Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

U.S. Births Hit A 43-Year Low, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, Carsey Senior Demographer Kenneth Johnson reports that there were only 3,591,000 births in the United States in 2023, according to new data from National Center for Health Statistics. This is the fewest U.S. births since 1979, when the U.S. population was 225.1 million compared to 340 million in 2023. Births diminished because fertility rates declined significantly among women in their teens and twenties.

The long-term impact of the fertility decline has been substantial. Had 2007 fertility patterns been sustained through 2023, there would have been 10.6 million more births in the last 16 years.

A critical long-term …

Addressing Workplace Violence In Healthcare, Eric Crane

M.S. in Leadership

This research paper explores the prevalence, consequences, and mitigation strategies for workplace violence in healthcare. The literature focuses on the importance of leadership’s involvement of the implementation of change, providing programing, and obtaining buy-in from staff to combat what has consistently been a factor leading to employee burnout, assaultive behavior, and compromised patient safety. It shows that workplace violence has been a constant in healthcare, however, has escalated post COVID-19 pandemic. Research and statistics show that workplace violence in healthcare is more prevalent than in other fields and is on the rise. A multiple-choice survey was conducted using Survey Monkey, …

Population Gains Continue In New Hampshire, But The Pace Varies, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, Carsey Senior Demographer Kenneth Johnson reports that New Hampshire’s population reached 1,402,054 on July 1, 2023, an increase of 24,500 residents since April 1, 2020, according to new Census Bureau estimates. New Hampshire gained 3,100 residents last year compared to 11,500 and 8,800 in the two preceding years, respectively. The state gained population even though it had 6,600 more deaths than births in the past three years because nearly 31,000 more people moved to the state than left it.

All ten of New Hampshire’s counties gained population between 2020 and 2023, compared to 52 percent of all …

New Hampshire Employees Working In Small Firms Lack Access To Paid Family And Medical Leave, Kristin E. Smith

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, author Kristin Smith reports that in December 2022, just prior to the launch of the NH Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, 40 percent of New Hampshire workers did not have access to paid medical, parental, or family leave. In its first year, the program reached 14,712 workers or less than 3 percent of Granite State workers. Workers in small firms report lower rates of access than workers in larger firms. Women also have lower access to paid leave than men. In addition to a lack of awareness, low enrollment may be linked to NH Paid Family …

Large Pool Of New Voters Could Add Volatility To New Hampshire Primary, Kenneth M. Johnson, Andrew Smith, Dante Scala

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, authors Kenneth Johnson, Andrew Smith, and Dante Scala note a greater likelihood of volatility in the New Hampshire primary because there will be many new faces among the voters who flock to the polls on January 23. The New Hampshire electorate has experienced significant turnover since the 2020 primary. More than one-fifth of New Hampshire’s potential primary voters this year are new because in 2020 they were not old enough to vote or resided somewhere else. The ideology and political party allegiances of these young people and new migrants differ significantly from those of longtime residents. In …

Lifespace Patterns Of College Students High And Low In Personal Intelligence, John D. Mayer

UNH Personality Lab

Personal intelligence (PI) refers to the capacity to accurately reason about personality in oneself and other people. We hypothesize that people who are higher in personal intelligence differ from others in their relationships and behaviors. We conducted a series of theoretically-guided studies to examine how PI is associated with a person’s self-reported activities, interactions, situations, and group memberships: their lifespace. In two archival and three new studies of college students (Ns = 385, 358, 1186, 416, 696, respectively) we first identified 15 short, factor-based scales describing aspects of college students’ lifespace that are potentially relevant to personal intelligence. …

Women In Leadership Positions In Higher Education: Challenges, Opportunities, And Strategies For Success, Maria Bowen

M.S. in Leadership

This research project is aimed to identify the challenges and barriers women face in higher education while striving to obtain leadership positions and provide possible solutions to resolve the gender gaps found in higher education’s leadership. A literature review was conducted, which informed questions that were asked in an interview setting. Interviews were conducted with leaders that identify as women in higher education and sought to provide personalized accounts of the researched trends. Ultimately, despite higher education being perceived as a progressive industry and having legislature in place to combat gender disparities, leadership positions are not reflective of gender distribution …

An Open-Source Template For Introducing A Technical Supplement, John D. Mayer, David R. Caruso

UNH Personality Lab

An open-source template on the relationship between an article and its accompanying technical supplement.

