Browsing by Subject "Commitment"
Now showing 1 - 15 of 15
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Action selection and coordination of autonomous agents for UAV surveillance(2011-12) Han, David Ching-Wey; Barber, K. Suzanne; Arapostathis, Aristotle; Aziz, Adnan; Lifschitz, Vladimir; Stone, PeterAgents, by definition, (1) are situated in an environment upon which their actions affect changes and (2) have some level of autonomy from the control of humans or other agents. Being situated requires that the agent have a mechanism for sensing the environment as well as actuators for changing the environment. Autonomy implies that each agent has the freedom to make their own decisions. Rational agents are those agents that decide to execute actions that are in their “best interests” according to their desires, using a model of those desires on which they make those decisions. Action selection is complicated due to uncertainty when operating in a dynamic environment or where other actors (agents) can also influence the environment. This dissertation presents an action selection framework and algorithms that are (1) rational with respect to multiple desires and (2) responsive with respect to changing desires. Agents can use the concept of commitments, and the subsequent communication of those commitments, to coordinate their actions and reduce their uncertainty. Coordination is layered on top of this framework by describing and analyzing how commitments affect the agents’ desires in their action selection models. This research uses the domain of UAV surveillance to experimentally explore the balance between under-commitment and over-commitment. Where previous approaches concentrate on the semantics of commitment, this research concentrates on the pragmatics of commitment, describing how to use utility calculations to enable an agent to decide when making a commitment is in its best interests.Item An association of commitment and communal-exchange relationship oreintation(Texas Tech University, 2005-08) Bartsch, Nadine Laverne; Hendrick, Susan S.; McGlynn, Richard P.; Winer, Jane L.; Hendrick, Clyde A.The present research explores the association between commitment, communal-exchange orientation, and satisfaction in romantic relationships. Relationship commitment focuses on the stability of a relationship, including its maintenance and interdependence of partners (Rusbult, 1983). It has been proposed that commitment involves three dimensions (i.e., personal desire to be in the relationship, moral obligation to remain in the relationship, and external constraints to leaving the relationship; Johnson, 1973; Johnson, Caughlin, & Huston, 1999). Rusbult’s (1980, 1983) investment model of relationship commitment indicates that commitment is predicted by a combination of relationship satisfaction plus the investment of resources in the relationship less the perceived attractive alternatives to the relationship. Also, commitment is a process of interpersonal interactions (Surra, 1987; Surra & Hughes, 1997). In communal-exchange relationship orientation (Clark & Mills, 1979; Mills & Clark, 1982), relationships are distinguished by the timing and comparability of benefits. Communal relationships focus on being responsive to the other’s needs, and imply long-term relationships. Exchange relationships focus on debts incurred and repayment of similar benefits in a timely manner. Results from past research indicate that exchange orientation is negatively associated with marriage adjustment and positively associated with dissatisfaction. In current research, correlational analyses indicated that commitment and its components are associated with communal-exchange relationship orientation. Student participants reported a more significant relationship than did the community participants between communal relationship orientation and commitment. Women more than men reported significant associations between communal relationship orientation and commitment. However, the differences between women’s and men’s associations were not significant and the addition of communal relationship orientation did not increase the prediction of commitment by the investment model. Perceived partner commitment accounted for a 3% increase in the ability of the investment model to predict one’s commitment. Overall, aspects of commitment are related to relationship satisfaction, no matter how commitment is measured.Item Derogation or enhancement? Attractiveness evaluations of potential partners by single and coupled people(2016-05) Shukusky, Jennifer Ann; Eastwick, Paul; Loving, Timothy; Gleason, MarciCoupled people and single people evaluate potential partners differently, such that coupled people rate potential partners as significantly less appealing than single people. Yet, at present, it is impossible to determine the mechanism that underlies this mean difference: derogation, the tendency for partnered individuals to devalue attractive alternatives, or enhancement, the tendency for single people to bolster the attractiveness of potential partners. In the current study, we aim to provide clarity on this issue by conceptually replicating and advancing previous work on the derogation and enhancement of potential partners. We do this using a baseline comparison group (neutral coders who also rated the attractiveness of the participants’ potential partners) in addition to coupled and single peoples’ evaluations. Also, unlike previous derogation and enhancement studies, participants in the present study evaluated potential partners with whom they interacted in their everyday lives. We found the expected mean difference between ratings made by coupled and single individuals. Additionally, compared to the neutral baseline ratings, enhancement emerged as a stronger mechanism than derogation. Limitations of this study and potential explanations for these results are discussed.Item Differentiating stable and unstable