Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Anxious Attachment As A Mediator Between Parental Abuse In Childhood And Partner Attributions In Adulthood, Naomi Michele Pearson

Honors Theses

Parenting in childhood can positively or negatively affect physical and mental health and behaviors in adulthood. When a child undergoes abuse or neglect from their caregiver, they often develop inadequate adjustment, due to insecurity in close relationships, which may continue throughout their lives. Furthermore, this insecurity, established in childhood, can manifest in adult romantic relationships, as assurance-seeking, jealousy, and hostility, causing insecurely-attached individuals to attribute blame onto their partners, internal attributes, or circumstances.

These pessimistic attributions, caused by parental- influenced feelings of ambivalence and separation anxiety, may lead to increased tension and dissatisfaction within close relationships. A sample of 150 …

The Effects Of Covid-19 On Residential Municipal Waste Streams, Anne Kluthe

Honors Theses

Through interviews, this exploratory analytive study researched how COVID-19, and especially the first lockdown of 2020, changed residential municipal waste streams, specifically in terms of items, tonnage, and workplace practices. The most common items were an influx in PPE, specifically face masks, and an increase in cardboard. There was also some evidence of paper from “deep cleaning” projects and construction debris from backyard pool installation and bathroom renovation. The total change in waste varied from area to area. Norfolk and the surrounding area had a stagnant amount of waste during the pandemic, Omaha and the rest of Douglas County saw …

Who Fears Strangers And Spiders: Political Ideology And Feeling Threatened, Thomas Lukaszewicz

Honors Theses

In this study, I evaluated the correlations between threat sensitivities and political ideology. Two hypotheses were tested. First, I hypothesized that conservatives would have higher social threat sensitivity than liberals, with social threat defined as a threat dependent on outgroup or social actions (Barclay & Benard, 2020). Second, I hypothesized that conservatives would have higher disgust sensitivity than liberals. To test these and related hypotheses I used a 2018 Qualtrics national demographically representative sample that included 1031 participants. To operationalize threat sensitivity, I used items asking participants to rate how threatened they felt by various fears. These individual items were …

Safety In Policy: An Assessment Of The Utilization And Perceived Efficacy Of Sex Offender Legislation, Morgan Graham

Honors Theses

Current sex offender legislation in the United States is the result of a number of laws passed during the 1980-1990s. This study evaluates the efficacy and perception of these laws in Nebraska, including registration, community notification, and housing restriction policies. Using data from the Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS), 1,814 people from 2008 and 1,232 people from 2017 were examined to determine the efficacy and popularity of sex offender legislation and how the data has changed over time. Results showed that only a minority of Nebraskans have accessed the registry. Of those who checked, women and individuals with children …

Stress Arising From The Covid-19 Pandemic: Impacts On Coparenting Quality And Child Internalizing And Externalizing Problems, Michelle R. Ebrahim

Honors Theses

Since emerging in late 2019, the highly contagious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has caused worldwide disruptions, with major shutdowns in school, work, and other aspects of life. These stressors uniquely impacted families with young children. The present study investigated the impact of the pandemic on family functioning and risk for child internalizing and externalizing problems during the first year after the pandemic. The study included three waves of data collection from a larger longitudinal study aimed at understanding how couples navigate the prenatal-postpartum transition and the impacts of the family on early child development. We found that family pandemic-related stress was …

Examining The Impact Of Political Identification And Morality On Compliance With Covid-19 Public Health Measures, Jessica Stump

Honors Theses

COVID-19 provides a unique opportunity to study the influence of individual and group differences on beliefs and behavior. In the present work, we examine COVID beliefs and behavior as a function of morality, ideology, and emotion. Data were collected in the spring of 2021 and the fall of 2021, allowing for distinct snapshots of an undergraduate sample at two periods of the pandemic. Of primary interest was the relationship between political ideology, moral foundation endorsement, and COVID-19 behaviors and beliefs. The results reveal that ideology drives COVID-19-related beliefs and behaviors. The results from Study 2 suggest that political liberals were …

Relationship Between Gender And Symptom Severity For Youth Who Have Been Sexually Abused, Zoe Erickson

Honors Theses

Childhood sexual abuse is a recurring problem which negatively affects thousands of children and adolescents every year. This is a traumatic event which can cause distress for individuals post sexual abuse well into adulthood. Because of this, it is important for practitioners to understand what symptoms could be present post abuse, as well as factors that may impact the presence and severity of these symptoms. Using data from the Project SAFE group treatment program including 126 adolescents aged 12-19, this study aims to further examine how factors such as gender of the individual will affect their symptoms post sexual abuse. …

