Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Elements Affecting Disclosure Of Abusive Dating Relationships: Attachment Style Sex Of Research Participant And Importance Of Disclosure Target, Michael Alexander Keefer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the influence of attachment style, sex of research participant, and relationship importance of disclosure target on the self-disclosure of abuse in dating relationships using a hypothetical dating aggression scenario. The two dependent variables were willingness to disclose and perceived helpfulness of self-disclosure. Research participants were classified according to Bartholomew's model of adult attachment (i.e., secure, preoccupied, dismissing, or fearful). Attachment style of research participants significantly affected perceived helpfulness of self-disclosure. Fearful participants perceived the most helpfulness from disclosure and were the most willing to self-disclose. Sex of research participant did not have a significant effect on willingness …

Two Views Of Physical Attractiveness: Informational Influences On Women's Body Images, Jennifer Lee Muth

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present experiment examined the impact of presenting information about the Advantages of Attractiveness or the Limitations of Attractiveness on women's body image experiences. One hundred and thirty-eight college students completed a pretest packet containing measures that assess state and trait body-image evaluation and appearance-related psychological investment. One week later they listened to audiotapes containing research-supported information about either the Advantages of Attractiveness or the Limitations of Attractiveness. Afterward, participants completed the measures of mood, state body image, and quality of life, manipulation check questions, and a post experimental inquiry. As expected, highly invested participants had a poorer body image …

Why Do Not All Separatist Movements Aim For Secession? The Cases Of Chechnia And Tatarstan, Mesut Acar

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Which ethnic groups are more likely to secede is a debated question among scholars. One view, as proposed by Immanuel Wallerstein, holds that ethnic groups living in economically advanced regions are more likely to secede. In contrast, other scholars like Donald Horowitz claim that backward groups in backward regions are more likely to secede. One aim of this thesis is to explore which view has better explanatory power for two republics in the Russian Federation: the Republic of Chechnia and the Republic of Tatarstan. In 1992 they were the two most separatist regions in the Russia. Later they diverged, and …

Effects Of An Interview Guide On The Accuracy Of Ratings For Applicants With Disabilities, Catherine Quinn Greenwald Mergen

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The problem of bias in the employment interview for applicants with disabilities was addressed with research to identify if a decision aid can increase the decision making accuracy of interviewers. A survey designed to allow participants to rate applicants with five disabilities for three jobs (with three essential functions listed for each job) was used to assess rating accuracy of two groups. Participants who received the decision aid in the form of a Guide to Interviewing People with Selected Disabilities were expected to have more rating accuracy than those participants without access to the Guide. Accuracy was assessed by comparing …

Predicting Academic Success Of Entering Freshmen At An Urban University Through The Assessment Of Oral And Written Language Competency, Karen D. Cobbs

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

In Moores and Klas' (1989) definitive study on college student retention, postsecondary administrators ranked the maintenance of student enrollment second in importance on a list of twenty critical issues facing higher education. Of particular relevance to college administrators has been the retention and graduation of African-American college students (D. B. Hawkins, 1994; Western Reserve, 1991).

Researchers, in considering the overall problem of student attrition, particularly, among African-Americans, have explored such questions as these: Which students are dropping out (Sherman, Giles and Green, 1994; Robinson, 1992)? Why do they discontinue their studies (Austin, 1982; Bohr et al., 1995; Kraft, 1992; Tinto, …

Effects Of Chronic Cocaine Abuse On Verbal Learning And Memory, Elizabeth A. Kamin

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the existence and nature of verbal memory deficits in a group of chronic cocaine abusers. Functional impairment in a control group of recovering alcoholics was also examined. Participants were selected from groups of volunteers enrolled in various drug treatment programs at the Veterans' Hospital in Hampton, Virginia. All participants were at least 30 days abstinent at the time of testing. Twelve cocaine abusers with a mean use time of 10 years served as the experimental group. Ten alcoholics with a mean use time of 25 years served as the control group. Participants …

Electrocortical Output And Hemispheric Contributions To The Alert State During A Sustained Attention Task, Treven Curtis Pickett

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the relative electrocortical contributions of specified cerebral locations and the potential motoric influence of handedness in a biocybernetic feedback environment. Thirty six right-handed subjects engaged in two sixteen minute trials of a compensatory tracking task by guiding (via a joystick) a circle over a stationary target presented on a computer screen, performing one trial with their preferred (right) and one using their non-preferred (left) hand.

