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Time As A Shared Resource : The Effects Of Depression And Behavior Verifiability On Perceptions Of Temporal Investment, Jody Lynn Jones

Master's Theses

People have a tendency to view themselves in a more favorable light than they do others, a phenomenon termed the egocentric bias (Messick, Bloom, Boldizar, & Samuelson, 1985). Past research has shown that people are more likely to display the bias in situations that are "nonverifiable", meaning that there is no way to accurately measure the dimension on which judgments are made (Allison, Messick, & Goethals, 1989). Two experiments tested the hypothesis that only nondepressed individuals in a nonverifiable situation would show the egocentric bias, whereas non depressed subjects in the verifiable condition and depressed subjects in both conditions would …

Walking Percy's Tightrope : From Alienation To Affirmation, Karen Y. Carter

Master's Theses

Walker Percy's Binx Bolling, of The Moviegoer, and Will Barrett, of The Last Gentleman and The Second Coming, are two Southern existential seekers who move from alienation and despair to create lives of meaningful commitment with the promise of fulfillment. Because of their similarities, we can trace a development in Percy's fiction which parallels the questor's development. These three books move from a preoccupation with death-in-life to a discovery of self and on to individual and cultural rebirth. Thus, The Moviegoer (1960) is about alienation and despair; The Last Gentleman (1966) is about the possibility of human relationships, …

Tristram Shandy And The Discursive Self, Susan Denman Breeden

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Relations Among Perspective Taking, Egocentrism, And Self-Esteem In Late Adolescents, Kimberly D. Leister

Master's Theses

This study examined the relations among perspective taking, egocentrism, and self-esteem in a sample of 113 undergraduate college students. Self-report measures of the the three constructs were used. Subjects in different levels of perspective taking did not differ significantly from one another in either egocentrism or self-esteem. Pearson correlations revealed that egocentrism was not related to self-esteem in level 2 perspective takers, but that these two constructs were negatively related in 3 perspective takers. Additionally, when subjects were in level 2 perspective taking, feedback did not alter their perceptions of themselves. However, when in level 3, feedback did affect subjects' …

Virginia Annexations As Metropolitan Reform Movements : Are They Obsolete?, Demetra Yeapanis Kontos

Master's Theses

The proliferation of local governments and single-purpose regional governmental districts has given local and state government administrators throughout the country many problems. The multiplicity of governments exacerbates conflicts of authority, duplication of services, inadequate service levels, and many other problems. Three basic metropolitan reforms have been implemented to solve these problems: consolidation, disintegration and regional organization. Each of these types of reform has been implemented in Virginia. The most controversial of these reforms is annexation, a form of consolidation where an independent city annexes county land. What contributes to the controversy of annexation movements is that unlike most states, Virginia's …

Churches, Church Development Agencies And American Foreign Policy In Nicaragua : A Case Study, Michael Thomas Kuchinsky

Master's Theses

Churches and church agencies have always been involved in American public and political life. These involvements exhibited cooperation and common interest. An example of this includes the combined efforts to help European refugees following World War II.

Since then, churches have challenged their partnership with government. Sensitivity to Third World issues, theologies of liberation, ideologies of oppression, and the values malaise brought on by the Vietnam War separated some interests of American churches and their government. What would churches do when confronted with an American foreign policy they considered immoral and oppressive?

The hypotheses of Robert Sullivan and Jorgen Lissner …

Chinese Foreign Policy In Changing Perspective--A Case Study Of The Three World Doctrine, Guojun Xu

Master's Theses

China has in recent years embarked on a fresh policy of close cooperation with her former antagonists, the Western countries, not only in economic areas, but also on social, military and political issues. Does this mean that China has given up her highly publicized third world position? Or did China ever genuinely belong with the third world in the past? These questions are explored in the thesis through careful analyses of the origins of China's foreign policies as well as comparative observations of their applications to different countries at different stages. Rather than isolating individual variables, as some writers do, …

Relationships Among Gender, Gender Role Individualized Trust, And Self-Disclosure, John D. Foubert

Master's Theses

Self-disclosure, the process of revealing personal information to other people, was examined in relation to gender, gender role and individualized trust. Undergraduate subjects (N = 293) completed the Jourard Self-Disclosure Scale (Jourard, 1971b), the Individualized Trust Scales (Wheeless & Grotz, 1977), the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974), and a demographic questionnaire. Significant interactions emerged between gender and individualized trust (p < .01), gender and gender role (p < .05), and individualized trust and gender role (p = .01). An androgynous gender role was shown to lead to higher rates of self-disclosure in the high trust condition but not in the low trust condition. Although masculine males and masculine females did not disclose differently, feminine females disclosed markedly more than feminine males. The relationship between individualized trust and gender role revealed an increase in self-disclosure common to androgynous individuals is restricted to those who are high trusting.

