Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

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 …

"To Preserve This Much-Injured Race": Techniques Of Neutralization And Indian Removal, 1829-1831, Robert Michael Keeton

Doctoral Dissertations

The Indian Removal Act of 1830 gave the President of the United States the authority to negotiate treaties with the Native American tribes in the east for their emigration to territory west of the Mississippi River. Although the emigration was technically voluntary, in practice, the Native tribes emigrated under coercion and force, the most infamous instance of which was the Cherokee Trail of Tears in 1838, which resulted in the deaths of at least 4,000 Native people. This dissertation applies Sykes and Matza’s (1957) neutralization theory to archival data including the papers of Andrew Jackson and publications documenting the removal …

A Hybrid Brain-Computer Interface Based On Motor Intention And Visual Working Memory, Ching-Chang Kuo

Doctoral Dissertations

Non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) based brain-computer interface (BCI) is able to provide alternative means for people with disabilities to communicate with and control over external assistive devices. A hybrid BCI is designed and developed for following two types of system (control and monitor).

Our first goal is to create a signal decoding strategy that allows people with limited motor control to have more command over potential prosthetic devices. Eight healthy subjects were recruited to perform visual cues directed reaching tasks. Eye and motion artifacts were identified and removed to ensure that the subjects' visual fixation to the target locations would have …

Emotional Labor And Authentic Leadership, John E. Buckner V

Doctoral Dissertations

Organizational research has begun to once again focus on the importance of emotions in the workplace. In particular, the concept of emotional labor, the management of emotions at work to influence clients and customers, has recently received much attention. While research has addressed the impact of emotional labor on both employees and clients or customers, research has not examined emotional labor within the context of leadership.

Authentic leadership, an emerging construct in the study of leadership, is proposed to relate to emotional labor. Leaders' authentic behavior has been shown to positively impact followers, such as increasing trust in their leader …

Predicting Substance Abuse Treatment Participation With The Personality Assessment Inventory: An Investigation Of How Personality And Interpersonal Factors Affect Treatment, Annese Baum Hutchins

Doctoral Dissertations

The prevalence of alcohol and drug abuse or dependence among Americans ages 12 and over is thought to be about 9.4% of the total population, or 22 million Americans (Karpiak & Norcross, 2005; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association [SAMHSA], 2003). According to Vuchinich (2002), substance use disorders (SUD) are the most common mental health problem in our society today. Additionally, estimates are that anywhere from half to 84% of all substance use disorder patients also experience a co-occurring disorder (Johnson, Brems, & Burke, 2002).

Traditional treatment facilities usually are focused primarily on either substance abuse treatment or psychiatric …

Openness To The Unconscious: Clinical Validity, Scott Andrew Swan

Doctoral Dissertations

Theory provides a background for the underlying construct of Openness to the Unconscious and in turn for the Openness to the Unconscious scale (OU), which was designed to predict personal fit for different kinds of psychotherapy. Two studies test the clinical validity of the scale using records review from a training clinic. Cross-sectional analysis with MMPI-2 data failed to support hypotheses regarding OU's relationship to personality psychopathology. More importantly, the scale failed to predict attrition from psychotherapy, which had been expected. Results also fail to support the hypotheses that OU interacts with treatment type to predict attrition. These findings are …

Expanded Parenting: Fathers' And Mothers' Experiences Of Parenting Young Children With Disabilities, Juli Meagan Sams

Doctoral Dissertations

Parenting a young child with disabilities presents unique challenges to both fathers and mothers. A comprehensive literature review revealed that there was limited information on parenting young children with disabilities and what was available was not cohesive, lacked a father perspective, and was based on quantitative measures originating from the perspective of parents of children without disabilities. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to provide a basic, comprehensive understanding of parenting young children, birth to five, with disabilities from both fathers and mothers. A total of twenty parents (ten fathers, ten mothers) of children with disabilities participated in …

Foreign Direct Investment And Local Firm Productivity: Evidence From Thailand, Sasima Wongseree

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract The enormous costs incurred to government for foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows raised question whether its benefits are worthwhile. In this dissertation, I use productivity estimates as outcomes to explore the direct and indirect impacts of FDI inflows on local firms in manufacturing sector of Thailand during 2001 to 2006.

Chapter 1, I introduce the overview of the entire dissertation.