For each subject, a Macintosh computer interpreted electrocortical activity through an engagement index (20*beta/(alpha+theta)) and changed the task mode, i.e. manual (subject guides the task) or automatic (computer guides the task) as …

Racial Differences In Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Women, Lekeshia M. Washington

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study investigates the racial differences in rape myth acceptance among college women. There has been little research on the topic of rape which examines solely the opinions of women. Black and white college women {N=623) completed a survey which measured the degree of acceptance or rejection of false beliefs about rape, rape victims, or rapists. These false beliefs were termed rape myths. The myths demean the victim and support stereotypes about rape. Past research suggests that blacks accept rape myths more than whites, and that victims accept rape myths more than nonvictims. This study's analyses suggest that women as …

Essay I. Intra-Industry Contagion And Competitive Effects Associated With Corporate Liquidation Announcements: Does Shareholder Governance Influence The Results? Essay Ii. Investors' Pricing Of Exchange Rate Risk In U. S. Firms That File For Bankruptcy, J. Terry Ray

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Essay I. Intra-industry contagion and competitive effects associated with corporate liquidation announcements: Does shareholder governance influence the results? This essay extends earlier research by investigating the role shareholder governance may play in the abnormal stock returns of the liquidating firms' competitors. The empirical model used for analyzing the abnormal returns includes variables to capture the influence of: leverage, Tobin's q, the Herfindahl index, Book Equity-to-Market Equity ratio, the level of institutional stock ownership, and the level of stock ownership by insiders.

The conclusion is leverage of the liquidating firm as well as its competitors is the major factor affecting the …

Public Journalism, The Second Level Of Agenda-Setting And Public Policy: The Role Of The Daily Press Newspaper In Creating, Framing And Fostering The Issues Of Regionalism And Consolidation On The Virginia Peninsula, 1944-1996, Shannon O'Bier Jackson

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

This study uses quantitative content analysis, with qualitative elite interviewing as a supplemental tool, to investigate the role of the Daily Press newspaper in creating, framing and fostering the locally controversial issues of regionalism and consolidation on the Virginia Peninsula from 1944-1996.

The investigation supports earlier findings regarding the second-level of Agenda-setting in terms of the newspaper's ability to cumulatively create "the pictures in our heads" of events or issues. The dissertation suggests that by selecting thematically related attributes over time, the newspaper acts to transmit issue salience, but that the potential impact of the "picture in our heads" is …

Relative Gains Problem And Case Studies Of Economic Cooperation In East Asia, Ping Deng

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Relative gains problem basically means unequal cooperative payoffs disproportionately favoring partners. With the relative gains problem widely accepted as a serious impediment to international cooperation, some scholars have theoretically argued or modeled several conditions that are most likely to foster a state's sensitivity to relative gains and thus substantially affect the prospects for cooperation. But little empirical work has been done to date. The central objective of this dissertation is to test whether those theoretical propositions can be supported by empirical evidence. For this purpose, we have deducted three hypotheses: (1) If a state faces military threat and zero-sum political …

Retracing Gender Bias And The Validity Of Believed Differences Between Male And Female Coaches Of Women's Basketball, Melissa Baile

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Leaders in higher education and athletics are concerned with the decline in the number of female coaches. The lack of role models for young women athletes and the inability for young women to be hired into, and remain in, coaching is problematic to the development of women in society.

The results of Acosta's 1985 study indicated that athletic directors held two stereotypical beliefs regarding the decline in the number of female coaches: a lack of qualification and time constraints due to family responsibilities. The purpose of the current research is to address two questions: (1) are male athletic administrators correct …

Factors Affecting Leadership Styles Of Prison Wardens: A Case Study Of Public Adult Prisons Within Virginia, Nancy Elizabeth Santiago

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

This study attempts to identify the leadership styles of Virginia prison wardens within public adult prisons, and to determine which factors contribute to the development of their leadership styles. The two instruments used in this study to assess leadership style were the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI, which measures "transformational" leadership), and the Leader Behavior Analysis II Self (LBAII Self, which measures "transactional" leadership). Both instruments have been used in prior research with correctional personnel, and comparisons of this research study is made with previous dissertations utilizing the LPI and LBAII.

Also developed for this study was a set of questions …

Machiavellianism Achievement And Gender Roles, Kathleen M. Gibson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The focus of the current study was to find a relationship between Machiavellianism and achievement motivation. Gender, gender-role orientation, and college major were also introduced as variables. Two-hundred and forty university students majoring in either business or psychology completed various self-report measures. Results based on correlations and an analysis of variance produced the following results: Women of both majors had higher Machiavellian scores than males of both majors; business majors had a higher desire to work hard and were more competitive than psychology majors (especially males); scores on the Machiavellian scale positively correlated with competitiveness for females. For males, Machiavellianism …

Men Who Batter: Personality Variables, Relationship Variables, And Treatment Outcome, Lisa M. Petrica

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between the personality characteristics of male batterers and treatment outcome. It also examined a pattern of communication found in violent couples where the male pursues the female and the female withdraws in an argument. The study also compared alcohol use with treatment outcome.

