Multimodal Emotion Recognition among Couples from Lab Settings to Daily Life using Smartwatches

Couples generally manage chronic diseases together and the management takes an emotional toll on both patients and their romantic partners. Consequently, recognizing the emotions of each partner in daily life could provide an insight into their emotional well-being in chronic disease management. The emotions of partners are currently inferred in the lab and daily life using self-reports which are not practical for continuous emotion assessment or observer reports which are manual, time-intensive, and costly. Currently, there exists no comprehensive overview of works on emotion recognition among couples. Furthermore, approaches for emotion recognition among couples have (1) focused on English-speaking couples in the U.S., (2) used data collected from the lab, and (3) performed recognition using observer ratings rather than partner's self-reported / subjective emotions. In this body of work contained in this thesis (8 papers - 5 published and 3 currently under review in various journals), we fill the current literature gap on couples' emotion recognition, develop emotion recognition systems using 161 hours of data from a total of 1,051 individuals, and make contributions towards taking couples' emotion recognition from the lab which is the status quo, to daily life. This thesis contributes toward building automated emotion recognition systems that would eventually enable partners to monitor their emotions in daily life and enable the delivery of interventions to improve their emotional well-being.Comment: PhD Thesis, 2022 - ETH Zuric

Interracial couples within the South African context: experiences, perceptions and challenges

In this study the experiences, perceptions and challenges of being in a mixed-race relationship (M-R) were explored against the backdrop of previous South African pieces of legislation meant to keep the various race groups apart. The study was located within a conceptual framework predominantly informed by a constructivist approach, as well as some tenets from the social constructionist approach. This study focused only on M-R relationships consisting of black and white partners. The couples were recruited through the use of a snowball sampling method. In-depth interviews were used as the primary tool for collecting data. All participants were interviewed by the researcher either at their own homes or in the researcher's office. The collected information was later transcribed and qualitatively analysed. The results of the study indicate that individuals found their involvement in M-R relationships to be a positive experience, and thus resulting in a positive attitude change and a sense of personal growth. M-R couples and their extended families experienced cognitive dissonance which required them to discard their previously internalised racial stereotypes, using strategies such as cognitive differentiation, re-categorization and de-categorization, allowing shifts toward non-racial socially constructed categories. Most of the challenges of being in M-R relationships were experienced on interpersonal and inter-group levels. The losses, disadvantages, challenges, concerns and pains experienced by M-R couples were mainly related to family and social disapproval of the relationship as well as efforts to discourage race mixing. The study concludes that the non-conformist nature of M-R relationships requires from the participants a high level of self-differentiation and individuation that challenges racial norms and cultural collectivism. Albeit being a personal or private matter, a M-R relationship carries the burden of easily being the subject of public discourse. It is in this sense that M-R relationships cannot be understood without taking the socio-political context within which they occur into consideration.PsychologyD.Phil. (Psychology

Irrational Exuberance for Babies: The Taste for Heterosexuality and its Conspicuous Reproduction

This article targets a flying buttress of normative heterosexuality: its physical reproduction via procreation and its symbolic propagation through parents\u27 pre-natal preferences for heterosexuality in future children. While the parental taste for heterosexuality is often asserted for the sake of future children themselves, this justification overlooks the role of parental self-interest, including anticipated social gains to parents from heterosexuality in children. Hence the taste sets the stage both for sexual orientation-based abuse of future children and the devaluation of sexual minority adults. Courts too have a taste for heterosexuality, shown here in two state court cases denying gays and lesbians the right to marry. These courts hold that homosexuals reproduce deliberately while heterosexuals may do so recklessly, leading the courts to conclude that only heterosexuals require marriage to ensure stable homes for children. These decisions subsidize normative heterosexuality and its reproduction by conferring symbolic capital on both. Apart from the burdens it places on sexual minorities, this symbolic privilege comes at a cost to heterosexuals and children alike. By privileging the reproduction of normative heterosexuality, this symbolic economy discourages heterosexuals from fully appreciating the long-term consequences of reproduction. This economy also gives them a pretext for avoiding lifestyle competition with homosexual parents, to the detriment of children who might benefit from the improved parenting technique that such competition would encourage

The Mechanical Psychologist: How Computational Techniques Can Aid Social Researchers in the Analysis of High-Stakes Conversation

