Psychology Commons^™

Attitudinal And Perceptual Differences Between Experienced And Novice National Park Users, Rebecca Lynne Van Cleave

Doctoral Dissertations

One of the primary goals of the National Park Service is to protect the natural environments of its parks. At the same time the Park Service must provide quality experiences for its visitors. At times these two goals may seem mutually exclusive. For the Park Service to maintain a balance between protection and use management must possess a thorough understanding of the visitors to the parks. The present research sought to extend this understanding.

The goals of this research were: to explore differences in attitudes towards and perceptions of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) by different user groups; to …

"The Road Not Taken": A Phenomenological Investigation Of The Experience Of Regret, Daniel Matthew Gordon

Doctoral Dissertations

The Purpose of this study was to investigate the human experience of regret in order to discover and describe the essential nature of the experience. A phenomenological approach was taken, employing a dialogical interview method. Twelve participants volunteered for an unstructured, open-ended interview in which they were asked to describe their personal experiences of regret.

Analysis of the interview transcripts by thematizing significant statements revealed three essential themes of the experience of regret. The experience of regret is comprised of opportunities/consequences, blaming oneself, and looking back/looking forward.

Opportunities consist of an awareness of a choice, feelings of uncertainty, and a …

Crying Women: An Investigation Of The Lived Experience Of Women With And Without Cancer, Jean W. Hunt

Doctoral Dissertations

This study attempts a more holistic perspective on cancer and the emotions than previous research which has tended to focus on either biological, psychological or social aspects individually. Crying was chosen as an aspect of human existence which simultaneously implicates biological, psychological and social aspects of being human. Over a 30-day period, frequency and intensity of crying behavior was tracked in a group of 27 women with cancer and 22 women without. Women in this study ranged from 20 to 69 years of age. Among women with cancer, fifteen were participants in therapist facilitated psychosocial support groups and eleven were …

A Qualitative Study Of First-Person Accounts Of Living With A Stutter, Peter James Columbus

Doctoral Dissertations

Eight males and four females who stutter were interviewed regarding their everyday life experiences with stuttering. The interviews were analyzed using a qualitative, intuitive/inductive method. Results revealed four major experimental themes: The Burden of Stuttering, Living with Difference, Living with Constraints, and Negotiating Life. The Burden of Stuttering theme refers to the participant's experience of the effort involved in discoordinated speech, contending with interactional order between self and other, effectively communicating spoken messages, and their uncertainty about the occurrence of stuttering and listener reactions to it. Living with Difference refers to experiences of dissimilarity between self and fluent speaking others; …