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An Exploratory Study On The Relationship Between Creativity, Religion, And Religiosity, Kim-Lien Thi Nguyen

Master's Theses

Religiosity and religion are often said to be negative influences on one's creativity level. Creativity and religiosity have been looked at as a single dimension, which is a simplistic view. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between creativity and religiosity using scales that measure each construct multidimensionally. Religiosity was measured by one's level of inclusion of transcendent reality and symbolic interpretation of religious content. Creativity was evaluated in terms of fluency, originality, elaboration, abstractness, and resistance to premature closure. It was predicted that participants who exhibit high inclusion of transcendence and literal interpretation of religious content …

The Effects Of Self-Monitoring On The Facebook User Experience, Pamela Eden Ong

Master's Theses

Self-monitoring, or the individual differences in the extent to which people observe, regulate, and control their public appearances, has been studied in a variety of face-to-face domains such as friendships, romantic relationships, and work and organizational settings. The purpose of this study was to assess whether high and low self-monitors construct their identities on an online social networking site, such as Facebook, in ways that are consistent with their self-monitoring preferences for the face-to-face world. Social networking sites allow individuals to have members of all of their social networks present in a common setting at any particular time. This may …

Measuring Employee Perceptions Of Organizational Tolerance For Failure, Perla Yael Slutzky

Master's Theses

The empirical concept of Organizational Tolerance for Organizational Failure was examined. First, a clear definition of the concept was established and, second, the concept's dimensionality was explored. Based on data collected from 140 participants, four main scale components were identified: Organizational Values and Beliefs, Organizational and Supervisor Support and Motivation, Compensation and Reward Systems, and Recognition. Even though the final scale developed represented a good research base, further development is needed to improve some of the subscale's internal consistencies.

Mood Management And Video-Game Engagement: The Importance Of User-Experience And Gender In Assessing The Psychological Effects Of Video-Game Play, Crystine Serrone

Master's Theses

The overall purpose of this thesis was to investigate the psychological effects of video-game play. The two central goals were to (a) compare and contrast three classic media theories (Mood Management Theory, The Catharsis Hypothesis, and Excitation-Transfer Theory) as they apply to the effects of video-game play, and (b) investigate the importance of user-experience variables and gender in predicting psychological outcomes of play. In a two-group mixed experimental design, all participants underwent a frustration/stress mood-induction procedure before playing a violent or nonviolent video-game. Questionnaires were administered both pre- and post-play to assess affect, arousal, and dominance as well as the …

Motivating Employees Through Thick And Thin: The Relationship Between Hospital Employee Aspirations And Body Mass Index, Amanda Kay Wentz

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to bridge the gap in the existing literature regarding the relationship between motivation and aspirations of obese and overweight employees. Based on data collected from 103 hospital employees, obese and overweight employees placed significantly lower importance on intrinsic aspirations than did their healthier counterparts. In addition, healthy, overweight, and obese employees all placed equal importance on extrinsic aspirations. The results of the study indicate that using intrinsic aspirations and rewards to motivate overweight and obese employees in a disease prevention program may be less effective than using an extrinsic reward system.

Asahi Shimbun And The New York Times: Framing Pearl Harbor And The 9/11 Attacks, Maiko Kunii

Master's Theses

The researcher analyzed visual frames in the photo coverage in the New York Times and the Japanese newspaper, Asahi Shimbun, following the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941 and the 9/11 attacks in 2001. In 1941-1942, although the humanization set of frames was the dominant frame in the New York Times, the set of military frames was dominant in Asahi Shimbun. The New York Times emphasized American civilians as well as the American and U.S. allied soldiers' involvement in the war. In contrast, photos in Asahi Shimbun portrayed the patriotism of the Japanese military and the international human dimension in Asia. …

Rhetoric Of Social Change In Documentary Film Scores: An Analysis Of The Cove, Brianna Chanel Hackley

Master's Theses

Documentary films tell the untold stories and tragedies of the world as well as reflect the filmmakers' ideologies. In this way, they are socially conscious media: they give light to the struggles and problems that exist in society, often giving voice to people who might otherwise be silenced. Documentary films are also rhetorically persuasive in that they help to organize public perception. Documentary scores are part of films' persuasiveness and help audiences to make sense of the documentary footage.

