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Examining The Measurement Invariance Of The Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory Among Hispanic And Non-Hispanic White College Women, Christina Nicole Gillezeau

Psychology ETDs

I examined whether the Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R) was invariant between Hispanic/Latina and Non-Hispanic White (NHW) undergraduate women. I performed confirmatory factor analysis to assess model fit and used increasingly restrictive models to test invariance. I included 208 Hispanic/Latina women and 190 NHW women. The CFI and RMSEA model fit statistics (CFI=0.98, RMSEA=0.06 (90% confidence interval=0.04-0.08, p-value=0.16) showed that the model fit well. I constrained factor loadings to be equal in both groups to test metric invariance. I observed non-significant differences in model fit (deltaX² (9)=88.67, p>0.95, deltaCFI=0.003, deltaRMSEA=-0.011). I also constrained intercepts to be equal to …

Effects Of Childhood Health And Adversity On Women’S Estrous And Extended Sexuality In Romantic Relationships, Tran Dinh

Psychology ETDs

Variations in childhood conditions may favor different strategies of investment in pair-bonds and reproduction. The current study followed 213 romantically-involved women up to four times across the ovulatory cycle. Analyses find that childhood health and adversity moderate hormone-dependent changes in women’s sexual interests, oxytocin responses, and mate preferences. In light of proposed paternity assurance functions of extended (non-conceptive) sexuality, results suggest women with poorer, compared to better, childhood conditions prioritize bond formation but invest less in maintaining or bolstering partner investment. The estrous (conceptive) sexuality of women with poor childhood health may reflect greater investments in current reproduction, even when …

Parents’ Perceptions Of The Philly Goat Project’S All Abilities Ramble: A Qualitative Study Of Animal-Assisted Intervention For Intellectual And Developmental Disorders, Patricia Flaherty-Fischette, Jenée Lee, Yvonne D'Uva-Howard, Elizabeth P. Cramer, Karen Krivit, Sarah Meehan

Developmental Disabilities Network Journal

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are a growing population. Considering the wide diversity in IDD and the financial burden of traditional treatment modalities, Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) has emerged as an innovative and non-traditional treatment for individuals with a range of disabilities, including individuals with IDD. To the authors’ knowledge, the present study was one of the first to explore a goat-assisted therapy experience for children with IDD. This study explored the experiences of 23 children with the All Abilities RAMble – a goat-assisted therapeutic activity offered by the Philly Goat Project (PGP). Key themes in our study included …

Narrating & Living With Loss: Towards An Ethnography Of Grief, Fayrouz Ibrahim

Theses and Dissertations

Through this paper, I seek to approach grief through how it is lived, the nexus between loss, and the sought-for physical abstractions through memory, objects, and materials to live with/despite such a loss. This paper is a phenomenological and ethnographic research project on the curatory rituals and practices that individuals employ in keeping lost loved ones alive in their everyday. I explore grief through a multidisciplinary and multimodal conceptualization rather than simply through cultural and social practices such as burial and mortuary rituals. The research follows the grief narratives of different individuals in Egypt in inquiring about the objects, memories, …

Tattoos And Trauma: Are Tattoos Healing For Trauma?, Krystal Bell

University Honors Theses

Prior research and literature reviews suggest that there is medicinal value in tattooing for the healing of trauma. However, tattooing is still a burgeoning topic in academic studies and still mostly taboo as a western societal practice, so there are gaps in qualitative and quantitative data that could further validate the healing benefits of tattoos for trauma. This literature review analyzed 30 peer reviewed articles that focus on "contemporary tattoo data," "indigenous traditions and practices," "tattoos and trauma," and other alternative healing such as "MDMA, psilocybin, EMDR" to establish a well-rounded investigation into tattoos as an alternative healing option. The …

Choosing To Come Back: Second-Generation Egyptians Returning As Social Change Agents, Hajar Khalil

