Digital Commons Network^™

All Good Women Are Mothers: Exploring Gender Binaries In How I Met Your Mother, Jessica Marinho

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Television is thought to be a form of entertainment through its many genres from comedy to drama, however, it is more than a relaxing pastime. Television series construct messages that influence audiences to accept specific behaviors. In this thesis, I analyzed the portrayal of the two main female characters in the popular television series How I Met Your Mother (2005-2009) and I argued how their depiction served to represent childless women as unwomanly and mothers as the ideal woman.

The Intersections Of Payments For Ecosystem Services, Gender, And Conditionality In A Bolivian Case Study, Alicia Potter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) have gained traction since the 1990s and are designed to provide cash or in-kind incentives to natural resource managers who alter land management behavior to protect ecosystem services. Conservation programs generally are known to interact with household and community gender dynamics. For other types of cash transfers, recent literature has noted that presence of conditionality (a key aspect of PES) may create or reinforce gender inequalities, which often manifest in household divisions of labor and decision-making where women may be obligated to complete more unpaid work or experience less control over resources.

Based on a …

Diversity In Tech: Analyzing The Mismatch Between Corporate Framing And Impact, Rana Abulbasal

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This doctoral dissertation investigates the discrepancy between tech companies' substantial investments in diversity programs and the persistently low representation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) employees. Despite extensive efforts, discrimination and harassment against women and people of color persist in the industry. The study employs a critical interdisciplinary approach, comprising sociological perspectives on diversity management and two empirical studies. The first scrutinizes tech companies' framing strategies of diversity initiatives on their websites, while the second explores the impact of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies on women of color in the industry. By identifying shortcomings and proposing recommendations, …

Masculinity, Affirmations, Belongingness, And Resiliency In Male Adolescents: Effects On School Engagement, Kelsey Burt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study focused on male adolescent students within 7^th and 8^th grade and how endorsement of masculine stereotypes impacts their school engagement and feelings of belonging. The study also examines how peers maintain masculine conformity and how individual resiliency change outcomes. This research is based on two main theories, inclusive masculinity and social learning theory. These theories describe how behaviors are largely learned from the social environment and maintained due to reinforcement or punishment. There were 127 adolescent males who participated in this study and were recruited through an online survey system. Results of the study show that …

A Moderated Mediation Model Of Gender, Posttraumatic Cognitions, And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms After Military Sexual Assault, Hallie S. Tannahill

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Military sexual assault (MSA) is associated with the greatest risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and PTSD severity beyond other trauma types. Sexual revictimization further increases this risk and severity. However, not all who experience MSA revictimization develop PTSD. This suggests there may be a key mechanism that explains the association between MSA and PTSD. Posttraumatic cognitions (PTC), which include an overall domain and subdomains of self, world, and self-blame, may be one such mechanism between MSA and PTSD, although this link has not yet been examined in the context of MSA revictimization. Further, literature suggests that men and women …

The Dove's Advantage: Impact Of Gender And Conflict On Executive Approval, Micala H. Gillespie

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Do citizens evaluate female vs. male leaders’ foreign policy decisions differently? The number of countries that have had female leaders continues to expand, but little is known about how domestic audiences reward or punish female (relative to male) leaders for foreign policy choices. This study examines how the gender of a national leader conditions the relationship between their hawkish/dovish ideology and public approval for rapprochement policies in militarized interstate conflicts. Results from time-series cross-sectional data using multiple regression models with fixed effects from 31 countries and 127 leaders show that public approval tends to be lower for women leaders and …

Biological Sex As A Moderator Of The Association Of Military Sexual Trauma And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Total And Symptom Cluster Severity, Hallie S. Tannahill

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a multifaceted disorder comprised of distinct symptom clusters and is commonly diagnosed in military service members/veterans (SM/Vs), particularly in those with history of military sexual trauma (MST). Evidence and theory suggest that females and males may have different traumatic responses following MST, though research investigating this association has limitations, such as modeling the sexes separately or not covarying for MST severity. The current study examined the moderating role of sex on the association of MST severity and PTSD total and symptom cluster severity. Participants were 1,161 SM/Vs (female: n = 782, 67.36%) who completed online …

