Browsing by Subject "self-expression"
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(2022)Breakdance is a hip hop dance which originated in the South Bronx of New York City in the 1970s. Hip hop is a global phenomenon which values authenticity, community and individuality. Breakdancers often dance with others to develop their style and create a community of like-minded individuals. Dancers may travel to other countries to compete for titles and develop their skills by participating in workshops. The current study explored expressions of identity in South Korean breakers. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis served as the theoretical framework for the study. It is often used in identity research exploring how individuals make sense of their identity in a given situation, phenomena or context. Trough IPA, the embodied practice of dance can be assessed where one’s feelings, emotions and the body can be made salient. Five South Korean male breakdancers from five different cities were interviewed. With the use of semi-structured interviews, questions aimed to be non-directional and open to interpretation. The analysis showed that the dancers expressed their identity in breaking in different ways. Individuality was valued through developing one’s own dance style and having a nickname. Some dancers indicated using their body to express themselves and experiment with different styles of dancing. Music acted as a way to introspect, to identity feelings and emotions in oneself. For a few of the dancers, the clothes they were while dancing were the same as their everyday clothes. Further, the breakdancers placed importance in dancing and learning from others to develop their dancing style. Importantly, for all of the dancers, it was crucial to acknowledge and understand the roots of hip hop. The dancers explored their journeys in breaking and continuously referred to their past and present. The breakers’ identity was affected by their dancing style, clothing, music, the use of their body and their relationship to other breakers. The current research adds to the already existing but limited research on sense making processes of breakdaners. Future research could explore the notions of community and sense of belonging in other hip hop subcultures, and develop research focused on breakdancers’ meaning making processes.
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(2020)Human values are studied across scientific disciplines. Our values underline what is important to us, and our values are reflected in our behaviour and the social structures that surround us. The cultural environment may contribute to value change. The values of individuals are mainly formed in younger years and remain relatively stable after a person has reached adulthood. The aim of this thesis was first to analyze the correlation between Schwartz’s (2012) universalism value structure and Inglehart’s (2014) self-expression values. Second, it was investigated whether this relationship is stronger in so-called WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) countries. The compared value structures put emphasis on factors that are often mentioned in conversations around sustainable development: environmental concern, care for other people, and social justice. In order to examine the relationship between universalism and self-expression values, a correlation analysis was performed with data from 52 countries across the world. The findings indicate a positive and statistically significant relationship (p < 0.01) between the value structures in seven of the eight WEIRD countries that were identified. In other parts of the world, the correlation was weaker and more dubious. On the one hand, the results suggest that high levels of universalism values can be combined with strong prevalence of self-expression values. Western individualism may coexist with altruism and environmental concern, in line with previous research. However, the positive correlations were rather small (0.10 < r < 0.30), signalling that the value structures universalism and self-expression represent different types of values with unique content. On the other hand, in a couple of nations bordering to WEIRD, the positive relationship between the value structures was due to relatively low levels of both universalism and self-expression values. Moreover, most non-WEIRD countries did not record a significant correlation between universalism and self-expression. From a cross-cultural perspective, this might be explained by the fact that the Schwartz and Inglehart frameworks have been designed and developed in the West. Under such circumstances, human values are approached from a Western point of view, meaning that the tools of measurement possibly work best in a WEIRD context. Theories, methods, and interpretations with a Western bias are not necessarily transferable to other countries and cultures without modifications.
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