Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Keep The Faith Not The Guilt: Demonization Of Sex Workers, Jessica Hodges

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Previous research shows that religiosity and attitudes about sexual topics are strongly correlated and typically negative. That is, as religiosity increases, views toward sexual topics tend to become more conservative or generally more negative in valence. However, current research also suggests that one’s sexual guilt may be the mediating influence in the relationship between religiosity and negative sexual attitudes. The present study seeks to replicate and extend research that examined the extent to which an individual's religiosity and sexual guilt influence their perspective of pornography and sex workers (Study 1). To replicate this (Study 2), a survey containing relevant measures …

The Effects Of Biased Literature On Self- And Social-Perceptions Of Lgbtq Individuals, Marielle Crisler

Honors Theses

Though media portrayal of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals has increased significantly in recent years, the representation has brought and cemented harmful stereotypes along with it. People who are discovering their identity as sexual minorities might consume media that portrays LGBTQ individuals negatively, or even kills them in many cases, and believe that they are doomed to the same outcome. Literature is no exception to this influx of negative stereotypes. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of stereotypes in LGBTQ literature on those who identify with the characters presented in the text to the same extent …

Interrelationship Between Librarians' Level Of Knowledge Of Information Technologies And Their Attitudes In Applying These Technologies In Libraries, Muhammad Ramzan Dr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The paper presents librarians’ attitudes toward information technology, their level of knowledge in IT, and their relationship with each other. Secondary data was collected through review of the relevant literature. Primary data was collected through a questionnaire survey of 244 librarians of libraries in Pakistan. The study revealed that awareness of the potential of IT, recency of attaining professional qualifications, and knowledge in IT had a significant relationship with librarians’ attitudes. The study also revealed that librarians’ level of knowledge in technology is a good predictor of their attitude toward application of information technology in libraries. Based on the findings, …

Promoting Mentally Healthy Classrooms: Evaluation Of Online Mental Health Literacy Instruction In Pre-Service Teacher Education, E. Robyn Masters

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

To better understand how to prepare large numbers of pre-service teachers for their role in creating and leading mentally healthy classrooms, this program evaluation explores outcomes related to an online mental health literacy course at a large central Canadian university. The course was delivered to 275 teacher education students simultaneously over 10-weeks and 20-hours of online instruction and professional reflection. Results indicated significant improvement in self-reported levels of mental health literacy, stigma toward mental illness, and self-efficacy for teaching students with diverse challenges. Qualitative reviews of participant feedback identified the most valuable aspects of the course and the ways in …

Equine Welfare As A Mainstream Phenomenon, Bernard E. Rollin

Bernard Rollin, PhD

The 20th century has witnessed a bewildering array of ethical revolutions, from civil rights to environmentalism to feminism. Often ignored is the rise of massive societal concern across the world regarding animal treatment. Regulation of animal research exists in virtually all Western countries, and reform of “factory farming” is regnant in Europe and rapidly emerging in the United States. In 2012, a series of articles in The New York Times focused welfare attention squarely on the horse industry. Opponents of concern for animals often dismiss the phenomenon as rooted in emotion and extremist lack of appreciation of how unrestricted animal …

Deepening Our Understanding Of Sheep, Lori Marino, Debra Merskin

Lori Marino, PhD

Our Response is centered on five major themes: (1) our presentation of human mythologies about sheep; (2) the relevance of cognitive complexity (“intelligence”) as a dimension underlying the way people perceive and treat sheep; (3) whether our review is too anthropocentric or anthropomorphic; (4) animal welfare versus animal rights (abolitionism); and (5) whether knowledge and education are enough to change human attitudes and behavior.