Using a form of rhetorical analysis, this thesis aims to study documentary scores to understand how they mobilize audiences around a …

Lovers And Friends: Understanding Friends With Benefits Relationships And Those Involved, Lydia Kathleen Merriam-Pigg

Master's Theses

Friends with benefits relationships (FWBRs) are defined as sexual relationships between two individuals who are friends, though they are not emotionally intimate or committed to one another. Little FWBR research has explored who is most likely to become involved in FWBRs and how personality may affect their FWB experiences. With the present study, I examined two aspects of personality that have been strongly implicated in romantic relationship choices and experiences: self-monitoring behavior and attachment styles. Further, I examined relationship closeness in FWBRs and compared the findings to literature reports of other types of relationships.

Consistent with predictions, some experiences in …

Visual Search On A Mobile Device While Walking, Ji Jung Lim

Master's Theses

Previous studies have examined the effects of walking and user interface elements on mobile task performance, using physical target selection tasks. The current study investigated the effect of walking and user interface elements on visual search on a mobile device, isolating the effects on perceptual and cognitive processes. The effects of object size, contrast, and target location on mobile devices while walking and standing were examined. A serial visual search using "T" and "L" shapes on a mobile device, which controlled for physical target selection involvement was conducted. The results showed that walking, bigger object size, and the target position …

Cracking The Coven: Shakespeare, The Supernatural, And The Female Power Base, Doll (Heather) Elizabeth Piccotto

Master's Theses

There has been extensive writing and research into the fairy magic and witchcraft practices of the Early Modern Period in the 400-plus years between when Shakespeare's plays were performed and now--even including a tome on demonology by King James I himself. However, as witchcraft and fairy magic are distinctively female realms, with women making up 90% of accused witches and fairy magic being mainly related to domestic duties, one cannot accurately discuss these phenomena in the plays without addressing how they affect the female characters. This project examines the role of the supernatural in three of Shakespeare's plays, A Midsummer …

The Role Of Language In Shaping The International Cultural Tourism Experience Of Student-Travelers, Avina Ramnani

Master's Theses

This qualitative, exploratory study sought insight into how language affects the cultural tourism experience in the international tourism context. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews of 13 student-travelers, who traveled with the San Jose State University's study-abroad programs. The analysis of the data was carried out within a socio-linguistic context using grounded theory methods. Findings indicated that travel motivations and the perception of significance of the language spoken at a destination were intimately connected. Further, the desire on the part of the student-travelers to experience the local culture affected the desire for interaction with the host population, which was in …

Effects Of A Virtually Abroad Program On Students' Cross-Cultural Competence, Emalynn Lucie Robinson

Master's Theses

A program-long, longitudinal, self-report study was conducted to assess the benefits and effects of student engagement in a five-week virtual team project, called the Virtually Abroad Program (VAP). The VAP required two or three students from each country to work together as a team on a course project. Students completed questionnaires at the start (Time 1) and end (Time 2) of the project. Study variables included culture-general knowledge, culture-specific knowledge, openness to new cultural experiences, and overall program evaluation. From Time 1 to Time 2, both types of knowledge increased significantly for the U.S. sample but not for the sample …

Low-Tech, Eye-Movement-Accessible Aac And Typical Adults, Sarah Marie Swift

Master's Theses

Low-tech, eye-gaze-accessible augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) options are important for individuals with motor impairments which result in limited voluntary movement, including many diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Available devices include EyeLink, partner-assisted scanning (PAS), and E-tran. The purpose of this study was to examine the rates of use for these devices, the user preferences related to them, and changes in rates and preferences over time. In another ongoing study component, Roman, Quach, Coggiola, and Moore (2010) investigated these devices with pairs of participants that included persons with ALS (PALS) and their communication partners. In this component, seven pairs …

Effectiveness Of A San Francisco Bay Area Community Education Program On Reducing Home Energy Use, Ellen M. Wilkinson

Master's Theses

In order to promote the adoption of home energy reduction practices and mitigate the climate impact of the collective greenhouse gas emissions generated by consumers, it is critical to identify an effective educational approach. A community-based educational intervention model that employs norms, information, commitment, feedback, and face-to-face communication strategies was examined for its ability to motivate changes in everyday energy-use behavior in two communities compared to a control group. A follow up study was also conducted to evaluate whether behaviors adopted as a result of the intervention were long lasting, and whether the community-focused features of the intervention were motivating …

Coming From Sounds Of Blackness: Exploring The Effects Of Hip-Hop On Views Of Race, Eliezer Bercasio

Master's Theses

Does the individual's frequency of listening to hip-hop music have an effect on whether or not they believe in a color-blind ideology? Using data from a 25-item questionnaire given to 165 participants drawn for a sample from an urban California college, this study tested six hypotheses in order to determine if such a connection exists. Results revealed that individuals who frequently listened to misogynistic rap were less likely to believe that race is a convenient way to categorize individuals, controlling for race, sex, and income. Thus, individuals who had a higher frequency of listening to hip-hop were less likely to …

