Digital Commons Network^™

How Environmentalists And Skeptics Can Discover The Same Goals: Making Eco-Friendly More People-Friendly, Caroline Craig

Honors College Theses

Oftentimes, environmental activists treat and pose issues with a sense of emergency. Unfortunately, to a population who does not feel it has the energy to care, such panic has a negative effect. Worse still is when people do not agree that there is a problem. The difference in risk perception greatly divides environmentalists from regular Americans. On the one hand, it is crucial for environmentalists to continue changing the political and economic paradigms. However, policy-making and the development of solutions become greater hurdles when there is a lack of support from the general public. The very nature of environmental problems …

Expatriate Success: Cultural Intelligence And Personality As Predictors For Cross-Cultural Adjustment, Elizabeth Hallaine Evans

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Businesses are more marketable if they have a global presence. However, with global expansion comes a need to communicate with organizations having diverse cultural backgrounds. This causes issues when selecting expatriates for the job. Expatriates possessing particular characteristics may adjust better than others. Research supports both cultural intelligence (CQ) and personality as valid predictors of cross-cultural adjustment, but do those higher in CQ adapt better than those with culturally compatible personality factors? I hypothesized that cultural intelligence (CQ) accounts for more incremental validity of crosscultural adjustment than personality alone. The sample of approximately 111 foreign expatriates working in various countries …

Agency And Emotion In Interactions With Technological Representatives Of Organizations, Daniel Burton Shank

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Technology often displaces humans in organizations as a representative to customers. How does the use of computer technology instead of humans to represent an organization change customers’ feelings and behavior toward that organization? Drawing on attribution theory and the affect theory of social exchange, I argue that the customers’ perception of agency of the computer or human representative is the primary mechanism through which customers respond differently. I theorize that agency not only mediates the computer-to-emotion and computer-to-patronage relations but also alters whether the organization or its representative is the primary target of the emotions and patronage. My central argument …

They Were Framed! The Development And Validation Of Context-Specific Measures Of Individual Culture, Amber Schroeder

All Dissertations

Early personality research often described behavior in terms of individual dispositions or stable behavioral tendencies (Allport, 1937; Cattell, 1957; Guilford, 1959), thus taking a context-independent view of personality. However, a recent review of thousands of empirical studies illustrated that even seemingly superficial changes to contextual variables can have a large impact on study results (Richard, Bond, & Stokes-Zoota, 2003). Yet, the use of non-contextualized measures of individual culture still remains the norm in cross-cultural research. Thus, utilizing a sample of more than 1,000 participants across two studies, work and nonwork measures of two cultural variables (i.e., individualism and collectivism) were …

Neighborhood Disadvantage And Perceptions Of Neighborhood As Predictors Of Aggression In Urban African American Youth: A Multilevel Analysis, Edna Y. Romero

Theses (1 year embargo)

The link between aggression and criminal activity in urban, low-income African American neighborhoods has resulted in many studies examining the predictive role of individual and neighborhood characteristics in the development of aggressive behaviors. Factors such as neighborhood violence, poverty, perceptions of neighborhood danger have consistently been linked to poor behavioral outcomes in urban youth (Colder, Mott, Levy, & Flay, 2000; Sampson, Raudenbush, & Earls, 1997), whereas perceptions of neighborhood cohesion have been associated with reduced externalizing behavior in children (Silk, Sessa, Sheffield Morris, Steinberg, & Avenevoli, 2004). The purpose of this paper was to examine, through the use of multilevel …

Nobody Studies Groups Anymore, Donelson R. Forsyth

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was asked about the level of gang activity in his city, he explained “I’m not a sociologist or an anthropologist, so I can’t share with you the root causes of gang violence that you see in urban areas” (Sims, 2007). He did not include “social psychologist” on his list of experts on gangs, because social psychologists don’t study gangs—in fact, social psychologists don’t even study groups anymore. That is why Lee Ross, Mark Lepper, and Andrew Ward (2010), in their chapter on history in the Handbook of Social Psychology concluded that (a) the study …

Hoodie Today, Gown Tomorrow: An Ideological Rhetorical Analysis Of Gender-Neutral Clothing, Meridith Irene Styer

