Digital Commons Network^™

Differences In Art And Music High School Students’ Sat Test Scores From 2006 To 2015, Margaret Ellen Beyer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Academia and education advocates have reported a concern about the elimination of art and music education classes from high school curriculums in the United States. Studies using mean SAT test scores from 1984 and 1994 versions of the SAT test indicated participants who had art and music education classes had higher verbal and mathematical SAT test scores compared to those who did not. However, since revision of the SAT test in 2005, whether students had significantly increased mean SAT test scores with each added year of art and music education participation, and whether students who participated in art and music …

Identifying Forms Of After-Hours Information Communication Technology Use And Their Role In Psychological Detachment: An Episodic Approach, Adela Chen, Samantha A. Conroy, Tori L. Crain

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Employees increasingly conduct work outside of traditional work hours via information communication technologies (ICTs). There is a need to understand how after-hours ICT use relates to well-being, given that such connectivity has become unavoidable. We implement an episodic, event-contingent design to evaluate the association between different ICT media (i.e., e-mail, phone call, chat app, short message service) and the within-person outcomes of psychological detachment as partially mediated by task productivity. A daily diary survey was collected over three consecutive workdays to capture after-hours ICT use. Daily surveys were completed by 498 individuals, with a total of 1494 episodes being captured …

Exploring The Relationship Between Partner Boundary Flexibility Congruence And Well-Being Outcomes While Work From Home During Covid: The Mediation Of Dyadic Empathy, Huaying Li

Dissertations

This study integrates person-environment fit theory and boundary theory to examine the influence of congruence in work and family boundary management on the well-being of couples working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on the differences in work and family boundary management preferences between spouses, the study assesses the effects on dyadic empathy (empathic concern and perspective-taking), marital satisfaction, and job performance. Utilizing latent congruence modeling with survey data from 222 US employees, the study reveals that congruence (difference) in family flexibility between couples negatively impacts empathic concerns and perspective-taking. Conversely, actual transitions between work and family positively influence …

Development And Preliminary Validation Of The Internalized Heterosexist Racism Measure For Sexual Minorities Of Color, Juan Pantoja-Patino

Dissertations

Research on intersectional internalized oppression among sexual minorities of color is scant. One of the reasons as to why such oppression is understudied amongst such population is the lack of psychological measures. At the same time, sexual minorities of color are faced with the negative impact of living in a racist and heterosexist society. Therefore, this study is one of first to develop and preliminarily validate the Internalized Heterosexist Racism Measure (IHRM) that evaluates internalized heterosexist racism in sexual minorities of color. By applying an intersectionality framework, the IHRM was generated from an extensive literature review and then reviewed by …

Savoring And Bereavement; Exploring Whether Savoring Can Be Used As An Interventional Tool For Grieving Older Adults, Ajla Basic

Dissertations

Relational savoring is the idea that savoring can be achieved through focusing on a critical relationship with another person and then extracting the positivity from that relationship (Borelli, et al., 2020). Relational savoring differs from regular savoring because in the former, it is the savoring of memories within a relationship that has attachment, and where the memories themselves have attachment-based content (i.e., protection, support, love) (Borelli, et al., 2020). This proposed study would seek to answer the question of whether relational savoring can act as a protective barrier against psychological distresses a bereaved person may experience by priming and enhancing …

Understanding Public Support For Juneteenth As A Federal Holiday, Amy Ehinomen Eremionkhale, Iván Flores Martínez, Wendy Zhou

Business Analytics Faculty Publications

This study investigates the factors influencing public support of Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday in the United States. Leveraging the Affect, Behavior, and Cognition (ABC) model, we uncover nuanced relationships that shape individual policy attitudes by adding family and community traditions to the model. Our findings show that positive beliefs, emotions, and preferences for celebrating with family or friends increase support, while negative perceptions, commercialization of the holiday, and conservatism decrease it. Polarization perceptions reduced support, but only for the general population. Interestingly, our findings reveal that family traditions of celebrating Juneteenth during childhood have varying effects across different racial …

The Impact Of Risk And Trust On Confrontations Of Sexism: The Role Of Goals, Emily H. Budde

Dissertations

Sexism is still persistent in the United States (Swim et al., 2001), especially in the workplace (Fitzgerald, 1993; Loy & Stewart, 1984), leading to many negative outcomes for women. Unfortunately, there is an assumption in America that targets of bias will confront the perpetrator in the moment. However, this is often not the case leading to a disconnect in society at the cost of the target (Gutek & O’Connor, 1995). Looking at targets’ decision-making process and the factors that influence it can provide more context for why targets respond the way they do. I tested whether behaviors following bias (i.e., …