Gender And Social Acceptance Of Immigrants In A New Destination Site, Emma Meade Earl

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In this article, I draw on secondary interview data with LatinX immigrants in Cache Valley, Utah, an emerging new destination site in the Inter-Mountain West. While immigrants are drawn to new destinations by employment opportunities, quality of life, or low cost of living, they face many challenges in integrating socially into fairly homogenous communities, which can be particularly challenging for immigrant women. This thesis analyzes the ways in which gender affects social integration in the specific cultural and demographic context of Cache Valley. Using interviews with 16 men and women, I examine gender differences in perceptions of the community, experiences …

Nonstandard Employment And The Risk Of Divorce In South Korea, Donghyun Kim

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Despite a persistent increase in South Korea’s divorce rate, our understanding of the economic determinants of divorce in South Korea is very limited. In particular, the relationship between nonstandard employment and divorce has received little attention, even though the number of nonstandard employees has rapidly increased in recent years. This paper examines the extent to which one’s employment type is associated with marital dissolution in South Korea, using nationally representative longitudinal data (the Korea Welfare Panel Study from 2007 to 2013). Results from discrete-time hazard models show that for men, the odds of divorce of nonstandard workers are estimated to …

Culture Matters: Career And Life Expectations And Outcomes Among Business School Alumni, Ace Beorchia

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Women have made great strides in narrowing the gender gap in professional fields. However, women are still significantly underrepresented and face substantial challenges in reaching top professional positions in business. Recently, in its Life and Leadership After HBS study, the Harvard Business School surveyed its graduate school alumni to better understand “gendered dimensions of life and career that [are] crucial to advancing women leaders” (Harvard Business School 2013). This groundbreaking study found that both men and women have similar career aspirations and expectations upon graduating from HBS, yet men are more likely than women to achieve their career goals.

My …

Towards A More Comprehensive View Of The Use Of Power Between Couple Members In Adolescent Romantic Relationships, Charles George Bentley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated the construct of power in adolescent romantic couples using multiple measures. The project examined gender differences in power, created models of powerlessness for each gender, and examined relations between power and aggression and relationship quality. Participants were 90 heterosexual couples, aged 14-18 years old, living in rural areas in Utah and Arizona. Couple members completed surveys assessing attitudes and behaviors in their relationships and a video-recall procedure in which partners rated their own and their partner's behaviors during problem solving discussion.

Few gender differences emerged in reports of perpetration of aggression, but boyfriends reported higher levels of …

New Perspectives On The Relationship Between Emotion Decoding And Social Acceptance In School-Age Children, Eri Suzuki

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The relationship between children's emotion decoding ability and their social acceptance was examined, with a major focus on potential nonlinear components. Based on the display rules literature, the prediction was tested that social acceptance and emotion decoding skills can be best described as an inverted U-shaped function. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade (113 girls and 123 boys) completed measures of postural and facial decoding accuracy (FACES and TALK) and their social acceptance was assessed using child and teacher reports (SPPC or PSPC). The results showed only a statistically significant quadratic relationship for girls and a statistically significant linear relationship …

Identifying The Bases For Gender Differences In Guilt And Shame, R. Shawn Edmondson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Gender differences are frequently revealed on the popular TOSCA-2 measure of guilt- and shame-proneness. These gender differences could reflect biases in the eliciting conditions that participants evaluate and confounds between them. A new instrument, the Gender Relevant Test of Self-Conscious Affect (GR-TOSCA), was developed to eliminate these confounds, thereby introducing a gender-sensitive, and therefore more valid, measure of guilt and shame proneness. The psychometric integrity of the new instrument, hypotheses regarding condition-specific gender differences in the two emotions, and relationships of guilt- and shame-proneness scores to gender role endorsement were examined in a sample of undergraduate students (93 men and …

