Digital Commons Network^™

The Relation Between Psychopathology And Unconventional Relationships, Alyssa T. Roberts

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The term “kink” refers to a community of people and a practice of sexual activities that engage in power exchanges with their partner(s), pain, and/or restraint in a myriad of different contexts, that may or may not occur in an overt sexual context (Meyer & Chen, 2019). “Kink” can be used interchangeably with the acronym BDSM, which stands for bondage, dominance/discipline, sadism/submission, masochism. The overall purpose of this study was to learn more about those who are part of the kink community. This research is important because the current literature on those who engage in kink is relatively small and …

How Great Power Politics Influences Refugee Policy: Assessing The U.S. Foreign Policy Implications Of Differing Responses To The Venezuelan Migration Crisis In Colombia, Peru, And Brazil, Suhan M. Rosario

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Why are Venezuelan Migrants accepted in neighboring Colombia, but not in other countries in South America? It is true that Colombia and Venezuela are similar in language, culture, and customs, but this is true across the continent. There has been literature published on the size of the crisis, and where they are going. Here, I will assess why the Colombian government is more accepting of Venezuelan migrants, even when this is not popular in Colombia or any other country in South America.

My argument is that US foreign policy has caused Colombia to be more accepting of Venezuelans than neighboring …

Can General Strain Theory Be Used To Explain The Relationship Between Recidivism And Secure Placement?, Alessia R. Shaw

Honors Undergraduate Theses

There has been extensive research conducted on recidivism among serious juvenile offenders. This study examines juvenile recidivism through the lenses of General Strain Theory (GST). GST has been used in previous studies to explain recidivism, however, secure placement and its effect on juvenile mental health, has not been studied. The purpose of this study is to test for a relationship between emotional responses like anger and hostility and secure placement, utilizing the Pathways to Desistance data. I will also examine if anger and hostility act as a mediator between secure placement and recidivism. Pathways to Desistance was a prospective study …

The Party Decides, Or Does It?: An In-Depth Analysis Of The 2020 Presidential Primaries And The Democratic Party's Influence, Emma Trittin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This paper explores the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primaries through the lens of Marty Cohen's The Party Decides model. The model utilizes five key indicators in helping to predict who the party will decide as the nominee: widespread voter approval, key endorsements, fundraising, media coverage, and success in the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary. While the model has been an indicator for almost 50 years, two of the five recent primaries have shown that the candidates are the exception to the rule. This paper will either prove whether or not the exception becomes the rule, if the rule is no …

Executive Function Impairment And The Influence Of A Break In A Virtual Nature Environment, Kipras Varkala

Honors Undergraduate Theses

60 (44 in the final sample) full-time or part-time employed or full-time student participants at the University of Central Florida were recruited to see whether a break in virtual nature will help improve upon executive functioning (EF) processing speed; especially in an EF impaired population. The main interest is that if virtual nature breaks aid with mental performance, then the application of virtual nature break can prove beneficial to both normal and, most importantly, the cognitively impaired. The lack of methodological consistency and the limited research on the subject yields mixed results in previous literature. The present study tries to …

History Of Involvement With Combat Sports And Severity Of Subtypes Of Psychopathy, Allen Hagen

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Combat sports can be defined as sports that involve the physical domination of opponents in order to win. Previous research on combat sports as they relate to psychopathy and anti-social behavior has produced limited information regarding subtypes of trait psychopathy. While there is evidence suggesting participation in certain combat sports can lead to an increase in anti-social behavior (Endresen & Olweus, 2005), there has never been a direct investigation into primary psychopathy, which has other distinct features such as fearless dominance and lack of remorse. These traits may be useful in the further examination of psychopathologies within a sports context. …

Social Stigma, Public Health, And Addiction In Albania, Ediola Malkouari

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Drug use is considered in many countries the plague of today's society. Researchers from medical, psychological and sociological fields, as well as lawmakers, are interested in finding more answers to this widespread phenomenon. All over the world there are known conflicts related to drug producing, transportation routes and distribution, that harm the economy and social standing of the involved communities or countries. Policies towards drug use vary from country to country, but this research focuses on how stigma affects the lives of individuals suffering from substance use disorder (SUD) in Albania. Substance use disorder is not often considered a disease, …

Exploring The Role Of Mindfulness On Psychological Well-Being Among College Students, Nikole Elderkin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