Sex Differences In Lateral Hypothalamic Extracellular Glucose Concentrations During Cumulative Dosing Of Methamphetamine In Rats, Joshua A. Jolton

Honors Theses

The present study experimentally investigated sex differences in lateral hypothalamic glucose concentrations following cumulative dosing of methamphetamine. Male (n=17) and female (n=11) rats were surgically implanted with enzyme-based glucose biosensors in the lateral hypothalamus. Rats then received a saline injection followed by four methamphetamine doses (0.025 mg/kg, 0.05 mg/kg, 0.1 mg/kg, and 0.2 mg/kg) spaced 55 minutes apart. We found that while there was a general decrease in glucose baseline throughout the study for both sexes, the magnitude of the decrease was significantly greater in females compared to males. On a rapid timescale, fixed sex effects existed at the lower …

Social Media Usage During Covid-19: Friend Or Foe?, Claudia Dominique

Honors Theses

College students experience more stress and are more vulnerable to mental illness as compared to the general population. Both COVID-19 and social media usage have shown to be stressors that augment this pre-existing issue. The goal of the current study is to highlight the relationship between the social media usage and mental health of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing a correlational and longitudinal research design, undergraduate students completed self-report mental health and social media usage measures throughout the semester. Researchers found that both social media usage, anxiety, and depression levels were higher post-pandemic as compared to pre-pandemic. However, …

Healthy Eating, Unhealthy Mind: Measuring The Rate Of A Disordered Eating Pattern Among University Student Athletes And Non-Athletes, Erika Moeller

Honors Theses

The present study examined the rates of Orthorexia Nervosa (ON), a disordered eating pattern characterized by an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy foods, among college athletes and non-athletes at a medium-size, Midwestern university in the U.S. The present study investigated ON using two different tools: the ORTO-15 and the Eating Habits Questionnaire (EHQ). The independent variables were athletic status and hours of exercise per week, and the dependent variables were scores on the EHQ and ORTO-15. Participants reported demographic information, including whether they were an athlete (n = 196 athletes, 105 non-athletes) and how many hours of exercise they perform …

Investigating The Relationship Between Identity Salience And Attitudes Of Groups, Grazia Dipierro

Honors Theses

A person’s political views are largely dependent on who they are, meaning a person’s identities may inform their political attitudes. The extent to which a person is made aware of an identity may influence how they view certain issues. For example, a white woman may view the same issue in two different ways depending on whether her racial or gender identity is activated. It is hypothesized that when participants are made aware of their racial identity, White participants will hold more conservative views, while non-white participants will hold more liberal views. Additionally, when made aware of a gender identity, white …

Tiktok And The Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, And Two-Spirit People Movement, Meghan Leinhauser

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to analyze the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirited People (MMIWG2S) social movement via content analysis and interviews. The study includes analyzing a sample of 50 videos posted to the social media platform TikTok, and an interview with a user who posts videos about MMIWG2S. TikTok uses a unique algorithm to tailor users’ feeds based on the types of videos with which they watch and interact. This allows for the creation of an online community that shares common interests with one another, especially in a time where communication methods have changed significantly. …

Understanding Boundary Turbulence And Privacy Rules From The Receiver’S Perspective In Mental Illness Disclosures, Ian Maltas

Honors Theses

The present study aims to address a gap in current research focusing on relational outcomes of mental illness disclosures by studying the perspective of people who listen to the disclosures (called “receivers”). This study uses Communication Privacy Management Theory to analyze the process of disclosure, and its main research focus is on motivations for disseminating private information, and how that impacts relationships and privacy rules between co-owners of information. A thematic analysis was conducted to answer this inquiry, and a data conference was held to determine relevant themes in the data. The present study finds that people chose to tell …

Effects Of Socioeconomic Status On Consumer Behavior And Attitudes Towards A Brand’S Image, Abbey Haymond

Honors Theses

This research seeks to understand more about the effects of socioeconomic background on consumer behavior and its impact on the perception of brand images. Data from people of different SES were compared to understand how they view advertisements intended for different audiences and their corresponding effects. It was conducted by sending out a confidential, voluntary survey to a convenience sample targeting 100 consumers. Consumers were asked to rate statements, on a scale of one to five, for each of the research questions to assess specific aspects of their consumer attitudes and behaviors. The high SES group has a higher average …

Dismantling Binary Assumptions In Sex Estimation: Uplifting Trans And Gender Diverse Identities In Forensic Anthropology, Audrey Holbeck