The Effects Of Gender And Behavior On Elementary Teachers' Attributional Assumptions About Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Lisa Rollins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Questionnaires compromised of (a) a description of a child (either male or female) exhibiting attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) behaviors (either predominately hyperactive/impulsive or predominately inattentive) and (b) 13 questions about the description were completed by 562 regular elementary education teachers in the state of Utah. The questions, which offered teachers a range of responses on a 5 point Likert scale, were designed to assess the extent to which the gender and behaviors of the child described affected the extent to which teachers were able to identify the child as being representative of a child with ADHD, teachers' attributional assumptions …

Mean Length Of Utterance In Relation To Gender And Preschool Activity Area, Angela Sisson Thompson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Factors influencing language development and use are many. Teacher influences such as teacher:child ratio and teaching experience can affect the types of language children produce. Classroom influences including activities, size of the room, and length of the day also play a role in the development of language. All of these areas need to be considered in order to provide the best possible language environment for the preschool child.

In this study, the researchers examined the mean length of utterance (MLU) values of preschool children while participating at three areas in a preschool classroom: art, dramatic play, and snack. Gender differences …

The Relationships Of Parental Marital Status, Quality Of Family Interaction And Gender To Adolescent Tobacco, Alcohol, And Marijuana Use, Stephen K. Hunsaker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use of adolescents was examined to see if any differences existed in the marital status of the adolescent's parents, the quality of family interaction for the adolescent, and the gender of the adolescent. Marital status was defined as intact families where adolescents were living with both biological parents, and nonintact families where adolescents had parents who were single, divorced, widowed, never married, and remarried. Data were from a survey that examined youth issues of 500 adolescents from a rural Utah county. It was hypothesized that marital type and quality of family interaction (family kindness, family …

The Relationships Of Gender And Age With Peer Acceptance In Primary-Grade, Multiage Classrooms At Edith Bowen Laboratory School, Thomas Anthony Shuster

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study describes the effects of gender and age on peer acceptance in primary-grade, multiage classrooms at Edith Bowen Laboratory School at Utah State University. The population described consisted of six multiage classrooms composed of male and female students from 6 to 8 years old. The classrooms were approximately balanced by gender and age. Students spent the entire day and received all instruction in the multiage setting.

Students completed "Work With" and "Play With" sociometric rating-scale instruments. For both instruments, results revealed the existence of "gender cleavage"--both genders preferred work and play partners of their own gender. In general, age …

Infant Physical Attractiveness, Affect, Temperament, And Gender In Relation To Tester Behavior, Andrea D. Hart

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Easily observable infant characteristics have been shown to influence others; perceptions of infant competence. This study examined the relation between infant characteristics and a tester's willingness to repeat opportunities for the infant to pass items during administration of a cognitive test. Results showed that infant physical attractiveness was related to lower elicited infant performance (the ratio of items initially failed). Positive affect was related to higher test scores. Because first impressions are likely to contribute to future relationships, it may be important to educate adults who interact with infants about the effects of stereotyping infants based on first impressions.

The Effects Of Therapist Gender On Group Therapy For Eating-Disordered Clients, Todd A. Soutor

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This present study examined the session-by-session content of group therapy for eating-disordered clients. The main objective of this study was to identify how therapist-client gender match affects group therapy process , regarding the disclosure of important issues relevant to eating-disordered clients. It was hypothesized that the group therapy process for eating-disordered clients would be qualitatively different if therapy was facilitated by a female as opposed to a male therapist. The evaluation of the research question required using an alternating treatments single-subject research design, in which the presentation of treatment conditions was counterbalanced across two therapy groups. The treatments consisted of …

Gender And Depression: Analysis Of The Effects Of Sex Roles, Sex-Role Self-Discrepancy, And Attributional Style, Scott V. Cutler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of attributional style, sex roles, and sex-role self-discrepancy in the relationship between gender and depression. Epidemiological studies report a higher incidence of depression among women then men (approximately 2:1). Among the various theories suggested to explain this gender difference, sex roles, attributional style, and self-discrepancy have been conceived as possible explanations. The relationship between gender and depression may be better understood through examining the possible contribution of these three independent variables.