Theses and Dissertations

Research has found that upon visiting their parents’ homeland, second-generation immigrants were able to gain a better understanding of where they came from, allowing them to reflect upon their own lives in respect to their family history (Marschall, 2017). Some researchers call this journey the ‘self-awakening’ or ‘searching-self’ journey (Christou, 2003). The aim of this research is to understand the process of second-generation Egyptians return journey to their parent(s)’ homeland in order to create social change. The two main questions posed are: 1) How do second-generation Egyptians construct their narrative identity, and 2) How do they conceptualize themselves as social …

Initial Understanding Of Public Stigma Against Childhood Cancer Survivors, Nele Loecher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As childhood cancer survival rates climb to new records, it is increasingly important to focus on improving the psychological wellbeing of survivors living years beyond their diagnosis. One potential contributor to psychological distress for childhood cancer survivors (CCSs) is stigma. The fear of stigma can lead to CCSs concealing their identity as a CCS, which in turn can strain workplace and intimate relationships, creating a strain on CCSs’ social and work life. Additionally, the internalization of negative stereotypes or rejection of falsely positive stereotypes around cancer can exacerbate psychological distress. To establish what stereotypes and stigma CCS might be contending …

Intuitive Pathways Into Racist Beliefs, Mehr Latif, Pete Simi, Kathleen Blee, Matthew Demichele

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

In this article, we present empirical evidence on the cognitive processes underlying racist beliefs and judgement. We draw on 47 life history interviews with former members of White supremacist groups to better understand how social interactions and stimuli from the wider environment inform cognitive pathways or how people think. While we examine both deliberate and intuitive pathways to racist belief, we focus on the intuitive ways that extreme racist beliefs are cognitively processed before, during and after an individual is involved in the White supremacist movement. In doing so, we fill a critical gap in the literature by providing an …

Do Moral Foundations Predict Views On Morally Contested Issues?, Mackenzie Maria Moreno

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The following research utilized Moral Foundations Theory to evaluate individuals on the five moral foundations (harm/care, fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, authority/subversion, sanctity/degradation) and liberalism-conservatism as predictors for views on morally controversial topics. According to a 2021 Gallup poll, some of the most morally contested issues were abortion, doctor-assisted suicide, and changing one’s gender. This study sourced participants from LinkedIn and then Sona (DePaul University’s undergraduate subject pool) using a blended phasing plan to ensure a politically diverse sample (N =213). This research replicated findings from Graham et al. (2009) that liberals and conservatives operate from different moral foundations. This study also extended …

An Exploration Of Affective, Physiological, And Environmental Stress Among Adolescents With Chronic Medical Conditions, Brittany Lynn Ricart

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Youth with chronic medical conditions (CMC) may be at-risk for increased stressors. For adolescents with CMC, maladaptive stress responsivity could lead to worse psychological and physiological effects from the stressors themselves. The current study aimed to understand the relation between affective and physiological responses to stress, environmental context, and longer-term health outcomes in youth with and without CMC. A sample of 141 adolescents, 73 with CMC and 68 without CMC, were randomly matched on age and gender. Participants completed self-report questionnaires at two time points, 6 months apart. Cortisol samples were collected during different timepoints of the Trier Social Stress …

Playful Mouth-To-Mouth Interactions Of Belugas (Delphinapterus Leucas) In Managed Care, Jackson R. Ham, Malin K. Lilley, Riley J. Winchenski, Jesus Miranda, Ángel G. Velarde Dediós, Katie Kolodziej, Sergio M. Pellis, Heather M. Manitzas Hill

All Faculty Scholarship (Archived)

Belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) engage in many forms of play (e.g., object, water, locomotor), but no play is quite as curious as the unusual form of cooperative social play involving mouth-to-mouth interactions. These playful interactions are characterized by two belugas approaching each other head-to-head and interlocking their jaws, clasping one another, as if they were shaking hands. Observed in belugas both in the wild and in managed care, it is seemingly an important type of social play that offers a unique way of socializing with conspecifics. To describe this unusual behavior, a group of belugas in managed care was …

