Psychology Commons^™

Barack Obama, Implicit Bias, And The 2008 Election, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Gregory S. Parks

Jeffrey J Rachlinski

The election of Barack Obama as the forty-fourth president of the United States suggests that the United States has made great strides with regard to race. The blogs and the pundits may laud Obama’s win as evidence that we now live in a “post-racial America.” But is it accurate to suggest that race no longer significantly influences how Americans evaluate each other? Does Obama’s victory suggest that affirmative action and antidiscrimination protections are no longer necessary? We think not. Ironically, rather than marking the dawn of a post-racial America, Obama’s candidacy reveals how deeply race affects judgment.

Public Management In Political Institutions: Explaining Perceptions Of White House Chief Of Staff Influence, José Villalobos, Justin Vaughn, David Cohen

José D. Villalobos

The notion that public managers influence organizational performance is common in public administration research. However, less is known about why some managers are better at influencing organizational performance than others. Furthermore, relatively few studies have systematically examined managerial influence and scholars have yet to investigate either quantitatively or systematically managerial influence in the White House. Utilizing original survey data collected from former White House officials who served in the Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Clinton administrations, this study applies empirical public management theory to examine for the first time the key determinants that shape perceptions of chief of staff managerial …

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

Emerging From The Shadows: Civil War, Human Rights, And Peacebuilding Among Peasants And Indigenous Peoples In Colombia And Peru In The Late 20th And Early 21st Centuries, Charles A. Flowerday

Anthropology Department: Theses

Peacebuilding in Colombia and Peru following their late-20^th and early 21^st century civil wars is a challenging proposition. In this study, it becomes necessary as indigenous peoples and peasants resist domination by extractive industries and governments in their thrall. Whether they protest nonviolently or rebel in arms, they are targeted for human-rights violations, especially murder, disappearance and displacement. The armed actors, state, insurgency, paramilitaries or drug traffickers, destroy civic institutions (local or regional government) and the civil (nonprofit) sector and replace them with their own authoritarian versions. Therefore, peacebuilding has emphasized rebuilding civic institutions, civil society and local …

Implicit Prejudice And Its Implications For How Communities Should Respond To Racial Injustices, Harry Kainen

Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted

In the spring of 2013, a racially controversial incident occurred on the Washington University Campus. The incident raised questions about the racial tolerance of the university community as well as exactly who should be held responsible for the injustice. Most importantly, the community’s response to the incident exemplified how a community with the potential for substantial collective action can fail to mobilize and improve when they are called upon to do so. This paper examines recent psychological research that studies the existence of subconscious racial prejudices in order to examine its implications in community responses to racial injustices. Results show …

Predicting Social Change: Transforming Victims Of Child Sex Trafficking In India And The United States, Kristie A. Weisert

Global Honors Theses

Human trafficking is a huge global issue that is highly linked to issues of poverty, physical abuse, and psychological control, culminating in the buying and selling of human beings, or what we call “modern day slavery.” For my Global Honors thesis, I applied a fairly optimistic philosophical human rights theory to an unimaginable human rights issue that is taking place all over the world. This paper focuses on domestic child sex trafficking in the U.S. and India along with the unique socioeconomic, political, and cultural factors that contributes to trafficking in these countries. I found that the international community, non-profits, …

Volume 06, Kristen Gains, Amanda Willis, Holly Backer, Monika Gutierrez, Cara O'Neal, Sara Nelson, Sasha Silberman, Jessica Beardsley, Jamie Gardner, Edward Peeples, Matthew Sakach, Tess Lione, Emily Wilkins, Kelsey Holt, Jessica Page, Jamie Clift, Charles Vancampen, Gilbert Hall, Jenny Nehrt, Kasey Dye, Amanda Tharp, Jamie Leeuwrik, Ashley Mcgee, Emily Poulin, Michael Kropf, Nick Pastore, Austin Polasky, Morgan Glasco, Laura L. Kahler, Melinda L. Edwards, Brandon C. Smith, Mariah Asbell, Cabell Edmunds, Amelia D. Perry, Alyssa Hayes, Irina Boothe, Perry Bason, James Early