To examine these theories, a sample of 130 subjects was drawn from clients at the USU Counseling Center, the …

Effects Of Therapist Gender On Client Communications In Marital Therapy, Laurel C. Agee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to explore how therapist and client gender are associated with communication behaviors of males and females in marital therapy. The majority of research on therapist gender issues has been conducted with individual clients. Few data exist on the effects of therapist gender within marital therapy. This study examined the communication patterns of couples within a marital therapy setting and the influence of therapist gender on those patterns. Forty-six 10-minute videotape segments of marital therapy were coded for communication patterns. Coded verbal statement categories included the verbal behaviors of agreement, supportive, solution of problems, and …

The Role Of Gender Differences In The Relationship Between Guilt- And Shame-Proneness And Depressive Symptomatology, Julie Bingham Shiffler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the role played by gender in the relationship between the degree of depressive symptomatology and levels of adaptive guilt-, maladaptive guilt-, and shame-proneness in a college population. A measure of depressive symptomatology (the Beck Depression Inventory) and a measure of guilt- and shame-proneness (the Self-Conscious Affect and Attribution Inventory - Revised) were administered to 299 college students (113 males and 186 females). Females reported higher total levels of depressive symptomatology than males. Statistically significant gender differences were found for nine BDI items. Females also had higher levels of adaptive guilt-, maladaptive guilt-, …

The Relationship Of Depression, Gender, And Sex Roles, Scott V. Cutler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between gender and depression as a function of sex roles. Four hundred twenty subjects were recruited from two introductory psychology courses at Utah State University. Subjects completed the Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).

A difference was found in the rate of depression between females and males that exceeds the generally accepted 2:1 ratio. There was a female to male ratio of approximately 4:1 in the group of subjects who indicated a high level of depression on the Beck Depression Inventory.

Multiple Regression Analysis was computed …

Assimilation And Accommodation In Family Discourse: A Longitudinal Analysis, Marcia Summers

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Assimilative behavioral strategies provide continuity through maintenance of similarities, traditions, and interactions, while accommodative strategies result in social innovation through the creation of new modes and interactive patterns (J. Block, 1982; J. H. Block, 1983). It was hypothesized that females would show assimilative discourse patterns through the maintenance of conversational topics, while males would show accommodative patterns through more frequent changes in conversational topic, and that the roots of this pattern lie in family conversation. Nineteen families were videotaped at one month, four months, and four years following the birth of their second child. Results showed that gender-differentiated use of …

The Effects Of Neutral And Sex-Specific Terminology On Sex Stereotyping, Natalie J. Malovich

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A study was conducted to examine the effects of neutral and sex-specific terminology on sex stereotyping in regard to two primary questions: 1) whether or not the use of sex-neutral terminology alters subjects ' associations to particular words, and 2) whether, in the absence of gender identification, subjects make traditional sex-role assumptions about neutral terms. A third questions examined potential differences in male and female subjects' responses to neutral and sex-specific terminology.

Using a semantic differential technique, 40 male and 40 female volunteer subjects described a number of occupations and roles identified by sex-specific or sex-unspecified labels. Descriptions of those …

The Salience Of Parent Education For Adolescents: Gender And Gratification Orientations, Katrina H. Miller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to test the relevance of parent education for high school students in terms of interest, concerns, expectations and experiences of the adolescents regarding children. The ability to delay gratification and gender served as independent variables. Weaver's (1977) "Adolescent Interest Survey" was administered to 179 high school students enrolled in three different programs in semi-rural northern Utah. These programs were objectively classified to represent two levels of ability to defer gratification. Regular high school stud ents, male (N=51) and female (N=52) were treated as "deferrers of gratification". Potential dropout students, Males (N=26) and females (N=23) …