Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Searching: Waves, Spencer Molnar

Theses and Dissertations

This supportive statement examines a philosophical conception of the self and how it can be identified through experience, consciousness, and perception by focusing on a human inclination to rationalize, or concretize, that which is everchanging. The methods of exploring this concept were achieved by examining the formal structure of composition and materials through the process of visual art. By pushing against historical traditions of creating spatial illusions in visual art, we can conclude that the legibility of an artwork is equally dependent on the experiential world as it is the social construction of image making. The question that is left …

“Where Words Fail, Music Speaks ”: Emotion Regulation Strategies Using Music When Experiencing Sadness, Kendall M. Ladd

Theses and Dissertations

Past literature has suggested that individuals use the emotion regulation strategies of

catharsis, emotional support, understanding emotions, and mood congruency when deciding to listen to sad music when feeling sad (Friedman et al., 2012; Garrido & Schubert, 2013; Sedikides, 1992; Taylor & Friedman, 2015; van Goethem & Sloboda, 2011). This thesis sought to confirm this by comparing these four strategies to revival, another emotion regulation strategy that uses happy music instead of sad music.

The final sample of participants consisted of 122 undergraduate and graduate students at a Midwestern university. Participants completed questionnaires designed to measure how they typically regulate …

Need Fulfillment And Happiness In Botswana, Carolyn Moe

Theses and Dissertations

Happiness has been an important aspect of people’s lives spanning centuries and continents; as such, it is a widely researched area. A current prominent theory in happiness research is Needs Theory which has the premise that there are universal human needs and having these needs met would lead to a person’s happiness. Most often, the needs referenced are those presented by Abraham Maslow including needs of physiology, safety and security, love and belonging, esteem, knowing and understanding, aesthetics, self-actualization and transcendence. However, some studies have found that there are individuals who do not fit this theory either through having their …

"Sing Me A Sad Song And Make Me Feel Better": Exploring Rewards Related To Liking Familiar Sad Music, John D. Hogue

Theses and Dissertations

Hogue (2013) tested some of Levinson's (1997) theoretical ideas about why people like listening to songs that make them sad. Particularly, Hogue tested Levinson's ideas of communion, mediation, savoring feeling, and how absorption interacted with the songs to affect communion and the emotion. Hogue, however, did not use musical stimuli that were familiar to the participants, which is a precursor to Levinson's (1997) theory. This thesis retested Levinson's theory comparing familiar songs against unfamiliar songs and songs from another participant.

Data were collected from 82 participants. Each participant provided songs that induced happiness and songs that induced sadness. Participants listened …

Developing A Multi-Group Moderated Model To Predict And Compare Commitment In Geographically Close And Long-Distance Relationships, Fredrick Andrew Eichler

Theses and Dissertations

Despite many recommendations to assess the role of the social exchange theory and the interdependence theory in long-distance relationships, few researchers have investigated if the roles of satisfaction, alternatives, and investments in a relationship influence commitment differently for individuals in long-distance relationships compared to individuals in geographically close relationships. I hypothesized that trust, desire for frequent sex, satisfaction, alternatives, and investment in the relationship have unique predictive relationships on commitment depending on relationship proximity and gender. In two studies, I first tested prior research investigating the role of negative affect on relationship commitment. I extended this research and found that …

Factors Influencing The Major Satisfaction And Leadership Aspirations Of Men And Women In Traditional And Nontraditional Fields, Jennifer Yeoward

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the results of an online survey study that examined the associations of role model influences, support/guidance, and socioeconomic status (SES) with college students' major satisfaction and leadership aspirations. Of the 558 students who responded to the survey invitation, data from 494 students who had provided responses on the main variables were included in the major analyses. Contrary to hypotheses, SES and the nontraditionality of students' majors were not significantly related to leadership aspirations or major satisfaction. The results did support the hypotheses that support/guidance and inspiration/modeling would be associated with students' leadership aspirations and major satisfaction, but …

Firefly Song, Lasantha Rodrigo

Theses and Dissertations

Chethiya is a brown, gay, disabled (ultimately), abused young man from Sri Lanka, who comes to the U.S. on a full scholarship. His dream is to be a Broadway star, but after coming out of his first relationship with an emotionally abusive, alcoholic man, he is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a chronic, degenerative neurological disease that results in demyelination, causing progressive debilitation. The story is divided into six chapters that narrate his life under various marginalizations he is subjected to, culminating in traumatization. The story, however, ends on a positive note of redemption with the narrator looking forward to his …

A Multi-Method Examination Of Pre-Service Teacher Attitudes Toward Gay And Lesbian Parents, Julie Herbstrith

Theses and Dissertations

An increasing number of children are being raised by gay and lesbian parents, but there is a dearth of literature that examines the challenges they face as they navigate the school system. The negative stigma of homosexuality and the increased visibility of these families suggest that research on teacher attitudes toward homosexual parents is needed. Using implicit, explicit, and behavioral measures, pre-service teacher attitudes toward gay and lesbian parents were assessed. Individual differences that influence the expression of sexual prejudice were also examined. Specifically, this study examined the relation between implicit and explicit measures. Also, implicit and explicit measures were …

"Take A Sad Song And Make It Better": Exploring Rewards Related To Liking Unfamiliar Sad Music, John Hogue

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis tested some of Levinson's (1997) ideas on why people like music that makes them sad. A path model of this effect was interpreted from Levinson's theory, and 5 of the paths were tested. These paths were that music would directly create a communion with the song, that happiness and sadness would mediate this effect, that absorption would moderate the direct path, that absorption would moderate the songs' ability to evoke the emotions, and that satisfaction would moderate the emotions' influence on liking the songs.

A pilot study was conducted to determine if the songs evoked their intended emotions. …

Do You Have The Personality For Teaching Music?, David W. Snyder

Faculty Publications - Music

Six different classes of music education majors enrolled in a large Midwestern university were asked to take an online personality survey and then were tracked through graduation. Personality types, as determined by the Myers- Briggs Personality Type test, were then examined for how they related to choice of major and attrition within the music education degree program. The hope was to combine these findings with other research done on personality and get a snap shot of what personality types are drawn to teaching choir and further what types persist through graduation.