Digital Commons Network^™

From Idea To Action: Defining And Measuring Voice Implementation, Ann E. Schlotzhauer, Mark G. Ehrhart

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Despite increasing interest in the topic, research on managerial responses to voice is underdeveloped. In this article, we differentiate voice implementation from voice appreciation to add much-needed nuance to our understanding of how voice targets respond to voice behavior. We define voice implementation as the extent to which a voice target undertakes voluntary effort with the goal of enacting a suggestion from a voicer, including attempting to put a suggestion into action and/or advocating for the idea to those with the power to enact the suggestion. A 5-item scale based on this definition demonstrated strong content validity, construct validity, and …

Thriving In The Age Of Ai: Navigating Ai Identity Threat Through Ai Job Crafting, Yuming He

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like GenAI tools increasingly reshape the workplace, employees increasingly face threats to their work identity. Grounded in the identity threat response model and job crafting theory, this study investigates how AI identity threat influences employee AI job crafting behaviors and how these behaviors, in turn, affect vitality and learning. Using survey data from 521 full-time employees who actively engage with AI tools, the results indicate that AI identity threat stimulates both AI approach job crafting and AI avoidance job crafting. AI approach crafting enhances both vitality and learning, while AI avoidance crafting only supports vitality. …

Navigating Emotional Transitions: A Study Of Self-Perception And Emotion In Bio-Childfree Women Entering A Blended Family, Janine Cednick

Dissertations

The transition to a blended family is an emotional and psychological adjustment for bio-childfree individuals. The present qualitative study investigated how self-concept and emotional adjustment of bio-childfree stepmothers change when they become members of their new family. With a phenomenological approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 female participants who were bio-childfree, in a committed relationship with a partner with children, and had cohabited for one year or more. The study aimed to find out how these women cope in their new role, their emotional adjustment to their transition, and the influences that impact their well-being. Thematic analysis of interviews …

Seen And Heard: A Visual Testimony Of Purity Culture Using Qualitative Photovoice Methodology, Amanda Brown

Dissertations

Purity culture, rooted in Christian teachings, has profoundly shaped individuals’ identities, relationships, and perceptions of sexuality, gender, and faith. While popular culture is talking about the effects of purity culture, scholarly literature is lacking. This study employed photovoice methodology to center the voices of those who grew up in purity culture, using photography and personal narratives to explore its long-term effects. The study focused on how individuals who have experienced purity culture articulate and visualize their stories, revealing nuanced insights across seven thematic domains: gender expectations, romantic relationships, faith, mental health, identity formation, sex and sexuality, and healing and …

Culturally Responsive Intimate Partner Violence (Ipv) Service Needs Among African Immigrant Women: Examining The Impact Of Cultural Norms And Psychosocial Barriers On Safety Perceptions And Help-Seeking Behaviors, Titilayo Ogunbambi

Dissertations

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) remains a pervasive public health and social justice issue globally, with African immigrant women in the United States facing compounded challenges as they navigate cultural, structural, and systemic barriers, including migration-related vulnerabilities and attachment to cultural values that shape their decisions and experiences. Although formal IPV services exist, they often fail to address the lived realities and culturally specific needs of this population, leading to underutilization and barriers in seeking help. This qualitative study examines how cultural norms, psychosocial barriers, and systemic inequities influence safety perceptions and help-seeking behaviors among African immigrant women survivors of IPV. …

Not Meant To Be Read: The Stories They Silence, The Resistance That Speaks, Cristina Onea

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I trace the evolution of surveillance from overt state violence to the more insidious forms of ideological policing embedded in everyday life. Through lived experience, oral history, and critical autoethnography, I explore how surveillance moves through bodies, families, institutions, and memory—not simply as external control, but as internalized rhythms of fear, vigilance, and self-surveillance. I move between my father's life under Romanian dictatorship, my own embodied inheritance, and the contemporary struggles of librarians facing ideological suppression to reveal surveillance as a structure that persists through generations, mutates across contexts, and demands new forms of resistance.