Examining Psychosocial Stressors Among African American Women With Postpartum Depression, Audrey Rose Morris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Psychosocial stressors are among the causative factors of postpartum depression (PPD) in African American women. This study was a qualitative meta-analysis examining the psychosocial stressors that contribute to PPD among African American women. The aim was to identify the psychosocial stressors among African American women with PPD by examining existing literature and identifying common themes. The integrative model (IM) by Fishbein and Yzer assisted in understanding the significance of psychosocial stressors in African American women with PPD. Thematic analysis was used to generate new, more substantive meanings than those taken from individual investigations. Ten research studies were selected and examined …

Lean Implementation Difference Between Lean Maturity, Psychological Well-Being, And Employee Engagement Of Nurses In A Hospital Setting, Kevin E. Smith

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study examined the differences of Lean implementation in three settings; (a hospital in a health system where Lean is implemented throughout the system, a hospital that has implemented Lean in a health system that has not implemented Lean, a hospital that has not implemented Lean in a health system that has not implemented Lean) between LM, PWB, and EE among nurses in a hospital setting. The theoretical construct of the job demands-resources model is used to base the study. Three survey instruments (Psychological Well-Being Scale, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Lean Healthcare Implementation Self-Assessment Instrument) were self-administered by registered …

Parenting Practices To Have Assisted In Academic Success Of Undergraduate Students, Dorothy Michelle Fyfe

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Prior research reflects that parental involvement has a positive effect on students’ academic performance. Limitations in the research include the use of quantitative methods, the reporting by parents, and parent involvement measured through school activities. It is unknown what parenting practices are perceived as helpful from students themselves. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the parenting practices perceived by undergraduate students to have assisted in their academic success. This research explored how undergraduate students explain parenting practices perceived to have assisted in their academic success, how they describe the communication with their parents that assisted in …

The Impact Of Social Stress And Alcohol Intoxication On Cognitive Processes Among College Students With Heavy Episodic Drinking, Caroline R. Scherzer

LSU Master's Theses

College students with high social anxiety and heavy episodic drinking appear to consume alcohol more frequently and at greater quantities, presumably because individuals with higher trait social anxiety may be more responsive to the stress-response dampening effects of alcohol in social contexts due to appraisal disruption and activation of implicit social cognitions. However, little work has tested this hypothesis within a controlled lab-based setting. The current study tested whether the sequence of alcohol intoxication and induction of an anticipatory social stressor interacts with trait social anxiety to predict changes in anticipatory social anxiety, craving, implicit drinking identity, and implicit self-esteem. …

The Influence Of Working Memory And Anxiety In Adolescents, Donna M. Ward

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Literature supports a reliable link between lower working memory (WM) performance and higher anxiety, and both anxiety and WM are reported as comorbid with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). This study sought to understand to what extent WM deficits and anxiety exists in adolescent NDD and non-NDD groups. Participants (N = 11,400; ages 9-10) were obtained from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study archived dataset, with the approval of the NIMH approval. Participants in the dataset were recruited from 21 sites across the U.S. A Mann-Whitney U test, comparing the NDD (N=2756) and non-NDD (N=8644) groups was statistically significant, noting a …

Variables Predicting Turnover Intention Among Mental Health And Addictions Therapists, Deborah J. Milanek

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this research study was to explore the correlations between pay satisfaction, burnout, workload, and flexible work arrangements on turnover intention among mental health and addictions therapists. Previous research studies indicate that turnover may negatively affect patient care, increase cost to employers, decrease workplace morale and increase workload demands for remaining therapists. Some research studies have also found that pay satisfaction, burnout, workload, and flexible work arrangements may be related to turnover intention. This study planned to support current research as well as determine the strength of the correlation between each of these variables and turnover intention. To …

The Nexus Of Passive-Avoidant Leadership And Deviancy: Exploring Job Embeddedness, Anthony Maurice Da Silva

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers have experienced unprecedented changes in the workforce, including labor shortages and new legislation. As a result, many organizations, known as second-chance employers, proactively seek alternative talent sources to mitigate staffing shortages, including hiring candidates with criminal backgrounds, either voluntarily or as mandated by law. However, this approach has challenges; individuals with criminal records often lack essential support upon reentry and experience an increased risk of reoffending. Although existing literature indicates that the appropriate leadership style is crucial for behavior correction, there is a gap in the literature addressing employees who work for …

Intersection Between Psychopathy And Aggression In Correctional Officers, Lindsay Bergeson

Theses and Graduate Projects

Excessive use of force incidents within the last decade has resulted in high media coverage. One consequence of this high media coverage is the community more frequently questioning the personality characteristics of police and correctional officers. While the literature has begun to dive into the maladaptive traits of police officers and its relationship to excessive use of force, research on this topic in correctional institutions is scarce. The present study examined the relationship between psychopathy, aggression, and use of force in 27 correctional officers (COs) in Minnesota. The study collected self-report data from COs enrolled in Crisis Intervention Training. Using …