Understanding Neurodiversity And Executive Disfunction To Discover More Effective Accommodations And Create A More Inclusive Workforce For Neurodivergent Individuals, Carley Dahlstrom

Honors Theses and Capstones

The goal of this paper is twofold. One: understand executive disfunction to gain a broader understanding of neurodiversity and the challenges those with neurodiversity face in the workforce. And two: research different accommodations to combat executive disfunction and evaluate their effectiveness. To accomplish these goals, an extensive literature review was conducted to understand neurodiversity, executive disfunction, government requirements relating to accommodations, and an exploration of current accommodations available. Additionally, research was conducted in the form of interviews and a survey to expand and add to the overall understanding of this research area.

Results of the survey indicate an overall lack …

Social Workers In Human Resources, Alexandra H. Pogany

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Land Analysis Of A 33 Acre Parcel In Deerfield, Nh, Chloe C. Gross

Honors Theses and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Intergenerational Comparison Of Inequality And Standard Of Living, Jillian Cookinham

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper encompasses how inequality and standard of living have changed intergenerationally. Existing research and a regression analysis examine how income, corporate profits, housing, education, retirement, and health insurance are interconnected in American inequality and standard of living. Data analyzed in the regression includes the period of 1990 to 2021. However, the literature review extends back to 1970. Findings from existing research and regression analysis are used to provide policy recommendations on how the federal government may improve inequality by addressing the housing shortage, revising the tax system, and encouraging automatic enrollment in retirement plans.

Giving Workers The 'Green Light': Defining Green Jobs And Exploring Their Distribution In The Us, Cole Fuller

Honors Theses and Capstones

As the United States continues to adopt sustainable practices and policies to combat climate change, it is important to consider how these green changes affect the workforce. The term ‘Green Jobs’ has become the colloquial term to refer to sustainable occupations, and despite its popularity in the literature, it often has different meanings in different settings. Our first goal was to explore these definitions and establish one to contextualize our research. We used data from the Occupational Information Network, and used their green job definition, which classifies jobs as green if, and how, they are impacted by the greening economy. …

Hohenschönhausen As A Tangible Representation Of The German Democratic Republic’S Development Of Operative Psychology, Zoe Werth

Honors Theses and Capstones

Located in Lichtenberg, Berlin (part of the former borough of Hohenschönhausen), Gedenkstätte Berlin-Hohenschönhausen stands today as a memorial for the thousands who were killed and imprisoned there, from its construction in 1939 until its closure in 1990. This paper will trace the evolution of Hohenschönhausen from a physical space of confinement, to a sophisticated psychological apparatus designed to exert control over its political prisoners through the development of “Operative Psychology” (OP). Through an architectural and historical analysis of the prison, alongside a review of prisoner testimonies, this paper works to reveal how the environment of Hohenschönhausen was methodically designed to …

Consumer Preference In Politics: Polarization In The Us Two-Party System, Jocelyne Y. Bisson

Honors Theses and Capstones

This paper uses marketing analytics to analyze the current segmentation and positioning of the US two-party political system. In the literature review, the political parties will be illustrated as they exist in 2024 after a brief historical outline beginning with party politics post WWII. The current 2024 platforms and most polarizing issues will also be outlined in this section. This research aims to answer the following questions. Can marketing segmentation and positioning reveal the most and least polarizing party issues in the United States today? How do current presidential front runners fit into the larger US two-party system? Do their …

Latest Data Show All New England States Gain Population, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, Carsey Senior Demographer Kenneth Johnson reports that population gains were widespread in New England last year, according to new Census Bureau estimates. All six states gained population for the first time since before the pandemic. New Hampshire and Maine continued to gain population, just as they have in each of the last four years. In contrast, Massachusetts and Rhode Island gained population last year after several years of population decline. Vermont and Connecticut also continued to add population.