Humanity In Trauma, Alyssa K. Thompson

University Honors Theses

The main objective of the literature review is to use the trauma-informed care paradigm to argue that the current implementation of trauma-informed care reinforces hierarchies of harm, leading to feelings of moral obligation and moral injury while perpetuating othering. This literature review criticizes trauma-informed care, emphasizing lived experiences against the characteristics trauma-informed care aspires to reflect. The review centers on the broad themes of understanding, universality, and acceptance of the present trauma-informed care paradigm. The critique comes from the silently excluded group of healthcare workers, with a personal perspective from a professional who worked in an urban hospital emergency department …

Beyond Burial - Transforming Death: A New Ritual Of Farewell And The Ecological Return Of The Body To Nature, Chang Xie

Masters Theses

Burial and funeral culture have been shaped by human self-awareness and reflect an anthropocentric worldview. The modern funeral industry's multi-billion-dollar enterprise is based on the principle of protecting, sanitizing, and beautifying the corpse to promote the idea of human exceptionalism. However, this practice overlooks the natural process of decay and the potential beauty in returning the body to the earth, with which the body shares the same chemical basis as the earth itself. Modern science has provided Eco-friendly green burial methods, such as soil modification, ice burial, and water burial, making it suitable to contribute to natural ecology using human …

City As Cemetery, Siqiao Zhao

Masters Theses

The traditional funeral service industry has enormous environmental and financial costs. In contrast, green burial, and Natural Organic Reduction (NOR), accelerate the human body’s degradation and reduce toxic substances in the land, assuming responsibility for our burden on the earth. They provide a gateway between us and the processes of nature and ask us to set aside self-consciousness to accept our oneness with the universe. By gifting our bodies back to the earth, where decomposition enriches soils and nurtures the growth of other life forms, we honor those who have transitioned to another state by continuing the cycle of renewal. …

Pressures To Comply Or Defy: How Social Values Influence Perceptions Of Healthcare Workers As Villains, James K. Beggan, Scott T. Allison

Heroism Science

During the Covid-19 pandemic, politicians, the media, and the public labeled frontline workers as heroes. The goal of this article is to examine how certain aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic—such as the nature of the Covid-19 virus, coupled with insufficient governmental and institutional responses—created a situation where it became possible for people to characterize healthcare workers as villains. This approach to medical professionals is rather novel in heroism studies and social sciences. A qualitative review of available data sources provided evidence that frontline healthcare workers were perceived negatively. Experiencing a lack of cooperation from patients and their families, healthcare personnel …

Pathways To Offending: Domestic Sex Trafficking, Julie Williams

Dissertations

Multidisciplinary professionals across criminal justice, public policy, education, and health and

human services have all attempted to understand the complex phenomenon of sex trafficking to assist victims, correct offenders, and prevent future abuse. However, current research has struggled to agree on terms, definitions of terms, best measures of prevalence, and recommendations to address sex trafficking in the United States. This review of current literature aims to offer a synthesized framework to conceptualize domestic sex trafficking perpetrator behaviors (what they do), their uses of force, fraud, and coercion (how they do it), and their motivations and justifications/rationalizations for those behaviors (why …

The Politics Of Expertise And The Articulation Of Authority In Democracy: Cognitive Style And Intelligibility In The Education Of Problem-Solving And Professional Decision-Making In The Domain Of Law, Michael W. Raphael

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Computational complexity refers to the representational aspect of problem-solving. This representational aspect is commonly understood to describe the regularities that organize the definition of the problem-situation, the qualities that designate its difficulty, either in terms of the process of arriving at a definition of the problem or in the process of arriving at a solution. It is for this reason, that it is commonly said that “representational design precedes computational efficacy.” The point of this maxim is to serve as a reminder that an efficient use of resources begins with the design of near decomposability, the specification of the properties …

Dirt, Ground And Groundedness: Material Semiotics And Social Anchors Of The Real And Truth In The Modernist Imaginary

The International Journal of Ecopsychology (IJE)