Good Vibes Are Contagious: Exploring Within- And Between-Person Predictors Of Grit In Group Environments, Rachel K. Edwards

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The groups we belong to and people we surround ourselves with can influence our goal pursuit through the types of goals we pursue and effort we put into pursuing them. Grit is one psychological construct encompassing passion and perseverance for goals that has yet to be thoroughly examined as it emerges across specific contexts. This thesis explored how perceptions of the group environment and group member goal interest and perseverance interact to influence individual context-specific grit. Study 1 examined a student club sample to investigate between-person associations of variables across groups exhibiting different levels of perceived interdependence. Study 2 aimed …

The Intersection Of Disability, Gender, And Sexual Violence Perceptions In Juror Decision-Making, Melissa West

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sexual violence is a societal epidemic and disproportionally affects disabled women. Disabled women belong to an intersectional identity that also experiences more negative attitudes, stigma, stereotypes, and discrimination than nondisabled individuals. In sexual assault cases, juror biases may translate into more detrimental attitudes toward disabled victims. The purpose of this study was to examine how these attitudes may impact outcomes in sexual assault trials when comparing disabled and nondisabled female victims. This study was conducted through the lens of just-world theory and feminist disability theory using a quantitative, experimental jury simulation design. The 304 participants in an online survey designed …

Perspective: The Evolution Of Hormones And Person Perception-A Quantitative Genetic Framework, Christopher I Gurguis, Tyler S Kimm, Teresa A Pigott

Student and Faculty Publications

Evolutionary biology provides a unifying theory for testing hypotheses about the relationship between hormones and person perception. Person perception usually receives attention from the perspective of sexual selection. However, because person perception is one trait in a suite regulated by hormones, univariate approaches are insufficient. In this Perspectives article, quantitative genetics is presented as an important but underutilized framework for testing evolutionary hypotheses within this literature. We note tacit assumptions within the current literature on psychiatric genetics, which imperil the interpretation of findings thus far. As regulators of a diverse manifold of traits, hormones mediate tradeoffs among an array of …

What Factors Affect Empathy In People With Narcissism?, Ya Yang, Liza Oh

Pacific Journal of Health

This literature review analyzes factors that may affect how people with narcissism experience empathy. The articles that were analyzed in the literature review included those that discussed the relationship between narcissism and empathy. Using a systematic review, a total of 11 articles were chosen from PsycINFO through a three-stage screening process. The studies mainly revolved around perspective-taking, traits associated with narcissism, motivation, and gender. The participants included in the studies were mainly adults in the United States that had no, low, or high narcissism. The main finding was that factors that caused people with narcissism to view others as if …

Effects Of Intimate Partner Violence And Machismo On Pregnant Women In Mexico: A Systematic Review, Amber Casarrubias-Enriquez

University Honors Theses

This thesis aims to understand the effects of machismo and its link to intimate partner violence against pregnant women in Mexico. Machismo is a common underlying social norm in Latin America with Mexico being my target of interest. The term is defined as extreme masculinity that often contributes to gender inequalities and can have violent characteristics. Intimate partner violence is categorized as violent threats or acts against a partner and affects nearly 44% of women in Mexico (Carney et al., 2022). Barriers to help stem from shame, family expectations, and the overall violence against women in Mexico. Sadly, abuse persists …

The Effects Of Covid-19 On Asian American Perception Of Mental Health, Emily Tseung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study describes a qualitative study using a grounded theory, constructivist approach, which sampled (N = 6) Asian American college students who lived in the United States during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research shows that COVID significantly impacted the Asian American perception of mental health, including mental health help- seeking behaviors and discrimination experienced. The long-term effects of this are still largely unknown. In depth, semi-structured interviews were used to explore the lived experiences of these Asian Americans. Qualitative analysis revealed thematic differences for the following themes: (a) experience with mental illness, (b) mental health help- seeking …

Ensemble Perception Of Emotion: Incidental Effects Of Social Identity, Spencer T. Dobbs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research in vision science suggests that people possess a perceptual mechanism – ensemble perception - which enables them to rapidly identify the characteristics of groups (e.g., emotion, sex-ratio, race-ratio). This work examined whether ensemble perceptions of groups are driven by the characteristics of group members whose behavior is most likely to impact the perceiver. Specifically, we predicted that more self-relevant group members would be weighted more heavily in ensemble perceptions than less self-relevant group members. Study 1 (n = 83) found that young adult participants’ ensemble perceptions of emotion were biased in favor of more self-relevant (younger adult) group …

Reconciling Moral Dissonance: A Framework For Re-Integrating Moral Orientation With Life Agency During Warfighters’ Struggles With Military Moral Injury, Jeffrey L. Zust