Most of New England’s population increase came from migration, because deaths continue to exceed births in four of the …

How Many Emotional Intelligence Abilities Are There? An Examination Of Four Measures Of Emotional Intelligence, John Mayer, David R. Caruso, Gill Sitarenios, Manolo Romero Escobar

UNH Personality Lab

The ability model of emotional intelligence (EI) specifies that four related abilities are involved: perceiving emotions, facilitating thought using emotions, understanding emotions, and managing them. Several performance-based assessments have been developed to measure those four abilities. Although some researchers find empirical support for the four abilities, others have argued that emotional intelligence divides into three abilities, two or even a single, unitary ability (Legree et al., 2014; Palmer, Gignac, Manocha, & Stough, 2005). We reanalyzed archival data from four ability tests of emotional intelligence, Ns = 503, 5000, 1000, and 2000, conducting item-level exploratory factor models of all four assessments …

Unlocking The Gates Of Change: Exploring The Impact Of Transformational Leadership On Openness Toward Organizational Change, William A. Whipple Iii

M.S. in Leadership

This capstone delves into the contemporary challenge of organizational change, specifically focusing on leadership's influence on employee openness to change. The objective is to provide leaders with practical tools for fostering employee receptivity to change in today's dynamic work environment. This study employs a mixed-method approach involving a literature review and a quantitative survey. The research reveals a positive relationship between transformational leadership and employee openness to change. A 21-item survey evaluates the correlation between five subdimensions of transformational leadership and employee openness. Practical implications suggest that leaders emphasizing inspirational communication can enhance employee openness to future organizational changes, contributing …

More U.S. Women Of Childbearing Age, But Fewer Have Given Birth, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, Senior Demographer Kenneth Johnson reports that, in 2022, there were 21.9 million women aged 20–39 who had not given birth in the United States. This is 4.7 million more childless women of prime child-bearing age than would have been expected given fertility patterns prior to the Great Recession. In 2022, there were 9 percent more women 20 to 39 than in 2006, but the share who had never had a child was up by 37 percent.

The cumulative result of fewer women having children and diminishing fertility levels was 9.6 million fewer U.S. births between 2008 and …

Youth Identity And Postsecondary Decision Making In A Rural State: Evidence Of A College For All Master Narrative, Jayson Seaman, Cindy L. Hartman, Andrew D. Coppens, Erin H. Sharp, Sarah Jusseaume, Molly Donovan

Faculty Publications

This study examined the normative messages that inform youth postsecondary decision making in a predominantly rural state in the northeastern U.S., focusing on the institutionalization and circulation of identity master narratives. Using a multilevel, ecological approach to sampling, the study interviewed 33 key informants in positions of influence in educational, workforce, and quality of life domains. Narrative analysis yielded evidence of a predominant master narrative – College for All – that participants described as a prescriptive expectation that youth and families orient their postsecondary planning toward four-year, residential baccalaureate degree programs. Both general and domain-specific aspects of this master narrative …

Technical Supplement For How Many Emotional Intelligence Abilities Are There? An Examination Of Four Measures Of Emotional Intelligence, John D. Mayer

UNH Personality Lab

No abstract provided.

Recent Demographic Trends Have Implications For Rural Health Care, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, Senior Demographer Kenneth Johnson reports nonmetropolitan (rural) America gained population between April of 2020 and July of 2022. In the preceding decade, rural areas lost population, both because more people left rural areas than moved to them and because births just minimally exceeded deaths. In contrast, the recent, modest rural population increase occurred because a significant net migration gain more than offset the growing excess of deaths over births fostered by the pandemic. That rural migration was strong enough to produce population growth is especially surprising given that deaths outnumbered births—in part due to the pandemic—in 85 …

The Crusading Days Of Jackie Stewart: Evaluating The Development Of Safety In Motor Racing During The 1960s., Alex Twitchen

Journal of Motorsport Culture & History

This article critically evaluates the contribution of Jackie Stewart in making motor racing a safer sport for competitors. It challenges the validity of the popular assumption that Jackie Stewart by himself developed a ‘culture of safety’ that transformed the sport. Instead, the role of other individuals are identified alongside the importance of three social processes. These processes are identified as the changing balance of power between different masculine identities, the development of commercial sponsorship and a growth in the coverage of the sport on television.

