Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reviving “Cult”: A Qualitative Analysis Of A Female-Led Cultic Sect, Olivia Summers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research analyzes the Word of Faith Fellowship (WOF), a female-led Evangelical church that social scientists have not yet studied. My thesis explores how a female leader operates within a patriarchal space and why WOF owns a Holocaust Museum. I conducted content analysis of the church and museum websites, Google reviews, and visited the museum in person. My research highlights the limitations of current taxonomies of religion in sociology. I address this oversight, argue for the re-introduction of “cult” as an analytical term, and propose a rubric for cult identification. I suggest that WOF is a sectarian cult with similar …

Experiences Of Appalachian People With Conflicting Christian And Lgbtq+ Identities, Zacharias Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the experiences of six LGBTQ+ individuals living in Appalachia who have felt conflict between their LGBTQ+ and Christian identities. Using data from six one-on-one intensive interviews, the study examines the various kinds of conflict participants experienced, the strategies they used to manage those conflicts, and the role that Christianity played in their lives. The author found that participant conflicts were grounded in struggles to find acceptance from others while living authentically, to reconcile ideological disputes with the church, and to accept themselves as LGBTQ+ and/or Christian. Included among their various management strategies were finding accepting people and …

What Discrimination? Christian Microaggression Rhetoric Against Nontheists, Nicole Dolfi Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Theories of microaggressions have been used in the last decade as a framework for studying subtle forms of discrimination against racial minorities and other marginalized groups. However, there is a dearth of research on the scope and types of microaggressions nontheists face. This qualitative study examines microaggressions against nontheists by interviewing 16 religious Christians on their experiences and opinions of the discrimination Christians and nontheists face. The narratives were analyzed for thematic patterns between the rhetoric used and the type of microaggressions employed. The study revealed nine categories of microaggressions. The findings also showed how experiences of discrimination, political viewpoint, …

Religious Attendance, Surrender To God, And Suicide Risk: Mediating Pathways Of Feeling Forgiven By God And Psychopathology, Kelley Pugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Suicide is a national public health concern, and college students may be at increased risk. Symptoms of psychopathology (i.e., stress, anxiety, and depression) may contribute to risk, whereas religiosity (i.e., religious attendance, surrendering to God, and feeling forgiven by God) may reduce risk. Students from a rural southeastern university (N=249) completed self-report measures. Serial mediation analyses indicate that attendance and surrender to God are inversely- predictive of suicide risk, both directly and through the indirect pathways of feeling forgiven by God (1st order mediator) and psychopathology (2nd order mediators). In all models, specific indirect effects occurred through feeling forgiven by …

Spirituality And Suicidal Behavior: The Mediating Role Of Self-Forgiveness And Psychache, Benjamin B. Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Growing evidence for protective factors of spirituality against physical and mental health related outcomes has led to the consideration of spirituality as a protective factor for suicidal behaviors. Although initial support for this association is promising, spirituality has yet to be explored as it relates to psychache. Additionally, self-forgiveness has emerged as an important protective factor of suicidal behavior, but has not been explored in the context of psychache. Following a model developed by Webb, Hirsch, and Toussaint (2015), the current project explores the protective role of spirituality on suicidal behavior based on three dimensions of spirituality: ritualistic, theistic, and …

A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experience Of Adult Female Sexual Assault Survivors, Ann N. Hellman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sexual assault is an international problem affecting hundreds of thousands of women each year. Significant psychological, physical, and financial consequences result from sexual assault. The prevalence of sexual assault suggests that nurses frequently encounter survivors yet minimal literature exists focusing on how nurses should adjust their care to meet the needs of this population.

The phenomenon of sexual assault has been widely studied from multiple perspectives and across disciplines. Likewise, studies of spiritual and religious beliefs and practices and their impact at the end-of-life and in disease, grief, and loss are extensive in nursing literature. However, a nominal number of …

Media Representation Of Islam And Muslims In Southern Appalachia, Saundra K. Reynolds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Southern Appalachian attitudes about the religion of Islam and Muslim adherents are influenced largely by mass media's representations. With more than 80% of Appalachia’s population following Protestant Christianity, exposure to Islam in daily life is limited. Media outlets offer the greatest exposure to information about the religion and its adherents. This thesis examined the region's media representation of Islam and Muslims to determine what images are most often portrayed. Research following a twoyear span of reporting in Southern Appalachia studied substance, word frequency, imagery, and editing used in articles that focused on Islam and Muslims. Through the use of content …

Adolescent Religion And Parenthood Outcomes In Young Adulthood, Kelli K. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A multitude of research exists examining the relationship between religion and early marriage, yet little research has focused on the relationship between religion and early childbearing. Even less has examined the influence of adolescent religion on early parenthood. Using data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, I examined the relationship between religion in adolescence and parenthood outcomes in early adulthood. I focus on how religiosity in adolescence shapes whether an individual is more or less likely to be sexually active, become pregnant, and/or have and keep a child. Results suggest that those who are religious in adolescence are …

Religiousness, Coping, And Locus Of Control As Predictors Of Anxiety., Rebecca Brooks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In order to evaluate the cognitive appraisal and meaning-making components of the Transactional Model (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) and Meaning-making Model (Park & Folkman, 1997) of coping, several specific forms of appraisal and coping strategies were analyzed in the present study. It has been proposed that religiousness and time influence the meaning-making process (Park, 2005); therefore, an interaction of intrinsic religiousness and time were key variables in the study as well. A survey designed to address relationships among locus of control, type of situation, intrinsic religious orientation, specific coping styles, and maladaptive psychological symptoms was administered to 240 students of …

A Sociological Study Of Atheism And Naturalism As Minority Identities In Appalachia., Kelly E. Church-Hearl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study aims to provide a sociological understanding of people who hold minority beliefs about spirituality and religion and to improve our sociological and social-psychological understanding of a-religious and alternatively religious people. Data were collected through indepth interviews with 10 atheist and 11 naturalist respondents. The study examines the religious histories of the respondents, how they left mainstream religion, how they adopted a minority identity with regard to religion/spirituality, and their personal experiences living in a predominately Christian area. I hypothesized that atheists and naturalists would hold minority identities and feel subordinated or oppressed by the dominant group: Christians. …

Religiosity And Aggression In College Students., Shanea J. Watkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined whether high and low religiosity had any relationship to a person’s five measures of aggressiveness. The participants in this study consisted of 274 female and 202 male undergraduates. The results revealed that: (A) high scores of Religious Conflict and Hostility to Church yielded higher scores of aggression, (B) high scores of Religious Orthodoxy, Religious Solace and Religious Tranquility yielded lower scores of aggression, (C) high scores of Religious Conflict and Hostility to Church yielded higher scores of total aggressiveness, and (D) high scores on Religious Solace and Religious Orthodoxy yielded low scores of total aggression. Frequency …