Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper examines the predictive effect of positive, negative, and mixed emotions within dyads on the survival of adult friendships over a 25 year period. Mean age at the start of the study was 25. At the end, the average respondent was 50 years old. Prior research on this population of participants in adult communal households showed strong predictive effects of dyadic emotional loadings on commune membership turnover and household survival within a one year period of time. We therefore ask whether, and to what extent, positive, negative, and mixed emotional sentiments can also predict the endurance of friendships over 1, 12, and 25 year intervals from the baseline in three of the communes (one secular, one Christian, one guru-led) drawn from this same population. Taking advantage of highly detailed baseline emotion responses from all ‘egos’ about all possible ‘alters’ within each commune, we classify all dyads within each commune as initially positive, negative, mixed, or neutral in emotional loading. We find that the predictive power of emotions on friendship durability exists but decays slowly over time. This decay is slower for women than for men. Dyadic gender equivalence, sentiment-reciprocity, and residential propinquity all are seen to be significant covariates.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In the present study, we examined the role of brands in the process of non-conscious hierarchisation in dyadic interactions. More specifically, we hypothesized and found that when an agent exhibited brands that were rated high on the brand personality dimension of ‘competence’ (Aaker, 1997), these can induce patterns of nonverbal submissive behavior in the antagonist. Compared to control conditions, participants exposed to high-competence brands showed more frequent sequences of submissive nonverbal behaviors such as looking at the agent while listening to him, nodding affirmatively, coy smiling and blushing. This effect of brand competence on hierarchisation was more pronounced for individuals with a low intrinsic tendency for dominant behavior.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Most research on trade and conflict continues to focus on whether trade leads to more or less conflict, and/or the inverse relationship, whether conflict has effects on trade flows. We have not, however, examined sufficiently what types of countries become embroiled in bilateral trade disputes, or just as importantly, what are the characteristics of the pairs of countries that become involved in such disagreements. Since the decline of the tariff, bilateral trade policy instruments including antidumping measures, countervailing duties, and technical barriers have become central to many nations trade policy behavior. Yet some nations use these instruments more than others, while other nations seem to be the disproportionate targets of these policies. We have little insight into why there is such variation in who are the participants.To address these important issues, we employ a theoretical approach that integrates both international and domestic explanations. Internationally, we expect that retaliation will affect nations? decisions to initiate trade disputes with other nations. Recent empirical research suggests that a major proportion of trade disputes result from previous disagreements over trade. On the other hand, we anticipate that regional integration will have a negative effect on trade disputes because the corresponding institutional frameworks serve to address issues before they reach the dispute stage. Domestically, we anticipate that characteristics of specific industries greatly shape the disputes that evolve between countries. For example, recent qualitative research illustrates that agricultural and high-tech industries are very adept at steering their national governments into major international disputes on their behalf.

Publication Type: Individual Poster
Abstract: Background and Aims: High levels of contingent responses of mothers to their infants’ signals are said to foster the infant’s cognitive development. In the literature, contingency experiences are related to language development, the broader socio-cognitive development, autonomy and self-efficacy, promoting the development of an early self concept. So far, most research has concentrated on distal maternal modalities that are central to “Western cultures” like mutual eye contact and vocalizations. Furthermore, most research was conducted in “Western settings”, e.g. with focus on the exclusive mother-infant dyad. Moreover, most research restricted, by setting an instruction, the interaction format to the face-to-face context. Our aim was to extend the scope of contingency analyses beyond those limitations and to look for similarities and differences of maternal contingencies across cultures.

Methods: We developed a “culture-fair” manual for analyzing maternal reactions to 3-months old infant’s vocalizations and nonverbal signals comprising a complete spectrum of modalities derived from the component model of parenting (Keller, 2002). Moreover, we allowed for settings where, apart from mothers, other persons took part in the interaction. This enabled us to look for culture-specific similarities and differences regarding the quality, e.g. the modality patterns of contingency reactions, and the quantity of contingent reactions toward infant signals. Furthermore, we could analyze how the quality and quantity of maternal contingency was influenced by multi-party settings. The analyses were based on videos of free-play interactions that were taken in German, Euro-American, Indian, Chinese and Cameroonian families from middle to upper middle-class with a relatively high degree of formal education.

Key Results & Conclusion: Preliminary results indicate that – within these urban middle-class samples – there are more similarities than differences. The caretakers’ dominant modalities are vocalization and body stimulation and the overall level of contingency is comparable across sites. However, mothers from socio-cultural environments who emphasize socialization goals related to the development of agency do address the child’s sense of sight more often giving prominence to the face-to-face context. Furthermore, infants from these mothers do establish face-to-face context more often than infants from socio-cultural environments where contingent reactions addressing the sense of sight are given less prominence.

Publication Type: Individual Poster
Abstract: The field of attachment research originated from John Bowlby's central idea that “the mechanisms underlying the infant’s tie to the mother originally emerged as a result of evolutionary pressures” and not as a secondary outcome from an associational learning process. This “strikingly strong tie, evident particularly when disrupted” has systematically been observed by attachment researchers through the development of a series of instruments that gauge interpersonal communication. The long-lasting effects of differing patterns of attachment of the infants have consistently been confirmed in longitudinal studies from different cultures. The favorable results of a secure attachment of an infant at 12 and 18 months have recurrently been documented (Sroufe ). Disorganized-disoriented attachment has, on its part, been systematically associated to later severe psychopathology in adolescence and young adulthood (Sroufe Carlson…).

An attachment research project in México has been focusing on the character traits of very poor indigenous rural women (manifested in their Social Character Interpretative questionnaires) and how they relate to mothering practices and the babies’ patterns of attachment. Possible concomitants of caregiver’s experiences which can in high-risk samples and difficult life experiences allow the caretaking practices that result in their babies organized or secure patterns of attachment are to be detected.
The project has assessed 30 Indian Nahuatl Dyads (Gojman & Millán 2000), and 5 adolescent mothers who work and live in the streets. (Gojman & Millán 2004) on Social Character Interviews (Fromm & Maccoby), videotaped home observations of their daily practices, videotapes on the infants' attachment strategies -through Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation procedure (Ainsworth et al) and the Mary Main's Adult Attachment Interviews AAI (Hesse, Main…). These assessments are being compared to an equivalent urban middle-class group of 35 Dyads in Mexico City.