Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Probationer Officer Experiences: Dual Role Decision-Making For Probationers With Mental Illness, Myra A. Fields

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Probation officers play a major role in maintaining public safety by balancing their dual roles of care and control. The number of individuals within the United States community corrections system is significantly growing. This has increased the need for probation officers to make decisions for probationers with mental illness. However, there is a gap in understanding how active-duty probation officers make decisions for probationers. This study examined how probation officers balance their dual roles while decision-making for probationers with mental illness. An interpretative phenomenological analysis design was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants who met inclusion criteria to …

Probationer Officer Experiences: Dual Role Decision-Making For Probationers With Mental Illness, Myra A. Fields

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Probation officers play a major role in maintaining public safety by balancing their dual roles of care and control. The number of individuals within the United States community corrections system is significantly growing. This has increased the need for probation officers to make decisions for probationers with mental illness. However, there is a gap in understanding how active-duty probation officers make decisions for probationers. This study examined how probation officers balance their dual roles while decision-making for probationers with mental illness. An interpretative phenomenological analysis design was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six participants who met inclusion criteria to …

Covid-19 Ethical Decisions Encountered By Healthcare Professionals In Southwest Ohio, Joshua Lader

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The COVID-19 coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the world and medical community. Treating individuals during a worldwide pandemic is nothing short of heroic. With limited supplies and treatment options, healthcare professionals were forced to make ethical considerations when treating patients with COVID-19. The pandemic exposed stress in the healthcare system, leading to difficult ethical decisions such as providing access or denying access to treatment. Knowing these ethical considerations can assist healthcare professionals with practical policies for future pandemics. The key research question in this study explored how healthcare professionals in Southwest Ohio made ethical decisions related to who and how …

Are There Individual Differences In The Foreign Language Effect?, Rita Gross

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

AbstractA foreign language effect (FLE) occurs when the language a problem is presented in influences its outcome (Keysar et al., 2012). So far, it has been unclear under which conditions the FLE appears (Driver, 2020; Dylman & Champoux-Larsson, 2020). One hundred and sixty-eight Arabic-English bilinguals from Prince Sultan University were presented with the Trolley Dilemma (a low-conflict, impersonal moral dilemma) and the Footbridge Dilemma (a high-conflict, personal moral dilemma) and responses to these dilemmas were measured on a slider indicating likeliness to take a suggested action. Participants saw Dilemmas either in a gain-frame or a loss-frame condition, and in either …

Effective Decision-Making Strategies That Support Long-Term Sustainability In Nondenominational Churches, Andre Paul Davis Jr.

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective financial decision-making has frequently led to nondenominational church failures and contributes to 4,000 to 8,000 churches closing each year in North America. Grounded in stewardship theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore effective financial decision-making strategies in nondenominational churches that support long term sustainability. Participants were 10 church leaders who successfully used financial decision-making strategies to support long-term sustainability in Central North Carolina was used for this study. Data were collected from semi structured interviews and internal church documents relating to church leadership's financial decision-making and analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: budgeting …

The Effects Of Escalated Cocaine Intake On Decision-Making Dynamics, Mcallister Stephens

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Cocaine Use Disorder (CUD) is characterized partly by the use of cocaine at the expense of other alternatives, in other words, it is a decision-making pathology (Kalivas & Volkow, 2005). Concurrent choice tasks assess decision-making in a dynamic scenario that more closely resembles real life. Value-based decision-making is an important facet of understanding the addictive properties of drugs of abuse. In order to compare two value-based theories of addiction (habit theory and relative value theory), a concurrent choice task was run in tandem with an escalation procedure. First, animals were trained on a choice task until stable, then trained on …

Strategic Consequences: How Executive And Organizational Decision-Making Impacts The Outcome Of Unconventional Warfare, Joseph Osborne

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

Conventional academic discussion vis-à-vis America’s Special Operations Forces, is largely focused at the tactical and operational level of analysis. This means the emphasis on explaining outcomes is placed on personnel (recruiting, assessing, selecting, and training), cutting edge equipment, innovative tactics, or advanced command and control procedures. Addressing this long-standing trend, I argue that factors well beyond the widely accepted explanations for success or failure are in play. Additionally, these factors are understandable, are manageable, and may have as great or greater an impact on the outcome of a campaign as any tactical consideration. Using the narrowly defined and discrete special …

Decision-Making And Hydraulic Fracturing: The Case Of Local Policy Elites And The General Public In Arkansas And Oregon, Clayton Creed Tumlison

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the ways in which cultural value predispositions impact decision-making associated with hydraulic fracturing (fracking) among both local policy elites and the general public in Arkansas and Oregon. First, I examine the mediating role of (dis)trust in information provided by three groups associated with the fracking debate – the energy industry, environmental groups, and the government – in shaping benefit-risk perceptions associated with fracking, and compare this process between a sample of local policy elites and the general public in Arkansas and Oregon. Findings indicate that perceptions of trustworthiness are shaped by cultural value predispositions which, in turn, …