friendships: commitment, investment, and reward(Texas Tech University, 1990-01) Young, Timothy LThe development, maintenance, and dissolution of interpersonal relationships has long been an area of interest in social research. Various rituals have been designed in virtually every culture to promote enduring relationships. Secret oaths, wedding vows, rights of initiation, club pledges and pacts, to name only a few, are all designed to bond people together and provide a sense of belonging and camaraderie. Not all relationships, however, endure. What is it about stable relationships which distinguishes them from unstable relationships in similar circumstances? Some seem capable of surviving the most adverse of circumstances while others are easily shattered. The factors that distinguish enduring from temporary relationships are not completely clear. Even though there has been theoretical interest in the subject of friendship stability, many unanswered questions remain.Item Examining the antecedents and structure of customer loyalty in a tourism context(2009-06-02) Li, XiangThe purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the structure and antecedents of cruise passengers' loyalty. Specifically, the study examined the dimensionality of the loyalty construct. Moreover, the study investigated the utility of applying the Investment Model (Rusbult 1980, 1983) to reveal the psychological processes underlying loyalty formation. The study also attempted to, guided by the Investment Model, integrate the seemingly segregated findings of loyalty antecedents from marketing and leisure/tourism literature. Based on the Investment Model and other marketing and leisure/tourism studies on loyalty, a conceptual framework was established for this study. An online panel survey was conducted to examine this model. Subjects (N = 554) were online panelists who were repeat cruisers and who have cruised at least once in the past 12 months. In this study, loyalty was conceptualized as a four-dimensional construct: cognitive loyalty, affective loyalty, conative loyalty, and behavioral loyalty. Further, the first three components were postulated as three subdimensions of a higher order construct, attitudinal loyalty. However, this conceptualization was not supported by the data. Alternatively, post-hoc analyses revealed that attitudinal loyalty was a first-order one-dimensional construct, containing cognitve, affective, and conative components. Moreover, behavioral loyalty was positively and significantly influenced by attitudinal loyalty. In sum, this study supported the traditional two-dimensional conceptualization of loyalty, which argues that loyalty has an attitudinal and a behavioral component. Following the Investment Model, this dissertation suggested that satisfaction, quality of alternatives, and investment size were three critical antecedents of consumers' attitudinal loyalty. These theoretical relationships were supported by the present study, and collectively, the three predictors accounted for over 74 percent of the variance in attitudinal loyalty. Finally, this dissertation hypothesized that quality and value, two constructs related to loyalty, served as antecedents of satisfaction, with quality also leading to value. Results of the study supported all these hypotheses, and satisfaction was found to partially mediate the quality-attitudinal loyalty, and value-attitudinal loyalty relationships. Results of the present study provide important direction for the development of a holistic theoretical framework to explain the formation and structure of customers' brand loyalty.Item Exploring the mutual influence of self and relationship : a theory of couple identity negotiation(2010-08) Kwang, Tracy Nai; Swann, William B.; Neff, Lisa A.Relationships can shape the self-concept, draw out unique aspects of an individual’s personality, and influence individual perspectives and goals. Yet the self is not a passive player in relationships as self-related goals and motives can also influence how relationships form and develop. While the field is replete with research on the unidirectional influence between self and relationships, surprisingly little has been done on synergistic effect of combined self and relationship influences. I present a new theory of couple identity negotiation that captures how two individuals in a relationship negotiate their independent identities to form a unified couple identity. I hypothesize that the process through which an individual and his/her partner merge to create a new couple identity is crucial in determining relationship longevity and satisfaction. I draw from social identity theory (Turner et al., 1987) and identity fusion theory (Swann et al., 2009) to propose three models of couple identity negotiation: Model A involves the self being subsumed by the partner; Model B involves a negotiation wherein the self and partner both contribute to the couple identity; Model C the self subsuming the partner’s self. Study 1 tests the links between the different models to relationship outcomes, namely relationship satisfaction and commitment. Study 2 explores personality correlates of the models. Results demonstrate that couple identity negotiation models predict different levels of relationship quality. Furthermore, the models are not significantly correlated with personality variables, suggesting that the models are specific to the relationship, and are not driven solely by individual differences.Item Goals as content-specific standards for evaluation of romantic commitment(2013-08) Tennant, Patrick Solis; Gleason, Marci Elizabeth JoyThis thesis examines the association between the role that an individual’s partner and relationship alternatives play in his or her goal pursuits and the individual’s commitment to his or her relationship. Individual’s preference for others that aid in the achievement of his or her goals has been theoretically and empirically established (Fitzsimons & Shah, 2008). This thesis extends that work by examining the relation between multiple interpersonal dimensions of an individual’s goal pursuits and his or her romantic commitment. Rusbult’s (1980) investment model was used as a framework to develop a questionnaire that examined the degree to which an individual believed his or her partner facilitated, impeded, shared, and valued his or her goals, as well as whether the individual could accomplish the goal without his or her partner or if anyone other than his or her partner could help him or her to achieve the goal. It was hypothesized that individuals who believe that their partner facilitates and shares their goals, and that their alternative partners do not facilitate their goals, will be more committed to their relationship. These hypotheses were tested with a survey that asked participants to list three of their personal goals and rate each of them on the six interpersonal goal dimensions, as well as complete measures of relationship satisfaction, investment, alternatives, and commitment. Participants were recruited and responded to the survey through the Amazon.com Mechanical Turk marketplace. The final sample included 475 individuals that were involved in a romantic relationship at the time survey. Two structural equation models were constructed to analyze the data. Primary findings show significant associations between several of the interpersonal goal dimensions and the constructs of the investment model. Results are addressed in the context of the relevant literature, with relationship evaluation serving as the suggested mechanism. Implications and future directions are then discussed.Item How Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation Affect Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction: A Cross-cultural Study in the United States and China(2015-01-13) Huang, Yundong; Mayfield, Milton R.; Mayfield, Jacqueline R.; Kock, Ned F.; Lin, RunchangThis dissertation research is designed to identify how an individual’s work motivation affects his/her organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Work motivation is divided into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The three components of organizational commitment proposed by Meyer and Allen are examined separately. This study is a cross-cultural study based on data collected from the United States and China. The data are analyzed using partial least square (PLS) based structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of the SEM analysis are compared between the US and the China sample. The results of this study show that intrinsic motivation is positively associated with affective commitment and normative commitment in both the US and China. Intrinsic motivation is positively associated with continuance commitment in the US, but the China sample shows a non-significant path coefficient between the two variables. Extrinsic motivation does not affect organizational commitment in the US, but in China, extrinsic motivation is highly associated with all components of organizational commitment. Intrinsic motivation is found to be highly associated with job satisfaction in both countries. Extrinsic motivation is related with job satisfaction in China but not in the US. The comparison of the SEM path coefficients also shows that the path coefficient between work motivation and organizational commitment is significantly different between the US and China; however, the path coefficient between work motivation and job satisfaction is not significantly different. In addition, the PLS regression shows that many of the relations between the variables are nonlinear. It has been concluded that the OB findings developed in the US are not directly applicable to China. Generally, employees motivated by the enjoyment of their job will have high levels of commitment to their organization and higher job satisfaction. Unlike employees in the US, employees in China do not regard the loss of enjoyment of their job as a consequence associated with leaving an organization. The most important finding of this research is that monetary reward is much more useful in China than in the US in terms of affecting an employee’s organizational commitment.Item "It's like I’m on human layaway" : commitment and marital decisions among long-term heteroseuxal cohabiters(2012-08) Maldonado, Amias Shanti; González-López, Gloria; Christine, Williams L.What keeps long term cohabitating couples together? I began to ask this question as I noticed more and more heterosexual people living together in long term committed relationships outside of marriage. Social commentators have decried cohabitating couples as less committed than married couples, and some research has agreed with this view, yet I personally had not seen this to be the case. As a response to this contradiction, I engage with the overall research question by exploring cohabitation and marriage decisions among ten long term heterosexual cohabitating couples as well as how the construct of commitment operates in their daily lives through a series of individual in-depth interviews. Through their stories, I situate long term heterosexual cohabitation as an outcome of a complex web of motivations, reasons, and rationales that share much in common with all cohabitating couples. I find commitment to be highly valued by these couples and produced through daily processes that bring couples closer together and heighten the cost of ending the relationship, thereby elucidating the socio-cultural factors that make long term cohabitating couples feel like they’re “already married.” By asking couples about their household division of labor and their attitudes towards marriage, I also engage with research that points to long term cohabitating couples as sites of gender egalitarianism. While these couples were more egalitarian in their housework, this was not necessarily a product of a particular