cultural settings – the U.S. and Vanuatu, a Melanesian island nation and in natural child-rearing settings. This research addresses a significant gap in the current literature, as much of the work on the development of imitation has been conducted in Western, single-child settings.
Exploring cognitive-interpersonal pathways to adolescent psychological disturbance
(2005) Yancy, Mary Garwood; Stark, Kevin Douglas; Tharinger, Deborah
The cognitive-interpersonal conceptualization considers family socialization processes, and the interpersonal schema which they are posited to influence, as integral to understanding psychological maladjustment (Shirk, 1996). Guided by the cognitiveinterpersonal orientation, this research explored the potential for family socialization and interpersonal schema variables to differentiate among adolescents experiencing different forms of psychological distress. Specifically, adolescents’ family socialization experiences and patterns of interpersonal beliefs and expectations (schemata) were explored for their capacity to differentiate among four groups of adolescents; a group experiencing a depressive disorder, a group experiencing an externalizing disorder, a group experiencing co-occurring externalizing and depressive conditions, and a nonclinical comparison group. Further, the potential for interpersonal schema to mediate the relationship between family socialization and psychological functioning was addressed. viii Self-report measures of family functioning and family messages provided information on the child’s family socialization, while an exploratory coding method, the Manual of Interpersonal Schema Analysis (MISA) was developed to derive interpersonal schema from projective narratives. An evaluation of the MISA measure, including validity, reliability and related measurement error issues, was explicated. Results from MANOVAs and discriminant function analyses (DFA) revealed that several family process variables contributed to significant differentiation among adolescents categorized as externalizing, co-occurring externalizing and depressed, and non-clinical. Three “protective” family variables – Social-Recreational Orientation, Family Messages and Communication/Cohesion – were the strongest predictors in classifiying among groups. In the interpersonal schema domain, MISA variables Aggression/Entitlement and Quality of Relational Interaction also contributed to significant group differentiation among externalizing, co-occurring and nonclinical groups. Scores from “pure” depressed adolescents generally followed expected trends, but findings were not significant in differentiating between those described as depressed and those in the externalizing, co-occurring or nonclinical conditions. An exploratory path analysis model failed to support interpersonal schema as a mediator between family processes and adolescent disturbance, possibly due to small sample size. Lastly, limitations regarding the present study were addressed, followed by a discussion of clinical applications and implications for future research.
High, Wide, and Deep
(Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, 0000-00-00) Stevenson, Jane Stare
How I made it over : the socialization and experiences of black male doctoral students
(2012-08) Platt, Chester Spencer; Reddick, Richard, 1972-; Vincent, Gregory; Saenz, Victor; Harper, Shaun; Moore, Leonard N.; Harrison, Louis
The struggles of Black males at various stages of the educational pipeline have been well documented. However success stories and the experiences of high achieving Black males have received less scrutiny, as research has focused mostly on problematic outcomes from a deficit perspective until recent years. There remains a dearth of research that examines and gives voice to the experiences of Black male doctoral students (BMDS) on the campuses of predominantly white colleges and universities (PWI). Under these circumstances, it is important to understand how Black males have navigated their way into and through doctoral programs. Specific aims addressed in the present study examine the various aspects of socialization among BMDS, including experiential commonalities, sources of social support and how BMDS make sense of and respond to socialization efforts in their various departments. To address these specific aims qualitative research methods were employed. The study highlights results in five key areas: 1) Black male doctoral student pathways to doctoral programs, 2) choice of dissertation and research topics, 3) campus and community environment, 4) socialization experiences and, 5) the advisor-protégé relationship. My dissertation’s unique contributions are its addition of the Black male doctoral student socialization to the discourse and by examining their unique experiences. a central concern for this study’s participants has been navigating, resisting, and transforming many of the structural and cultural aspects of doctoral socialization that they as Black males find to be subtractive. BMDS in this study have largely adopted proactive strategies to aid them in their academic careers. Most have sought strategic relationships with faculty, Black faculty in particular as well as community support networks. Most have either created or worked closely with organizations that seek to transform the experiences of graduate students. These efforts are to maintain control of their educational experiences and resist elements of doctoral socialization that can be dehumanizing, frustrating and isolating for students of color while hopefully leaving the department and institution easier to navigate for those who follow in their footsteps.
Literacy as an interpretive art
(2010-05) Cheng, An-Chih; Schallert, Diane L.; Ainslie, Ricardo C.; Emmer, Edmund C.; Reed, Ellis C.; Worthy, Mary J.