What makes the ground (earth, dirt, soil) the axial point of reference for modern subjectivity? In this paper, I explore the semiotics of the ground and the complex ways modern subjectivity sets a performative frame around association/disassociation with dirt. From the hygiene hypothesis and the problematic of modern existence and the lack of understanding of the good of dirt for the immune system to the ontology of being real in grounded theory, how we posit our connection to the ground can inform us of the way that we seek to anchor our place in the world. In this anchoring to …

Mapping The Conceptualization Of Gender In Gambling Literature, Abu Saleh Mohammad Sowad

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

This study maps the existing conceptualization of gender in peer-reviewed gambling scholarship to locate areas of future inquiry for a comprehensive understanding of the relationship between gender and gambling. In this study, we located the literature relevant to the conceptualization of gender in gambling published between 2000-2020 by searching eight academic databases using Boolean operators and various key search terms, yielding 31,533 results. After a thorough screening based on inclusion/exclusion criteria and excluding duplicates, we located 2,532 journal publications that addressed gender and gambling. Among them, 53.4% used gender as a descriptive demographic variable, 44.3% explored the comparative analysis between …

Property, Psyche, And The Theory Of Tenancy: Independent And Interdependent Lease Law Covenants Through The Lens Of Cultural Psychology, Hanjo Hamann

Texas A&M Journal of Property Law

Is it property or contract? This question has perplexed scholars studying the residential lease for most of the last century. The present contribution combines the complementary perspectives of legal history and cultural psychology to clarify our theory of tenancy. From a historical perspective, I find that the oscillation of tenancy between competing doctrinal paradigms has resulted in a compromise solution rather than a coherent theory. While piecemeal reforms in the 1970s revised the doctrine of independent covenants, they did not provide a theoretical justification for increasing interdependence. From a psychological perspective, I suggest that such a theoretical justification may come …

The Benefits Of Art Therapy On Stress And Anxiety Of Oncology Patients During Treatment, Helen Shiepe

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Within the last ten years research on art therapy and its positive impact on oncology patients’ stress and anxiety during treatment has been minimal. Oncology patients whether they are children or adults when diagnosed experience similar reactions due to their diagnosis, treatment, and in some cases end of life care. The current question is whether or not art therapy does have a positive impact on decreasing the stress and anxiety with oncology patients while undergoing treatment. Deane, Fitch & Carmen (2000), discussed art therapy as a healing art that is “intended to integrate physical, emotional, and spiritual care by facilitating …

Dance/Movement Therapy Used As An Intervention To Heal Racial Trauma Within The Black Community: A Literature Review, Jennifer Noboise

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The history of dance within the black community has served an important role while living through a racist and discriminatory society. Dance has been used to express anger, grief, and joy during hardships and moments of rejoicing from the black experience. African American people have endured years of trauma and abuse from oppressive systems. Research has been conducted to demonstrate that dance/movement therapy has been effective in treating those who have experienced a form of trauma since the trauma is stored in the body. Examining trauma symptoms such as anxiety, depression, and substance use, the research found these symptoms diminished …

Using Drama Therapy To Foster Peer Support Among Nurse Leaders, Chyela Rowe

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

This study explored the use of drama therapy to support the social-emotional experiences of nurse leaders at a mid-sized regional hospital system in the Southeastern United States. Nurse leaders have experienced profound changes to their work environments in recent years and burnout has been at an all-time high among healthcare workers globally. Organizational supports for nurses and nurse leaders are both inadequate to meet the needs and under-resourced. The research questions explored 1) whether the drama therapy peer support initiative improved outcomes and 2) whether there was a significant relationship between measures, and 3) what nurse leaders described as facilitators …

Understanding The Drivers Of Meat Consumption In Norway: An Exploration Of Environmental And Sociocultural Factors, Paul Wilhite

Master's Theses

This thesis focuses on meat consumption in Norway and issues needed to be addressed if it is to be reduced. This thesis aims to explore the sociocultural and environmental factors influencing meat consumption in Norway, a country known for its high per capita consumption of meat. By examining the historical, cultural, and economic contexts of meat consumption in Norway as well as the environmental impacts and ethical considerations associated with meat production and consumption, this thesis seeks to provide a nuanced understanding of the drivers of meat consumption in Norway. Following a brief outline of how these issues are to …