Eating Disorders, The Imposter Phenomenon, And Achievement In A Nonclinical Population, Anne Marie Ross Jordan

Master's Theses

The Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), the Work and Family orientation Questionnaire (WOFO), and the Impostor Phenomenon (IP) Scale were compared to determine whether these tests measure similar phenomena in women in a nonclinical population. Each test was subjected to factor analysis to explore existing factor structures. The combined scales of the three tests were factor analyzed, and four factors emerged. The EDI scales loaded on two factors (Symptomology and Immaturity), and the IP Scale loaded on both of these factors. The WOFO loaded on two separate factors (Achievement and Personal Unconcern), with the Perfectionism and Interpersonal Distrust scales of the …

Leaders Of The Future : Differentiating Leaders Among High School Seniors, Richard S. Mohn Jr.

Master's Theses

The present study investigated high school leadership at two independent high schools using a peer nomination technique. Seniors nominate classmates who best fit each of 20 items indexing attributes of business world leaders. The seniors also nominated students they liked most and liked least. The leadership attributes were conceptualized to fit into four constructs: Other oriented, Inner oriented, Situationally oriented, and Derailment characteristics. The like most and like least items were used for measuring social impact and social preference and for classifying students into the sociometric groups of popular, controversial, rejected, neglected, and average. Test-retest correlations at a one month …

Localization Of A Collagenous Protein In The Organic Matrix Of Spicules From The Octocoral Leptogorgia Virgulata (Cnidaria: Gorgonacea), Jeffrey L. Dupree

Master's Theses

Calcareous body inclusions are commonly found throughout the invertebrate taxa. Elaborately structured calcium carbonate spicules are the major mineralized body inclusions of the gorgonian, Leptogorgia virgulata. Spicule formation in this octocoral, as well as other calcium carbonate invertebrate structures, is apparently regulated by the intra-spicule organic matrix. Recent findings show that the insoluble fraction of the spicule organic matrix is collagenous. Collagen, although integral to calcium phosphate structures found in vertebrates is not usually associated with the formation of invertebrate calcium carbonate structures. Interestingly, collagen is present in the organic matrix during the summer but absent in winter. This suggests …

I'Ve Been Working On The Railroad : The Saga Of The Richmond, Fredericksburg And Potomac Railroad Company, C. Coleman Mcgehee

Master's Theses

The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company (RF&P) is the only American railroad that has operated for over a century and a half under its original name and charter without reorganization. It is also the last remaining company in which the Commonwealth of Virginia held stock that was purchased in 1834 to encourage the development of transportation within the State.

This thesis covers the history of this company with major emphasis on the period 1955-1991. It was during this time that the RF&P was transformed from a "pure railroad" to a corporation that not only owned a strategic 113 mile …

A Search For Identity: Frances Calderon De La Barca And Life In Mexico, Molly Marie Wood

Master's Theses

Scottish-born Frances Calderon de la Barca, wife of the first Spanish minister to Mexico, recorded her observations and interpretations of mid-nineteenth century Mexico in a series of letters and journals. In 1843, she published Life in Mexico, an edited version of her letters. Acclaimed for its style and descriptive qualities, Life in Mexico also reveals the author's personal struggle to define herself and her role in Mexican society. Life in Mexico provides historians with a unique perspective into Mexico's cultural and ideological relationship with the European and American world.

The Parallel Lives Of Two Displaced Royalists : Moore Fauntleroy And Warham Horsmanden, Cyane Dandridge Williams

Master's Theses

The study is of two displaced Royalists, Moore Fauntleroy and Warham Horsmanden, who left England in the mid-seventeenth century. It examines their motivations for leaving their homeland and the results of their tenure in Virginia.

Research was conducted in England at the British Library in the British Museum, the Public Record Office, London, and the County Archives of Kent, Maidstone, Kent, and the Archives of Southampton, Winchester. In Virginia, research was continued at the Virginia Historical Society Library, Richmond; the State Archives of Virginia, Richmond; and Essex County Court House, Tappahannock.

The research disclosed that a myriad of reasons existed …

Spawning Clasps And Gamete Deposition In Pebble Nest-Building Minnows (Pisces : Cyprinidae), Mark Henry Sabaj

Master's Theses

Spawning in five species of North American cyprinid minnows (Rhinichthys a. atratulus, Exog/ossum laurae, Semotilus atromaculatus, Nocomis leptocephalus, and N. micropogon ) are analyzed on videotape filmed in Virginia and Maryland streams. Behaviors are chronologically resolved into a sequence of categories (Interim, Approach, Alignment, Run, Clasp and Dissociation) exemplary of a successful spawn as defined by the clasp. The categories are used to describe spawning behaviors in each species. In all species studied, a successful spawn is a female initiated event effecting the clasping response of a male.

The species-specific pattern of male-female interactions not only reflects the coordination of …