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross

Caught Between Folklore and the Cold War: The Americanization of Russian Children's Literature by Kristen Gains

Graphic Design by Amanda Willis

Graphic Design by Holly Backer

Prejudices in Swiss German Accents by Monika Gutierrez

Photography by Cara O'Neal

Photography by Sara Nelson

Edmund Tyrone's Long Journey through Night by Sasha Silberman

Photography by Jessica Beardsley

Photography by Jamie Gardner and Edward Peeples

The Republican Razor: The Guillotine as a Symbol of Equality by Jamie Clift

Graphic Design by Matthew Sakach

Genocide: The Lasting Effects of Gender Stratification in Rwanda By Tess Lione and Emily …

Media Portrayal Of Individuals In The Lower Class And Its Effects On Attributions Of Educational Hardships, Krista A. Burke

Communication Studies

This study investigated how media portrayals of individuals in the lower class affect people’s beliefs about educational hardships in lower socioeconomic areas. Specifically, this study looked at the attributions of these hardships to determine if media consumption had an effect on the internality of attributions. It was hypothesized that increased media consumption would be related to an increased tendency toward internal attributions. It was hypothesized that increased media consumption would lead to lower support for policy changes regarding education. A survey was distributed to assess media consumption habits and attitudes toward educational hardships in the lower class. Correlation results yielded …

Book Review: Policing And The Poetics Of Everyday Life., Rodger E. Broome Phd

Rodger E. Broome

Policing and the poetics of everyday life. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2008. 256 pp. ISBN 978-0-252-03371-1 (cloth). $42.00. Policing and the Poetics of Everyday Life is a hermeneutical-aesthetic analysis within a human scientific approach of modern policing in the United States. It is an important study of police-citizen encounters informed by hermeneutic aesthetic thought and the author’s professional experience as a veteran with a Seattle area police department in Washington, USA.

Extension 3.0: Managing Agricultural Knowledge Systems In The Network Age, Mark Lubell, Meredith T. Niles, Matthew Hoffman

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper develops the idea of “Extension 3.0” as an approach to agricultural extension that capitalizes on the network structure of local agricultural knowledge systems. Over the last century, agricultural knowledge systems have evolved into networks of widely distributed actors with a diversity of specializations and expertise. Agricultural extension programs need to manage these networks in ways that maximize the synergy between experiential, technical, and social learning. Using empirical research from California farmers, we highlight the structure of these networks within and across contexts, and the importance of boundary-spanning relationships. We provide some initial recommendations about actions needed to realize …

Decoding Prejudice Toward Hispanics: Group Cues And Public Reactions To Threatening Immigrant Behavior, Todd K. Hartman, Benjamin J. Newman, C. Scott Bell

Todd K. Hartman

Consistent with theories of modern racism, we argue that white, non-Hispanic Americans have adopted a “coded,” race-neutral means of expressing prejudice toward Hispanic immigrants by citing specific behaviors that are deemed inappropriate—either because they are illegal or threatening in an economic or cultural manner. We present data from a series of nationally representative, survey-embedded experiments to tease out the distinct role that anti-Hispanic prejudice plays in shaping public opinion on immigration. Our results show that white Americans take significantly greater offense to transgressions such as being in the country illegally, “working under the table,” and rejecting symbols of American identity, …

Social Dominance And The Cultural Politics Of Immigration, Benjamin J. Newman, Todd K. Hartman, Charles S. Taber

Todd K. Hartman

We argue that conflict over immigration largely concerns who bears the burden of cultural transaction costs, which we define as the costs associated with overcoming cultural barriers (e.g., language) to social exchange. Our framework suggests that the ability of native-born citizens to push cultural transaction costs onto immigrant outgroups serves as an important expression of social dominance. In two novel studies, we demonstrate that social dominance motives condition emotional responses to encountering cultural transaction costs, shape engagement in cultural accommodation behavior toward immigrants, and affect immigration attitudes and policy preferences.