affinity for gender equality. Furthermore, the ways in which they spoke about housework as well as the ways they valued marriage and weddings demonstrate that traditional gender roles still play an influential role in intercouple interactions. In the final chapter, I offer a theoretical way forward for future research on heterosexual cohabitation and identify gaps in the research that this study helps to identify.Item Relationship commitment and monitoring alternatives using Facebook in unmarried romantic relationships(2013-08) West, Adam Redd; Gershoff, Elizabeth T.Recent technological innovations affecting romantic relationships include the rise in prominence of social networking sites (SNSs), including Facebook. SNSs have become an increasingly fundamental part of developing and maintaining relationships. A majority of research focuses on the ways in which individuals access SNSs. Less studied is how individuals' use of SNSs affects their romantic relationships. An important aspect of the stability of romantic relationships is the construct of commitment. Relationship commitment is conceptualized as the intent to continue a relationship into the future and is composed of many constructs that can either keep individuals in or pull them away from the relationship. One aspect that may pull individuals away from their relationship is the quality and availability of potential alternatives, or relationship forms other than the current one. There is evidence that using tools like Facebook may prompt individuals to pay attention to alternative relationship options. This study examined how SNSs use may affect current relationships with a sample of 645 unmarried individuals in dating relationships and with current Facebook accounts. All participants completed measures of their Facebook use, relationship commitment, and attention to relationship alternatives. A sub-sample of 432 participants were randomly assigned to one of two study conditions. One condition prompted participants to view the Facebook profiles of friends that they might consider as possible relationship partners and the other condition prompted participants to view organizations they follow on Facebook. Analyses indicated that Facebook monitoring condition did not predict differences in individuals' reported commitment. However, hierarchical regression analyses using the full sample revealed that high levels of online monitoring of alternatives were associated with low levels of commitment for both males and females, but more so for males. Analyses also revealed that low levels of satisfaction predicted high levels of monitoring of alternatives and high levels of Facebook use predicted high levels of online monitoring of alternatives. These results suggest that tools such as Facebook can be used to monitor alternatives, yet doing so may negatively affect current romantic relationships. Future studies should explore these relationships by using a repeated measures design to assess change over time.Item Relationship deterioration : description and implications(2012-05) Langlais, Michael Roger; Surra, Catherine A.; Anderson, Edward Robert; Gleason, Marci E.Ending a relationship is a common and often difficult experience for adolescents and young adults who are dating (Furman & Wehner, 1997). Yet, little is known about how romantic relationships deteriorate prior to breakup (Carver, Joyner, & Udry, 2003; Duck, 1981). The main goal of this study is to develop a definition of relationship deterioration that delineates the process of deterioration, by specifying a beginning and end point of deterioration and identifying characteristics that distinguish deterioration from breakup. Data for this study comes from the University of Texas Tracing Relationships and Commitment study (UT-TRAC), which contains 464 participants (232 heterosexual couples) who graphed changes in commitment over a 9-month period providing reasons describing each change. Deterioration, as defined as declines in commitment, was described by both partners in a romantic dyad in 90 couples whereas 75 individuals described deterioration and their romantic partner did not. A coding manual was created and pilot-tested to measure frequency and intensity of the four characteristics of deterioration in participant’s descriptions of changes in commitment. The current investigation used multi-level modeling separately for couples experiencing deterioration (to control for the dyadic nature of the data) and individuals whose partner did not report declines in commitment. Survival analyses using logistic regressions (Singer & Willett, 2003) were applied to measure how the characteristics of deterioration could predict breakup. Results of the analyses revealed that participants who experienced a breakup were more likely to report relationship deterioration, particularly for couples where both individuals described deterioration. Hierarchical linear models revealed that more frequent amounts of the deterioration characteristics was associated with deterioration as compared to pre-deterioration. However, intensity of the characteristics was not significant in differentiating between deterioration and pre-deterioration. In comparing deterioration with breakup, frequency of the deterioration characteristics predicted breakup only in descriptions of alternative partners, whereas intensity of the all four deterioration characteristics predicted breakup ranging from 37% (more intense scores of relational uncertainty) to 74% (more intense scores of alternative partners for an individual’s partner). Implications of this study will be in terms of commitment theory in order to further understand relationship processes.Item Study of UPLAN based resources planning & analysis by power generation utilities in the deregulated electricity market(2010-08) Chakrabarti, Sambuddha; Baldick, Ross; Kwasinski, AlexisGenerators bid into the deregulated electricity market in order to get