Qualitative coding is an essential observational tool for describing behaviour in the social sciences. However, it traditionally relies on manual, time-consuming, and error-prone methods performed by humans. To overcome these issues, cross-disciplinary researchers are increasingly exploring computational methods such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) to annotate behaviour automatically. Automated methods offer scalability, error reduction, and the discovery of increasingly subtle patterns in data compared to human effort alone (N. C. Chen et al., 2018). Despite promising advancements, concerns regarding generalisability, mistrust of automation, and value alignment between humans and machines persist (Friedberg et al., 2012; Grimmer et al., 2021; Jiang et al., 2021; R. Levitan & Hirschberg, 2011; Mills, 2019; Nenkova et al., 2008; Rahimi et al., 2017; Yarkoni et al., 2021). This thesis investigates the potential of computational techniques, such as social signal processing, text mining, and machine learning, to streamline qualitative coding in the social sciences, focusing on two high-stakes conversational case studies. The first case study analyses political interviewing using a corpus of 691 interview transcripts from US news networks. Psychological behaviours associated with effective interviewing are measured and used to predict conversational quality through supervised machine learning. Feature engineering employs a Social Signal Processing (SSP) approach to extract latent behaviours from low-level social signals (Vinciarelli, Salamin, et al., 2009). Conversational quality, calculated from desired characteristics of interviewee speech, is validated by a human-rater study. The findings support the potential of computational approaches in qualitative coding while acknowledging challenges in interpreting low-level social signals. The second case study investigates the ability of machines to learn expert-defined behaviours from human annotation, specifically in detecting predatory behaviour in known cases of online child grooming. In this section, the author utilises 623 chat logs obtained from a US-based online watchdog, with expert annotators labelling a subset of these chat logs to train a large language model. The goal was to investigate the machine’s ability to detect eleven predatory behaviours based on expert annotations. The results show that the machine could detect several behaviours with as few as fifty labelled instances, but rare behaviours were frequently over-predicted. The author next implemented a collaborative human-AI approach to investigate the trade-off between human accuracy and machine efficiency. The results suggested that a human-in-the-loop approach could improve human efficiency and machine accuracy, achieving near-human performance on several behaviours approximately fifteen times faster than human effort alone. The conclusion emphasises the value of increased automation in social sciences while recognising the importance of social scientific expertise in cross-disciplinary re- search, especially when addressing real-world problems. It advocates for technology that augments and enhances human effort and expertise without replacing it entirely. This thesis acknowledges the challenges in interpreting computational signals and the importance of preserving human insight in qualitative coding. The thesis also highlights potential avenues for future research, such as refining computational methods for qualitative coding and exploring collaborative human-AI approaches to address the limitations of automated methods

Irrational Exuberance About Babies: The Taste for Heterosexuality and Its Conspicuous Reproduction

This article targets a flying buttress of normative heterosexuality: its physical reproduction via procreation and its symbolic propagation through parents’ pre-natal preferences for heterosexuality in future children. While the parental “taste for heterosexuality” is often asserted for the sake of future children themselves, this justification overlooks the role of parental self-interest, including anticipated social gains to parents from heterosexuality in children. Hence the taste sets the stage both for sexual orientation-based abuse of future children and the devaluation of sexual minority adults. Courts too have a taste for heterosexuality, shown here in two state court cases denying gays and lesbians the right to marry. These courts hold that homosexuals reproduce deliberately while heterosexuals may do so recklessly, leading the courts to conclude that only heterosexuals require marriage to ensure stable homes for children. These decisions “subsidize” normative heterosexuality and its reproduction by conferring symbolic capital on both. Apart from the burdens it places on sexual minorities, this symbolic privilege comes at a cost to heterosexuals and children alike. By privileging the reproduction of normative heterosexuality, this symbolic economy discourages heterosexuals from fully appreciating the long-term consequences of reproduction. This economy also gives them a pretext for avoiding lifestyle competition with homosexual parents, to the detriment of children who might benefit from the improved parenting technique that such competition would encourage