Masters Theses

The fields of psychology and sociology have long understood the importance of clothing in self-formation, this study extrapolates this social-science understanding into the realm of rhetorical analysis. This study looks at gender-neutral clothing and its role in meaning making and self identification for women. With a rhetorical basis from Richards and Ogden, this research uses the feminist works of Brummett and Butler to uncover both the positive and negatives effects of gender-neutral clothing on a woman's self-identification and perceptions. Through the presentation of a diffuse narrative and evaluation of the same, gender-neutral clothing is read and decoded for meaning. This …

An Investigation Into The Relationship Between An Engineering Manager's Purpose-Seeking Beliefs And Behaviors And The Engineering Manager's Perception Of Employee Creativity, Initiative And Purpose-Seeking Behavior, Charles Burton Daniels

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Organizations have placed an overwhelming emphasis on extrinsic motivation of its workforce, normally in the form of financial incentives, in an attempt to assure individual and organizational high performance. While a significant level of financial resources is expended in this attempt to predict and influence employee behavior, no objective evidence exists of a favorable return of investment. In fact, the primary impact of most extrinsic motivation might actually be demotivation – the opposite of the intended use.

In this research the prevailing literature was examined and a conclusion about the power of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation was synthesized to …

Choice, Management, & Modification: Situational Context In Risky Choice, Nathaniel K. Decker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We sought to examine the potential differences between different types of risky decisions. While some decisions are easily represented as choices between future alternatives, other decisions may be better represented as the management of a personally owned situation. Schneider (2003) created the risk management task, which manifested these situated improvement decisions, and identified a unique pattern of risk preferences when compared to the standard gambling paradigm. To determine what cognitive processes might be differentially activated for each type of decisions so as to yield these risk preference differences, we incrementally manipulated the gambling paradigm to parse potentially influential elements of …

Handling Language: The Gestures Of Future Foreign Language Teachers, Gale Stam, Marion Tellier, Brigitte Bigi

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

42th Annual Wku Student Research Conference, Student Research Council, Western Kentucky University

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

No abstract provided.

Predicting Filipino Mothers' And Fathers' Reported Use Of Corporal Punishment From Education, Authoritarian Attitudes, And Endorsement Of Corporal Punishment, Rosanne M. Jocson, Liane Peña Alampay, Jennifer E. Lansford

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

The relations of education, authoritarian childrearing attitudes, and endorsement of corporal punishment to Filipino parents' reported use of corporal punishment were examined using two waves of data. Structured interviews using self-report questionnaires were conducted with 117 mothers and 98 fathers from 120 families when their children were 8 years old, and when their children were 9 years old. Path analyses showed that, among mothers, higher education predicted lower authoritarian attitudes, which in turn predicted lower reports of corporal punishment use. Among fathers, higher education predicted lower endorsement of corporal punishment, which in turn predicted lower reports of its use. Results …

Tool Use In Fishes, Culum Brown

Sentience Collection

Tool use was once considered the sole domain of humans. Over the last 40 years, however, it has become apparent that tool use may be widespread across the animal kingdom. Pioneering studies in primates have shaped the way we think about tool use in animals, but have also lead to a bias both in terms of our expectations about which animals should be capable of using tools and the working definition of tool use. Here I briefly examine tool use in terrestrial animals and consider the constraints of the current working definition of tool use in fishes. Fishes lack grasping …

Consulting Cultural Informants: A Look At The Extent To Which Students Use Informants And Other Strategies To Learn From Their International Experiences, William Scott Leroy

Capstone Collection

This study explores the extent to which students from the United States consult with cultural informants while abroad when experiencing what Taylor (1994a, 1994b) refers to as “cultural disequilibrium”. The study also explores how this strategy compares to other learning strategies and which informants students most frequently consult.

Two research methods were used: a survey of 85 students who recently returned from an international program and interviews with nine students from the same sample. The survey sought to explore strategies students employ when facing cultural disequilibrium while the interviews aimed at uncovering why students preferred some learning strategies over others. …

Hiv/Aids Stigmatization Among Oromo Immigrant Congregations In The Twin Cities : A Call For Biblical And Theological Response, Fikru Andea Eticha

Master of Arts Theses

No abstract provided.