I argue …

Understanding Intergenerational Trauma Among Arab, Middle Eastern, And North African (Arab/Mena) Americans, Rawan H. Atari-Khan, Nuha Alshabani, S. Dolma Rabgay, Farida Refaat Elhedk, Ava Clifford, Sofia Gomariz, Warda Sahib

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Arab, Middle Eastern, and North African Americans experience various forms of racial–ethnic trauma in the United States, including historical and intergenerational trauma (IGT). The population has been migrating to the United States since the 1800s, and the number of migrants has risen in recent decades due to war, persecution, and family reunification. As a result, the children of these migrants may be exposed to IGT, with research suggesting that descendants of individuals who have experienced trauma are more susceptible to poor mental health outcomes. Using semistructured interviews, alongside the art of storytelling and empowerment through critical consciousness, this study investigated …

Understanding Parents’ Beliefs About The Etiology Of Youth Mental Health Problems: Differences Across Race/Ethnicity, Madeline Buchanan, Lindsay E. Holly

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Parents’ etiological explanations for youth mental health problems are relatively understudied; most studies focus on adult beliefs about the causes of mental disorders experienced by adults. This is concerning given research demonstrating that parents’ causal beliefs may influence several aspects of youth mental health service utilization including whether parents seek help for their youth and how they engage in treatment. The current study used a novel methodology to examine causal beliefs about youth mental health problems among a diverse group of parents (N = 417; 36.9% non-Hispanic White; 33.3% Black/African American; 29.8% Hispanic/Latino) who completed a series of questionnaires …

“Much Like Skydiving, I Would Really Rather Avoid It If I Can”: Asexual And Allosexual Adults’ Motives For Not Having Sexual Experiences, Alyssa N. Clark, Tracy L. Walters, Veronica Hanna-Walker

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Engaging in sex is a common practice, however, some adults may choose to not have sexual experiences for normative reasons. Asexual adults, in particular, may hold negative attitudes about sex and are less likely than allosexual adults to engage in sex. Less is known about whether adults’ motives to not have any sexual experiences differ based on sexual orientation. We use qualitative to explore asexual and allosexual adults’ intrinsic and extrinsic motives for not having sexual experiences. From a larger study, 129 adults with no sexual experiences (52.7% allosexual, Mage  = 22.0, 47.3% asexual, Mage  = 25.4; 61.2% …

Religiosity And Mental Distress In U.S. Healthcare Workers During Covid-19, Jasmine Logan

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

A major impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is the global increased rates of mental distress and decreased levels of resilience in healthcare workers. The development of quick, effective interventions for healthcare workers are all the more needed to maintain job performance and increase well-being. Associations between religion and health have been clearly established, and evidence suggests religious coping as an effective strategy for mental wellbeing. The current study investigated whether religious coping could predict levels of mental distress and resilience in a U.S. cohort of healthcare workers. The sample consisted of 137 healthcare workers from a large healthcare institution who …

Reality Now: Tobacco And Vaping Report, Tamara Van Der Zant, Terese Hooper, Katherine Dix, Toby Carslake

Wellbeing

This report presents findings from data collected through the Reality Now program, providing a long-term study exploring tobacco and vaping behaviours among Australian secondary school students. Conducted from 2018 to 2024, the program collected nearly 30,000 responses from students in Years 7 to 11. Using a social norms approach (SNA), the program aimed to identify and correct misperceptions about peer substance use and promote healthier behaviours. This report focuses on tobacco and vaping behaviours, whereas the broader program also examined the use of alcohol, cannabis, and MDMA. The findings show that while actual tobacco and vape use remain low, students …

Daily Creative Practice: A Path To Well-Being For Self + Society, Ellie Cashman

Masters Theses

Daily creative practice is a proven way to promote health and happiness, and to counteract what many are currently calling a global crisis in mental health.

There has perhaps never been a better time to be creative. Our collective healing and future human flourishing depend on it.

The author’s life and teaching experiences are explored, in the context of human history, (social) psychology and the challenges of contemporary culture.

