Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Essays On Trade Shocks And Firm’S Location, Dan Zhang

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation analyzes how firms can mitigate the influence of trade shock and benefit from openness and diversification. It is composed of three chapters. Chapter 1 and 2 analyze the impact of U.S. import tariffs on the export value of Chinese firms and the differential response of firms that vary in market sizes outside of the U.S. In Chapter 1, I develop a model assuming fixed capital for each firm and fixed cost of entering into new markets. This model shows that the negative impact of a U.S. tariff on the total export value of Chinese firms exporting to more …

Bullying Involvement And Depression Among Youth With Adhd: Is Positive Parenting Protective?, Jessica A. Simmons

Dissertations - ALL

Abstract Background: Youth with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased independent risk for bullying involvement or depression yet the topic of bullying involvement and depression in ADHD is poorly understood and largely considered without a guiding theoretical framework. Research on the relation between ADHD and bullying is still in its early stages and less is known about the risk and protective factors that may contribute to the development or buffering of depression in these youth. Family factors such as positive parenting promote resilience in children with ADHD, help reduce the risk for youth depression and help to …

Three Essays On Food Insecurity, Cognition, And Food Assistance In The Context Of Aging And Family Dynamics, Dongmei Zuo

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation consists of three chapters pertaining to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation, food insecurity, cognition impairment, and sibling correlation in SNAP participation over the life course. Participation in SNAP among eligible adults 60 and older is much lower than among the younger population, and rates continue to decline throughout the life course while, at the same time, the risk of cognitive impairment increases. The relationship between food insecurity and health outcomes among adults has garnered increasing attention. Some previous studies found an association between food insecurity and cognition outcomes among older adults. However, they were hampered by not …

Scrutinizing Along With Visual Persuasion Of Movie Billboards In Egypt From The 1930s To The 2010s/ Qualitative Content Analysis Study, Sara Ali Almaleki

Dissertations - ALL

In this study, I will use qualitative content analysis to analyze the Cultural, social, and political aspects of film billboard, and the usage persuasion techniques in Egyptian film posters from the 1930s to the 2010s. Two posters from each political era—equaling a total of ten samples— are analyzed regarding how the persuasion techniques related to the politics of the time. This study shows the relationship between politics and cinema, as well as how film posters utilize visual persuasion techniques in images throughout time. Furthermore, information about the beginnings of Egyptian cinema and its success in the Arab world will be …

Containment: Logistics, Environmental Conflict, And The Legal Geography Of Inland Ports, Jared Charles Whear

Dissertations - ALL

In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the supply chain, people worldwide received a crash course in the importance of logistics when corporations like Amazon became a lifeline for many. Before this increased public attention, however, scholars in geography had shown logistics to be a highly political yet indispensable process in the operation of global capitalism. Much of this scholarship underscores how the logistics industry frequently operates at the expense of marginalized people, workers, and the environment. In this dissertation, I expand on this work by adding a legal geography and political ecology analysis—a legal political ecology approach—to examine the …

Preference For Online Psychotherapy: A Comparison Study Of Stigma, Attitudes, And Intentions, Travis Stewart

Dissertations - ALL

Abstract Objective: There is clear evidence that rates of mental health disorders among college students are increasing, and many students experiencing mental health difficulties do not engage in treatment. Some evidence suggests that telehealth may be a way to increase access to care. Research conducted prior to the pandemic suggests that students generally favor in-person treatment over online treatment, but little data has been collected following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to clarify if this trend persists. The proposed research sought to understand how treatment perceptions may have shifted following the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data was collected from 350 …

Morphodynamic Diversity Of Alluvial River Systems In The Upper Yellow River Watershed, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Xiwei Guo

Dissertations - ALL

Alluvial rivers exhibit diverse forms and dynamic processes based on the physiographic configuration and in response to the interactions between water flow, sediment transport, and channel morphology. The current understanding of the formative and evolutionary processes controlling channel morphology and the dynamics remains incomplete, as it falls short of explaining and predicting a variety of channel forms and processes. Using data derived from remote sensing analysis and field measurement, this dissertation investigates the morphological characteristics, lateral adjustment, and channel-floodplain interactions of meandering and anabranching rivers in a pristine, high-altitude environment in the source watershed of the Yellow River, eastern Qinghai-Tibet …