Children as young as three seem already to possess amazing knowledge about what practice in a certain context is appropriate and what is not. This study investigated very young children’s literacy practices in an artifact-rich environment, a children’s museum. It focused on young children’s experience of enculturation such as how they respond to the symbolic qualities of cultural artifacts as well as their experience of socialization with teachers and peers. The research methodology involved photography and semiotic analysis based on a post-discourse perspective derived from post-modernism, post-structuralism, and critical theory. Specifically, the works of Bourdieu, Foucault, and Baudrillard were the theoretical basis of this dissertation. The findings indicate that children's literacy practices were context contingent and power laden, and that photography, as a means to study embodied literacy experiences, froze the moment of habitus and capital and revealed children’s sociohistorical backgrounds and traces from the broader society. The implications for early school education and critical pedagogy are also discussed.
Managing academic and personal life in graduate studies : an interactive qualitative analysis of graduate student persistence and transformation
(2011-08) Winston, Rachel Anne; Roueche, John E.; Northcutt, Norvell; McClenney, Kay; McCombs, Maxwell; Butler, Jess; Reddick, Richard; McCoy, Danny
This study examines the impact of academic and personal life on graduate student persistence and transformation. Of particular interest are the relationships, emotions, and life management skills required throughout the graduate experience and how socialization, emotional intelligence, and advising aid students through their academic program. With an average of seven to eight years required to complete a doctoral program, life happens. Students enter and leave relationships, children are born, family members have emergencies, health issues arise, and emotional growth takes place. Therefore, students transform not only academically, but in many ways. These are intertwined as evidenced by the data-derived system representation. The importance of understanding the interconnected links in graduate experience spans academic, social, economic, and societal spheres. Each year hundreds of thousands of students enter graduate school. However, for doctoral students, there is an enormous gap between acceptance and completion. After seven years, approximately 50 percent complete their program and after ten years the rate climbs to only 57 percent (Council of Graduate Schools, 2010). This study offers a systemic representation and a four-stage model of graduate student development, incorporating student-identified factors: Faculty Impact, Life Management, Relationships, Playing the Game, Growth/Transformation, Emotions, and Reward/Purpose. Stage I: Orientation and Socialization Stage II: Adjustment and Transition Stage III: Navigation and Transformation Stage IV: Completion and Advancement The results, presented as a systems-based model, along with analysis, may be used to support faculty, advisors, and administrators in creating better advising, orientation, evaluation, and support systems. Departmental policies may be improved to identify at-risk students, provide mentorship opportunities, or obtain continual feedback to understand the underlying factors that may stop students from progressing. This research might also help identify students during the application/admission process. The methodological framework used to create the system produced in this study is Interactive Qualitative Analysis (Northcutt & McCoy, 2004), a methodology that provides the quantitative rigor of algorithmically generated data analysis, combined with the qualitative descriptiveness of interviews, in order to provide insights into the drivers of graduate school persistence. This methodology uses a systematic, protocol-driven research procedure to construct a unified, descriptive diagram to illustrate the phenomenon.
Organizational exit dynamics in times of turbulence : let me tell you the story of how my high hopes were let down
(2015-05) Pastorek, Angela E.; Browning, Larry D.; Stephens, Keri K.; Cloud, Dana L.; Berkelaar, Brenda L.; Keating, Elizabeth L.
Employees face many challenges as they attempt to fulfill the often intense and conflicting expectations of their professional roles within the culture of an organization for which they perform paid work. These demands include traversing a consistent stream of organizational change (Lewis, 2011), navigating complex coworker relationships (Sias, 2009), and meeting the often intense and even abusive demands of organizational managers and leaders (Caldwell & Canuto-Carranco, 2010). As a result of this cultural intensity, organizational members can begin considering exit (Jablin, 1987, 2001) very early in their tenure. This study explores Jablin’s Model of Assimilation (1987, 2001) as a framework for identifying the types of events, observations and concerns that facilitate exit-related sensemaking (Weick, 1995) and, ultimately, a decision to leave an organization. Findings indicate that organizational exit (Jablin, 1987, 2001) is not simply a response to a single “straw that broke the camel’s back” event. Rather, organizational exit is a complex, evolving process resulting from a web of observations and experiences occurring over time within the organization. Based on interviews with 61 people who voluntarily left an organization in a post-recession economy (2010—2014), findings indicate surprising similarities and differences across industries in both the organizational factors leading up to exit and individuals’ exit experiences. By tracing the origins of exit back through the socialization processes experienced by exiting organizational members, this study fills a gap in organizational exit research, defining exit not as a discrete end-stage event, but rather as an ongoing, highly communicative and personalized process based on recursive loops of sensemaking (Weick, 1995) that build over the course of a member’s tenure, resulting in a choice to leave the organization.