committed & dispatched for meeting demands. In order to maximize their revenues & minimize the cost, systematic planning of the resources and analyzing the results is crucial to the success of any generation utility. UPLAN Network Power Model provides a convenient way to model & simulate the different expected conditions related to transmission, fuel costs & other variables which are of significant importance for generation planning and also allows us to analyze the way the output variables like capacity factors of generators, prices for Energy and Ancillary Services are affected by them. Based on a very simple model, this report describes the typical approach to UPLAN based resources planning & analyzes the significance of the results. Before that it also tried to understand the way UPLAN works for a very simple three bus model by stepwise introduction of complexity & analysis of results of the simulation runs. A few other issues like the Power Purchase Agreements, Congestion & Congestion Revenue Rights & the way Electricity is traded in the Deregulated Market are also presented.Item The relationships among affective organizational commitment, transformational leadership style, and unit organizational effectiveness within the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University(Texas A&M University, 2006-04-12) Ekeland, Terry PaulOrganizational commitment and transformational leadership have been found to correlate positively with each other and with organizational effectiveness. However, much of the commitment research has been based on traditional organizations with employment relationships, raising questions as to whether the research can be generalized to voluntary organizations. Research on transformational leadership has occurred across a broad spectrum of organizations and causal links to objective measures of performance have been hypothesized. The purpose of this research was to extend the existing commitment, leadership, and organizational effectiveness research into the context of a voluntary organization, and contribute new knowledge and understanding of these relationships. The nature of a specific voluntary organization, the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University, was examined in terms of the relationships among affective commitment to the organization, transformational leadership style, and ultimately organizational effectiveness. A hypothesized causal model was proposed to explain the relationships among these three variables. The Affective Commitment Scale and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire were found to be valid and reliable in the voluntary organization examined. Consistent with prior research, a significant positive correlation was found between affective commitment and transformational leadership. However, extending this relationship to organizational effectiveness through the hypothesized causal model was not supported.Item Understanding interracial dating from the insider's perspective : a qualitative analysis(2007-12) Boelter, Jill Marie; Surra, Catherine A.In this qualitative study, I explored reasons for changes in commitment to wed for individuals in interracial dating relationships. I analyzed narrative accounts from 112 interracial daters are analyzed by means of modified analytic induction. Findings showed that individuals both directly and indirectly attributed changes in commitment to their interracial status. Individuals directly referenced the interracial status of the couple most often with respect to experiencing sanctions from disapproving social network members. Some individuals mentioned resiliency strategies to sustain the relationship in response to sanctions and other types of opposition from outsiders. Indirect effects of interracial relationships were evident most often in reference to compatibility-testing. Furthermore, various patterns and themes emerged exemplifying how individuals explore their commitment to wed. The findings showed more commonality of experiences early in the relationships, with a focus on initial attraction and interaction, and a greater diversity of experiences as relationships progressed to evaluating the partners’ marital viability. More serious demonstrations of commitment were evident as some individuals mentioned talking about marriage with their partners whereas others emphasized living together. Additional evidence, referred to here as negative space, showed that some individuals purposely avoided mentioning their interracial status in the interview setting. Overall findings support in some ways (e.g., conflict, sanctions), and refute in other ways (e.g., resiliency strategies, failing to mention issues with race), a common assumption found in the literature that interracial dating relationships are prone to experiencing negativity because of the interracial status of the couple.Item Unsolicited confession of deception in romantic relationships(2016-05) Kearns, Kyle Daniel; McGlone, Matthew S., 1966-; Dailey, ReneWe have long known that deception plays a consistent and complicated role in romantic relationships. Though social scientists have studied the discovery and detection of deception in couples, unprompted confession of deception has yet to be explored. It is not yet known why people choose to confess their lies to significant others, nor how that confession affects relationships. The present study surveyed 373 undergraduate students about their experiences both confessing to their romantic partner and being confessed to, and found that their likelihood to confess was positively associated with how discoverable they perceived the lie to be. Those higher in commitment and with a more negative attitude toward deception were more likely to have plans to confess. Participants were questioned about the nature of each lie and how it affected their relationship in the short-term and long-term. Their responses are categorized and discussed.