Transgender And Gender Diverse Clients’ Experiences In Therapy: Responses To Sociopolitical Events And Helpful And Unhelpful Experiences, Jae A. Puckett, Devon Kimball, W. Kalei Glozier, Megan Wertz, Terra Dunn, Brenna R. Lash, Allura L. Ralston, Natalie R. Holt, T. Zachary Huit, Sage Volk, Debra A. Hope, Richard Mocarski, L. Zachary Dubois

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

We examined transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people’s reports of their therapy experiences over the course of a year. We explored how participants’ therapists integrated discussions about current events, as well as their more general perspectives on helpful and unhelpful experiences. A total of 107 participants provided data on these questions at least once over 12 months of surveys (M age = 33.79; 70.1% White), reflecting on their current therapy experiences. Through thematic analysis of qualitative data, the following themes were constructed regarding discussing sociopolitical events: (a) facilitating coping via bearing witness to clients’ internal experiences and implementing other therapeutic …

Intricacies Of Agency: Rational Choice, Behavioral Economics, And Our Normative Commitments, Max Hendrix

Fenwick Scholar Program

This project undertakes a philosophical analysis of the intricacies of agency found in rational choice theory - the mainstream economic theory that agents are fundamentally rational and utilize their rationality to identify and pursue their self-interest. Recent experimental evidence within and outside of economics has cast doubt on the psychological accuracy and predictive prowess of the theory, laying the foundation to discuss the strengths and limitations of the theory as well as the impacts that this paradigm of agency has on our society today. I argue that rational choice theory struggles as a holistic conception of agency both from an …

Eco-Interoception: What Plants, Fungi And Protista Have Taught My Body, Sara Riley Dotterer

Art Theses and Dissertations

To me, ecology is the relational, full-body awareness that I am made up of and deeply connected to everything around me; and for better or worse, this is reciprocal. I form ecotones, an ecological transitional zone between two ecosystems, with the world around me. I use this ecotonal lens to blur binaries and dissolve boundaries between me and the world “outside my body.” During my Masters of Fine Arts at Southern Methodist University, I have continuously explored and represented the lives of various more-than-human species outside of my body, including plants, fungi and protista through an ecotonal lens. Although these …

Prescription Drug Misuse Among Graduate Students: Prevalence And Links To Mental Health And Academic Burnout, Madison De Gruiter

Honors Theses

The aims of this study are to examine the prevalence of prescription drug misuse (PDM) among doctoral students and assess associations between PDM and anxiety and burnout in this population. Additional analyses analyzed differential associations by doctoral degree type (i.e., research versus professional programs). A sample of doctoral students (n=131) affiliated with the University of Mississippi participated in an anonymous survey to assess research aims.

Feathered Friends: The Positive Effects Of Owning A Companion Bird, Nicole Lea

Psychology | Student Research Posters

Loneliness is an epidemic whose full impact is only recently receiving the attention it urgently demands. While many solutions are suggested, a time-tested remedy is a companion animal. People report as deep a connection with a companion animal as with the humans in their lives due to the pet’s unconditional love and consistency. While much research has been dedicated to studying companion animal-human bonds with emphasis on dogs and cats, little has been conducted on the less popular household pet, the companion bird, even though bird owners report that their pets show just as much unconditional love and affection as …

Fiber Art Circles, Belonging, And Mental Health In The Queer Community: A Community Arts Based Project, Sage Hess

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This thesis explores the role of community and chosen family for queer belonging. The queer community is in a mental health crisis, with substance abuse, high suicide rates, anxiety, depression, personality disorders, and complex post-traumatic stress disorders being pervasive in the community. Current therapeutic services and medical services often enact more harm than good and that mutual aid and chosen family has been a cornerstone to support chronic illnesses. To better understand these complexities, a community arts project was held to explore how it might support these theories. This research was facilitated at a local queer owned Boston fiber shop. …