More college students are experiencing stress that negatively affects their psychological wellbeing. Many universities are reporting that more students are seeking mental health services related to stress (Miller, Elder, Scavone, 2017). The intent of this thesis is to extend the previous research findings by specifically investigating the role of mindfulness on psychological well-being of college students. Participants were asked to complete a self-administered online survey that consists of the mindful attention awareness scale (MAAS) that measures the frequency of mindfulness state, the Psychological well-being scale (PWB) that measures six aspects of wellbeing and happiness, and the generalized self-efficacy scale (GSES). …

Women As Nontraditional Terrorists, Giorgi Beruashvili

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Terrorist organizations have always been predominantly dominated by male members in numbers of participants, supporters, and leaders. Despite men having the majority of the roles, oftentimes the world witnesses attack executed by female terrorists which deal a substantial amount of damage to the infrastructure and the peaceful civilians surrounding them. Furthermore, the sense of unpredictability and unpreparedness from the counterterrorist forces and the general public adds up to the overall advantage women possess in the field of terrorism over men. Considering these observations, one can argue that women have grown to be far more dangerous and successful in the field …

Public Opinion On Intellectual Property, Danielle K. Buckles

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Several studies have tracked the rise in music piracy following the creation of Napster, analyzing the attitudes and behaviors associated. But new developments, such as streaming services and social media, have transformed the relationship between creators and users. This paper seeks to revisit the topic, reexamine past results, and evaluate public opinion in this current technological landscape. Understanding the new attitudes and behaviors associated with illegal music downloading through a questionnaire reveal important implications for the future of intellectual property legislation. These findings give some insight into the perceptions of ownership over intangible property to hopefully improve consumer and industry …

Sexual Assault Disclosure And Gender: Relationship Between Survivor Gender And Disclosure, Christian Thomas Clevenger

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to explore whether the gender of a sexual assault survivor influenced to whom they disclosed the sexual assault. Previous research indicates that barriers to disclosure could differ based both on the gender of a sexual assault survivor and characteristics of the disclosure recipient. Examining how disclosure is influenced by survivor gender could help better identify which groups could benefit most from educational resources. Participants (n = 160) were college students who experienced a sexual assault in adolescence or adulthood. Disclosure to a range of different formal and informal supports was assessed. Findings indicated that …

Lights, Camera, Inaction: Relationship Management In The Film Industry Following Sexual Misconduct Accusations, Autumn Crouch

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In the wake of the #MeToo movement, how society responds to sexual misconduct allegations has greatly changed. It has had an effect on policy from the federal to the organizational level. Looking at overarching changes that came about after the movement is one thing but taking a look at consequences brought upon certain individuals who had allegations put against them is another. This thesis explores public relations (PR) strategies executed by prominent individuals in the film industry and their publicity teams following sexual misconduct accusations. PR at its core is about relationship management. So, this line of thought leads one …

Performance In Vr, Gabriela N. Gonzalez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Psychologists once believed that memory was the result of a single-unitary memory system, and that memory was representative of a video recording. However, recent research has found that memory is malleable, and different factors can attribute to the accuracy of memory. Factors include internal bias, time since event, level of rehearsal, and outside influences. Specifically, the concept of false memories in regards to eyewitness testimony has garnered the attention of researchers. Prior research regarding false memories has looked at the impact of leading questions on memory accuracy. This study aims to explore the impact of leading questions on false memories …

The Evolution Of Substantive Due Process Throughout Time, Vitoria Olivo Factor

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Substantive due process has been of great importance to the decision of many Supreme Court cases since its beginning. Since its inception in Lochner v. New York,[1] the Supreme Court has used the theory of substantive due process in order to grant numerous rights to individuals and this theory has been interpreted differently by each Justice that has crossed its path.

This thesis will explain how recent changes in the composition of the United States Supreme Court make it likely that judicial opinions involving substantive due process will be decided differently. The United States Supreme Court’s future substantive …

Coping Mechanisms In Graduate School Discipline Specific Comparison, Sandra P. Montenegro

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Psychological research has studied the effects of college academic demands on students' wellbeing through the moderating role of coping mechanisms. This study provides further insight by focusing on coping mechanisms among graduate students from different fields, including humanities, STEM, and social sciences. Participants were recruited at the University of Central Florida (n=97). They answered an online survey assessing the prevalence of academic stressors, the use of different coping mechanisms, and strain outcomes, including somatic symptoms, insomnia, and burnout. STEM students reported higher organizational constraints and higher interpersonal conflict compare to students in other fields. Arts and humanities students reported higher …

