Constructing Time and Space and Transcending Boundaries in Long-Distance Relationships

Globalization, the economic crisis, fast travel, and modern communication devices have facilitated the proliferation of long-distance relationships (LDRs). As LDRs deviate from temporal, spatial conventions and some social norms, they provide an opportunity to study the social construction of time, space, norms, and boundaries. To understand the rigidity and permeability of different kinds of boundaries, I conducted qualitative interviews with both married and unmarried couples in LDRs, as well as partners who lived in the same country and were of the same nationality, and partners who lived in two different countries and differed in their nationality (20 couples, 40 individuals total). I used social constructionism, cognitive sociology, symbolic interactionism, and ethnomethodology, and applied grounded theory methods. In LDRs the boundary between distance and intimacy was blurred, often in a sociomental space. By using technology participants diminished the significance of separate time zones, shared synchronized activities, and increased solidarity. As long as couples spent time together, separate physical locations became irrelevant. Borders between countries created a less fluid boundary than distance because of bureaucratic obstacles (e.g., visas). Marriage and children turned out to be the most rigid boundaries. Most respondents considered marriage and coresidence to be essential goals. Many also assumed that children required two parents and coresidence. Gender did not make a significant difference in time devoted to the relationship and visits. However, women were more likely than men to relocate. I also found that boundaries were used in exercising agency, creating solidarity, and shifting norms

Innovative Ways of Exploring Love: A Book Review of Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari (with Eric Klinenberg).

This is a book review, so there is no abstract

Book Review of Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone

Review of Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone, by Eric Klinenberg. New York: Penguin Books, 2013

Book Review of Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America

Book Review of Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America by Barbara Ehrenreich (Picador, 2010)

Empathy in Danger: Book Review of Reclaiming Conversation by Sherry Turkle

No abstract, as it is a book review

"As Long as You Work Hard, You Can Achieve Your Goals" : Hungarian Immigrants on the American Dream

Immigrants to the United States frequently perceive America as the land of endless opportunities and prosperity, and this perception is very frequently a propelling force in the decision for immigration. Through 20 in-depth interviews with middle-class Hungarians who live in the United States I will discuss how immigration to the United States has influenced the perceptions of these Hungarians of opportunities in the United States. I will also highlight how reasons for immigration and perceptions of the American Dream vary by gender

“Physically We Are Apart, Mentally We Are Not.” Creating a Shared Space and a Sense of Belonging in Long-Distance Relationships

As couples tend to be referred to as “being together,” long-distance partners, who spend most of their time apart and in diff erent spaces, might face a challenge delineating and validating their relationship. Through in-depth interviews with 20 couples in a long-distance relationship, this study explores how long-distance partners linguistically and symbolically mark the boundaries of their relationship, and also transcend any real or perceived gaps between distance and closeness in the process. While they rarely shared a physical space, my participants created joint socio-mental spaces, which enhanced their sense of belonging and helped to expand defi nitions of intimacy and space

Citizenship and Naturalization Patterns of Immigrants in the Southeastern United States And Their Political Consequences

This study examines naturalization rates in the southeastern United States and compares them to other regions while investigating some political consequences of naturalization. In terms of the number of naturalized citizens and naturalization rates, the Southeast lags behind states with long immigration histories. In all U.S. southeastern states, Asians comprise the largest group of naturalized citizens, but rates vary. Mexicans and Central Americans are the least likely to obtain citizenship in all southeastern states. The authors also find and discuss a small immigrant presence in the U.S. House of Representatives and a significant positive correlation between states' naturalization rates and the percentage of the state that voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.El presente estudio examina las tasas de naturalización en el sureste de Estados Unidos y las compara con las de otras regiones, mientras investiga algunas de sus consecuencias políticas. En términos del número de ciudadanos naturalizados y de las tasas de naturalización, el sureste se mantiene atrás de estados que tienen largas historias de inmigración. En todos los estados del sureste estadunidense, los asiáticos tienen los mayores números de ciudadanos naturalizados, aunque las tasas varían. Los mexicanos y los centroamericanos son quienes tienen menos probabilidades de obtener la ciudadanía en los estados del sureste. Los autores también encuentran y discuten la escasa presencia de inmigrantes en la Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos y una correlación positiva significativa entre la tasa de naturalización de un estado y el porcentaje que votó por Barack Obama en la elección presidencial de 2008

Brain Responses to Letters and Speech Sounds and Their Correlations with Cognitive Skills Related to Reading in Children

Letter-speech sound (LSS) integration is crucial for initial stages of reading acquisition. However, the relationship between cortical organization for supporting LSS integration, including unimodal and multimodal processes, and reading skills in early readers remains unclear. In the present study, we measured brain responses to Finnish letters and speech sounds from 29 typically developing Finnish children in a child-friendly audiovisual integration experiment using magnetoencephalography. Brain source activations in response to auditory, visual and audiovisual stimuli as well as audiovisual integration response were correlated with reading skills and cognitive skills predictive of reading development after controlling for the effect of age. Regression analysis showed that from the brain measures, the auditory late response around 400 ms showed the largest association with phonological processing and rapid automatized naming abilities. In addition, audiovisual integration effect was most pronounced in the left and right temporoparietal regions and the activities in several of these temporoparietal regions correlated with reading and writing skills. Our findings indicated the important role of temporoparietal regions in the early phase of learning to read and their unique contribution to reading skills.peerReviewe