Chapter 8, Individuals, In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

The lives of 5 different Sikaiana individuals. I give a brief description of their lives and also my different relationships with them.

A related website is at www.sikaianaarchives.com

Is The Reincarnation Hypothesis Advanced By Stevenson For Spontaneous Past-Life Experiences Relevant For The Understanding Of The Ontology Of Past-Life Phenomena?, Sergei Slavoutski

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

A significant volume of scientific evidence, uncovered by reincarnation research in the last

50 years, supports the reincarnation hypothesis advanced by Ian Stevenson for spontaneous

past-life experiences (PLEs). However, at this time this evidence cannot provide an

unquestionable proof of the existence of past-life phenomena, nor can it assert that

reincarnation is not possible. This paper suggests that the reincarnation hypothesis, being

reasonably parsimonious and relatively exhaustive, may provide a plausible explanation for

spontaneous PLEs. Also, based on the probability of the same ontology of spontaneous and

hypnotic PLEs, it may be argued that this hypothesis might also be relevant …

Phenomenological Theories Of Crime, Peter K. Manning, Michael W. Raphael

Graduate Student Publications and Research

The distinctive aspect of phenomenological theories of crime is that they are based upon a stated epistemology: how things are known and a specific ontology—the nature of social reality. This specificity aligns itself with neo-Kantian concern with forms of knowing, interpretation, and meaning, as well as with 20th-century concern with perception, cognition, and the framing of events. While there are influences of phenomenological thinking on varieties of theorizing, such as symbolic interactionism, critical theory, queer theory, and gender-based theories of crime, these ideas are refractions and are inconsistent in their reference to and understanding of the foundational phenomenological works. A …

Sociology And Anthrozoology: Symbolic Interactionist Contributions, Leslie Irvine

Human and Animal Bonding Collection

This essay examines the sociological contributions to anthrozoology, focusing on research from the United States that employs a symbolic interactionist perspective. In particular, the work of Arluke and Sanders highlights the importance of understanding the meanings that animals hold for people. Using a selective review of their research, this essay outlines how a focus on understanding meaning can inform anthrozoological research. Arluke’s research on animal abuse reveals how harm must be defined in context. Sanders’s research on canine–human relationships documents how people come to understand companion dogs as persons. Both bodies of work rely on careful observation and listening to …

Trauma And Transformative Passage, Reed A. Morrison Private Practice

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The strategic introduction of stressors to intentionally produce targeted psychological states

has a long history among indigenous peoples. Rites of passage ceremonies commonly involve

subjecting individuals to controlled violence to attain desired transformative outcomes. In

this context, violence is held to be sacred and generative, ritually introducing distress in

the service of loosening orientation and preparing the individual for spiritual advancement

and the acquisition of a new identity. Traditional ritual initiation ceremonies are typically

tripartite and characterized by stages of Separation, Ordeal, and Return. This article suggests

that accounts of the experiences of initiates in Separation and Ordeal stages bear …

Introduction To Special Topic Section: Parapsychology, Sean Avila Saiter, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Mental Health And The Paranormal, Simon Dein

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

To date, there has been a dearth of work examining the relationships between paranormal

experiences and mental health. After defining paranormal experience and its prevalence,

I examine a number of areas related to paranormal experience and psychopathology: psi

and the unconscious, dissociation and fantasy proneness, schizotypy, transliminality and

reality monitoring, child abuse, reasoning and information processing, and transpersonal

psychology. Finally, I discuss the clinical implications of these findings.

Psychoactive Substances And Paranormal Phenomena: A Comprehensive Review, David Luke

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This paper investigates the relationship between psychoactive substances and so-called paranormal

phenomena falling within the study of parapsychology. It is primarily concerned with extrasensory

perception (ESP)—telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance—as well as out-of-body experiences

(OBEs) and near-death experiences (NDEs). Psychokinesis (PK), aura vision, encounter experiences,

and sleep paralysis only make a very limited contribution to this review as they are seldom related

to psychoactive drugs within the parapsychological literature. The paper borrows widely, but by no

means exhaustively, from parapsychology as well as transpersonal studies, anthropology, ethnobotany,

phytochemistry, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and neurobiology, particularly

neurochemistry. It is organized into neurochemical models …

Why Anthropology Of Childhood? A Short History Of An Emerging Discipline, David F. Lancy

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The paper has four goals: to refute the claim that anthropologists have not studied childhood; to provide a cursory history of the field; to provide an organizational schema for reviewing the literature in the field and; to suggest a strategy for future scholarship in the anthropology of childhood.

