Psychology Commons^™

A Mother's Spiritual Journey With Her Disabled Son: An Autoethnography, Margaret C. Higgins Edd

Dissertations

Abstract

This autoethnographic research delves into a mother’s experiences with her disabled son over thirty-five years. Beginning with a thick description of the crib accident that resulted in physical and cognitive disabilities that profoundly change the course of both mother and son’s life, this research chronicles the search for meaning, community, and healing as they negotiate the realms of medicine, education, career, family, and spirituality. Models of disability that seek to explain various ways in which society often views disability are examined, but none resonate with the researcher’s intimate experiences nor satisfies her deepest needs for insight and healing. Making …

“Eye For An Eye” Or “Turn The Other Cheek?” Exploring The Moderating Roles Of Revenge And Forgiveness When Examining Death Penalty Support And Religious Fundamentalism, William Howard Whited

Dissertations

Public attitudes towards the death penalty appear to influence the usage of legislative policies about this highly debated sanction in the United States. However, existing ways of measuring public opinion about the death penalty are limited in the information they provide. As such, one purpose of the study was to further develop the Revised Attitudes towards the Death Penalty Scale (RATDP), an instrument that measures level of support for the death penalty and is inclusive of the rationales that both proponents and opponents use to justify their stance. Support for a five-factor structure of the RATDP was found in an …

An Evaluation Of The Acceptability And Effects Of A Computer-Delivered Values-Based Behavioral Activation Treatment For Depression Among Older Adults, Kellie Reynolds

Dissertations

Depression is a common psychological disorder among older adults and is associated with serious secondary effects to health and social well-being. Behavioral activation has been found to be an efficacious treatment for depression. However, there is limited research on the treatment effects of behavioral activation with older adults. In general, older adults under-utilize mental health treatments. Computer-delivered treatments have been developed to address access and under-utilization. The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the acceptability and effects of a computer-delivered values-based behavioral activation treatment for depression in older adults. This study consisted of two phases. Phase I consisted of …

The Relationship Of Communication Styles Of Millennial Employees With The Communication Satisfaction And Perceptions Of Communicator Competence Of Their Supervisors, Edward R. De La Torre

Dissertations

Each generation in the workplace shares characteristics that distinguish them from the generations before them. These differences in personality, behavior, and attitudes can result in intergenerational conflict, and these dynamics were identified by researchers when describing the interaction between young Millennial workers and their supervisors of the older generations. However, research did not explicitly test if these differences extend to the different communication styles that people exhibited in their verbal interactions. One such communication style paradigm, the Mok’s Communication Styles Survey (MCSS), describes the actual communication style of an individual, and was used to see if Millennials communicated differently than …