Kim Dae-Jung's Leadership As Relevant To The Sunshine Policy (1998-2003), Shin Yon Kim

Dissertations - ALL

South Korea’s engagement policy toward North Korea has a unique potential to contribute to permanent peace on the Korean peninsula by improving inter-Korean relations. However, given Korea’s historical, political, and socio-cultural context, comprehensive engagement has proved difficult. Any South Korean leader who adopts overall engagement strategies vis-à-vis North Korea may face constraints and setbacks stemming from the internal and external environments, including North Korea (the target state), domestic politics, and the United States. During Kim Dae-jung’s presidency (1998-2003), North and South Korea engaged in an unparalleled degree of interaction, reshaping the pattern of inter-Korean relations. President Kim’s Sunshine Policy demonstrated …

Gender And Judicial Decision-Making, Alexandra Just

Undergraduate Theses

This study employs a unique two-tiered approach, involving both quantitative and qualitative methodology to analyze the influences – specifically, a judge’s gender – on the judicial decision-making process. First, a quantitative bivariate regression analysis was conducted to determine whether a Federal District Court judge’s gender had a statistically significant influence on the ideological direction of case outcomes (which is either liberal, meaning the decision was in favor of the petitioner, or conservative, meaning the decision was against the petitioner). Data was analyzed using the statistical program SPSS and was pulled from the 2016 Carp-Manning database, which contains over 110,000 federal …

Social Influences, Decision-Making, And Career Retention Of Novice Teachers, Kerstin Anna Stewart

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

New teachers bring hope, optimism, and excitement for teaching and learning from their individual preparatory programs to their classrooms at the start of every new school year. However, research indicates a large number of those teachers leave the field of teaching within a 5-year timeframe. The consequence of this loss of professionals has a deep-rooted impact on student achievement and learning. This loss also has considerable career and financial implications for the field of education. The reasons for this exodus are varied and somewhat broad in nature and scope. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived …

Influences On Ethical Decision-Making By Nurses Employed In Federal Health Care Facilities, Cecil Dean Blount

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Healthcare professionals are tasked with making key decisions involving new and controversial approaches such as organ transplantation and life-prolonging technologies and treatments that raise various ethical issues. Suboptimal ethical choices by nurses can lead to negative patient outcomes and lower the quality of life in federal healthcare facilities. The purpose of this nonexperimental quantitative correlational study was to identify the factors that influence nurses’ ethical decision-making processes in U.S. federal healthcare facilities. The theoretical framework was based on Beauchamp and Childress’ ethical system of principlism. Three research questions addressed the nature and extent of the relationship between nurses’ Ethical Behavior …

Aviation Maintenance Technician Decision-Making, Dominic Hemingway

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Aircraft accidents caused by human decision-making errors cause property loss and fatalities on a global scale in the aviation industry. Aviation repair technician decision-making perceptions influence aviation safety. The purpose of transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of aviation repair technicians related to decision-making perceptions regarding aviation safety. The central research question and sub-question focused on the lived experiences of repair technicians’ decision-making perceptions. The naturalistic decision-making framework, decision theories, and decision-making models comprised the lens to assess the impact of aviation maintenance technician decision-making perceptions in aviation safety. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with 12 …

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients' Sociological Resilience, Self-Determination, And Decision-Making For Life-Sustaining Treatments, Jeremy Jon Van Tress

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

People with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) suffer from a rare, progressive, untreatable, and fatal neuromuscular disease. Their decision-making for life-sustaining treatments may not be fully self-deterministic. While researchers have examined resilience and self-determination in people with mental health problems and chronic illness, none have researched these variables in ALS patients from a socioecological framework. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between people with ALS socioecological resilience, self-determination, and decision-making for life-sustaining treatments. A cross-sectional concurrent mixed-methods design was used, with online surveys completed by 197 people with ALS who were solicited through the National ALS Registry. …

Nudge Or Puppet? Decision-Making, Ethics, And Leadership In The Information Age, Yihe Yang

M.A. in Leadership Studies: Capstone Project Papers

In the past two decades, algorithm-based information technology has provided great convenience and a strong theoretical foundation for organizational leadership decision-making, since the analysis of contextual information from data analysis and mathematical models enhances decision-makers’ judgments. However, improper use and insufficient understanding of information technology also bring negative results throughout the practical application. To eliminate adverse effects, organization leader requires rigorous ethical demands. A case study for IBM and literature review constituted the paper’s methodology, analyzed through the East-West decision theory, the duality of information technology, and the ancient Chinese ethics. Also, the leadership ethics and the adaptive leadership theory …