Honors Theses

Forensic anthropology is a study within the field of physical anthropology that seeks to apply osteological expertise to legal and criminal situations. One of a forensic anthropologists’ most important jobs is to build a biological profile, consisting of age, biological sex, stature, and ancestry, in correspondence to an unidentified decedent. As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, instances of violence against trans and gender non-conforming individuals are unfortunately prominent, however, there has also been more awareness shed on trans activism. Trans individuals are at a higher risk of being victims of violent crime, and thus, forensic anthropologists …

Pro-Understanding: Understanding The Pro-Choice Catholic, Natalie Eilerman

Honors Theses

Abortion is a widely debated and polarizing topic in the United States. While many Catholic leaders and members tend to hold beliefs against abortion, some Catholics are pro-choice. This study explores the perspectives and experiences of this often-under-recognized group. Mixed methods research was conducted to analyze 1) how perspectives towards abortion are changing among Catholics in the United States (using data from the General Social Survey from 1977-2018), and 2) the experiences of college students at a private, predominately white, Catholic university in the Midwest who identify as pro-choice and Catholic. Quantitative analysis shows that Catholics’ attitudes towards abortion are …

Labor Trends In Nuclear Energy And Developmental Obstacles In Nuclear Energy, Ryan D. Greensfelder

Honors Theses

The idiosyncrasies that exist in the United States independent system operator’s structure poses many unique challenges to wholesale energy markets. The array of energy production solutions is one of these challenges to understanding energy markets. Numerous tools have been used to measure the quantitative complexity of energy markets. Few tools and indices exist to track macroeconomic fluctuations in US employment and wage for United States relative to the cost of energy delivery. In modelling the derived labor demand for energy employment, we should be better able to explain markets and allow for predictions in fluctuations in the labor market. This …

College Students’ Opinions On Climate Change: Do Political Views Matter?, Aileen Hull

Honors Theses

Climate change is an ever-impending crisis and the politics surrounding the issue are as contentious as ever, especially in the United States where the political culture is extremely polarized. The polarization of the political parties in the United States makes any environmental policy extremely difficult to pass. Meanwhile, the new generation of young people entering the workforce, voting scene, and public eye are bringing new demands to current climate debates. Youth make up a large share of environmental activism participants and opinion polls show climate change is on the minds of many young people. However, there is a lack of …

Job Diversity And Its Impact On Intergenerational Mobility At The County Level, Derek Olson

Honors Theses

This thesis focuses on whether or not the diversity in industries within a county has an impact on the income mobility of children within that county. Data come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to construct variables measuring job diversity and the degree of industry specialization of a county. Building on Chetty (2017a, 2017b), I find that for children with parents at the 25th percentile of the national income distribution, a one standard deviation increase in a county being less diverse in the presence of industries increases a child’s expected rank in the national income distribution by 2.19% while a …

The Public’S Preferences In Supreme Court Rationale, William Svob

Honors Theses

Public approval of the Supreme Court has been decreasing in recent years. Given the literature’s consensus that Supreme Court rulings coincide with popular opinion more often than not, the decrease in popularity cannot be explained away by assuming the justices have made a series of widely despised rulings. This raises questions about what exactly the public wants the Supreme Court to do. There is an abundance of research covering the many factors that influence a justice to rule in a particular manner, but there is little written about what the average American believes should influence the Court. This study is …

American Foreign Direct Investment In Morocco: How Can We Help?, Dylan Patrick

Honors Theses

As the flurry of modern-day threats begins to take their toll on the world, it has never been more crucial to examine interstate relationships. In this pursuit, this paper investigates contemporary American foreign direct investment efforts in Morocco by asking the following questions: (1) what areas of the Moroccan economy are in the most trouble; (2) how has the presence of American foreign direct investment impacted Morocco; and (3) how can these American-led efforts be improved? By answering these questions using case studies, this paper provides policy recommendations that can begin to alleviate some of the problems facing the Northwest …

The Design Of An Agricultural Youth-Centered Rural Development Program In Rwanda, Laetitia Igiraneza Sinyigenga

Honors Theses

Rwanda is primarily a rural, young, and agriculture-based country. The referred variables- agriculture, rural population, and youth- can be creatively merged to engage and empower youth for rural development. This paper indicates the utilization of cross-disciplinary knowledge to design an agricultural youth-centered rural development program in Rwanda. The program uses the interdependence of economic sectors (agriculture and education) with resources (environmental & natural resources and human resources) to boost rural community development. The program’s main activities- mentorship, agribusiness training, tutoring, exposure visits, and community work- highly reflect the requirement for advancing the selected main economic sectors and resources. There is …

Γλύκοπικρος & Bittersweet: An Autoethnographic Approach To Studying Abroad In Greece, Margaret Rieckman