Finally, the author offers a preview of a curriculum for Daily Creative Practice that will be further developed and implemented in Fall 2025, thanks to a grant from RISD’s Graduate Commons. …

Of Dolls And Jewels : Keeping As A Strategy Of Care And Belonging, Yuqi Fan

Masters Theses

In this thesis, I will discuss the psychology behind object attachment in the doll-keeping subculture by integrating doll language into contemporary jewelry. I researched the Chinese term “Pi” as an accurate way of explaining how doll-keepers are attached to their dolls. In this 21st century, the widespread use of social media and AI technologies have deepened people's reliance on virtual spaces, leading to emotional detachment in our society. Adopting the concept of “Pi” into contemporary jewelry, which encourages a shift in focus towards external objects, the practice of doll-keeping becomes a form of self-care that compensates for our current loneliness …

Transplant Transplant(Ed) Transplant(Ing), So Jung Yoon

Masters Theses

Boundaries shape our lives and identities. The tangible presence of boundaries becomes a medium for engaging with the world—such as who occupies a space and how, or what tools are deemed valid in a design process. These boundaries aren’t always visible; they’re embedded in systems, habits, and assumptions that shape how we move, create, and are recognized. They extend far beyond fixed geographies and the specific positions we occupy within them.

Transplanting is the process by which things are moved or move across boundaries in hopes of being planted, finding a place to stay. Though it can be a search …

From In To Out, Jaeyeon Shin

Masters Theses

In contemporary Korean society, where uniform ideals and social pressure often dominate, individuality—especially emotional individuality—can be difficult to maintain. This loss of personal agency has real consequences: mental and physical health challenges, including eating disorders, are on the rise.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 3 percent of the global population is affected by such disorders—roughly 1.55 million people in South Korea—despite the country having the lowest obesity rate among OECD nations. The increase, particularly among women in their teens to thirties, reflects the emotional toll of conforming to rigid societal standards.

Architecture is not merely a backdrop …

Chasing The Sacred: A Personal Archive, Yiko Yang

Masters Theses

The relationship between humans and nature is like that of a child to a mother, or consciousness to the unconscious. The former arises from the latter, which always holds and shapes it. As human consciousness evolves, the desire to return to the unconscious remains—we are always looking back, searching for that first glimpse of the world.

Thinking back to my childhood, certain fundamental images—archetypes—come to mind. Rooted in the research of Carl Jung and Erich Neumann, this concept also stems from my family’s cultural heritage and my deep, lasting connection with nature as a child. These archetypes reflect the natural …

Impact Of Social Motivation And Communication On Friendship And Loneliness In Autism, Rachael Roizer

Honors Scholar Theses

Friendships and loneliness are both major contributors to happiness and life satisfaction. This study probes group differences in friendship and loneliness in autism, and their links to social motivation and social communication skills. This study includes participants with autism (n = 28), loss of autism diagnosis (n = 29), and neurotypical developmental histories (n = 36). Participants completed an online survey including measures of social motivation, social communication, friendship, and loneliness. Findings indicated group differences in social communication, friendship, and loneliness, but not social motivation. There were significant associations between social motivation and friendship, social communication and …

Welcome To My Mind Palace: The Power Of Fantastical Thinking, Sadie Levine

Masters Theses

What follows is a record of my efforts to make the magic and horrors of my internal world tangible and shareable. The brain constructs hyper-specific fictional realities from childhood to adulthood, yet the scientific study of the mind often forgoes the subjective and the visual. I offer a complementary exploration of the mind - one that is highly visual and based on my own experiences, yet still contextualized in psychological research. Finding the magic in everyday life, and by extension, retreating into alternate realities, is a conscious choice I make, but I have not always had the option to choose. …

Piloting Trauma-Informed Workshops To Enhance Life Skills In Housing Transitions: Action Research, Negar Ghaderi