Differences And Similarities Between Female Managers And Female Entrepreneurs, Maria Cespedes

Master's Theses

Although the number of female entrepreneurs has recently increased, there is little research that has compared female managers and female entrepreneurs in their work experiences and conditions. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the potential differences and similarities between women in management versus women in entrepreneurship regarding challenges, motivators for entry, adaptations, gender roles, and self-monitoring. Data collected from 87 women in management and entrepreneurship showed that female managers faced gender biases more than did entrepreneurs and had to choose between their professional and their personal goals when deciding to have children. Motivators for entry into entrepreneurship …

The Effectiveness Of Glare-Obscuring Glasses On Nighttime Driving Performance, Heath Theodore Friedland

Master's Theses

Currently no driver-aid system effectively addresses glare-reduction for oncoming headlights. Glare at night has the ability to decrease our visual acuity and cause discomfort or pain. This decreased visual ability constitutes an increased risk for driver error and a potential roadway safety hazard. The severity of these detrimental effects has previously been shown to increase with driver age and is thought to be further exacerbated by the increased brightness of High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights.

In the current study, the effects of headlight glare from HID and halogen lights on driver performance was examined in a custom driving simulator. A …

The Effect Of Competence, Likeability, And Sex On Performance Evaluations Of Managers, Connie Kehn

Master's Theses

The effects of competence, likeability, and sex of an upper-level manager on his or her performance evaluation and the work relationship with his or her subordinates were examined in the present study. Given that women in leadership positions are frequent victims of prejudice and discrimination, it was of a particular interest to examine how female managers would be evaluated. In a survey of 228 undergraduate students, competence was found to be an important attribute when it came to performance evaluation, whereas likeability was found to be an important attribute when it came to the work relationship. Female managers were found …

Godless Americans: How Non-Religious Persons Are Labeled As Deviant In A Religious Society, Damian M. Bramlett

Master's Theses

This research examined Atheism, Agnosticism, and secularism as forms of deviance within American society. The focus was on Atheists, because research suggests they are stigmatized and more commonly constructed as deviant in comparison to Agnostics and/or secularists. It should come as no surprise that, given the ideological dominance of monotheistic religious narratives such as Evangelical Christianity, Atheists are labeled and stigmatized in the same manner as other nonnormative groups in the United States. Today, Atheists and others who publicly reject religious "faith" are constructed in dominant media and political discourse as morally flawed and often politically illegitimate. Thirty self-identified non-religious …

Factors Influencing Athletic Training Students' Selection Of Graduate Programs, Sonja E. Askew

Master's Theses

There is no published research known to the author on factors that influence athletic training student enrollment in the graduate programs. An investigation was conducted to determine the factors influencing students' selection of graduate programs and their relationship to gender, age, and ethnicity.

Effects Of Stress And Co-Rumination On Creativity And Performance, Subha Govindarajan

Master's Theses

Stress is shown to have a negative impact on individuals, organizations, and society at large. Though research in industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology has examined the relationship between stress and various organizational outcomes, the effects of stress on creativity and performance have seldom been investigated. Furthermore, despite the well-reported buffering effects of social support on the negative outcomes of stress, the potential effects of one type of social support, co-rumination, on organizational outcomes have not been examined. Therefore, using 100 undergraduate students, the effects of stress and co-rumination on creativity and performance were examined. Results did not show that stress and co-rumination …

Maintenance Of Polish Language And Culture Among First Generation Polish Immigrants Living In The Southern San Francisco Bay Area, California., Dominika Bialek

Master's Theses

The focus of this thesis research is to investigate the extent to which first

generation Polish immigrants living in the southern San Francisco Bay Area in California maintain their native Polish language and culture. Qualitative data were collected in the form of interviews and survey questionnaires. The major findings show that in this small immigrant community (1) maintenance of Polish language and culture happens primarily at home; (2) females married to first generation Polish immigrants are more likely than others to maintain Polish language and culture; (3) the small size of the Polish community, knowledge of English at the time …

Consequences In Alcohol Use Portrayals On Emerging Adult Attitudes, Stephanie Jwo

Master's Theses

Many factors may contribute to forming attitudes towards alcohol, such as peer groups, family history, and media influences. This study focused on the inclusion of consequences in portrayals of alcohol-use and the possible influences on emerging adult attitudes towards alcohol. The emerging adult population represents a relatively newly defined developmental stage that roughly spans the ages of 18 to 25 years. Emerging adult attitudes towards alcohol were expected to vary positively or negatively after reading a vignette of alcohol-use that included a positive consequence, a negative consequence, or no consequence. Emerging adult attitudes did not vary by the alcohol-use consequences …

Dovetailing, Nicole Ashley Hughes

Master's Theses

Dovetailing is told from a limited third person point of view focused on Samantha. She is the protagonist in a group of four primary characters who include Matt, Adam, and Dylan. They are the four employees of Furniture Town and are present throughout the entire novel. Stan the Sidewinder is a local UFC fighter who is visiting his hometown (the setting of the novel), Las Cruces, New Mexico, for a promotional tour. Las Cruces is a small, shabby, and largely Catholic town near the border of Mexico.