Twenty-one men who attended a group psychoeducational treatment program for batterers completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2). The men were divided into three groups based on their scores: non-pathological (normal profile), narcissistic/antisocial (elevated psychopathic deviate scale), and severely disordered (elevations on several scales). Pre and post-test measures were completed: Dyadic Adjustment …

Institutions, Developmental Alliances, And Economic Development In Korea And Brazil (1950-1985), Charles Paul Winebarger

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This paper compares the development of Korea and Brazil, 1950-85. These newly industrialized countries developed at above-average rates among less developed countries. Korea developed more rapidly than Brazil. The paper contends that institutions, interest groups (especially firms) and the state, enter into developmental alliances. Alliances affect policies. Policies, then, affect development.

Findings reveal interesting trends in the 1950s' democracies of the cases. Both countries had semi-autonomous states, equivocally committed to industrialization. Industry was the growth point in each. Korea used local firms to industrialize; Brazil used foreign firms. In both cases, the state allied itself with firms. Policy mostly favored …

Inversion And Analysis Of Remotely Sensed Atmospheric Water Vapor Measurements At 940nm, Jack Cutler Larsen

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The understanding and acceptance of remotely sensed atmospheric data depends strongly on the steps taken to characterize experiment error and validate observations through comparisons to other independent measurements. A formal error analysis of the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II (SAGE II) water vapor operational inversion algorithm is performed and compared to previous results. Random measurement errors were characterized by segmented least-squares profile fitting of the slant path absorption which found the error to be uncorrelated in the stratosphere with estimated variances significantly smaller than expected from 18-30 km. Estimates of null space error were developed from radiosonde hygrometers in …

The Influence Of An Early Childhood Program On The Academic Achievement, Attendance, And Attitudes Of Urban At-Risk Students, Daisy Mccray Murphy

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of an early childhood preschool program on the achievement, attendance, and attitudes of at-risk students in an urban Southeastern school division in Virginia. The study compared two groups of Title I eligible four-year-olds, those who participated (n = 88) and those who did not non-participate (n = 54), in a preschool program. A review of the literature revealed that early intervention efforts have addressed the school success dilemma for at-risk students with varying degrees of effectiveness. Increased attention toward the implementation of developmentally appropriate learning environments have afforded at-risk students …

Planning The Twentieth-Century American City, By Mary Corbin Sies And Christopher Silver. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore And London, 1996, And Magnetic Los Angeles: Planning The Twentieth-Century Metropolis, By Greg Hise. Johns Hopkins University Press: Baltimore And London, 1997 (Book Reviews), Robert Wojtowicz

Art Faculty Publications

(First Paragraph) Planning has been a part of the American landscape since the establishment of the first colonial outposts, but it was not until the early twentieth century that the field's protagonists organized and professionalized. Also a relatively recent phenomenon is the field of American planning history, which for many years was the neglected stepchild of urban history and the distant cousin of architectural history. Over the past decade, however, a steady outpouring of interdisciplinary research has garnered for the field well-deserved recognition within the academy. At a time when more established disciplines are increasingly torn by ideological differences and …

Southern Strategies, James R. Sweeney

History Faculty Publications

From the mid-1960's, Virginia Republicans, in tune with President Richard Nixon's active "Southern strategy," revived party fortunes in the state by capitalizing on the ongoing degeneration of Virginia Senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr.'s powerful conservative Democratic organization and the factionalization of the state Democratic Party. Republican Abner Linwood Holton, Jr., solidly carried the 1969 gubernatorial election. In the 1970 senatorial election Independent Harry Flood Byrd, Jr., defeated Republican Ray Lucian Garland and Democrat George Rawlings. Senator Byrd, Jr., had enjoyed Nixon's "benevolent neutrality," but never did join the Republican Party as the president had hoped; in office he voted with …

The Relationship Between Ethnic Identity, Self-Esteem, Emotional Well-Being And Depression Among Lakota/Dakota Sioux Adolescents, Susan M. Pittenger

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Despite conceptual support linking ethnic identity and psychological adjustment among Native Americans, empirical research examining this relationship remains limited. In light of recent developments in the area of ethnic identity research, including alternative conceptual models, improved methodologies, and more sophisticated measures, this study examined the relationship between ethnic identity, self-esteem, emotional well-being, and depression among Native American reservation youth.