Interactive Infographics' Effect On Elaboration In Agricultural Communication, Erin Burnett, Jessica Holt, Abigail Borron, Bartosz Wojdynski

Journal of Applied Communications

In public health, politics, and advertising, interactive content spurred increased elaboration from audiences that were otherwise least likely to engage with a message. This study sought to examine interactivity as an agricultural communication strategy through the lens of the Elaboration Likelihood Model. Respondents were randomly assigned a static or interactive data visualization concerning the production of peaches and blueberries in Georgia, then asked to list their thoughts in accordance with Petty and Cacioppo’s thought-listing measure. Respondents significantly exhibited higher elaboration with the interactive message as opposed to the static, extending the results of past research in other communication realms to …

Mental Health Professionals’ Attitudes Toward Clients With Antisocial Personality Disorder: An Exploratory Study, Edward T. Dunbar Jr., Shari M. Sias, Stephen Leierer, William L. Atherton, Robert J. Campbell, Lloyd R. Goodwin Jr

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

This exploratory study examined mental health professionals’ attitudes toward clients with antisocial personality disorder. Specifically, are mental health professionals’ attitudes influenced by (a) personal experiences with criminal victimization, or (b) contact with clients with antisocial personality disorder. A factorial MANOVA and follow-up univariate ANOVAs revealed a statistically significant main effect in relation to participants’ level of clinical contact with clients having antisocial personality disorder. Participants with higher levels of clinical contact were associated with more positive attitudes towards clients. Implications for mental health professionals, supervisors, and counselor educators are discussed, and suggestions for future research are provided.

Experience With And Perceptions Of Immigrants In Italy, Arianna Babraj

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

This research explores Italians’ experiences with and perceptions of immigrants, along with their ideas of how the government should formulate immigration policy. Using in person surveys, 117 subjects were interviewed in the northern, central and southern regions of Italy. After accounting for variables like age, gender, and region, the data revealed interesting trends. Overall, the main findings of this study hold that there is a connection between the proximity of a subject’s relationship with immigrants and how positive their experiences are. These experiences can influence how the subject then views immigrants as either an advantage or a disadvantage, however, other …

Curricula For Empathy And Compassion Training In Medical Education: A Systematic Review., Sundip Patel, Alexis Pelletier-Bui, Stephanie Smith, Michael Roberts, Hope Kilgannon, Stephen Trzeciak, Brian W Roberts

Faculty Scholarship for the College of Science & Mathematics

BACKGROUND: Empathy and compassion are vital components of health care quality; however, physicians frequently miss opportunities for empathy and compassion in patient care. Despite evidence that empathy and compassion training can be effective, the specific behaviors that should be taught remain unclear. We synthesized the biomedical literature on empathy and compassion training in medical education to find the specific curricula components (skills and behaviors) demonstrated to be effective.

METHODS: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL using a previously published comprehensive search strategy. We screened reference lists of the articles meeting inclusion criteria to identify additional studies for potential inclusion. …

An Exploration Of Attitudes Toward Dogs Among College Students In Bangalore, India, Shelly Volsche, Miriam Mohan, Peter B. Gray, Madhavi Rangaswamy

Anthropology Faculty Research

Conversations in the field of anthrozoology include treatment and distinction of food animals, animals as workers versus pests, and most recently, emerging pet trends including the practice of pet parenting. This paper explores attitudes toward pet dogs in the shared social space of urban India. The data include 375 pen-and-paper surveys from students at CHRIST (Deemed to be University) in Bangalore, India. Reflecting upon Serpell’s biaxial concept of dogs as a relationship of affect and utility, the paper considers the growing trend of pet dog keeping in urban spaces and the increased use of affiliative words to describe these relationships. …

Modern Homonegativity And Lgbtq Activism: The Role Of Identity And Behaviour In Attitude Formation, Sarah E. Moroz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Although reported prejudice toward sexual minorities seems to be decreasing over time, sexual minorities themselves continue to report many experiences of prejudice and discrimination. One potential explanation for this discrepancy in the sexual prejudice literature is that explicit prejudice is being measured in a manner that is no longer culturally relevant, as proposed by Morrison and Morrison (2003) in the development of their Modern Homonegativity Scale. Modern homonegativity (MH) is characterized by negative attitudes toward behaviours and policies that benefit LGBTQ people, rather than a negative attitude toward homosexuality itself. The present work aimed to further the field’s understanding of …