Leveraging System Context To Understand Collaborative Systems In Modern Public Management, Catherine Annis

Dissertations - ALL

Complex and boundary-spanning problems like overpopulation, hunger, pandemics, homelessness, and environmental degradation occur more frequently now than ever (Bynander & Nohrstedt, 2019; Criado & Guevara-Gómez, 2021; Huang, 2020; Kapucu, 2015; Getha-Taylor, 2007; Jayasinghe et al., 2022). Policymakers increasingly address these challenges through interorganizational collaboration (Isett et al., 2011). Countries worldwide now use collaborative governance to respond to such wicked problems (Jayasinghe et al., 2022; Huang, 2020; Megawati et al., 2020). Despite growing in popularity, gaps remain in understanding collaborative governance at scale. In this dissertation, I present research on the interconnected nature of collaborative governance initiatives in the United States …

“Envisioning Digital Sanctuaries”: An Exploration Of Virtual Collectives For Nurturing Professional Development Of Women In Technical Domains, Subhasree Sengupta

Dissertations - ALL

Work and learning are essential facets of our existence, yet sociocultural barriers have historically limited access and opportunity for women in multiple contexts, including their professional pursuits. Such sociocultural barriers are particularly pronounced in technical domains and have relegated minoritized voices to the margins. As a result of these barriers, those affected have suffered strife, turmoil, and subjugation. Hence, it is important to investigate how women can subvert such structural limitations and find channels through which they can seek support and guidance to navigate their careers. With the proliferation of modern communication infrastructure, virtual forums of conversation such as Reddit …

The Associations Between Paternal Depressive Symptoms And Children’S Behavior Outcomes Via Intimate Partner Violence And Paternal Rejection In Kenyan Families, Dickson Mukara Matsantsa Ong'ayi

Dissertations - ALL

High rates of depressive symptoms and intimate partner violence in Kenya place children at risk for behavioral difficulties well beyond the preschool years. This study examined (a) whether paternal depressive symptoms, psychological and physical intimate partner violence, and rejection were associated with children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors above maternal risk factors, and (b) whether psychological and physical intimate partner violence and paternal/maternal rejection mediated the associations between depressive symptoms and children’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors differently for mothers and fathers. Propositions within the developmental psychopathology framework and interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory guided the formulation of the research questions and hypotheses. A …

The Associations Between Family Socioeconomic Status, Family Expectations, And Child Academic Achievement Via Nurturant-Involved Parenting, Teacher–Student Relationship, And Academic Self-Regulation In Chinese Families, Lei Jin

Dissertations - ALL

Chinese parents place a high value on their children’s academic excellence and have high career aspirations for their children. Family socioeconomic status (FSES) and family expectations on children’s future achievement play pivotal roles in children’s academic achievement. Using data from the 2014 China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) and structural equation modeling techniques, the pathways of association between FSES and children’s academic achievement through family expectations on children’s future achievement, parenting strategies, teacher–student relationship, and academic self-regulation were examined. The sample included 802 families with children between 10 and 13 years (46% girls and 58.4% children from rural areas). Higher family …

Digitalizing Religion In The Age Of Covid-19: A Uses And Gratifications Perspective, Abdulaziz Altawil

Dissertations - ALL

The current COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people’s religious behavior around the world. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, most in-person religious services have shifted to virtual platforms. The online religious transition amidst the outbreak has alleviated many issues for worshippers as it provided them with a sanctuary space to connect with their faith and community. According to a 2020 Pew Research analysis, the pandemic has made many Americans change their religious habits by watching religious content online instead of physically engaging with their local religious institution. This dissertation provides a preliminary examination of this phenomenon by exploring the role of digital …

Critical Aspirations: Disability, Education, And Community Cultural Wealth In A Sanctuary City, Chelsea Stinson

