The meaning of objects: A contextual analysis of experiences of Chinese students in their home and host country.
Item
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Title
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The meaning of objects: A contextual analysis of experiences of Chinese students in their home and host country.
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Identifier
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AAI9224795
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identifier
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9224795
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Creator
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Bih, Herng-Dar.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Gary Winkel
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Date
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1992
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Social | Psychology, General
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Abstract
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The purpose of this research was to explore and examine the integrating role of objects for people in everyday life. An empirical study was conducted to obtain qualitative information and to derive descriptive structural invariants of the experience of objects and changes of object meanings particularly in the process of adapting to a new environment. Thirty-five Chinese students were interviewed before they left Taiwan, as well as a few weeks and one semester after their arrival in New York. Objects, in this dissertation, were not confined to those associated with positive feelings, on display, or currently valued. I included objects with both positive and "negative" meanings, objects with current significance, lost objects, objects people left behind in the old environment, and desirable objects. Questions about students' future plans and goals, social relations, school work, daily activities, and the physical environment were also asked in an open-ended interview.;Based on these qualitative data, a structure of object meanings was proposed which included instrumental, deepening experiences, manifestations of achievement, extensions of memory, enhancing social exchange, religious or spiritual, and extensions of the self. The temporal/spatial dimensions of object meanings were discussed. The analysis was then focused on students' experiences in environmental transitions. The process of their relating and adapting to the new environment as well as issues about social relations and the physical environment were discussed. In addition, changes of object meanings for these students were described as in the context of environmental transitions. In conclusion, a model for describing the process of object meanings was proposed and then this research was situated in the transactional paradigm and the existing literature on person-object relationships.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