Contact Isn’T Enough: Attitudes Towards And Misunderstandings About Undocumented Immigrants Among A Diverse College Population, Sarah C. Bishop, Nicholas David Bowman

Publications and Research

Ample evidence exists of bipartisan positive attitudes towards undocumented immigrants receiving a path to citizenship, and of a lack of US residents’ knowledge about undocumented immigration, but it is not yet clear whether individuals in the same sampling frame may exhibit both favourable attitudes towards and ignorance about undocumented immigrants. We use open- and closed-ended survey questions (N = 231) to probe perceptions of immigrants and knowledge about US immigration procedures in a cohort of demographically and ideologically diverse college students. Our findings confirmed largely favourable attitudes towards undocumented immigrants, but also misconceptions about undocumented immigrants’ rights and options with …

The Effects Of A Dementia Simulation Experience On Attitudes Towards People With Dementia, Micah Huckabee

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Introduction: The neurodegenerative effects of dementia resulting in cognitive and behavioral impairments is plausibly one of the reasons for a societal stigma towards individuals with dementia. Societal stigmas are associated with decreased life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, and decreased psychological well-being for stigmatized individuals. In an effort to improve attitudes towards individuals with dementia, this study utilized a dementia simulation to measure attitudinal changes after a dementia simulation. Methods: There were 33 participants in this study (13 male and 20 female) between the ages of 18 and 25. Participants completed a Dementia Attitudes Scale (DAS) survey, and then they dressed in …

Mathematics Attitudes And Mathematics Performance: Novel Approaches Towards Noncognitive Educational Measurement, Applications To Large-Scale Assessment Data, And Examinations Of Multigroup Invariance, Kalina Gjicali

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Academic performance is predicted by a multitude of demographic, contextual, cognitive, and noncognitive constructs. The noncognitive factors of achievement in mathematics that have previously been explored in depth are study skills, collaborative problem-solving, confidence, self-efficacy, and personality traits (Kyllonen, 2012). Limited applied research has explored the predictive value of noncognitive factors such as attitudes and beliefs in mathematics achievement – even though attitudes towards mathematics are a promising avenue for understanding the variability in mathematics achievement. The current research uses the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain high school students’ performance in mathematics in a series of three studies. …

Call To Action: Climate Change Is Calling, Elizabeth Maccoy, Timothy Good, Sarah Fischbach Phd

Pepperdine Journal of Communication Research

The sustainability movement found in

many popular companies (i.e. Patagonia, Toms Shoes, Rareform) promotes helping the changing climate as part of their marketing strategy. Our research begins to uncover the benefits of these movements that shape student’s thinking towards sustainability. This study aims to evaluate sustainability on the campus of Pepperdine University from the students’ point-of-view after participating in a sustainability project in marketing classes. A convenience non-probability sample of 75 participants engaged in the quantitative Qualtrics online survey. Our results reveal that Pepperdine students who participated in the marketing campaign consider sustainability important, have positive attitudes toward the environment …

The Relationship Between The Accessibility Of Political Attitudes And Voting Behavior, Alison I. Young

Scholar Week 2016 - present

Eighty-five Olivet students (57 women) participated for extra credit in a study focused on the relationship between the accessibility of one's attitudes toward political parties (Democrats vs. Republicans) and political decisions (e.g., likelihood to vote for a given candidate). Participants viewed a series of Democrat-related (e.g., left-leaning, liberal) and Republican-related (e.g., right-leaning, conservative) terms piloted for political orientation. For each, they were asked to indicate as quickly and accurately as possible whether they liked or disliked it. The speed of their response served as a measure of attitude accessibility. Participants then completed a series of questions regarding their political orientation, …

Information Sampling, Judgment And The Environment: Application To The Effect Of Popularity On Evaluations, Gaël Le Mens, Jerker Denrell, Balázs Kovacs, Hülya Karaman