Perception Or Reality? The Perception Of Abusive Supervision In The Workplace, Paul M. Amari

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Most previous research on workplace mistreatment has proceeded under the assumption that the various forms of mistreatment are uniformly perceived as negative by recipients. Abusive supervision is one form of mistreatment that has rarely ever been examined through a lens of ambiguity. The question many researchers have failed to ask is whether it is reality that every questionable act labeled as abusive is truly abuse, or such perceptions vary across individuals. And for the individuals perceiving the act (the target), what individual differences are influencing their judgement? The purpose of the study was to explore the influence of individual differences …

Recovery In Teachers: Barriers, Facilitators And The Relationship To Physical Stress Symptoms, Amber A. Blatchford

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Previous research has shown that teachers are at risk of experiencing significant work-related stress. Recovery is seen as a way to unwind from work stress caused by a myriad of stressors. This study examines the mechanisms of teacher recovery and their relationship to physical stress symptoms. Fifty high school teachers were recruited to participate from schools in South Florida. Physical stress symptoms were measured using a self-report survey called the Physical Symptoms Inventory (PSI) , which took place directly after the open-ended question portion of the survey. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to assess any connection between the …

Experiences Of Limited English Proficiency (Lep) Patients In Healthcare, Javier Cintron

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As the US becomes increasingly more diverse, the presence of non-English speaking individuals also increases. With healthcare being a vital aspect of most individuals’ lives, it is drastically affected by any gap in communication, especially when a language barrier is present. For this investigation, I conducted a research study to examine the experiences of limited English proficiency (LEP) patients in healthcare using anthropological methods. The aim was to understand how having LEP affects patients. The primary form of data collection for this project consisted of Semi-structured interviews with a sample of individuals with LEP. In addition to interviews, I analyzed …

Who Participates In Academic Services?, Richard Colón

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Throughout the years the admission of Hispanic and or Latinx students to colleges and universities has risen dramatically. So much so that the relatively new concept of an HSI (Hispanic Serving Institute) was created; meaning that at least 25% of the student population of a university is Hispanic. This advancement for this Hispanic community is a huge advancement for the overall community, but how many of these Hispanic students are aware of the academic services that these universities offer. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the awareness of academic services and the participation and or …

The Lasting Legacy Of Chemical Weapons In Iraqi Kurdistan, Jenna L. Dovydaitis

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In 1988, the Iraqi regime executed the Anfal Genocide against its Kurdish population, killing a conservative estimate of approximately 50,000 to 100,000 Kurds (Human Rights Watch, 1993). This genocide involved the widespread usage of chemical weapons and marked a highly traumatic moment in modern Kurdish history. As of today, little academic research has been completed on the long-term medical and political consequences of exposure to chemical weapons in the Kurdistan region.

This exploratory research aims to contribute to the body of literature on this topic through interviews with medical professionals, Kurdish politicians, and non-governmental organization employees that have expertise on …

Middle Eastern And Western Leaders Speeches On Counterterrorism, Ranya Eid

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research analyzes political leaders' response to the ideological challenge presented by ISIS and Al Qaeda. It focuses on the counterterrorism speeches given by political leaders in a number of Middle Eastern countries and the United States. The analysis of the speeches is along two dimensions: the nature of their domestic and international audiences, and the motivations behind the speeches. A sample of several dozens of speeches is analyzed. The empirical study had proved that leaders mostly exhibit differences depending on their audiences to reach a certain political goal. While leaders tend to call for unification among countries in their …

"It’S Just A Bad Period" And Other Ways Of Dismissing Women's Pain: An Ethnographic Look Into The Experience Of Endometriosis, Selina Hays

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis uses online ethnographic methods to analyze the impact of patriarchal values on the illness experiences of women with endometriosis. Current literature suggests that negative impact on patients with endometriosis with regard to cultural discourse surrounding menstruation and chronic illness. Utilizing a combination of critical discourse analysis and constructivist grounded theory, the results of this research demonstrate that patients engage in a form of performance that is reactive to normalization and dismissal of pain by doctors and wider social support due in part to cultural stigmas of menstruation and chronic pain, as well as the inherent power imbalance in …

The Role Of Expertise In Perceiving Emotions Through Kinematics, Kendahl E. Krause

