Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The National Security Presidency In The Post-9/11 World, Thomas C. Scandlyn

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Cultural Anthropological Research In The Business Environment, Caitlin Farmer

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Local Residents' Experience Of The Coal Ash Spill In Kingston, Tennessee: A Phenomenological Study, Amy Lynn Mathis

Doctoral Dissertations

On December 22, 2008, near Kingston, Tennessee, a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) retention pond holding approximately 1.7 million cubic yards of coal fly ash failed, spilling the ash into the nearby Emory River and inundating farms and homes in the Swan Pond community. As a result more than 100 people were permanently displaced from their homes and the clean-up effort is ongoing.

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of living near Kingston, Tennessee, in the aftermath of the spill. Using existential phenomenology as the guiding research methodology, I interviewed 9 participants from the area and asked …

Characteristics Of Foster Parents Willing To Care For Sexual Minority Youth, Justin Douglas Bucchio

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Sexual minority foster youth living in out-of-home care are in need of enhanced services to promote successful development. Scholars have focused on providing insight into the lives of these youth as well as effective treatment approaches. None have focused on the willingness of the providers of their care. This nationwide non-probability cross-sectional study assessed foster mothers’ (N = 304) willingness to care for sexual minority youth, using secondary data analysis.

Willingness was assessed using the Willingness to Foster Scale (WFS), which identifies four levels of willingness ranging from not willing at all to willing without any extra help …

New Insights On The Peopling Of The New World: Analysis Of Migration Waves And Ancestral Areas Of The First Americans, Barbara Kathleen Alsup

Doctoral Dissertations

There is much debate regarding the ancestral area(s) and migration patterns of the first migrants into the Americas, referred to here as Paleoamericans. Using craniometric data of a comprehensive sample of Paleoamericans, Archaic Americans and modern, worldwide populations, various statistical analyses were conducted to further investigate these research questions, such as principal component analysis, Mahalanobis squared distance matrices and matrix permutation and design matrix analysis.

Most results indicate that the Single Wave model for movement into the New World is best supported by this data. This finding is among the first in providing craniometric support for a single wave into …

Migration, Residential Preference, And Economic Development: A Knowledge-Based Approach Regarding Locational Preferences Of Two Disparate Subgroups Of The Creative Class, Charlynn Alita Burd

Doctoral Dissertations

The creative class literature centers on regional economic development, urban policy, and amenities. The creative class literature is considered at the metropolitan scale and is argued to be highly mobile. According to Asheim and Hansen (2009) , there are three knowledge bases of the creative class, analytic, synthetic, and symbolic. The three knowledge bases vary across two dimensions of ‘climate’. People climate refers to factors that positively effect the location of people, while business climate refers to factors that positively effect the location of businesses. The analytic knowledge base is comprised of economic activities that are based …

Records Of The Institut Fuer Deutsche Ostarbeit (1940-1943): Using Anthropometrics Of Polish Populations To Examine Secular Trends And Region Specific Variation, Alicja Karolina Lanfear

Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation was to describe population variation and secular trends in anthropometrics of Polish people before, during, and after World War II. The records of the Institute fü[ue]r Deutsche Ostarbeit (USHMM, 2008a), a dataset containing anthropometrics of the Polish population that were taken by Nazi Germans during WWII, was used in combination with other published data sources (Boas, 1928; Sikora, 1956; Stołyhwo et al., 1956; Miszkiewicz, 1956; Miszkiewicz, 1960; Total n= 17,732). Population structure was analyzed at three levels; town, municipality and county. Secular trends in cranial and body dimensions were investigated over an 85 year period …

Deciding To Divert: Domestic And International Sources Of Constraints On Leader Decision-Making, Norris Thomas Feeney

Doctoral Dissertations

Domestic unrest is a constant feature in the international system. Aside from the impact unrest has on domestic populations, political turmoil also has consequences for other states in the international system. A long-held belief, backed by anecdotal evidence, is that leaders use aggressive foreign policy to divert public attention in periods of declining domestic political fortunes. However, consistent evidence for this pattern of behavior has not emerged across large-N analyses in the extant diversionary literature. This dissertation advances the search for evidence of diversion by assessing the likelihood leaders of various regime types will divert, comparing not only non-democracies with …

Assessing The Effect Of Relocation Control On Psychological Well-Being Of Assisted Living Residents, Young Sook Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Recent evidence and prior research document that increasing numbers of older adults are experiencing relocation to an assisted living facility (ALF), and that involuntary ALF relocatees face a great risk of psychological distress because of the numerous stressors associated with this relocation. However, little empirical research has clearly investigated the interrelationship among major factors and their effects on the psychological well-being of AL residents: relocation control, mediators of stress (e.g., social support, self-reported health, and functional impairment) and psychological well-being.