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This action research pilot project explores how trauma-informed, life skills workshops grounded in critical and creative thinking methods can support Housing First (HF) residents transitioning from homelessness to permanent housing. The study is based on the understanding that addressing homelessness requires more than housing provision—it demands attention to the cognitive and emotional impacts of trauma through co-created, resident-centered interventions. Using iterative cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting, the project engages a small, fluctuating group of 4–5 participants from a diverse community of 60 HF residents. The pilot program includes six workshops, one focus group discussion, and individual interviews over …

Sociology: Culture, Marcia Morrison

Open Educational Resources

This work examine culture. It begins by examining the foundations of culture to include norms, values, language, symbols and knowledge. In looking at each, it breaks down the implication of each to the development of ourselves as well as the person in the environment. It moves on to look at contexts of culture such as dominant cultures juxtapose to competing cultural systems, and how the various elements of culture can serve to either promote or minimize the various cultural constructs within society.

Navigating Crisis: A Qualitative Exploration Of Parents' Journeys With Suicidal Adolescents In Australian Emergency Departments, Demee Rheinberger, Lauren Mcgillivray, Fiona Shand, Sally Ann Pollard, Susanne Oliver Armstrong, Julia Lessing, Katherine Boydell

The Qualitative Report

Rates of emergency department (ED) presentations for suicide crisis (thoughts, feelings, plans and behaviours) in adolescents are increasing. Parents play a key role in supporting adolescents during and after the ED presentation, however little is known about parental experiences in the ED. Interviews with 20 parents from across Australia were undertaken to help understand this experience. A reflexive thematic analysis was conducted, resulting in three themes which explore the impact of the suicide crisis and ED presentation on the parents’ sense of identity. First, parents’ identity was threatened as they were faced with the juxtaposition between the role of protector …

A Teacher, A Tutor, A Friend: Chatgpt And The High School Experience, Saisha Gupta, Vivek Mehta, Rebecca Kam, Caroline Ehmann, Alma Orgad, Emily Kuang, Alejandro Castro Barrantes, Matthew Posada, Samay Shah, Nikhita Prasad, Tara Pai, Eileen Ho, Shirley Xi, Tianyi Zhou, Elaina Li, Stephanie Wan, Shreya Paranjape, Zoe Dearling, Siqi (Grace) Peng, Aanya Kaveti, Gwendolyn Lowrance, Angela Ziyi Xie, Mira Xu, Adhiti Hariram, Alexa Muse

The Qualitative Report

Given the increasing emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, high school students' perspectives on ChatGPT are underrepresented in current research literature. As high school student researchers in an English Language Arts course, we approached this gap in literature by asking the question: In what ways do pressures within high school communities influence students’ perspectives on justifying or rejecting the use of ChatGPT? We interviewed 24 secondary students and conducted a thematic and discourse analysis, coding the interviews through the lenses of social goods (Gee, 2014), Figured Worlds (Holland et al., 1998), and positioning theory (Holland et al., 1998; Ingram …

Mapping Our Tears: Risd Cry, Yimiao Wang

Masters Theses

RISD CRY is a participatory project empowering the RISD community to share their experiences of emotional vulnerability. The project includes physical sign-in forms in campus facilities, a Google Doc sign-in form, illustrations of participants’ comments, and an online campus map where individuals can mark where they have cried. This multi-format engagement fosters community connection, challenges the stigma surrounding emotional expression, and provides a platform for solidarity among individuals facing stress and burnout.

Beyond its tactical goals, RISD CRY also interrogates the cultural frameworks through which emotional struggle is perceived and processed. It critiques the institutional impulse to measure, diagnose, and …

The Red Thread: Objects As Medium, Hsin-Ning Alin Yang

Masters Theses

There are moments when people hesitate to speak their emotions or needs
—whether it’s love that feels too shy to articulate, needs that risk sounding too forceful, or feelings too vague to verbalize. By shifting the priority of emotion and communication factor ahead of pure functionality, this thesis posits that objects can serve as an alternative medium of communication.