Honors Undergraduate Theses

There has been much debate about how we perceive other people’s minds. Some theories, such as Theory of Mind, are based on the presumption that the minds of others are closed and inaccessible, requiring some form of inferential processing and mentalizing to understand. On the other hand, Direct Social Perception says that information about the mental states of others is readily available to perceive and requires no internal processing to understand. Taking either theory into account, it remains an open question if expertise plays a role in social perception. This study aimed to identify if experience in portraying emotions through …

How Free Is "Free?": Restrictive Agency And Optimism, Mel A. Tornin

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study explored the effect of restricting participants’ agentic choice on their levels of optimism. This study used the pre-test, post-test design to investigate the impact of non-agentic choice in meaningful scenarios on feelings of optimism. 147 participants completed a measure of optimism, were assigned to conditions of simulated choice, and were instructed to freely write about their decisions. The association between personality traits and optimism was also explored. Study findings showed that assigning participants to restrictive and agentic conditions had no effect on optimism. However, a significant negative correlation trait neuroticism and optimism was found. Content analyses run on …

Racial Bias And Juror Selection In Death Penalty Cases, Kaitlyn D. Wallace

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Across the country, African American defendants are being discriminated against in the criminal courts and by juries, particularly in capital cases.[1] This assertion is supported by two lines of research. First, an analysis of Supreme Court decisions focusing on the racial impact on voir dire. Second, social-legal studies on juror decision making have demonstrated legal and socio-legal histories providing evidence that demonstrate there is a racial bias in our system. Based on these findings, this paper sets forth several legal and policy recommendations to improve the fair adjudication of African American defendants charged with capital crimes.

[1] Jack Glaser, …

Obergefell V. Hodges: Majority Opinion Got The Analysis Wrong, But The Answer Right, Rumor Watts

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Although the U.S. Supreme Court reached the correct result in Obergefell v. Hodges, its substantive due process and equal protection analyses were wrong. First, the majority opinion discusses the concept of equal dignity, which has no legal definition nor has it been used in prior Supreme Court jurisprudence. The majority made another mistake in using substantive due process when Obergefell could have been decided on the basis of equal protection alone.

Despite these mistakes, there were parts of the opinion the Court did decide correctly. The end result -- that same-sex couples have the right to marry -- was the …

Ob/Gyn Women In A #Metoo World: Unraveling Agency, Gender Bias, And Gender Inequity In The Workplace, Corey L. Bazemore

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research explores the visibility of women physicians, specifically in gynecology and obstetrics. It focuses upon their perspectives of gender inequity and sexual harassment within their broader profession and individual daily workplace. This study explores the medical and STEM women’s awareness and understanding of sexual and gender microaggressions within their professions by interviewing six women physicians. I analyze these narratives in relation to the #MeToo movement and how this movement gives visibility to the voices of women across workforces, including medicine, STEM, and other academic areas. This study shows the ongoing need to develop deeper conversations and interventions about women …

Associations Among Smoking, Vaping, Psychopathology, And Identity, Jacqueline A. Beretsky

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Although there has been progress in trying to decrease the use of cigarette smoking, a new method of smoking has evolved which is rapidly increasing, namely vaping. Adolescents who participate in smoking are more likely to increase smoking frequency if they believed that it is self-defining (“I smoke cigarettes” versus “I am a smoker”). While there has been evidence to support the claim that internal motives for smoking are correlated with smoker identity development, there has been none, to our knowledge, found for vaping identity. Due to the similarities of smoking and vaping, it is important to discover whether those …

Development Of A Self-Report Scale Of Motivation: The Multifaceted Motivation Inventory, Magan T. Halverson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Individuals experience different dimensional levels of motivation and apathy (i.e., the lack of motivation), which can reflect both state and trait contributions. Chronic apathy is common in a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders such as mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. The primary aim of the current study was to create a new self-report measure that measures different domains of motivation/apathy with subscales and also take into account many other aspects that could affect motivation within the same scale, including energy level, anticipatory and consummatory pleasure, indecisiveness, and initial and sustained effort. A …

Over Sexualization Of Women In The Media And Its Effect On Self-Objectification, Alaysia M. Herndon

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The current study examined the relationship between the sexualization of women in the media and its effects on women's self-objectification and sexual priming with sociodemographic variables as a mediator. It was hypothesized that (1) exposure to increased sexual content in music videos would positively correlate with increased sexual priming among viewers and (2) increased sexual priming among females would be associated with increased self-objectification and increased objectification of other women. Additionally, the current study aimed to examine sociodemographic factors and if they correlate to the impact of sexual priming on self-objectification and the objectification of other women. The results of …