Dissertations - ALL

This study explores the needs and experiences of refugee parents of emergent bilingual students labeled as disabled (EB/LADs) and their networks of interpreters and community-based educators. This investigation focuses on the relationships (and disconnects) within these networks related to language, migration, culture, race, disability, and special education experiences in formal and community-based schooling contexts. The bulk of extant scholarship regarding parental experiences in special education typically centers school-based experiences rather than community- and home-based experiences, such as daily acts of nurturing and communication (e.g., Cioè-Peña, 2018). However, school-based spaces, processes, and resources are in many ways inaccessible to EB/LAD families …

Social Pressure & Accuracy Motivations- Strategies To Address Problems Of Directionally Motivated Reasoning In Political Information Processing, Colin French

Dissertations - ALL

How effective can social pressure be when encouraging accuracy motivations amongst the public? In politics, directionally motivated reasoning is a powerful force that can shape the way people access, process, and remember political information, which can often lead to inaccurate viewpoints, or opinions backed up by erroneous or unsupported information. These inaccuracies can be problematic for Democratic accountability. Accuracy motivations, or seeking the most accurate answer possible, are preferable for a public’s political knowledge and information processing. Using three novel survey experiments on the American public, I test whether inducing accuracy motivations via types of social pressure- in-group conformity, out-group …

Sports Participation And Labor Market Outcomes: A Correspondence Study, Laura Lorena Rodriguez Ortiz

Dissertations - ALL

Discrimination contributes to gaps in employment between Whites and Blacks and increases racial inequality. Young Blacks, ages 18 to 19, are twice more likely to be unemployed compared to Whites (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015). This dissertation is the first study, to my knowledge, to rely on an experimental design to examine whether participation in high school sports affects labor market discrimination. This dissertation uses a correspondence study in which 6,000 fictional resumes are sent to real job openings in Chicago, Dallas, and New York. Call-backs are recorded, and any differences in call-back rates are considered evidence of discrimination. All …

Do Adverse Childhood Experiences Mediate The Relationship Between Autistic Traits And Borderline Personality Traits?, Alyne Rodrigues

Dissertations - ALL

Background: Previous studies have found comorbid autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) diagnoses in clinical samples, higher autistic traits in individuals with BPD compared to control groups, and co-occurrence of autistic traits and BPD traits in community samples. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are highly prevalent among autistic individuals and individuals diagnosed with BPD. However, to date, cumulative ACEs have been neglected as a potential mediator of the association between ASD and BPD. The present preliminary cross-sectional study examined whether retrospective self-reported ACEs, before 18 years of age, explained the relationship between current self-reported autistic traits and current …

Bleeding Red: The Relationship Between Feminism, Brand Activism Skepticism, And Attitudes About Menstrual-Realistic Advertisements, Adriana S. Mucedola

Dissertations - ALL

Beginning in the early 2000s, menstrual product advertisers in the U.S. and other developed countries began to use red liquid in their advertising to represent period blood rather than the blue liquid used in the past, which is often criticized because it portrays stigmatizing representations of menstruation. These more “menstrual-realistic” advertisements instead communicate that bleeding is normal and arguably help correct past wrongdoings relating to the tainted history of stigmatizing menstrual product ads. This imagery has garnered mixed reactions from the public, including praise, disgust, and skepticism. Extant research demonstrates that consumers prefer media that align with their preexisting beliefs; …

Whom Do You Want To Be Friends With: An Extroverted Or An Introverted Avatar? Impacts Of The Uncanny Valley Effect And Conversational Cues, Se Jung Kim

Dissertations - ALL

With the rapid growth of social virtual reality platforms, an increasing number of people will be interacting with others as avatars in virtual environments. Therefore, it is essential to develop a better understanding of the factors that could impact initial personality assessments and how they affect the willingness of people to befriend one another. Thin-slice judgment constitutes a quick judgment of a personality based on an avatar, and it could be impacted by the avatar’s appearance, particularly if the avatar elicits an uncanny valley effect that brings negative emotions such as eerieness. However, personality judgments and friendship decisions could also …