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

If people avoid alternatives they dislike, a negative evaluative bias emerges because errorsof under-evaluation are unlikely to be corrected. Prior work that analyzed this mechanismhas shown that when the social environment exposes people to avoided alternatives (i.e. itmakes them resample them), then evaluations can become systematically more positive. In this paper, we clarify the conditions under which this happens. By analyzing a simple learning model, we show that whether additional exposures induced by the social environment lead to more positive or more negative evaluations depends on how prior evaluations and the social environment interact in driving resampling. We apply these …

Suicide Response Preparedness In Counseling Students: A Study Of Knowledge, Attitudes, And Simulated Behavior, Breanna P. Banks, Joel F. Diambra

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Counselors-in-training are likely to encounter a suicidal client even before completing their education. Student counselors not trained in these practices are at risk for not identifying and adequately managing suicide risk. This study explores and describes counseling students’ knowledge about suicide, attitudes about suicide and suicide response, and simulated suicide response behavior; and to identify to what extent counseling students’ knowledge and attitudes about suicide and suicide response relate to and predict simulated suicide response behavior. Outcomes from this study suggest that these three constructs are related to one another; however, these relationships should be interpreted with caution. Only declarative …

Nationalism And Attitudes Towards Immigration: A Comparison On Ethnic And Civic Nationalism And The Impact On Attitudes Towards Immigrants., Maryta L. Kaber Lewis

Honors Projects

Immigration has been an important topic throughout America’s history. Studies have linked nationalism to attitudes towards immigrants, and literature has repeatedly distinguished different types of nationalism. This study looks at measures of two different types of nationalism (civic and ethnic nationalism) and tests the measures on the impact of attitudes towards immigrants. It was predicted civic and ethnic nationalism would both be predictive of negative attitudes towards immigrants, but that measures of ethnic nationalism would have greater predictive value than measures of civic nationalism. Data was used from the 2014 General Social Survey, with analysis being run using SPSS. Findings …

The Missing Shifts, Saumya Sindhwani, Jerry Conner, Howard Thomas

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Saumya Sindhwani, Jerry Connor and Howard Thomas argue it is time to change the way we develop leaders – and tap into the power of mindset. The needs the managers speak of fit into two broad categories (“empathy” and “resourcefulness”) and both are fundamental “changes in mindset”. By that, we mean a change in attitude or world view.

The Dogmatism Of Dissent: How Open-Minded Cognition Influences Protest Attitudes, Chad Osteen

Master's Theses

While protestors are often thought of and portrayed as dogmatic actors on the political stage, research has yet to empirically investigate the cognitive processes of protestors. While previous research has investigated how open-minded cognition relates to political party and ideology, its relationship to political activism has remained under studied. This study used a between subject's design to determine how priming system rejection may affect open-minded cognition and protest attitudes. The sample of 450 participants recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk is based off a power analysis with small to medium effect sizes (r2=0.25) and a power of .95. Using SurveyGizmo software, …

Americans' Gender Attitudes At The Intersection Of Sexual Orientation And Gender, Eric Anthony Grollman

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Extensive research on differences in women's and men's gender attitudes and more recent work on sexual orientation differences in these and other social attitudes have overlooked the potential intersection between gender and sexual orientation in predicting Americans' gender attitudes. I use data from the 2012 American National Election Survey 2012 to investigate differences in views on gender roles, gender discrimination and inequality, and abortion among lesbian and bisexual women, gay and bisexual men, heterosexual women, and heterosexual men. The results suggest that heterosexual men hold the most conservative views on gender, while lesbian and bisexual women are most conscious of …