[Impact Factor: 1.614 (2011); Rank: 12 of 148 (Political Science); …

Psychological Vulnerabilities And Propensities For Involvement In Violent Extremism, Randy Borum

Randy Borum

Research on the psychology of terrorism has argued against the idea that most terrorist behavior is caused by mental illness or by a terrorist personality. This article suggests an alternative line of inquiry – an individual psychology of terrorism that explores how otherwise normal mental states and processes, built on characteristic attitudes, dispositions, inclinations, and intentions, might affect a person’s propensity for involvement with violent extremist groups and actions. It uses the concepts of “mindset” – a relatively enduring set of attitudes, dispositions, and inclinations – and worldview as the basis of a psychological “climate,” within which various vulnerabilities and …

School Resources And Student Outcomes In Kentucky Public High Schools, Martin Battle, James C. Clinger

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

This paper examines the effect of various input measures upon student outcomes within Kentucky public high schools from 2001 to 2004, using a pooled, cross­ sectional time series research design with panel-coIlected standard errors (PCSE). The results indicate mixed support for the proposition that school resources are related to desired school outcomes. Overall school spending seems to have no systematic impact Schools that seem to perform well have few indigent students, many teachers with master's degrees, and fairly high numbers of volunteers. The authors offer some conjectures about the significance and meaning of these findings, especially in light of different …

War Powers In The American Constitutional Scheme: A Legal-Historical Inquiry, Max Guirguis

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

Since World War II, there has been a significant shift in the balance of war­ making power between the executive and legislative branches. Although the Constitution reserves the formal power of declaring war exclusively for Congress, modern presidents have increasingly mm·ginalized Congress in times of international tension or conflict by acting unilaterally without congressional authorization. Congress has lent impetus to this problematic trend by failing to take decisive action whenever its war-making power is usurped by the executive. The War Powers Act of 1973 has not been successful in curbing the exercise and expansion of executive war- making power because …

The Fragility Of Persistently Economically Distressed Counties In Central Appalachia And The Promise Of Public Leadership, Christine E. Emrich, Stephen Lange, Blake Bedingfield, Bonita Fraley, Justin May, Kyle Yarawsky

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

Appalachia has long experienced economic distress, but significant progress has been made since the establishment of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) in the 1960s. However, many counties in central Appalachia continue to experience persistent economic distress despite several advantages that are normally conducive to progress. This study examines Rowan County, Kentucky in comparison to four other rural Kentucky counties with varying degrees of economic progress. Quantitative comparisons were made on the basis of out-migration, educational attainment, and industrial diversity. Qualitative data was then gathered till·ough interviews to understand decisive events that affected progress as well as long-term causes of change …

Federalism And Administrative Law: Regulatory Power And The U.S. Constitution, Ashley Ruggiero

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

This paper examines the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and its impact on state authority and regulatory federalism. It contends that the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 transformed traditional ideals of federalism and paved the way for the more centralized administrative process we know today. The paper begins by providing a brief history and breakdown of the act and proceeds to consider key Supreme Court cases. It concludes with an assessment of the Administrative Procedure Act's impact on the American political system, especially as it pertains to federalism, checks and balances, and the potential for fraud and corruption in vast federal …

Complete Issue - Volume 2, Number 1 (2014)

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

Complete Issue

Power, Interdependence And Conflict: What Ir Theories Tell Us About China's Rise, Dr. James R. Masterson

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

This study examines the effects that economic interdependence (EI) hason political relations between China and its main trading partners. Five EI theories derived from the international relations literature are tested using data from King's 10 Million Dyad collection of political interaction along with economic data from the IMF and control variable data from Polity IV, COW CINC, among other sources.

Though a significant amount of literature addresses the effects trade has on conflict at the systemic level, few address it at the dyadic level and even fewer test the pacification of trade on non-Western states. This research examines economic, political, …

Roger Sherman And Federalism: The Transition From The Articles Of Confederation To The U.S. Constitution, Autumn Baker

Commonwealth Review of Political Science

This study examines the religiosity, political career, and political thought of Roger Sherman. Sherman had a profound impact on the American Republic and American Federalism. The study concludes that as a Puritan descendant and devout Congregationalist, Roger Sherman's religious convictions explain his political principles.