Unmasking Children's Agency, David F. Lancy

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

The goal of this paper is to identify (unmask) and critique the movement to promote children’s agency as a cornerstone of research, care, education and intervention with children. The article makes a case that this movement is harmful to a scientific approach to the study of childhood, distorts or ignores key understandings of the evolution of childhood and culture. The article demonstrates that the agency movement is ethnocentric, classist and hegemonic representing the dominance of contemporary bourgeoisie child-rearing. It imposes a single, privileged ethnotheory of childhood upon the diverse societies of the world with alternative ethnotheories and practices. Lastly, the …

Review Of Psychological Anthropology: A Reader On Self In Culture, Claudia Strauss

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Robert LeVine has not only conducted an important body of child development research and trained many students (of whom I was one). He has also written and edited several volumes that introduce students to psychological anthropology. His latest reader fills a real need: I am aware of no other collection of current work in psychological anthropology for undergraduates. Aside from a few quibbles and some annoying typesetting errors, Psychological Anthropology: A Reader on Self in Culture is a first-rate compilation that demonstrates the relevance and excitement of psychological anthropology.

An Investigation Of Cultural Competence In Teachers, Leslie Allison Evola

Wayne State University Dissertations

Using a set of scales to measure cultural competences which have been used in previous research, this study examined the relationships between Cultural Attitudes and Beliefs, Cultural Intelligence (CQ), and Ethnic Identity, as well as the Big Five personality traits and demographic variables, within a sample of 87 high school teachers. Cultural Attitudes and Beliefs predicted Metacognitive CQ, Cognitive CQ, Motivational CQ, and overall CQ above and beyond Openness. Teachers with ten years of experience or less were found to have higher CQ than teachers with more than ten years of experience, which may be attributed to age. Also, teachers …

College Course Curriculum And Global Citizenship, Stephen Reysen, Loretta W. Larey, Iva Katzarska-Miller

Faculty Publications

This article examines the influence of participation in a college course infused with global citizen-related curriculum on antecedents, identification, and outcomes of global citizenship. Students completed measures regarding global citizenship at the beginning and end of a college semester. Global-infused curriculum was operationalised as the number of words related to global citizenship contained in course syllabi. While controlling for student ratings at the beginning of the semester and measurement error, global infused curriculum predicted students’ global awareness at the end of the semester. Global awareness predicted students’ identification with global citizens, and global citizenship identification predicted endorsement of prosocial values. …

Teacher Support As A Moderator Of Behavioral Outcomes For Youth Exposed To Stressful Life Events, Rebekah S. Huber, Sarah K. Sifers, Daniel Houlihan, Rachel Youngblom

Psychology Department Publications

The present study examined the relationship between teacher support, life stress, and behavioral outcomes in 103 youth. Participants completed questionnaires regarding life events, social support, personality, and behavior. Moderated regression analyses were conducted using youth perceptions of teacher support and negative life events to predict externalizing and internalizing problems. Results revealed a significant interaction between teacher support and life stress, indicating teacher support successfully moderated the effect of stress on externalizing problems. Main effects for life stress were consistent with previous literature suggesting that higher amounts of stress predict greater externalizing and internalizing problems. Implications for teacher support are discussed.

An Exploratory Evaluation Of A Culturally Specific Model Of Psychological Well-Being For An African American Population, Kyle J. Telander

Dissertations

Research related to eudaimonic or psychological well-being (PWB) has relied heavily upon the Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB), a rationally developed multidimensional measure intended to assess the extent to which individuals are achieving their optimal potential over the lifespan. However, questions remain regarding the proposed dimensional structure of the SPWB, as well as the extent to which the measure is situated within a specific, Eurocentric cultural context. This study sought to explore the factor structure of the 42-item version of the SPWB when combined with items measuring constructs relevant to African Americans, including communalism, spirituality/religiosity, and critical consciousness. Utilizing a …