Samantha's struggle to find her way while surrounded by underachieving college-aged men and …

The Examination Of The Moderating Variables Of Job Exposure And Need For Cognition On The Effects Of Type Of Job Preview On Pre-Hire Outcomes, Ashley Jo Hacnik

Master's Theses

Although research on realistic job previews (RJP) has shown that RJPs produce positive individual and organizational outcomes, little is known of whether the characteristics of individuals change such positive relationships. Therefore, the current study extends previous research on RJPs by examining 163 nursing interns and registered nurses on how two individual characteristics -- previous job exposure and Need for Cognition (NFC) -- moderate the relationship between type of job preview and perceived job attractiveness, a job acceptance decision, and perceived organizational honesty. Results showed that those with no previous job exposure and those low in NFC rated the job as …

Individual Differences And Pet Ownership Status: Distinguishing Among Different Types Of Pet Owners And Non-Owners, Shannon Marie Merrill

Master's Theses

Research examining potential differences between pet owners and non-owners is prevalent in the scientific literature, but findings have often been inconsistent. Although some researchers have incorporated animal preference into their investigations of pet ownership, such research is scarce and inconclusive. The purpose of this study was to examine individual differences that may systematically vary based on pet ownership status, pet preference, and gender. It was predicted that the interaction of these variables would demonstrate differences among and between groups of pet owners and non-owners, which could help to explain some of the ambiguity of previous research.

A large sample of …

Eye-Tracking Analysis Of Next Generation Air Transportation (Nextgen) Taxiing And Departure Concepts, Christina Kunkle

Master's Theses

The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) is comprised of concepts and technology that will help change the national airspace system. In the current experiment, we analyzed eye-tracking in a NextGen experiment that examined a concept of taxi-out operations that are commonly referred to as surface trajectory-based operation (STBO). This study was built on previous research investigating taxiing from the gate to the runway based on speed and time commands to include speed-based taxiing with bounds. Commercial airline pilots, both current and recently retired, participated in this study at the Human-Centered Systems Lab at NASA Ames Research Center. This study …

A Study On Taiwanese International Students And Taiwanese American Students: The Interface Between Naming And Identity, Yi-An Chen

Master's Theses

In this study, I analyze how Chinese and English naming practices influence name adoption and explicate how the use and choice of names by Taiwanese international students and Taiwanese American students at San José State University, California, are structured through social interaction and cultural context. The data were collected from in-depth interviews with 10 Taiwanese international students and 10 Taiwanese American students. The interviews focused on how they construct their identities and produce social relations with others through their choice and use of ethnic and/or English names.

The study findings help to illuminate areas that until now have not received …

Mexican Photography Collected: Graciela Iturbide And Tina Modotti, Camille F. Porter

Master's Theses

The act of collecting has increasingly become a focus of art historians in the last

thirty years. Susan Pearce, Mieke Bal, Bruce Althuser and other scholars have written

theoretical perspectives illuminating the ways in which the collecting of art influences the identity of a particular collector and in turn the ways in which the process of collecting art itself attaches meanings to objects.

In the last twenty years, there has been a surge in the collecting of Mexican

photography dating from the 1920s to the contemporary period. Mexican photography

has a long history of being at once an art form …

A Versatile Group Of Investigative Theater Practitioners: An Examination And Analysis Of "The Civilians", Kimberly Suzanne Peterson

Master's Theses

This thesis analyzes The Civilians, a New York-based theater company that creates interview-based cabaret/theater works, specifically examining the group's organizational structure and creative and administrative processes. The goal of this thesis is to provide insight into how this organization functions, and the lens of organizational structure and processes is used because, as business scholars have noted, structure and process are fundamental elements of any organization. Additionally, this study is framed using Gaétan Morency and Jane Needles's analysis of Cirque du Soleil, François Colbert's analysis of the Piccolo Teatro of Milan, and Celia Wren's article, "Dissolving the Barriers," which investigates eliminating …