Public Administrator Aversion To Randomized Controlled Trials, Emily Bryn Cardon

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines whether public administrators are averse to randomized controlled trials, and why. More specifically, it explores whether public administrators are reluctant or opposed to conducting RCTs for the evaluation of social welfare programs in situations where they would help to answer an important and useful policy question and are feasible to conduct. While RCTs are widely used to evaluate clinical interventions and practices, they are used far less often in social policy. I first propose a conceptual framework for understanding the public administrator’s decision-making process as they contemplate whether to conduct an RCT, outlining nine factors that likely …

Implementing The Mindfulness-Based Kindness Curriculum In An Inclusive Setting: Effects On Prosocial Behavior, Emily Cary

Dissertations - ALL

Low rates of prosocial behavior are associated with poor academic, emotional, and behavioral outcomes, including physical aggression, externalizing problems, criminal justice convictions, lower academic achievement, and more peer rejection. Using a cluster randomized control trial, this study examined the effects of the mindfulness-based Kindness Curriculum (N = 26), compared to a matched control condition consisting of a social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum, Merrell’s Strong Start (N = 20). Outcome measures included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Head Shoulders Knees and Toes task, which are measures of prosocial behavior including self-regulatory skills. These assessments were administered to 5 …

Freyre’S Plantation Playground: The Changing Landscape Of The Sugar Plantation Monjope, Catherine Elizabeth Lavoy

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation investigates the changing landscape of the sugar plantation Monjope in Pernambuco, Brazil from the mid-seventeenth to the end of the twentieth century. I examine this plantation’s changing landscape as part of a number of larger social, economic and environmental forces; in particular the development of racially based labor. Established in the sixteenth century, Monjope was one of the many Brazilian sugar plantations that relied on African slavery for labor until the end of the nineteenth century. I argue the plantation’s built environment in conjunction with the larger plantation landscape was part of a global trend of controlling labor …

Three Essays On Nuclear Operations, Capabilities, And International Conflict, Kyungwon Suh

Dissertations - ALL

What is the effect of military operations of nuclear weapons, defined broadly as the management of nuclear weapons and the implementation of doctrinal concepts by which the military uses nuclear weapons in peacetime and combat, on international conflict outcomes? This dissertation explores how employment dimensions of military nuclear operations influence patterns of interstate military conflicts. The existing quantitative literature on nuclear weapons and international conflict mainly explores the impact of nuclear weapons possession on patterns of interstate conflict by using crude metrics of nuclear capabilities, such as binary measures of nuclear proliferation and a simple warhead count. These research practices …

Research Data Management Practices And Impacts On Long-Term Data Sustainability: An Institutional Exploration, Sarah Elaine Bratt

Dissertations - ALL

With the 'data deluge' leading to an institutionalized research environment for data management, U.S. academic faculty have increasingly faced pressure to deposit research data into open online data repositories, which, in turn, is engendering a new set of practices to adapt formal mandates to local circumstances. When these practices involve reorganizing workflows to align the goals of local and institutional stakeholders, we might call them 'data articulations.' This dissertation uses interviews to establish a grounded understanding of the data articulations behind deposit in 3 studies: (1) a phenomenological study of genomics faculty data management practices; (2) a grounded theory study …

Three Essays On Urban Property Taxes, Yoon-Jung Choi

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation consists of three essays that examine the economic and fiscal effects of property tax policies in urban areas. The dissertation aims to expand current understanding of urban property tax dynamics and fragmentation features.In the first chapter, titled "Property Tax Interaction among Overlapping Local Jurisdictions: Quasi-experimental Evidence from School Bond Referenda," I empirically examine interactive behaviors of local jurisdictions that are not perfectly overlapping. This topic remains largely underexplored in current scholarship. I specifically estimate the causal effect of a property tax increase by a school district on the fiscal decisions of overlapping municipal governments using both regression discontinuity …

