Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

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 …

Dividing The Blue Line: The Cultural Work Of Rural Policing In Upstate New York, Michael Branch

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation focuses on the ways in which residents of Old Forge, New York make use of policing as a resource to structure and reproduce social and symbolic boundaries. Drawing on in-depth interviews with a combination of 40 permanent residents and second-home owners in the area, I explore how policing in this rural amenity-based tourist town is rooted in the economic and social histories of the area and how it structures access to social and moral capital for residents. I focus on how social divisions between permanent residents and second-home owners are observed and experienced by both groups and how …

Saving This Honorable Court: Supreme Court Legitimacy And Support For Court Reform, Nathan Thomas Carrington

Dissertations - ALL

For the first time in nearly a century, serious conversations are taking place involving re- form of the Nation's highest court. Scholarly wisdom holds that such discussions indicate a decrease of the Court's legitimacy which will have detrimental effects on the rule of law and minority rights. Indeed, several generations of political science scholarship have exam- ined the relationship between institutional support for the Supreme Court and its ability to exercise judicial power effectively, all finding a strong relationship. Do reform efforts actu- ally signal a collapse in Court legitimacy and the death of the rule of law as we …

The Effect Of The Education Realignment On Party Position Taking In The United States, Joel B. Kersting

Dissertations - ALL

In recent decades, observers of American politics noticed a growing divide in the voting behavior of individuals with and without a college education. Today, Americans with a college degree are much more likely to support the Democratic Party and those without a college degree are much more likely to support the Republican Party. This trend, concentrated among whites, is a reversal of voting behavior in the past. I call this reversal the education realignment: the movement of college educated whites from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party; and of non-college educated whites from the Democratic Party to the Republican …

An Nlp Analysis Of Health Advice Giving In The Medical Research Literature, Yingya Li

Dissertations - ALL

Health advice – clinical and policy recommendations – plays a vital role in guiding medical practices and public health policies. Whether or not authors should give health advice in medical research publications is a controversial issue. The proponents of "actionable research" advocate for the more efficient and effective transmission of science evidence into practice. The opponents are concerned about the quality of health advice in individual research papers, especially that in observational studies. Arguments both for and against giving advice in individual studies indicate a strong need for identifying and accessing health advice, for either practical use or quality evaluation …

Three Essays At The Intersection Of Child Welfare And Public Policy, Mattie Mackenzie-Liu

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation is comprised of three essays which examine policy relevant issues in the child welfare system. In the United States the goal of the child welfare system is to protect the well-being of children by ensuring their safety and promoting permanency. Children typically become involved with the child welfare system due to an allegation of neglect or child maltreatment. If the allegation is substantiated, the government can take custody of the children, remove them from their homes, and place them in foster care. All three of these papers examine foster care outcomes. Removing a child from their family is …

Three Essays On Pupil Transportation, Christopher Rick

Dissertations - ALL

In this dissertation, I examine the link between pupil transportation policy and three outcomes.

The first paper exploits idiosyncratic variation in the percentage of weekdays that are instructional school days in a month and variation in pupil transportation spending within districts over time. I build a rich, monthly, longitudinal data set for congestion, school days, and transportation policy for 51 cities from 2013 to 2019 and find congestion is significantly higher on school days and pupil transportation alleviates congestion caused by school children's travel.

The second paper uses a difference-in-differences design to answer whether desegregation court order release delivered the …

The Politics Of Security: Syrian Refugees In The Middle East And Western Europe, Sefa Secen

Dissertations - ALL

Under what conditions do governments view and respond to the arrival of refugees primarily as a security threat? Comparatively analyzing the securitization of Syrian refugees in two pairs of countries, Turkey and Lebanon and Germany and France, this dissertation proposes a domestic political context-based theory and typology of securitization. Based on a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the media data including mainstream national newspaper articles, political speeches, and policy documents, this research differentiates between different levels of securitization. It finds that moderate securitization was present in Lebanon during the early years of the refugee crisis (2013–2014) and coincided with …