The relationship between the predictor variables of American Indian ethnic identity, White-American identity and bicultural identity, and the criterion measures of self-esteem, emotional well-being, and depression were examined for 137 Lakota/Dakota Sioux reservation youth. Participants completed surveys including the Multigroup Ethnic …

Thermodynamic Modeling And Analysis Of Human Stress Responses, Satish C. Boregowda

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A novel approach based on the second law of thermodynamics is developed to investigate the psychophysiology and quantify human stress level. Two types of stresses (thermal and mental) are examined. A Unified Stress Response Theory (USRT) is developed under the new proposed field of study called Engineering Psychophysiology. The USRT is used to investigate both thermal and mental stresses from a holistic (human body as a whole) and thermodynamic viewpoint. The original concepts and definitions are established as postulates which form the basis for thermodynamic approach to quantify human stress level. An Objective Thermal Stress Index (OTSI) is developed by …

Grade Retention: A History Of Failure, William A. Owings, Susan Magliaro

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Although almost 50 years of research has shown that grade-level retention affords no academic advantages to students, this practice is gaining increasing attention as schools face political pressure to be accountable for student achievement. The negative effect that retention has on children is ignored in favor of an overly simplistic view of it as a panacea for education woes. In an attempt to better meet student needs, educators historically have seen retention as a way to reduce skill variance in the classroom. However, this practice has not achieved its objective. An at-risk population is cognitively and affectively harmed by retention. …

Grandparents Today: A Demographic Profile, Maximiliane E. Szinovacz

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This article presents a demographic profile of grandparents, using the National Survey of Families and Households. Specific dimensions of grandparenthood addressed include grandparents' survival, the timing of grandparenthood, grandparents' involvement in other roles, surrogate parenting, and stepgrandparents. The data indicate considerable heterogeneity among grandparents of different genders and races or ethnicities. They also suggest modifications in previous descriptions of modern grandparenthood.

Conceptualizing The Impact Of Health Care Crimes On The Poor, Brian K. Payne

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Past research shows that a small percentage of health care employees commit an assortment of criminal acts while on the job. Missing from previous research, however, is an examination of the effects such acts have on the poor (i.e. the victims). This paper fills this void by considering the effects of three broadly defined health care crimes: Medicaid fraud, elder abuse, and prescription fraud. In addition to the direct victimization experiences of those served by me health care system, the physical, economic, and time losses are also considered. Implications for future research and policy are provided.

On Their Own: Female Correspondents In Vietnam, Joyce Hoffmann

English Faculty Publications

Women went to Vietnam as war correspondents in unprecedented numbers in the 1960s and early 1970s. A combination of intellectual curiosity, professional longings to be at the center of a big story and a simple lust for adventure drew women to the jungles of Southeast Asia, just as those same urges had long drawn men to the spectacle of war. For a decade and a half, women begged, cajoled or simply paid their own way to Vietnam. Together they transformed the role of women as war correspondents from an aberration to a norm. But very few of them were acknowledged …

Challenges For The Next Century, Ruth Triplett

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Review of the book "Crime and Punishment in America," by Elliott Currie.

Municipal Involvement In International Relations, John Jack William Hilgers

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

The purpose of this study is to examine municipal involvement in international relations in the United States. This municipal phenomenon is occurring concurrently with both a shift away from the traditional nation-centric structure of international relations under the influence of globalism as well as a sharp decline in intergovernmental aid. The research questions were: (1) What are the indicators that define municipal involvement in international relations? and (2) What is the extent of that involvement?

Extensive qualitative and research was conducted in the form of an exploratory literature survey which was set forth in narrative analysis to overcome the paucity …

A Discovery-Oriented Process Study Of Enactment In Family Therapy: Development Of The Family Therapy Enactment Rating Scale, Elizabeth Ong-Mythuan Fong

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

With the effectiveness of psychotherapy now well-supported in both the individual and family literatures (Garfield & Bergin, 1994), we are entering an era where questions of how and why therapy works are of interest. More specifically, there has been support and encouragement by some researchers (Rice & Greenberg, 1984; Mahrer, 1988) for the use of discovery-oriented methodologies to explore clinical phenomena that have yet to be empirically validated. The following is a discovery-oriented study of enactment, a structural family therapy intervention. The theoretical goals of enactments, their relevance to clinical practice, as well as how they are actually implemented in …

Three Essays On European Union Advances Toward A Single Currency And Its Implications For Business And Investors, Charlotte Anne Bond

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

The first chapter examines the changes in various European currencies' exchange rates through the time period 1980 through 1997. Specifically, we are interested to determine if there is any affect to the volatility of these exchange rates and specific events related to the advancement of European Unification. In order to move to a single currency it is imperative that the separate currencies become less volatile to facilitate the move to a single currency. In this study, we examine whether this is the case and discuss which currencies appear to display this behavior. It is observed that of the 14 currencies …