The Politics Of Repeal And Replace: Testing The Limits Of The Affordable Care Act's Behavioral Policy Feedbacks, Emma Clare Dreher

Dissertations - ALL

What happens when a policy with millions of beneficiaries is threatened? The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been under attack since before it was signed into law, culminating in its only legislative challenge under the Trump administration in 2017. While we know that policies like the ACA produce policy feedbacks that affect policymaking and shape policy attitudes, less is known about behavioral feedback effects that serve to mobilize beneficiaries to protect and maintain their health insurance benefits in the face of ACA threat. This dissertation leverages a 3-paper design to evaluate under what conditions threat facilitates behavioral change, and how …

Startup Futures: Entrepreneurs, Investors And Imaginaries Of Care In Global India, Ipshita Ghosh

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examines the emerging cultures of venture capital-driven, technology-infused startups in India and the multiple ways in which they shape the nation's entrepreneurship landscape. Based on findings drawn from 14 months of ethnographic fieldwork with Delhi's startups, I argue that entrepreneurship serves as a cultural and ideological formation that creates a new regime of values and reshapes our social, political, and civil life. In this sense, I suggest that previous studies on entrepreneurship which focus purely on its economic impacts (or lack thereof) tend to undervalue the long-lasting cultural transformations created through it. One of the primary ways in …

Cannabis Sleep Aid Use In Daily College Life: An Intensive Longitudinal Assessment Approach, Patricia A. Goodhines

Dissertations - ALL

Objective: Emerging evidence suggests that college cannabis sleep aid use may increase vulnerability to diurnal impairment, despite proximal sleep-related benefits. In contrast, relatively little is known about proximal precipitants of cannabis sleep aid use in daily college life. The identification of modifiable, situational intervention points preceding cannabis sleep aid use in daily college life is critical to accelerate the development of college harm reduction efforts. This 14-night mixed methods study tested temporal associations of THC-based cannabis sleep aid use with cognitive arousal-based precipitants (consistent with cognitive theory of insomnia) and sleep outcomes.

Method: Daily diary (pre-sleep and waking) and actigraphy …

Hell's Black Intelligencers: Representing Clandestine Labor On The Early Modern Stage, Evan Alexander Hixon

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation, "Hell's Black Intelligencers: Representing Clandestine Labor on the Early Modern Stage," builds upon critical scholarship pertaining to early modern service and political theory to interrogate the imagined economic and social functions of clandestine service in the plays of Shakespeare, Jonson, and Webster. Drawing heavily on the works of András Kiséry, David Schalkwyk, Elizabeth Rivlin, and Michael Neill, I look at the exchange of service between spy and spymaster as an accumulation of social and cultural capital. Thinking through spying in this light, this dissertation explores how playwrights represent these service relationships which fall outside of systems of patronage-driven …

Policing The Project: Crime, Carcerality, And Chicago Public Housing, Madeleine Rose Hamlinn

Dissertations - ALL

This project examines how Chicago's public housing was policed from 1937 to 2000, when the city announced plans to redevelop public housing into privately-owned mixed-income communities under the Plan for Transformation. Drawing upon interviews, historical newspapers, and archival records, it centrally argues that policing contributed to making public housing into a carceral space: one that resembled the prison in design and management and also funneled residents into the criminal-legal system. Writing against popular narratives of public housing as an inherent site of crime and violence, this project instead positions the police—and, by extension, the state—as a central contributor to violence …

Development Of A Combined Model Of College Student Alcohol-Associated Condomless Sex, Alan Z. Sheinfil

Dissertations - ALL

Harmful alcohol use and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are significant public health concerns for college students. Because alcohol use and condomless sex often co-occur in this population, alcohol-associated condomless sex has been identified as a target for behavioral interventions. Existing theoretical frameworks have not garnered sufficient empirical support to serve as the foundation for interventions. The primary goal of the current study was to use a mixed-methods approach to develop a novel model of college student alcohol-associated condomless sex that combines elements from well-established health behavior theories. In Aim 1, multilevel structural regression models were estimated to predict condomless vaginal …