Individual Differences In Decision-Making, Catelyn N. Shipp

Honors College Theses

When making decisions, most people tend to avoid uncertain outcomes or risks. However, individual differences, such as optimism versus pessimism and liberalism versus conservatism, may lead to variable approaches and outcomes in the decision-making process. Thus, the goal of this research is to examine individual differences in decision-making preferences and whether these associate with personality characteristics (i.e., optimism/pessimism and conservative/liberal views). To test this, the current study involves a probabilistic gambling task, adapted from behavioral judgment and decision-making research. Participants are shown “wheel-of-fortune-like” spinner wheel stimuli divided into green, red, and gray sections. The relative proportion of each color represents …

Influence Of Implicit-Bias Training On The Cultural Competency Of Police Officers, Marvin Whitfield

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Highly publicized media events involving African American men and the use of deadly force by police officers have occurred between 2013 and 2014. These events have emphasized the need to examine the influence of implicit bias training on police officers' decision-making processes. During the past two decades, Community Oriented Policing Services has invested several billion dollars in training programs designed to eliminate racial bias within the law enforcement community. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how implicit-bias training influences the decision-making processes of police officers. More specifically, this study examined the perceptions of police officers regarding the …

Human Error In Police Involved Shootings, Paul L. Taylor

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Police use of deadly force has become one of the most contentious and controversial aspects of the U.S. criminal justice system. Yet, the vast majority of police shootings never rise to the level of public consciousness (Zimring, 2017). Instead, the public discourse and controversy tends to center on a handful of cases that appear excessive and/or are difficult to understand (Pickering & Klinger, 2016). As a result, these cases have a disproportionate impact on the public’s perception of police legitimacy and competence, particularly when it comes to their use of deadly force (Gua, 2014). The outcomes of many of these …

Pride’S Influence On Perception Of Control And Risky Decision-Making, Andrea Sanders

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Incidental emotion can powerfully impact risky decision-making processes, yet the specific mechanisms that drive this relationship require further exploration. The appraisal theory of emotion suggests that emotional valence alone cannot accurately predict an emotion’s effect on risk-taking. Rather, specific appraisal dimensions of an emotional experience—particularly the perception of control—have been found to critically influence risk-taking across settings. Previous literature indicates that guilt, a negative emotion characterized by high personal control, led to higher risk preferences. The current study sought to replicate these findings and test whether a similar relationship would be found for the positive emotion of pride. Data was …

Differentiating Darkness: Decision-Making Differences Between Psychopathy And Machiavellianism, Jessica R. Carre

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Machiavellianism and psychopathy are correlated but distinct personality traits that are associated with interpersonal manipulation and selfish behaviors (Paulhus & Williams, 2002). Based on a recent meta-analytic review, researchers have questioned whether these traits are distinct (Miller, Hyatt, Maples-Keller, Carter & Lynam, 2016). These meta-analytic reviews, however, have largely been based on atheoretical studies examining the relationship of these traits with self-reported outcomes. The purpose of the present research was to directly test the differences between Machiavellianism and psychopathy with respect to fundamental decision-making processes. In study one, the difference between psychopathy and Machiavellianism was assessed in terms of passive …

Making Smart Choices When Faced With Risk: The Role Of Interoceptive Awareness And Life Stress On Implicit Learning., Ronald A. Nicholson

Dissertations and Theses

In complex situations where there is an unclear link between the available options and an advantageous outcome, visceral signals of arousal play a role in decision-making. Perception of the body’s various visceral signals is called interoceptive awareness (IA). Exposure to stressful events can impede the production and perception of these signals, leading to a potentially impaired perception of risk and impeded decision-making. However, there is a paucity of research exploring the impact of life event stress on IA, or how both of these factors may influence the dynamic process of decision-making during risk. To address this gap the current study …

Influence Of Dual Process Decision-Making Theory In Patients Diagnosed With Cancer, Bonnie D. Quinonez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Each year millions of people face the medical decision-making cycle that comes with a diagnosis of cancer. For patients and their families, this can be a rollercoaster of confusion and fear. Researchers have indicated that the complexity of the decision-making process is underrepresented in the current approach of informed decision-making. The purpose of this study was to add to scientifically-validated research expanding the identification of factors that influence decision-making for individuals diagnosed with cancer. Fuzzy trace theory (FTT) is the dual process memory theory used as the framework for this study. Qualitative data were collected using semistructured interviews with 10 …

Emotional Intelligence And Decision-Making As Predictors Of Antisocial Behavior, Melina Sample

Dissertations

Problem

Antisocial behaviors in the general population are not well understood and little studied, however, their acceptance is becoming more normalized and accepted by society. This present study intended to focus on the contributing factors of emotional intelligence and decision-making to the presence of antisocial behaviors, and how these contributions vary by gender.