From the Voice to the Violent Act: Language and Violence in Contemporary Drama

Aleks Sierz coined the phrase In-Yer-Face Theatre to categorize a new generation of plays written by a group of upstart playwrights in Britain and America. In addressing these plays, I draw upon recent contributions within the social sciences in order to understand better the interstices of language and violence in this drama. This interdisciplinary approach underscores the social considerations at the heart of these plays. Although frequently criticized for a perceived lack of social consciousness and a seemingly gratuitous use of profanity, prurient sexuality, and graphic violence, these writers in fact continue, and contribute to, a tradition of theater that is serious, ethically based, and socially aware. Specifically, the language represented in these plays is symptomatic of, and complicit in, the violence depicted on stage. I first argue that coercive institutional language subjects the characters in David Mamet\u27s 0leanna to systematic violence long before the infamous moment of violence that concludes the play. The reifying language of consumer capitalism in the plays of Patrick Marber and Mark Ravenhill precipitates violence by rewriting the cultural codes that inform subjectivity and the way that interpersonal relationships are conceived and experienced. Examining the work of David Harrower, Bryony Lavery, David Eldridge, and Tracy Letts, I identify examples of public language and show how they hamper intellectual development and maturity and disengage the cognitive mechanisms that allow individuals to regulate their behavior. I explore the allegiance on the part of those in subcultures of violence to the heavily gendered constructions of identity facilitated by their subcultural languages, and I address the linguistic mechanisms by which the characters in Rebecca Prichard\u27s Fair Game create the sense that violence is necessary. In addition, I interrogate the formal nature of hyper-masculine violence. Finally, in the plays of Martin McDonagh, Judy Upton, and Rebecca Prichard, I discuss the adoption of traditionally male forms of violence by women, focusing on language\u27s role in determining the likelihood and the nature of the violence committed both by and against women

Multifaith Families and their Narratives within Society

The goal of this project is to nudge the conversation about interfaith families in a direction that examines the family post–interfaith dialogue. The term multifaith better represents this new aim because it encompasses all interactions and does not limit the family to the constraints of the moniker interfaith. I apply Walter Fisher’s concepts of coherence and fidelity, in coordination with family communication literature, to structure this project and to study the various aspects of a multifaith family and narrative. I also use three typologies of multifaith family (Passive/Passive, Passive/Active, and Active/Active) to better understand the variations of this family. The project includes a discussion of the multifaith family, the extended family, and the interaction with the faith community. Furthermore, I include examples of multifaith representation in popular culture because this illustrates the inclusion of this family type in media. The multifaith family is a distinct and growing type of family, and this project tries to better understand them and their narratives

Managing intimate interracial relationships

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.It is evident that there is fairly widespread disapproval of intimate interracial relationships. This thesis explores the experiences of those involved in such relationships, how they manage their relationships, and the kind of pressures they confront. It considered the ways in which the reactions and attitudes of significant others and strangers impact upon such relationships and, the adaptive processes people involved have developed. The thesis also explored a range of popular explanations of the motivation of those involved in intimate interracial relationships. Utilising qualitative research methodology the study used semi-structured interviews with 20 black men and 20 white women about their experiences and involvement in intimate interracial relationships. The main findings of the study were that: 1) People involved in interracial relationships develop, individually and jointly, a range of strategies that enables them to manage their relationship in the face of hostilities and disapproval from significant others and strangers. 2) The people involved (particularly the black partners) go through a personal crisis because their sense of identity and cultural affiliations are called into question by significant others and strangers. 3) People involved in the relationship look 'within' for support and reinforcement rather than seeking the approval and acceptance of their relationship from significant others and/or strangers. 4) There is often an attempt to control and manage information about the relationship; for example whom to inform and when to inform significant others. 5) People involved in the relationships develop friendships with people in similar type relationships. 6) Black women were deemed by people involved in the relationship to express the most vehement opposition towards interracial relationship

Perspectives of People with Dementia: Experiencing Shame. An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Background People with dementia who have participated in research have reported experiencing shame (Cheston, in press; Mitchell, McCollum & Monaghan, 2013), and other uncomfortable self-conscious experiences, such as self-criticism (Langdon, Eagle & Warner, 2006), embarrassment (Imhof, Wallhagen, Mahrer-Imhof & Monsch, 2006), and fears of stigma (Harman & Clare, 2006). Public Health guidance has emphasised the importance of addressing the stigma and marginalisation of people with dementia (Department of Health, 2009; World Health Organisation & Alzheimer’s Disease International, 2012). Methodology This study uses Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore experiences of shame for six people in the early stages of dementia, living independently in the community. Data was collected through the use of individual, semi-structured interviews conducted within participants’ homes. The interviews were transcribed by the primary researcher and analysed through an in-depth, interpretive examination. Results Four superordinate themes emerged from the data. Firstly, Avoidance reveals how the participants made several levels of attempts to hide and distance themselves from shaming experiences. Secondly, the participants’ accounts highlight Negative Self-Perceptions, including a weakening sense of self, a loss of value, and meaninglessness. Thirdly, Relationship Matters involve issues around trust, feeling a burden, and the impact of past relationships on current levels of shame. Fourthly, Uncertainty and loss of control highlights the participants’ search for an understanding of their experiences, and fears about an unknown future and losing control. Conclusion The study contributes ideas for developing both public and professional awareness for promoting non-shaming experiences for people with dementia. In particular, suggestions are provided for improving communication during the assessment and diagnosis process, as well as options for responding to shame through psychological therapies