This study had two aims: (a) to investigate the relationship between relocation control and psychological well-being (e.g., depression, …

Consumers' Correspondence Inference On Celebrity Endorsers: The Role Of Correspondence Bias And Suspicion, Taewoo Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

The main purpose of this study is to find out whether celebrity endorsers’ behaviors, such as large endorsement contract and multiple product endorsement, will influence consumers’ correspondence inferences on those celebrities’ genuine attitudes towards the endorsed products in print advertisements and how such attributional inferences will differ according to the perceived level of product congruence with the endorser. For meaningful analysis and interpretation, the differential effects were examined in terms of correspondence bias and suspicion of ulterior motives. The bias refers to people’ attributional inference tendency to relying on other persons’ dispositions; whereas, the suspicion of ulterior motives accounts for …

Re-Conceptualizing The Information Use Environment: Enablers Of And Constraints To Human Information Behavior In Hospice Care Volunteerism In The Southeastern Appalachian Region, Sheri L. Edwards

Doctoral Dissertations

Hospice care has seen an explosive growth in the last decade, with 42% of all deaths in 2010 in the US occurring under the care of a hospice program. A central aspect of hospice care is (unpaid) volunteer work, which is unique among other types of volunteer work in that it is strictly regulated by the Medicare hospice benefit, in which 94% of all hospices currently participate. As a cost-saving measure, Medicare requires that at least 5% of total patient care hours are undertaken by volunteers. However, hospice care faces a number of challenges, including a rapidly aging society that …

Unit Cohesion, Attachment, Personality Factors, And Mental Health In Veterans Of Iraq And Afghanistan, Allison Adrienne Whitesell

Doctoral Dissertations

One hundred forty seven veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom (Iraq) and/or Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) completed an internet survey with questions related to unit cohesion, romantic attachment style, personality factors, and mental health symptoms. Participants completed five self-report measures: the PTSD Checklist-Military, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-21, Deployment Social Support scale from the Deployment Risk and Resiliency Inventory, the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Short Form, and the International Personality Item Pool Big Five Short Form Questionnaire. Most participants were male and Caucasian. Hierarchical linear regression analysis results indicated that emotional stability predicted both general distress and PTSD symptom severity, while avoidant attachment …

An Examination Of Shame And Traditional Gender Roles On Behavioral Response In Non-Stranger Sexual Assault With College Females, Alison Megan Nathanson

Doctoral Dissertations

Non-stranger sexual assault commonly occurs on college campuses across the country, placing college females at risk for the negative consequences, including increased psychopathology, social difficulties, and academic failure. Research suggests that college women with a history of sexual abuse are often revictimized by acquaintances during their college experience. The mechanisms underlying the connection between sexual abuse and adult sexual assault remain unclear. The present study examines the indirect effect of shame and traditional gender role beliefs on heterosexual females’ behavioral response based on history of sexual trauma. Results indicate that neither shame nor benevolent sexist ideals mediate the relationship between …

Multicultural Personality, Hardiness, Morale, Distress And Cultural Stress In U.S. Service Members, Catherine Joan Herrera

Doctoral Dissertations

Modern military missions place numerous demands on service members, pushing them to negotiate technical, tactical, personal as well as cultural challenges. Although research in other fields has explored the issue of intercultural stress and resilience, to the author’s knowledge, none of these efforts have empirically examined these concepts in U.S. military samples, despite the frequent expatriation associated with a military career. The purpose of this study was to explore how factors of multicultural personality (Cultural Empathy, Open-Mindedness, Social Initiative, Emotional Stability, and Flexibility) as measured by the Multicultural Personality Questionnaire, relate to hardiness, morale, cultural stress as well as PTSD …

The Impact Of Relational Aggression And Friendship Quality On The Pathway From Parental Psychological Control To Child Internalizing Symptomology, Alden Elizabeth Gaertner

Doctoral Dissertations

The current project examined two competing models investigating the role of child relational aggression and friendship quality in the association between parental psychological control and child internalizing symptomology. An at-risk sample of predominantly minority children (n = 132, 55% male, 86% minority) ranging from 5 to 14 years of age (M = 8.83, SD = 2.43), recruited from a Knoxville, Tennessee area Boys and Girls Club was used to examine the proposed construct relations. Interaction terms between study variables and gender and age were also examined. All structural equation models yielded a poor fit to the data. Multiple regression …

Examination Of The Big Five And Narrow Traits In Relation To Learner Self-Direction, Jeral Ray Kirwan

Doctoral Dissertations

Self-direction in learning is a major topic in the field of adult learning. There has been extensive coverage of the topic by theorists, researchers, and practitioners. However, there have been few studies which look at learner self-direction specifically as a personality trait. The present study addresses the relationship between learner self-direction and other personality traits of college students when the traits represented by the five-factor model of personality (Digman, 1990) are differentiated from narrow personality traits. Archival data were used from an undergraduate sample at a large Southeastern U.S. university (sample size = 2102). Correlation and multiple regression …