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses case studies to critically examine the Three Mirror Model (TMM) as a framework for understanding the formation and healing of Military Moral Injury (MMI). I adapt the work of Stephen Brookfield and Neal Krause to evaluate using the TMM as a methodology for dealing with the complex issues of MMI within a military deployment cycle (training, warfighting, and healing) (Brookfield 2012, 2017; Krause 2022). Specifically, I use theorists, researchers, healers, and warfighters as key stakeholders to identify and critically examine the intersections of disciplines and the subsets of models where warfighters’ moral orientations and moral agency form …

Conducting Culturally Responsive, Strengths-Based Assessment In Schools, Eileen Cullen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Special education assessment has a significant impact on the lives of children with disabilities and their families. However, traditional assessment practices have been critiqued as being deficit-based, overly focused on “labeling” students, and failing to provide a holistic understanding of the student. Assessment models such as strengths-based assessment (SBA) and culturally responsive assessment (CRA), have potential to addresses these critiques and be more appropriate for the growingly diverse school population. Despite this, these models of assessment are under studied and there is a lack of clear guidance for how practitioners should implement them.

In these manuscripts, CRA and SBA are …

Sources Of Sexual And Romantic Education: Associations With Sexual Minority Men’S Sexual Experiences And Romantic Relationship Quality, Charlie Huntington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with sexual minority identities experience a variety of poorer mental and physical health outcomes, including those related to sexual and romantic quality, relative to heterosexual individuals (Beaulieu et al., 2017; CDC, 2021). These poorer romantic, sexual, and psychological outcomes may be attributable in part to lacking access to affirmative and relevant modeling of sexual minority experiences, such as through sex education (Gillespie et al., 2022; Keiser et al., 2019). This study aimed to understand how sexual minority men learn – in ways potentially both helpful and unhelpful – about romantic relationships and sexual activity, and how these experiences are …

Exploring Advocates’ Perceptions Of Rural And Urban Sexual Assault Survivors’ Experiences Seeking Civil Protective Orders, Hannah C. Samuels

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Civil protective orders (CPOs) are one of the most utilized legal remedies that exist for sexual assault survivors. While they are available for every survivor in Illinois, a survivor’s community context can impact their experience petitioning for a CPO. Prior research with domestic violence survivors suggests that the rurality and urbanicity of a community may impact a sexual assault survivors experiences seeking a CPO, but little research has been conducted with sexual assault survivors specifically. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of rape crisis center advocates from rural and urban counties across the state of Illinois …

Empowerment As A Predictor Of System Justification Moderated By Race, Nicole Belcher

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The attitudes people hold about the social structure around them have varying explanations in the field of psychology. System justification represents the idea that people will accept and enforce the social structures that exist because of the underlying need for consistency (Jost et al., 2004). Also central to this theory is the idea that people will legitimize structures because of a desire for the status quo to remain (Jost, 2001). These ideas seek to explain the problematic ideologies that maintain unfair social structures and why people allow them to remain. Studies have found individuals will support unjust systems because either …

Identity Shifting Behaviors, Perceptions Of Diversity, And Perceived Discrimination In South Asian Employees, Himali Bhandari

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Workplace discrimination is a significant issue in the workplace for minority racial and ethnic groups, especially for South Asian employees in the US. This study investigated the relationship between perceived workplace diversity climate and identity shifting behaviors (manifestation and suppression behaviors of group identity) that South Asian employees might display at work. Furthermore, it was also expected that perceptions of racial discrimination experiences would mediate this relationship. It was hypothesized that perceived diversity climate will be negatively related to suppression behaviors and positively related manifestation behaviors, mediated by perceptions of racial discrimination. Participants were recruited from social media, Prolific, and …

Clutter And Control: A Regional Analysis Of The Effect Of Decluttering On Women During The Pandemic, Zachary Henry Ellis

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The Covid pandemic impacted the whole nation, with 72% of Americans reported disruption in their everyday lives, and 45% of Americans reported negative health impacts in response to the pandemic (Kirzinger et al. 2020). However, there are some populations of citizens that are more vulnerable to the negative mental health effects of the pandemic (Czeisler et al. 2020). Fear and psychological reactance, triggered when individuals feel their freedoms are threatened, surged during the pandemic (Taylor and Asmundson, 2021; Wortman & Brehm, 1975). Yet, little research explores how decluttering projects affect this behavior.

The current study explored the impact of successful …

Counting On The Family: Family Cohesion And Its Relationship To Ptg, Edgar Ivan Gandara

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The current study aimed to understand how an adolescent’s perceived family cohesion predicts post-traumatic Growth (PTG). Although relatively new to Psychology, there is extensive literature on PTG and its relationship with social support. However, there is not as much research exploring family cohesion as it relates to PTG. A cohesion focus provides insight into the importance of emotional connectedness in social support and its impact on adolescent PTG. Moreover, we investigated the relationship family cohesion has with PTG across Hispanic and non-Hispanic adolescents to see if there was any significant variance given cultural differences in the role of family. Our …