Sustainability Policy’S Inherent Dilemmas – Exemplified Via Critical Examination Of The Las Vegas Metropolitan Sustainability Campaign, Kathryn A. Zimmerman

All Master's Theses

In response to a dual problem of critical water scarcity and rapid population growth, leaders of metropolitan Las Vegas implemented a region-wide, internationally marketed sustainability campaign. Preliminary studies found that, while sustainability policy attains its rhetorical goals, solutions initiated not only perpetuate but also purposefully expand the original dual problem to justify continuous water resource acquisitions. To examine this sustainability conundrum constructed by leadership—problem-perpetuation rather than problem-resolution—a critical examination in resource management asked two basic questions: what is being sustained and by what means? Via this inquiry, specific processes by which leaders perpetuate problems can be identified; and, so-informed, new …

Grounded Labels From The Behavioral International Economic Development Growth Path Model On Economic Development Patterns From 2002-2012, Kenneth Thomas Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Economic models generally fail to adequately measure positive and negative growth paths in development through agrarian, industry, and service economies. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to design a new model that could accommodate both directions of growth and better measure development paths with particular attention to labors contributions. The theoretical foundation for this study was Walt Whitman Rostow's 5 economic stages of growth classifications. This Study attempted to find the most common economic growth path. While most development models use three to five classifications, this study used nine new classifications giving it a unique and specific look …

Interdisciplinary Perspectives On Corruption, David Jancsics

Publications and Research

Corruption has become one of the most popular topics in the social scientific disciplines. However, there is a lack of interdisciplinary communication about corruption. Models developed by different academic disciplines are often isolated from each other. The purpose of this paper is to review several major approaches to corruption and draw them closer to each other. Most studies of corruption fall into three major categories: (i) rational-actor models where corruption is viewed as resulting from cost/benefit analysis of individual actors; (ii) structural models that focus on external forces that determine corruption; and (iii) relational models that emphasize social interactions and …

The Uncertainty Paradox: Perceived Threat Moderates The Impact Of Uncertainty On Political Tolerance, Ingrid J. Haas, William A. Cunningham

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

People respond to dissimilar political beliefs in a variety of ways, ranging from openness and acceptance to closed-mindedness and intolerance. While there is reason to believe that uncertainty may influence political tolerance, the direction of this influence remains unclear. We propose that threat moderates the effect of uncertainty on tolerance; when safe, uncertainty leads to greater tolerance, yet when threatened, uncertainty leads to reduced tolerance. Using independent manipulations of threat and uncertainty, we provide support for this hypothesis. This research demonstrates that, although feelings of threat and uncertainty can be independent, it is also important to understand their interaction.

Addressing Global Threat: Exploring The Relationship Between Common Purpose And Leadership, Charles R.H. Powell

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

While the mention of common purpose is prevalent in leadership studies, there are few attempts to explore the relationship between common purpose and leadership. This study delves into the questions of if and how common purpose and leadership inform one another. How leaders adapt purpose and leadership approaches in response to evolving and turbulent conditions may foster the depth and sustainment of immediate and subsequent accomplishments. Through phenomenological research in the venue of nuclear weapons reduction, a common purpose that is both globally pervasive and imbued with a sense of urgency, the lived essence of those engaged in common purpose …

Natural Phenomena As Potential Influence On Social And Political Behavior: The Earth’S Magnetic Field, Jackie R. East

Theses and Dissertations--Political Science

Researchers use natural phenomena in a number of disciplines to help explain human behavioral outcomes. Research regarding the potential effects of magnetic fields on animal and human behavior indicates that fields could influence outcomes of interest to social scientists. Tests so far have been limited in scope. This work is a preliminary evaluation of whether the earth’s magnetic field influences human behavior it examines the baseline relationship exhibited between geomagnetic readings and a host of social and political outcomes. The emphasis on breadth of topical coverage in these statistical trials, rather than on depth of development for any one model, …

'Democratic Ownership And Deliberative Participation, Cillian Mcbride

Cillian McBride

No abstract provided.