The Relationship Between Self-Directed Learning And Information Literacy Among Adult Learners In Higher Education, Tiffani Reneau Conner

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-directed learning and information literacy. Participants completed the Personal Orientation in Self-Directed Learning Scale ([PRO-SDLS], Stockdale, 2003) and the Information Literacy Test ([ILT], James Madison University, 2003). The PRO-SDLS is a self-report scale consisting of 25 statements about self-directed learning preferences in college classrooms. The ILT is a 60-item multiple-choice test that assesses the information literacy skills of college students. Correlation, ANOVA, and multiple regressions were used to test relationships and differences between self-directed learning and information literacy. Despite claims that teaching information literacy creates self-directed learners, composite scores …

Public Libraries And Homeless Lgbtq Youth: Creating Safe Spaces Through Cultural Competence, Julie Ann Winkelstein

Doctoral Dissertations

This social justice research case study was conducted in an effort to understand the role of the public library in the daily lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) homeless youth. Concerns about the influences of space, power, human rights, and marginalization informed the researcher and served as critical guides. To gain insight into this question, one-on-one interviews were conducted with public librarians, service providers who work with homeless youth, and the youth themselves. Grounded theory provided a basis for the analysis of the collected conversations.

Six theoretical concepts of time, attitude, building relationships, welcoming, feeling safe and …

An Archaeological And Historical Investigation Of A 19th Century Leprosarium At Hassel Island, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Amanda Marie Barton

Masters Theses

Located on Hassel Island, a small island off the coast of Charlotte Amalie, in St. Thomas, USVI, a small leprosarium, or quarantine hospital for those affected with leprosy, was in operation from 1833 to 1861 as a way to isolate those with leprosy from the general population. Surface and sub-surface excavations took place over the spring and summer of 2008 in preparation for proposed National Park Service hiking trail that would be laid parallel to the site remains.

Firstly, this thesis provides a historical background on leprosy, as well as a background on how leprosy and disease has been studied …

The Politics Of Protection And Promotion: The Case Of The Coal Industry In Environmental Politics, Elizabeth Ashley East

Masters Theses

Business actors have historically been an important point of discussion for environmental sociologists. However, theoretical assumptions of business as an environmental actor provide divergent understandings of business’s role in environmental problems, politics, and improvements. Also, empirical studies of business actors primarily examine how individual firms or industry-funded organizations participate in specific environmental controversies or in the attempted implementation of specific environmental policies. Although these approaches have been instrumental in understanding the roles power, privilege, and resources play in environmental politics, they present an understanding of business engagement in environmental issues as reactionary rather than sustained. Such a characterization neglects the …

Contextualizing The Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site (40wg59): Understanding Landscape Change At An Upland South Farmstead., Daniel Whitaker Howard Brock

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on a contextual archaeological approach to investigate the historic landscape of the Tipton-Haynes State Historic Site. Tipton-Haynes is a late eighteenth- through twentieth-century upland south farmstead located in Johnson City, TN. Home to two prominent Tennessee families and occupied until acquired by the state in the 1960s, the site has experienced many alterations to the landscape over time. The analysis presented views the landscape as material culture investigated through a multidisciplinary approach including historic research, architectural survey, geophysical survey, dendrochronology, and archaeology. To make sense of the complex nature of the Tipton-Haynes site, multiple methods were used …

Understanding Biotechnology: Conceptualizing And Measuring Us Public Concern, Jenna Ann Lamphere

Masters Theses

Biotechnology has had a short but rather conflict-ridden history. The technology was commercialized in 1995 and since has become a volatile topic for international debate. Arguably, the United States is the biggest supporter of this technology. The United States conducted the first study using recombinant DNA, grows more biotech crops than any other country, and houses the vast majority of the largest biotech corporations. Proponents frequently claim that biotech crops are a way to improve crop production, lower food prices, decrease the need for petrochemical inputs, and alleviate international food security problems. Others see them as accelerating the loss of …

Online Social Network Friends And Spatio-Temporal Proximity Of Their Geotagged Photos – A Case Study Of Flickr Data, Sumang Liu

Masters Theses

This empirical study aims to analyze relationships between online social network (OSN) friends and spatio-temporal proximity of their geotagged photos, using Flickr data as a case study. First, this study analyzes whether Flickr friends tend to post geotagged photos that are closer to each other compared to Flickr non-friends in space and time. Second, this study investigates whether the number of geotagged photos posted by users is related to the distance and time difference between their geotagged photos. Third, this study examines the spatial distributions of geotagged photos of Flickr friends within specific distance intervals to further understand the geographic …

Consider The Source: Receiver-Assigned Attributions Of Credibility To Influential Bloggers, Aaron Michael Sachs