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to answer the question: How can reflection via an autoethnographic approach promote sought-after outcomes of a semester studying abroad? Through an anthropological lens, I completed field work, kept field notes, and wrote a reflexive blog to navigate the social processes of learning to belong in another place within the context of a multicultural environment of study abroad program with Erasmus students. Through autoethnography as a methodology and a text, I utilized linguistic analysis to identify key themes that represent my transformative experience. The personal, emotional, and intellectual growth I experienced was made transformative by …

The Combined And Unique Roles Of Ptsd And Polyvictimization In Predicting Delinquency Among Adolescents, Joana Reyes

Honors Theses

As a supplement to previous research understanding the relationship of polyvictimization to delinquent behaviors, these analyze question the mediating role of PTSS between the two factors. A cascade model was used to understand the factors relationship, in which they influence each other independently and as a group. Therefore, it has been found that polyvictimization leads to an increase in the likelihood of delinquent behavior, PTSS was also expected to play a role in this cascade model. Analyzes found that PTSS does influence delinquency, yet not in each Wave of data.

Climate Change Adaptation, Migration, And Promising Developments For Pacific Island States, Ashley Jonas

Honors Theses

The people of the Pacific Islands face an existential crisis due to climate change, despite the fact that they are the least responsible for contributing to carbon emissions. The effects of climate change, namely sea-level rise, pose a verified threat to low-lying islands, infiltrating water supplies, crops, and infrastructure. As a result, there is a need for improved solutions for adapting to the impacts of climate change and for easier access to legal migration pathways when the consequences are insurmountable. Through comparative discourse analysis of scholarly sources, intergovernmental policies, and non-governmental organizations, the thesis finds that Small Island Developing States …

Legislative Bill 519: Creating And Lobbying For Original Legislation, Brooklyn Terrill

Honors Theses

This project reflects the process of writing and attempting to pass state legislation, Legislative Bill 519, as a college student. LB 519 is an immunity policy for certain drug and alcohol charges that would be potentially prohibitive to a survivor or witness of sexual assault reporting the crime. The first several sections cover the process of developing and introducing legislation. These sections cover the process of developing the idea for LB 519 and the thought process behind the language and structure of the bill. It then covers the advocacy portion of passing a bill which includes testifying and lobbying for …

Understanding Queer Women’S Satisfaction With Healthcare Providers: The Role Of Positive Lgb Identity And Communication, Maddie Luebe

Honors Theses

Much research has explored the negative effects of having a queer identity in healthcare, such as stigmatization and discrimination, but little research examined the potential benefits of a positive LGBTQ identity in healthcare. This study investigated the relationship between having a positive LGBTQ identity and provider satisfaction through comfort communicating with a provider. This study also considered the potential effect of participants’ fear of provider heterosexism in this relationship. Survey data were collected from 506 queer-identified women in the United States. Using moderated mediation, results found that more positive feelings associated with one’s queer identity was associated with increased comfort …

Settler Colonialism And The Movement Towards Indigenous Forest Sovereignty, Madison Zucco

Honors Theses

This research paper examines the historical and political implications of settler colonialism on Indigenous nations in forested areas around the world. Through a thorough analysis of the Haida First Nation, Pacheedaht First Nation, and the Sámi people, it is argued that settler colonial legislation systematically and intentionally separated Indigenous people and their knowledge from forested areas. Since then, shared management protocols have been implemented to amend racist and environmentally degrading legislation on forested land, but are limited in their effect to reconcile the settler colonial legal system. The only true way to reconcile the settler colonial structure in place that …

Agricultural Carbon Markets: How Could They Work?, Andrew Havens

Honors Theses

The resurgence of voluntary markets in which consumers can purchase carbon credits generated by agricultural carbon sequestration has brought up many questions for farmers looking to potentially enter the market. Past carbon markets, such as the Chicago Climate Exchange, ended when a recession hit, causing demand for credits to swiftly decline. How can modern voluntary markets face these challenges along with new ones and be successful? This research paper, completed as an undergraduate thesis project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, examines the economic and scientific factors behind soil carbon sequestration credits. An extended literature review combined with estimation of a …

Furthering Women In Policing: How A Police Department's Duty Firearm Selection Process May Mitigate The Gender Disparity In Marksmanship, Jenna Prochnau

Honors Theses

Previous research has revealed that there are several benefits to increasing the representation of women in law enforcement, including less use of force, increased community trust, and better outcomes for domestic violence and sexual assault victims. While many police departments now recognize these benefits and are aiming to recruit more women, a problem persists because women are less likely to graduate from police academies than their male counterparts. A significant difference has been observed in the area of marksmanship, particularly, with more female recruits failing to meet firearm scoring standards. Currently, very little is known about how police departments select …