Chapter 2, I briefly reviewed investment climates and FDI conditions in Thailand. Then I constructed a comprehensive firm-level dataset from several data sources for FDI examination. The main dataset offers quantity and capacity outputs along with revenues at product-level. …

Organizational Storytelling In Academic Libraries: Roles, Addressees And Perceptions, Monica Colon-Aguirre

Doctoral Dissertations

Libraries have survived throughout millennia while retaining particular characteristics that help define them as organizations. This study focuses on academic libraries, by exploring the world of the academic library employee through one of the most recent alternatives to organizational studies: knowledge management. Knowledge management is a relatively new approach to management, which focuses on people as the main components of organizations, and explores ways in which the knowledge created by them allows organizations to innovate and compete successfully. Storytelling is one of the ways knowledge is transferred among employees. This qualitative study explores the perceptions academic reference librarians have regarding …

Strategic Mediation: The Domestic Influences And Constraints On Diplomacy, James Preston Todhunter

Doctoral Dissertations

Mediation theory has developed separately from mainstream theories explaining foreign policy. Specifically, mediator motivations and constraints have often been overlooked. I extend an argument explaining mediator motivations, and thus mediation occurrence and strategy, in terms of domestic political institutions and leader performance. The notion that leaders use foreign policy in order to help further their domestic fortunes and those of their party is widely accepted in the international relations literature, as is the notion that political survival is pre-eminent in any leader’s decision-making calculus. Scholars have also shown that leaders shift their focus to foreign policy when institutional factors, such …

Measuring Drinking Peer Caretaking: Toward Informing Peer-Based Alcohol Interventions, Jason Thomas Black

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to pilot test a measure of a construct defined as Drinking Peer Caretaking (DPC). Most alcohol use among college students occurs in social situations among peer groups (Baer, 2002; Perkins, 2002b). However, understanding the dynamics of peer groups needs more attention since empirical information in this area is currently lacking. A broader understanding of caretaking behaviors within college student drinking peer groups could serve as a basis for developing peer-facilitated interventions. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) suggested a two factor solution (proactive and reactive caretaking). Following PCA, tests of internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha), and …

Essays On Individual Choice And Behavior, Caleb A. Siladke

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three chapters that explore individual choice and behavior. Chapter 1 investigates the incentive properties of advisory referenda using a particular form of NEU theory which replaces the independence axiom assumed in EU theory with two less-restrictive assumptions: betweenness and fanning-out. Betweenness replaces the independence axiom and allows for context dependent risk attitudes. The fanning-out hypothesis then governs the precise way in which risk preferences change given the unique circumstances in which values are elicited. When the assumption of independence is relaxed, an individual's response to an advisory referendum depends on how consequential she believes her response …

The Intersection Between Home And School: Developing A Scale To Measure Parental Perceptions Of Childhood School Stress, Teresa Marie Henke

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Parents in the home and educators in the schools are key adults in the most important contexts in the daily lives of school-age children. In the demanding, achievement, and accountability oriented culture of today, it is expected that children experience normal everyday stressors as they move between these two environments. The impact of stress related to daily hassles has been reported to have both cognitive and physical effects on the present and future well-being of children. This study represented an attempt to advance the understanding of childhood stress in the intersection between school and home by investigating the perceptions …

The Role Of The Party Record In Elections For The House Of Representatives, 1970-2008, Matthew Thomas Gross

Doctoral Dissertations

Much scholarly attention has been devoted to the role of political parties in Congress. One of the major theories of party legislative organization is cartel theory. Cartel theory assumes that each legislative party possesses a party record or reputation, which influences the election prospects for all members of the party. It provides an electoral incentive to encourage cooperation among party members in a single chamber of Congress.

Congressional scholars have paid little attention to the party record. In the following chapters, I bring together the desultory scholarly research on the party record and examine the impact of the party record …

Social Structure, Non-Market Valuation, And Bargaining, Bruno Moreira Wichmann

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three chapters that explore the effects of social utility on non-market values and bargaining.

Chapter 1 considers the role of social networks in the valuation of public goods. In the model individuals derive utility from both their own direct enjoyment of the public good as well as from the enjoyment of those in their social network. We find that the network increases an individual's valuation for the public good when members of her network have a higher weighted average valuation than she does. The network increases aggregate valuation when it assigns higher importance, that is, greater …