Browsing by Subject "Social control"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Effects Of Type Of Social Control Strategy And Perceived Agent Motivations On Eating And Relational Behaviors In Romantic Relationships Over Time
    (2020-05) Huelsnitz, Chloe
    One of the ways in which close relationship partners can affect each other’s health behavior is by enacting social control, in which partners intentionally try to change each other’s behavior by using specific social control strategies. Most research has distinguished between the effects of different strategies on intrapersonal factors, such as individuals’ emotions, motivation, and health behavior, rather than considering the interpersonal context in which social control is embedded. This dissertation research addresses this gap by examining how the strategies that one partner uses to try to improve the other’s eating behavior elicit relational and eating responses over time. Study 1 used an iterative hypothetical scenario to experimentally test whether the effects of different social control strategies (autonomy-supporting versus autonomy-limiting) on relational and eating behavior are moderated by individuals’ perceptions of their partners’ motives for enacting social control (independent versus interdependent). Study 1 results showed that although there were few moderating effects of individuals’ perceptions of their partners’ motives on relational behaviors or healthiness of eating, autonomy-supporting strategies were associated with more constructive relational behaviors after the first use of social control and healthier eating over time. Study 2 used a daily diary approach to obtain descriptive information on the use of social control in relationships and to examine how different strategies elicit different relational and eating behaviors. Study 2 showed that partners enact more social control than previous research has shown and that partners often use both autonomy-supporting and autonomy-limiting social control strategies. Study 2 also showed that on days when individuals perceived that their partner had more interdependent motives, they engaged in more constructive relational behavior and reported healthier perceptions of their eating, but not healthier eating behavior. Additionally, autonomy-supporting social control was associated with more constructive relational behaviors, healthier perceptions of eating and healthier eating behaviors the first time the strategies were used, but not over time. Together, these studies utilize a novel iterative scenario methodology and longitudinal assessments to examine both relational and health responses to social control and show that autonomy-supporting, but not autonomy-limiting social control has implications for relationships and health behavior.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Members by design: how U.S. Immigration policies shape mass public beliefs about American membership.
    (2011-11) Udani, Adriano A.
    To what extent and in what ways do public policies on the treatment of noncitizens in America shape mass public beliefs and perceptions about membership in a democratic republic? This dissertation uses an intersectional framework that redeploys the construction of target population theory to better capture the hierarchy of power relations which structure noncitizen membership in America. I depart from dominant works that commonly analyze noncitizen membership by identifying individual-level characteristics that promote integration; studying policy decisions as outputs of unique social contexts; and, using static binary distinctions of deservingness and undeservingness. Instead, I examine the ways in which U.S. immigration policies rearticulate racism and the relationships that race has with other axes of disadvantage involving ethnicity, class, gender, and citizenship. By using a unique dataset of state immigration policies between 1997 and 2010 and national public opinion studies, I investigate how four dominant policy designs that construct American membership send political messages about noncitizens as foreign entrants with criminal intents; as applicants who are required to prove their value in America; as cultural minorities who are deprived and needy; and, as embattled people who must contest and remain resilient against institutionalized inequalities.