The development of motor racing from the 1960s onwards as a safer sport in which …

Book Review- Racing With Rich Energy: How A Rogue Sponsor Took Formula One For A Ride., James Miller

Journal of Motorsport Culture & History

No abstract provided.

Book Review: I Was A Nascar Redneck: Recollections Of The Transformation Of A Yankee Farm Boy To A Southern Redneck In The Golden Era Of Nascar And Beyond., Quinn Beekwilder, Daniel Dean

Journal of Motorsport Culture & History

No abstract provided.

Migration Sustains New Hampshire’S Population Gain: Examining The Origins Of Recent Migrants, Kenneth M. Johnson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, Senior Demographer Kenneth Johnson reports that New Hampshire’s population continued to grow in 2021 and 2022 because a migration gain of 18,300 was enough to offset the excess of deaths over births. More people died (28,700) than were born (24,900) in New Hampshire in the past two years. Covid certainly contributed to this loss, but annual deaths already exceeded births in the state for several years before the pandemic.

Recently released Census data underscore the mobility of New Hampshire’s population and provide insights into the origin of the migrants to the state. Only 41 percent of the …

A Descriptive Study Of Covid-Era Movers To The Northern Forest Region: "The Perfect Balance Of Things...A Choice Based On Lifestyle, Community, And Values", Jessica A. Carson, Sarah Boege, Libby Schwaner

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

The Northern Forest—a 34-county swath of northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York—saw an increase in domestic migration during the pandemic, with 85 percent of the region’s counties experiencing domestic in-migration gains between 2020 and 2021, compared with 63 percent of counties in the rest of the United States. Who moved to the Northern Forest region, and why? Do they intend to stay? And what does that mean for those who already lived there?

In this research brief, authors Jess Carson, Sarah Boege, and Libby Schwaner share findings from interviews with 16 such movers (and six regional real estate …

Advancing Decarbonization In Regulated Multifamily Affordable Housing: Key Federal Levers To Achieve Meaningful Change, Housing Sustainability Advisors, Eric Hangen

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Decarbonizing affordable rental housing is critical to mitigating climate change and meeting the Biden Administration’s target for a net-zero emissions national economy by 2050. It also offers numerous benefits, including energy cost savings, improved health and well-being, and economic opportunities. However, challenges related to upfront costs, tenant turnover, technical expertise, and policy support must be addressed to accelerate the market’s adoption of decarbonization. Collaboration between governments, policymakers, landlords, tenants, and industry experts is essential to overcome these challenges and achieve a sustainable and equitable future.

We are faced with a historic moment: the Inflation Reduction Act has provided $27 billion …

Evaluation Of Telemental Health Services For People With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities: Protocol For A Randomized Non-Inferiority Trial, Luther G. Kalb, Jessica M. Kramer, Tawara D. Goode, Sandra J. Black, Susan Klick, Andrea Caoili, Samantha Klipsch, Ann Klein, Micah P. Urquilla, Joan B. Beasley

Institute on Disability

Background: Roughly 40% of those with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) have mental health needs, twice the national average. Unfortunately, outpatient mental health services are often inaccessible, increasing reliance on hospital-based services. While telemental health services hold potential to address this gap, little is known about the effectiveness of telemental health for the diversity of persons with IDD, especially as it relates to crisis prevention and intervention services. Accordingly, the aims of this study are to: (1) compare telemental health versus in-person crisis prevention and intervention services among people with IDD; and (2) understand if outcomes vary across subpopulations, in order to …

New Englanders' Use Of Child Care Varies By Income, Even Among Working Households, Jessica A. Carson

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this data snapshot, author Jess Carson reports that data from the U.S. Census Bureau collected between January and May 2023 show that access to child care remains uneven. Among New England households with a child under age five, 71.1 percent had used at least some child care in the past seven days. However, lower-income households are less likely to use care than higher-income households. While child care use is more prevalent among low-income households with a working adult, rates are still below those in high-income households. Findings suggest that in low-income New England households, access to early care opportunities­­—as …