National Identity Attachment and Its Variables

National identity and nationalism have continued to influence economic, social, and political behavior despite their fluidity in a globalized and modernized world. Drawing on Benedict Anderson’s concept of “imagined communities” and the Social Identity Theory by Henri Tajfel and John Turner, national identity as a part of social identity is dynamic and plastic. It is relatively influenced by external and internal factors of individuals, including time and space. This fluid trait makes national identity difficult to explain and measure. This study utilizes a qualitative method based on secondary sources to analyze national identity attachment variables that affect it by focusing on the individual level. This study found that education, age, gender, ethnicity, religion, and media access have contributed to an individual’s national identity attachment. This study may contribute to improving the literature for understanding national identity attachment in diverse societies, analyzing its political behavior, and address the problems of racism or ethnoreligious-linguistic conflicts. By extension, it may also lead to better policymaking

The Relationship Between Millennials\u27 Attitudes Towards the United States and Their Goals and Personal Constructs

The purpose of this study was to examine various aspects of Millennials\u27 attitudes related to their beliefs about the United States and in the context of their personal, career, and family goals and ethnic identity. Another purpose of this study was to determine if selected personality variables would predict attitudes toward the United States. It was found that Millennials who held positive attitudes toward the United States in terms of being a viable country for them also had relatively clear and developed personal, career, and family goals. Moreover, three personality variables—resiliency, optimism, and (inversely) cynicism significantly contributed to Millennials\u27 views of the United States. Last, ethnic identity—strong feelings of attachment and loyalty to one\u27s ethnicity—correlated in various ways with both attitudes toward the United States and the belief that the United States is oppressive toward minorities. Those observed correlations varied depending on the specific ethnicity (non-Hispanic Whites who strongly identified with their ethnicity were less likely to consider the United States a discriminatory country toward minorities, whereas Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans who identified strongly with their ethnicity were more likely to view the United States as oppressive toward minorities. More research is recommended to clarify and elucidate some of the obtained findings in this study

An Exploration of the Correlation between Students’ Political Orientation and Sport Fandom

As of late, researchers in the field of sport psychology have made efforts to deepen our overall understanding of sport fandom and what it entails. As a result, there has been a great deal of research conducted that relates directly to the examination of sports watching behaviors, fans’ motivations behind their consumption of particular sports leagues, and team identification, but, at present, there has been minimal research conducted that has examined whether there is a correlation between one’s sport fandom and political orientation. As such, the current study sought to explore the possibility of there being a relationship between college students’ sport fandom and political orientation. In this study, a sample of 74 college-age students was used to assess whether their political orientation clearly indicated whether they would consume more of the National Basketball Association (NBA) or the National Football League (NFL). To that end, respondents were given a 61-question survey, which consisted of items pertaining to political orientation, sport spectatorship, sport fandom, overall consumption of each respective sport league, and an array of social and political issues. Preliminary results partially supported the hypotheses of this study. Sport psychologists and political scientists alike should further examine this phenomenon in an effort to definitively determine whether political orientation influences sport fandom and to what extent

Civic Purpose in Late Adolescence: Factors that Prevent Decline in Civic Engagement After High School

This study investigated the effects of internal and demographic variables on civic development in late adolescence using the construct civic purpose. We conducted surveys on civic engagement with 480 high school seniors, and surveyed them again two years later. Using multivariate regression and linear mixed models, we tested the main effects of civic purpose dimensions (beyond-the-self motivation, future civic intention), ethnicity, and education on civic development from Time 1 to Time 2. Results showed that while there is an overall decrease in civic engagement in the transition out of high school, both internal and social factors protected participants from steep civic decline. Interaction effects varied. Ethnicity and education interacted in different ways with the dimensions of civic purpose to predict change in traditional and expressive political engagement, and community service engagement

Rudd Chair Annual Report, 2012

2012 Annual Report of the Rudd Family Foundation Chair in Psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Reports on community partnerships, goals reached, teaching, mentoring, and service. Mentions work being conducted by graduate students and postdocs mentored through the Rudd Program, including three clinical doctoral students at UMass: Quade French, Holly Grant- Marsney, and Danila Musante

Expanding Imagined Affordance with Futuretypes: Challenging Algorithmic Power with Collective 2040 Imagination

Imagined affordance speaks to the hidden affordances not often seen of user expectations. What if we asked a group of working class, ethnically diverse range of people to re-imagine alternative forms of digital platforms for 2040, and other time horizons? What would they re-imagine? How might this approach expand our set of theoretical constructs, methodologies in design practice for digital social media (DSM)? Student stories and our analysis of them comprise a hybrid of evidence interweaving design thinking with textual analysis and future studies. Informed by an analysis of social and technology trends, students explore the citizen imaginary for peer-producing alternative visions of our DSM. An analysis of student visions uncovers future memes of civil rights; platforms as new governing states; and resistance to algorithmic capture. These stories become a collective selfie into re-imagined social worlds. In their wake, futuretypes, signals of platform alternatives, emerge--an expanded range of citizen emotions, feelings, and desires

What's Trust Got To Do With It?

Based on focus groups with parents, explores why school turnaround options such as closing failing schools and replacing principals and staff provoke community opposition. Outlines ways for leaders to build trust, address concerns, and engage parents

Politics and Media Among Deaf and Hard of Hearing

This study investigated the civic engagement, political participation, and choice of news media of the deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) community at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester, New York. Socialization factors that contribute to civic engagement and political participation were examined and contrasted with a hearing sample of students at Rochester Institute of Technology. The Activity Orientation Scale combined with the Political Media Gratification Scale were used to measure the likelihood of political engagement among the DHH and understand their media viewing habits. Socialization factors affect where DHH individuals get their news, what media are used, and who they trust regarding political news and information. The Deaf community is bilingual, often using written and sometimes spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate. Credibility of news sources among DHH and hearing communities may differ due to use of closed captioning and ASL. Rich media theory is used to explain how political news and information can be better tailored for the DHH. Additional factors such as political party affiliation, social media engagement, and consumption of news media are examined to understand how the DHH population is politically involved and how it may differ from a hearing community