This thesis begins by examining the root causes of communication difficulties and the coping strategies people use, ultimately identifying five situations in which objects can effectively substitute for verbal interaction. Building on these categories, the thesis explores how an object’s features, …

The Power Of Storytelling: Creatively Facilitating Conceptual Change In The Classroom, Mackenzie S. Rose, Marcus Johnson

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Conceptual knowledge encompasses understanding the interrelationships among multiple pieces of information. Misconceptions of these interrelationships illustrate the need for effective educational strategies to facilitate conceptual change, with the goal of facilitating changes in learner understanding to appropriate, accurate, and complete concepts. Strategies, such as refutation texts, have proven effective in addressing science misconceptions, yet there is a prominent gap in research on conceptual change in nonscience subjects and the use of storytelling to facilitate such change. Storytelling, presented in a range of educational subjects, invites learners to engage in social discourses and problem-solving exercises. Prompted by classroom storytelling practices, creativity, …

Avoidance Of Mental Health Utilization And Reporting Of Symptoms Among U.S. Air Force Active-Duty Service Members In Civilian-Equivalent Career Fields, Nadja Bright, Patricia Hopkins-Smith, Jesma Revering, Marcia Bennett, Jim Theisen

Theses and Graduate Projects

The high suicide rate among U.S. active-duty military personnel and veterans is a significant public health concern. Despite the high prevalence rate of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) among this population, service members are less likely to seek mental health services compared to the civilian population. Factors such as fear of career harm, stigma, and barriers to care contribute to this avoidance. This study aimed to investigate if service members in civilian-equivalent (non-combat) jobs are less likely to disclose psychological symptoms compared to those in combat-related career fields and to assess the impact of perceived importance …

Schwartz Values Of Active-Duty U.S. Soldiers: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of Refined Values, Kelcey Sihanourath

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. Army is currently facing recruitment challenges due to a decrease in the number of qualified youths. When recruitment is low, reducing attrition becomes even more critical to maintaining force readiness. Research indicates attrition patterns may be influenced by interactions between personal characteristics and the unique culture of each military branch. One characteristic is personal values; however, the most widely used personal values framework, Schwartz’s values theory, has not been validated for the U.S. Army population. This study aimed to address this gap by empirically assessing Schwartz’s values using a nonexperimental cross-sectional quantitative design, collecting data from 273 active-duty …

Phenomenological Study Of Gender, Self-Esteem, And Anxiety As Factors Influencing Older Adult Technology Use, Nadine Prosper

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An increasing number of individuals 65 years of age and older are in the U.S. workforce. Many older workers are hesitant to learn new technology and adapt to digital innovation that may, in the future, automate jobs and abolish more traditional forms of employment. Organizational leaders need to understand the factors influencing older workers’ attitudes and adoption of new technology for greater productivity. The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to examine how gender, self-esteem, and anxiety influence workplace technology utilization among older workers between 66 and 76 years of age in their jobs. The study was grounded …

Determinants Of Integration: Migration Difficulty, Mental Health, And Social Connections Among Eritrean Immigrants, Shewit Woldemichael

Master's Theses

This thesis explores how the experience of migration hardship affects integration outcomes of Eritrean migrants in the U.S. and the Netherlands. Using original survey data and the Immigration Policy Lab’s Integration Index (IPL-24), this paper investigated the intersection of economic, psychological, and social interactions that facilitate integration outcomes. This research finds that migration hardship doesn’t just make people’s lives more difficult; it breaks down the social ties and mental well-being that are essential for economic success measured by integration.

Exploring The Benefits Of A Virtual Reality Positive Psychological Intervention For Older Adults In Senior Living Communities, Christopher Reed

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The majority of psychological research has followed a disease model focusing on how we reduce factors associated with psychopathology. In the last few decades there has been a push to explore positive psychological traits as an avenue for intervention by fostering traits we already possess. Most of these interventions have targeted mental health across the life span with fewer examining their efficacy on cognitive change with even fewer utilizing immersive technologies like virtual reality. By 2050 over 20% of the world’s population will be over the age of 60 and with this aging population rates of neurocognitive disorders will increase. …