Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Preachers, Politics And The Pulpit: The Influence Of Church Structure On How Clergy Approach Political Topics And How Congregations Receive Their Messages, Michael Bender

Honors Theses

Inspired by the Catholic Church’s nationwide resistance to President Obama’s contraceptive mandate in the summer of 2012, this honors thesis paper attempts to discover a link between church polity (or church structure) and whether political messages are more or less likely to be preached by clergy from the pulpit and accepted by their congregants. Given that churches are places where attendees are exposed to political messages, this paper hypothesizes that structurally centralized Christian denominations are more likely to have preached on the contraceptive mandate than decentralized denominations. Accordingly, it is assumed that Catholics are more likely to have heard about …

The Effect Of Early Life Social Stress On Anxiety-Like Behaviors And Ethanol Drinking In Female Long-Evans Rats, Alyssa Roeckner

Honors Theses

Among women with Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs), women have higher rates of anxiety-disorders and are more influenced by early life stress compared to men. Preclinical models have been used to study the relationships between early life stress, anxiety-like behavior, and alcohol intake and preference. However, fewer studies have been done with female rats than male rats. To that end, chronic social instability was utilized as a model of early life stress in females. In this model Long Evans rats are placed in different pairs every day, and this has previously produced anxiety-like behavior in female rats (McCormick et al., 2008). …

Model Behavior: An Assessment Of Role Model Attachment, Patrick C. Doyle

Honors Theses

Despite the term existing since the early part of the 20th century, little is known about role models and relationships that individuals develop with them. Using attachment theory, a cornerstone of interpersonal theory, relationships between individuals and their role models are compared to relationships between those individuals and their parents in the present study. While data did not support the hypothesis (those with anxious attachment to their parents will experience more secure attachment to their role model) promising opportunities for future research were suggested by the qualitative and quantitative data that were collected. For example, the experience of many participants …

Too Close For Comfort: The Effects Of Threatening Stereotypes On Perceptions Of Proximity, Anissa J. Maffett

Honors Theses

Do stereotypes influence how we perceive physical stimuli in our social world? The current project addresses this question by examining whether people differentially perceive targets based on whether a stereotype-based threat accompanies the target. Previous research finds that people evaluate physically threatening stimuli (e.g., spiders, aggressive people) as closer than non-threatening stimuli (Cole Balceitis, & Dunning, 2012). However, less is known about the role of stereotypes in activating a threat response. It was predicted that participants who are made aware of the threatening status of a group will perceive a member of that group as standing physically closer. Overall, the …

Human Rights And Healthy Societies: Opening Social And Cultural Spaces For Peacebuilding, Margaret A. Maloney

Honors Theses

Exploring peace demands rethinking many of the assumptions that have driven the field of peacebuilding. Previously, scholars have investigated the content of peace agreements in relation to the promotion of sectors that include security, justice, and democracy. However, I hypothesize that by focusing narrowly on these areas, scholars and peacemakers overlook crucial ingredients that create stable post-conflict societies. This senior thesis examines the inclusion of social and cultural rights in peace agreements and aims to contribute to a more robust understanding of whether traditionally “soft” issues like education, art, and women’s participation may have significant impacts on the long-term health …

Effects Of Acute Stress And Ethanol Consumption On Il-1Β In Female Long Evans Rats: A Pilot Study, Kristin R. Creel

Honors Theses

Background: Acute stress elicits many physiological, behavioral, and neurological responses, and many studies have aimed to better our understanding of these responses and their effects. However, a majority of preclinical studies have used male test subjects, despite growing evidence that males and females have different responses to acute and chronic stressors. This study thus aims to evaluate the ability of three different acute stressors to cause a physiological stress response in adult and adolescent female subjects.

Methods: In this preliminary investigation, Female Long Evans rats (N=12) underwent three acute stressors over the course of three consecutive days. In order, these …

The Evolution Of The Scope And Political Ambition Of The State Attorneys General, Elizabeth A. Brumleve

Honors Theses

The state attorneys general (AGs) play a crucial role in government, on both a state and national level. They provide the legal voice of the state in matters ranging from the defense of state laws to consumer protection and, for some, criminal prosecution. The increase in the amount of multistate litigation undertaken by the attorneys general and their growing influence over policy reflect an expansion in the scope of this office. Furthermore, the AG’s office provides an effective record-building platform from which candidates can, and often do, establish campaigns for higher office. The 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), a …

Can The Color Red Improve Men's Perceived Mate Value? Examining The Interactive Effects Of Facial Masculinity And Color On Female Evaluation Of Potential Mates, Alejandro Trujillo

Honors Theses

We manipulated facial masculinity (masculine-morph/feminine-morph) and color (red/white) through two independent studies—one in-lab at the University of Dayton and one online using Amazon’s MTurk—to examine its effect on social status and attractiveness for men when rated by women. We specifically aimed to see if the color red could serve a compensatory effect for feminine-faced men, who were least likely to be found attractive by women at peak fertility. When paired with red, women rated the masculine and feminine faces higher in social status. Through this increase in social status, the color red was also able to indirectly increase the physical …

Examining The Protective Effects Of Self-Positivity On Information Avoidance, Amanda C. Ferrante

Honors Theses

Although information could provide insight, comfort, or opportunity, people are motivated to avoid information that challenges preexisting belief or cause unpleasant emotion. Previous research shows that affirming one’s self-worth can reduce information avoidance. The present study measures whether selfenhancement, or exaggerating qualities to maintain a positive sense of self, can also reduce information avoidance. Self-enhancement is associated with positive mental health and reducing physiological stress symptoms if the exaggeration is within the same domain as threatening information. Participants in the selfenhancement category were asked to give examples of how they are better at maintaining social relationships than the average college …

The Effectiveness Of Active Interaction In Interactive Visual Imagery As Created By The Keyword Method, Morgan Pair

Honors Theses

A proven mnemonic method called the Keyword Method can be used to learn concrete word pairs, such as when learning a foreign language. In the Keyword Method, an English word that sounds or looks similar to the foreign word (the “keyword”) is used to relate the foreign word and its English equivalent (Raugh & Atkinson, 1975). There are two steps to the keyword method. The first is to learn the foreign word, English translation and English keyword. The second step is to then create an interactive visual image using the English word and keyword (Raugh & Atkinson, 1975). This second …