Social Identity, Economic Interest, And The Formation Of Host Attitudes Toward Refugees, Jeremy Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Scholarly studies of refugee crises have historically focused on the causes of refugee flight, the experience of the refugees themselves, or the impacts of refugees on host countries. More recently, a growing body of literature has examined the interaction of refugees and host populations, and more specifically the orientations of host individuals toward refugees. This study focuses on attitude formation during refugee crises, seeking to better understand the role of social and economic factors in shaping the attitudes of host populations. The core questions for this study are whether and how social identity and economic considerations relate to attitudes. Original …

Clinicians' Attitudes Toward Sex Offender Treatment, Vallerie Hancock

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Clinician attitudes toward a client have a significant influence on outcomes for that client's treatment. Exploring the attitudes of clinicians toward sex offenders can provide additional insights into methods to improve treatments for this population. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to examine the attitudes of clinical professionals who work with sex offenders to identify the specific ways that these attitudes influenced professional behaviors and client interactions. Grounded theory was used to move beyond a general description of the issue to formulate a theory regarding clinician work with sex offenders and its implications. The sample comprised 10 …

Perceptions Of Residents In Rural Areas Toward Law Enforcement, Joseph James Wagner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Negative public perceptions toward law enforcement officers (LEOs) have increased in recent years as the result of police shootings of unarmed men. Researchers have focused on urban residents' perceptions toward LEOs, but have not examined the perceptions of rural residents. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between the dependent variable (DV) of rural citizens' perceptions toward LEOs and the independent variables (IVs) of age, gender, ethnicity, religion, marital status, sexual orientation, income, employment status, educational attainment, and immigration status. The social judgment theory and the primary socialization theory were used as the theoretical foundations to …

Consumers' Evaluations Of Genetically Modified Food Messages, Taylor K. Ruth, Joy N. Rumble

Journal of Applied Communications

Consumers are concerned about the risks related to genetically modified (GM) food, and there is a need for agricultural communicators and educators to address those concerns. The purpose of this study was to explore Florida residents’ latitudes of acceptance, rejection, and noncommitment toward GM food messages. The findings from this study can be used to guide communication and education campaigns for GM food. An online survey was distributed to a non-probability sample of 500 Florida residents to fulfill the purpose of the study. The messages that most aligned with the respondents’ views toward GM food discussed how potential risks related …

Meanings Of Preconception Health To Overweight Women In An Economically Depressed County, Valeria Ninette Balogh

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The intention-behavior gap between receiving professional health information and transitioning to improved health behaviors prior to conception is not well understood. In order to improve preconception health across the board, a more integrative understanding of the problem must present itself. This study combined elements from the theory of planned behavior, self-determination theory, and the bioecological model of human development as it's foundation. Qualitative phenomenology and semistructured face-to-face interviews were used to gain a deeper understanding of the ways in which nine overweight and obese women described preconception intentions and beliefs and the bioecological experiences leading to those beliefs. Interpretation of …

Can Religiosity Be Explained By ‘Brain Wiring’? An Analysis Of Us Adults’ Opinions, Sharan Kaur Mehta, Christopher P. Scheitle, Elaine Howard Ecklund

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Studies examining how religion shapes individuals’ attitudes about science have focused heavily on a narrow range of topics, such as evolution. This study expands this literature by looking at how religion influences individuals’ attitudes towards the claim that neuroscience, or “brain wiring,” can explain differences in religiosity. Our analysis of nationally representative survey data shows, perhaps unsurprisingly, that religiosity is negatively associated with thinking that brain wiring can explain religion. Net of religiosity, though, individuals reporting religious experiences are actually more likely to agree that brain wiring can explain religiosity, as are individuals belonging to diverse religious traditions when compared …

Deepening Our Understanding Of Sheep, Lori Marino, Debra Merskin

Animal Sentience

Our Response is centered on five major themes: (1) our presentation of human mythologies about sheep; (2) the relevance of cognitive complexity (“intelligence”) as a dimension underlying the way people perceive and treat sheep; (3) whether our review is too anthropocentric or anthropomorphic; (4) animal welfare versus animal rights (abolitionism); and (5) whether knowledge and education are enough to change human attitudes and behavior.