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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Collective Autonomy Restriction: A Theoretical Model And Empirical Investigations, Adrian Rivera-Rodriguez Nov 2023

Collective Autonomy Restriction: A Theoretical Model And Empirical Investigations, Adrian Rivera-Rodriguez

Doctoral Dissertations

Collective autonomy refers to a group’s freedom to define and practice their own cultural and social identity without interference from other groups. According to the “threat and defense” hypothesis of collective autonomy restriction, group members are motivated to defend their collective autonomy from outside restriction. However, the psychological processes that influence advantaged vs. disadvantaged group members perceptions of collective autonomy, as well as the specific strategies they use to protect collective autonomy, have yet to be articulated. This dissertation presents three manuscripts that examine the social conditions and psychological processes that shape advantaged and disadvantaged group members’ perceptions of collective …


The Collateral Consequences Of Criminal Stigma In Higher Education: Investigating Barriers To Institutional Access And Social Inclusion, Hannah K. Chimowitz Nov 2023

The Collateral Consequences Of Criminal Stigma In Higher Education: Investigating Barriers To Institutional Access And Social Inclusion, Hannah K. Chimowitz

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the collateral consequences of criminal record stigma within the realm of higher education, an important institutional domain that is recognized as facilitating social mobility and providing opportunities for individuals with criminal histories. I develop an integrative theoretical framework and present two empirical studies. Study 1 investigates the relationship between criminal screening in undergraduate admissions applications and campus crime rates, as well as Black undergraduate enrollment rates. Using the Common Application's removal of criminal history questions as a natural experiment, I employ propensity score methods and estimate a series of latent growth curve models using structural equation modeling. …


The Fear-Avoidance Model And Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms In University Students, Michael Broggi Nov 2023

The Fear-Avoidance Model And Persistent Post-Concussion Symptoms In University Students, Michael Broggi

Doctoral Dissertations

Ten to 20% of individuals who sustain a concussion continue to experience symptoms outside the typical window of recovery. Pre-morbid and post-injury anxiety are risk-factors for persistent post-concussion symptoms (PCS). However, mechanisms linking anxiety and persistent PCS are unclear. The fear-avoidance model of disability could add clarity to associations between anxiety and persistent PCS. This study examined if factors of the fear-avoidance model (e.g., catastrophic thinking, fear of symptoms, anxiety sensitivity) would mediate the association between persistent PCS and maladaptive coping responses (e.g., avoidance, limiting activities) following concussion. To achieve this aim, university students (N = 43) with resolved …


Professional And Personal Humility In Relation To Between-Therapist Differences In Effectiveness, Heather Muir Nov 2023

Professional And Personal Humility In Relation To Between-Therapist Differences In Effectiveness, Heather Muir

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective: Research demonstrates that mental health clinicians vary in their general effectiveness—the “between-therapist effect.” Thus, it is important to identify determinants of such differences in order to understand and cultivate the therapist characteristics or actions that reliably foster better patient outcomes. To date, several of such variables have emerged empirically. For example, therapists who exhibit higher versus lower levels of professional self-doubt (PSD; a critical questioning of one’s skills as a clinician) have been shown to achieve better interpersonal outcomes with their average patient. Although arguably counterintuitive, the beneficial influence of PSD may make sense if, instead of simply reflecting …


Examining Shifts In Racial Attitudes In The Aftermath Of George Floyd’S Death And The 2020 Blm Protests, Se Min Suh Aug 2023

Examining Shifts In Racial Attitudes In The Aftermath Of George Floyd’S Death And The 2020 Blm Protests, Se Min Suh

Doctoral Dissertations

The killing of George Floyd in the summer of 2020 instigated one of the largest social movements in the United States history. Despite the wealth of research that has evaluated the efficacy of social movements using different social outcomes (Andrews, 1997; Biggs & Andrews, 2015; Branton et al., 2015; Enos et al., 2019; Gillion, 2012; Schwartz, 2016), less attention has been given to how social movements that concern racial issues impact racial attitudes (Riley & Peterson, 2020). Thus, the current research aimed to examine how Americans’ racial attitudes shifted in the period immediately following the onset of BLM protests. We …


For The Love Of Teaching: Pre-Service Teachers’ Experience Of Moral Education, Anne Marie Foley Ruiz Aug 2023

For The Love Of Teaching: Pre-Service Teachers’ Experience Of Moral Education, Anne Marie Foley Ruiz

Doctoral Dissertations

Moral aspects of teaching arise each and every day, yet we lack information about how prepared teachers feel about this critical aspect of teaching. This multi-case study explores perceptions of five pre-service teachers in an elementary teacher education program in Western Massachusetts. A series of interviews explore their histories prior to the program and their experiences in the program as related to the pre-service teachers’ orientations to the moral work of teaching. Research questions address the awareness and self-efficacy of student teachers in implementing the moral aspects of teaching. Using Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006), this study explores beliefs …


Increasing Teacher-Student Relationships And Classroom Engagement: The Effects Of Modifying Existing Tier Two Intervention On Adolescent Students And Their Teachers, Julia Doherty Aug 2023

Increasing Teacher-Student Relationships And Classroom Engagement: The Effects Of Modifying Existing Tier Two Intervention On Adolescent Students And Their Teachers, Julia Doherty

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of a Tier II behavior intervention, Check-in/Check-out (CiCo), on student engagement, and if a modification to the intervention that includes teacher use of microaffirmations improves the teacher-student relationship (T-SR) and thus, increases student engagement in class. It utilized multiple baseline design, and the study sample consisted of three fifth grade students from an urban school district in Southeastern Virginia. All three students were paired with one of their teachers to serve as the mentor for the intervention. Student engagement was measured directly using the Behavioral Observation System for Students (BOSS; …


Assessing Potential Cognitive Precursors To Math Anxiety: Non-Symbolic Operations And Symbolic Ordinality In Adults, Eli Zaleznik Apr 2023

Assessing Potential Cognitive Precursors To Math Anxiety: Non-Symbolic Operations And Symbolic Ordinality In Adults, Eli Zaleznik

Doctoral Dissertations

Math anxiety, or a sense of dread related to performing mathematics, affects a wide population of students and adults, but we do not fully understand how math anxiety comes into being. One possibility is the Reduced Capacities Theory, which suggests that natural variations in numeric/spatial capacities are a causal factor in math anxiety. To understand how these numeric capacities relate to math anxiety in adults, this work focuses on three areas that remain underexplored. Chapter 2 focuses on performing operations on nonsymbolic quantities, which has not yet been tested in relation to math anxiety. We tested the hypothesis that performing …


On The Importance Of Perceived Interpersonal Safety: Antecedents And Consequences Of Living A Subjectively Safe Life, Stylianos Syropoulos Apr 2023

On The Importance Of Perceived Interpersonal Safety: Antecedents And Consequences Of Living A Subjectively Safe Life, Stylianos Syropoulos

Doctoral Dissertations

The need to be and feel safe is a fundamental human need. Despite extensive theoretical arguments on the subject, and research on relevant concepts, empirical work on what it means to feel interpersonally safe (i.e., in the presence of others or in social environments in general) is scarce. This dissertation presents four investigations that seek to address this gap. It also seeks to highlight the consequences of feeling interpersonally safe for our mental and physical health, and to what degree healthy and high-quality close relationships influence how safe we feel. Chapter 1 is a literature review summarizing theories underlying these …