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine credibility as it pertains to blogging. While studies have traditionally considered credibility in the context of the material being created, this study examines source credibility in the context of the personality creating the material. Therefore, this study functions primarily as an exploratory study and seeks to present an understanding of source credibility from the perspective of the individuals participating in blogging communities cultivated by influential bloggers. An interview questionnaire was specially developed for this study. Ten participants were selected for this study. Eight of them are females, two of the participants are …

Public Land In A Changing Climate: Planning For An Uncertain Future, Kathleen Marie Hauser

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the ways in which institutions and actors consider climate change, and how the inclusion of diverse perspectives and challenges in the planning process shapes climate change governance. In particular, I asked how the participants, place-specific contexts, and decision-making processes affect environmental decision-making in Alaska’s National Parks. I discuss the literature on geographical perspectives on climate change, environmental and climate change governance, how uncertainty and risk affect decision-making in the context of climate change, and the history of land use management in the United States. This project incorporates qualitative methods to research the Climate Change Scenario Planning project …

Families Of Young Children With Developmental Disabilities: A Model Of The Parenting Process, Rhett Maurice Billen

Masters Theses

Parents of children with developmental disabilities (DD) experience a wide variety of conditions and influences that may affect the parenting process. Researchers have long recognized that child characteristics in particular influence parental behaviors and have demonstrated the reciprocal nature of the parent-child relationship. The main purpose of this study was to identify some of the primary mechanisms by which young children with DD influence their parents’ behaviors. 10 couples (10 mothers, 10 fathers) raising young (birth to five years old) children with DD (e.g., hearing loss, autism, hypothyroidism) participated in the study. Following grounded theory methods, parents were interviewed using …

Rejection Sensitivity In Adolescent Offspring Of Mothers With Borderline Personality Disorder, Jennifer Marie Strimpfel

Masters Theses

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a chronic and severe psychological disorder with symptoms including fear of abandonment, negative relationships, and inappropriate expressions of anger. Individuals with BPD score higher on rejection sensitivity than do normative comparisons. The present study assessed rejection sensitivity in a sample at high risk for developing BPD—adolescent offspring of women with BPD. We hypothesized that adolescents whose mothers have BPD would have higher levels of rejection sensitivity than would normative comparisons, adolescents’ rejection sensitivity would be positively correlated with their mother’s borderline features, and adolescents’ rejection sensitivity would be positively correlated with their own borderline features. …

Implicitly And Explicitly Assessed Relationship Satisfaction, Matthew Jason Shaffer

Masters Theses

This study investigates the relationship between implicitly assessed (i.e., unexpressed, sometimes unconscious, “gut-level”) attitudes and explicitly assessed attitudes in romantic couples. 135 newlywed couples were examined in a laboratory session. A series of Hierarchical Linear Models were run to assess whether implicitly assessed attitudes predict the use of demand-withdraw behaviors in conflict discussion tasks. Results indicate that, for demand behaviors, there is a 3-way interaction between implicitly assessed attitudes, participant sex, and partner behavior during the discussion task. Implicitly assessed attitudes did not predict withdraw behaviors. Theoretical implications for both implicitly assessed attitudes research and romantic relationships research are discussed.

Motivated Endorsement Of Interethnic Ideologies: An Optimal Distinctiveness Approach, Kevin Lee Zabel

Masters Theses

The current study examined the effects of need for inclusion and differentiation (Brewer, 1991) activations on endorsement of colorblind and multicultural ideologies, and the roles ideological endorsements played in visual social perception. A total of 238 university students were given false feedback on a personality inventory to activate needs for differentiation and inclusion, as well as completed interethnic ideology measures and a morphed faces judgment task in which they perceived whether paired others were exactly the same or different. Bootstrapping analyses (Preacher & Hayes, 2008) confirmed that, consistent with hypotheses, need for inclusion activation participants endorsed colorblind ideology to a …

Late Pleistocene Climate, Vegetation, And Fire History From A Southern Appalachian Bog, Whiteoak Bottoms, Nantahala National Forest, North Carolina, U.S.A., Mathew Stephen Boehm

Masters Theses

I examined loss-on-ignition, pollen, and charcoal evidence of climate, vegetation, and fire history at Whiteoak Bottoms (35º04’44”N, 83º31’50”W; 1032 m elevation), a peat-forming wetland located along the Nantahala River in western North Carolina. Previous research by J. McDonald and D. Leigh revealed that this wetland formed in a paleochannel of the Nantahala River between 15,000 and 14,000 cal yr BP. I obtained additional AMS radiocarbon dates, carried out high-resolution loss-on-ignition analysis, and examined pollen and microscopic charcoal assemblages in a 157-cm sediment core from the previous study. Radiocarbon dates and stratigraphic analyses indicate that much of the Holocene is missing …