Parenting practices of lesbian mothers : an examination of the socialization of children in planned lesbian-headed families
(2008-05) Gipson, Cynthia Kay, 1970-; Suizzo, Marie-Anne
While research indicates that children reared in households headed by lesbian parents are no more likely to be teased or bullied than children from other households, lesbian mothers feel it is necessary to socialize their children as if they were. Twenty lesbian mothers with at least one child between the ages of eight months and 17 years old from the central Texas area were selected for this study. The mothers came from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds and diverse socioeconomic statuses. This study was qualitative in nature, using primarily grounded theory methods. The mothers were interviewed using a semi-structured format regarding their socialization strategies. Themes emerging from the interviews were that mothers went to great lengths to secure parenthood. They engaged in both direct and indirect socialization strategies. They considered their children to be members of the gay community and emphasized contact with 'families like theirs.' They felt that their families were normal yet possessed some distinct advantages and had some unique concerns. Finally, they had egalitarian relationships in terms of the division of paid labor, household tasks, and childcare, with a focus on spending the most amount of time possible with their children. Racial and ethnic socialization literature was used as a framework for this study. The similarity between participant's responses and racial and ethnic socialization theory led to the development of a model of "Alternative Family Socialization." Similar to racial or ethnic socialization, "Alternative Family Socialization" involves preparing minority children to thrive in the majority culture. Mothers stated that they prepare their children for bias by encouraging them to take pride in their family, accessing support from the gay community, encouraging the development of positive self-concepts, encouraging open communication, and teaching them how to access support. Future directions for research include further development of the model of "Alternative Family Socialization" such as how this model might explain gay men rearing children. Also future research focusing on how children of lesbian parents perceive themselves within the gay community is suggested.
The associations among parenting, socialization of coping, youth coping and youth depression in low-SES Latinx families
(2018-06-27) Moats, Gabriela Echavarría; Rodriguez, Erin M.
Latinx youth have among the highest rates of depression in the U.S. Adaptive coping skills have been found to protect against depression across racial and ethnic groups. Research in non-Latinx families has found that parenting behaviors impact youth coping strategies, but little research has examined how parent behavior impacts Latinx children’s coping. In addition, the majority of previous studies have been cross-sectional, used single informant data, utilized measures with poor psychometric properties, and not controlled for important demographic variables. The proposed study aims to address these gaps. Analyses will consist of T-tests, correlations, one-way ANOVAs and regression models. This research could contribute to the development of culturally informed interventions for this population.
The effects of hippotherapy in children and adolescents with autism : a systematic review
(2017-05-08) Ybarbo, Emily Layne; Peña, Elizabeth D.; Lugo-Neris, Mirza
The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the effectiveness of hippotherapy, also known as horse- or equine-assisted therapy, for improving the socialization and communication behaviors of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The PubMed research database was used to search for relevant studies. Six studies were evaluated and demonstrated overall mixed findings for the use of hippotherapy as an effective treatment technique for communication and socialization skills. To further analyze the strength of these findings, the selected studies were evaluated for limitations related to outcome measure selected and treatment design. The present analysis revealed four main limitations: 1) lack of established treatment protocol led to differences with how hippotherapy was delivered; 2) most assessment measures were based on parent report; 3) small sample sizes; and 4) multiple treatment interference. While these limitations do not detract from the information gleaned from the treatment and research, implementing a standard protocol would make the replicability easier for future clinicians.
The unique and moderating effects of religious, family and school connectedness on early adolescent adjustment
(2007) Roalson, Lori Anne, 1969-; Loukas, Alexandra
Parent-adolescent connection is considered a core parenting component influencing adolescent psychosocial development. When the connection is poor, the adolescent has an increased risk of developing depressive symptoms and behavioral problems. Non-family socialization experiences increase in importance as the quality of family experiences decreases and may protect adolescents with low family connectedness from demonstrating depressive symptoms and behavioral problems. The school is one context that may provide socialization experiences to promote continued development for early adolescents. Stronger levels of connection to the school have been related to decreased prevalence of adolescent problem behaviors such as delinquency. The religious community represents another context in which early adolescents may develop important connections. This context is particularly important to study as over half of all adolescents in the U.S. report attending church services weekly and/or are involved in a church youth group and approximately 60% of adolescents report their faith is important to them. Research examining adolescent feelings of connection to their religious group and how this relates to delinquent behaviors and depressive symptoms, however, is lacking. The present study explored the cross-sectional contribution of adolescent connections to the family, school and religious contexts to the depressive symptoms and delinquent behaviors of a sample of 167 middle school students. Three aspects of religious connectedness (i.e., youth leader, congregation member, and spiritual connectedness) were found to uniquely contribute to the occurrence of early adolescent outcomes. Specifically, youth leader and spiritual connectedness uniquely contributed to early adolescent engagement in more serious delinquent behaviors. Congregation member and spiritual connectedness contributed to the occurrence of early adolescent depressive symptoms. Additionally, all three types of religious connectedness buffered the relationship between family connectedness and more serious delinquent behaviors. That is, high levels of religious connectedness protected early adolescents from engaging in the problem behaviors. Unexpectedly, an exacerbating relationship was demonstrated between school connectedness and youth leader connectedness as well as spiritual connectedness on early adolescent less serious delinquent behaviors. Findings are discussed from the perspectives of Social Control Theory and Attachment Theory.