Method

This study used the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire – Short Form, and the General Decision Making Style Inventory to explore the relationships between the three variables. A structural equation model was developed to examine the theoretical covariance matrix proposed in comparison …

Cognitive Bias And Adolescent Risk-Taking, Mayuko Nakamura

Theses and Dissertations

Although the framing effect (i.e., the tendency of people to react differently to a particular choice depending on whether the choice is presented as a loss or as a gain) is a well-established cognitive bias among the adult population, there have been a limited number of studies with adolescent samples. In the current study, adolescents (14-18) and adults (18-26) will be asked to make choices in several decision problems including the classic Asian Disease Problem (Tversky & Kahneman, 1981) and modified “adolescent-relevant” versions that are applicable to the real-world experiences of adolescents. Individual difference measures, such as Individuals’ thinking-style (i.e., …

Personal Factors, Domain Specificity, And Risky Decision-Making, Rose Niles

Doctoral Dissertations

Adults make many risky decisions daily, such as choosing to drive over the speed limit or going outside without previously applying sunscreen. How and why adults make such decisions remains relatively unknown and has gained much research attention. Traditional models of decision-making, such as Expected Utility Theory (Bernoulli, 1954) and Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1972) have proven too simplistic, as they do not account for the regular deviations from expected decision-making processes. Likewise, models that attempt to categorize individuals as risk seeking and risk-averse do not hold up well when decisional-domain is examined (Blais & Weber, 2006). Contemporary research …

Success From The Sideline: How Communicative Processes Of Coaches' Decision-Making Styles Relate To Rugby Team Success, Kelley Sullivan

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between communication processes collegiate rugby coaches utilize when making decisions and team success. Along with measuring coaches' collaborative decision-making levels, this study explored various communication opportunities coaches report offering to players during decision-making processes. The results show there is no linear relationship between collaborative decision-making levels and winning percentage, nor is there a linear relationship between offering communication opportunities and winning percentage. Analysis revealed no one specific communication opportunity was a significant predictor variable of team success. While the variables tested did not have any correlation with college rugby winning percentage, it was found that …

Behavioral Operations Management In Federal Governance, Frederick Leonard Mobley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The environmental uncertainty of federal politics and acquisition outsourcing in competitive markets requires an adaptive decision-analysis structure. Practitioners oriented toward exclusively static methods face severe challenges in understanding qualitative aspects of organizational governance. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to examine and understand behavioral relationship attributes within intuitive, choice, judgment, or preference decision-making processes. The problem addressed in this study was the detrimental effects of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), compulsory citizenship behavior (CCB), and social exchange theory (SET) on the acquisition management relationship The OCB, CCB, SET dictates that sound business development, relationship acumen, emotional intelligence and perceptiveness …

Effect Of Cooperativeness Of The Parent On Juvenile Probation Officer Decision-Making Using A Randomized Controlled Design, Tamara Kang

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Juvenile probation officers acknowledge the importance of gaining the parents' cooperation during supervision to ensure the best chance for rehabilitation. However, there is reason to believe that officers may attend to parental cooperativeness to inform decisions on how much to involve the parent in supervision. The importance of the parent is well accepted, but the effect of parental cooperation on officers' decisions concerning the juvenile's fate on supervision has yet to be examined. Aim 1 of this study examined the extent to which an officer's response to a first instance and second instance of noncompliance was affected by the cooperativeness …

Detecting Structure In Activity Sequences: Exploring The Hot Hand Phenomenon, Taleri Lynn Hammack

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Can humans discriminate whether strings of events (e.g., shooting success in basketball) were generated by a random or constrained process (e.g., hot and cold streaks)? Conventional wisdom suggests that humans are not good at this discrimination. Following from Cooper, Hammack, Lemasters, and Flach (2014), a series of Monte Carlo simulations and an empirical experiment examined the abilities of both humans and statistical tests (Wald-Wolfowitz Runs Test and 1/f) to detect specific constraints that are representative of plausible factors that might influence the performance of athletes (e.g., learning, non-stationary task constraints). Using a performance/success dependent learning constraint that was calibrated to …

Impact Of E-Cigarettes On Physician Recommendations Of Tobacco Use Cessation Pharmacotherapy, Omar El Shahawy

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: E-cigarettes have been marketed as smoking cessation aids and harm reduction strategies. Prior regional surveys found that physicians are recommending them to patients despite the lack of evidence supporting these industry claims. Yet, little is known about physicians’ beliefs regarding e-cigarettes and whether these beliefs are associated with them recommending e-cigarette use in clinical practice. Methods: This three-manuscript dissertation used a mixed-methods approach including both qualitative and quantitative research methods. The aims were to: (1) Uncover the factors associated with primary care physicians’ (PCPs) decisions to recommend e-cigarettes to their patients for tobacco use cessation; (2) Estimate the prevalence …