Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Education On Support For Tnr As A Method Of Feral Cat Management, Kaitlyn F. Bishop

Honors Program Projects

A feral cat is a cat that is untamed and not suitable for placement in a home. Through their naturally high rate of reproduction and lack of population management, feral cat populations have grown exponentially, leading to overpopulation. Feral cats effect their communities through their impact on wildlife, financial burden, and health risk to both humans and other animals. Due to the impact feral cats place on their communities, multiple management methods have been suggested. Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is a humane, effective method of management; however, controversy surrounds its use. Existing studies have determined that age, gender, and past experiences with …

The Effect Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On The Self-Esteem Of College Students, Maggie Van Heemst

Honors Program Projects

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are known to predict negative health and mental health effects later in life. One in two Americans has experienced at least one ACE. This issue is prevalent across class, race, and ethnicity. However, little is known about ACEs and the young adult population.

Methods: A survey was conducted to measure ACEs and self-esteem in fifty college students. The hypothesis was a negative correlation between ACE and self-esteem scores.

Results: A small negative correlation was found between ACEs and self-esteem in college students. The average ACE score was 3.9 and the average self-esteem score was 16.78. …

Evaluating College Students’ Health Literacy And Its Effects On Their Perceptions Of Information Concerning Mask-Wearing In The Covid-19 Pandemic Ve Information Concerning Mask-Wearing In The Covid-19 Pandemic, Hannah S. Ketchum

Honors Program Projects

Background: Mask-wearing was a controversial and polarizing phenomenon during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beliefs concerning mask-wearing differed depending on sources of information concerning the pandemic, levels of health literacy, political leaning, demographics, or other factors. This project attempted to connect college students’ level of health literacy to their understanding of and adherence to mask-wearing in the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a gap in research connecting health literacy to understanding information concerning pandemics and an even bigger lack of studies conducted that relate college students’ health literacy to their perception of illnesses or pandemics. It is important to understand the impact of …

Kankakee County In Deindustrialization: An Oral History Approach, Rachel Shepard

Honors Program Projects

The City of Kankakee was an industrialized city which prospered economically for decades. Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, economic trends shifted for Kankakee and the surrounding communities. The major factories, such as Roper Corporation and A.O. Smith, migrated their source of production from Kankakee to other regions of the United States and abroad. As a result, the declining industrial economic activity led to changing community perceptions. Kankakee is an example of the “Rust Belt” region, a region in the Midwestern and Northeastern States of the United States where declining industrial activity occurred throughout the 1970s and 1980s. The paper …

Deepfake It Til You Make It: How To Make A Short Film, Adam G. Lee

Honors Program Projects

A recent development in the realm of computer technology is the deepfake. Deepfakes, which train a computer model to digitally superimpose one person’s face onto another body in a separate video, has its uses for good and for ill, with the unfortunate tendency to the latter. The vast majority of deepfakes are used for pornography, most commonly depicting female celebrities as the subjects. At the less notable level, it is often used for revenge pornography. These aspects of deepfake technology are rarely discussed in mainstream media, which tends to focus on the less harmful uses, such as those for comedic …

A Curriculum Designed To Teach Elementary-Age Children In Diverse Settings The Kingdom Concept Of Loving One's Neighbor, Abigail J. Flood

Honors Program Projects

United States Census data from 2020 show that the country is becoming increasingly diverse and urbanized. Other research shows children are aware of race from an early age and can pick up biases and stereotypes by watching the adults around them. However, there are no children’s ministry curricula that specifically address how children should navigate differences from a biblical perspective. To fill this gap, a children’s ministry curriculum was written to model how children can love their neighbors like Jesus did, especially those who look different from themselves. The curriculum is comprised of an introduction for the ministry leader, five …

Impact Of Mindfulness On Test Anxiety In College Students, Lindsay Alcock

Honors Program Projects

Background

Mindfulness is defined as the state of giving full attention to a stimulus, internal or external, without inducing judgment or becoming reactional about the feelings experienced, positive or negative (Davis & Hayes, 2012). Previous studies have investigated the relationship between mindfulness techniques and the reduction of anxiety (Chambers et al., 2008; Macdonald & Olsen, 2020); a smaller number of studies have considered test anxiety (Cho et al., 2016; Sparks, 2017). Prior research has used multiple mindfulness techniques to measure the impact on test anxiety, but few have isolated mindfulness trainings to compare the relative impact of each type on …

Augustine Of Hippo: A Historical Theology Critique, Zachary Monte

Honors Program Projects

This study evaluates how current historical theology survey texts understand and present the theology of Augustine. The texts are examined to assess the following: accuracy of presentation on discussed topics, specific theological topics Augustine addressed excluded in the surveys, and theological bias on the part of the authors. The historical theology surveys include Gregg Allison’s Historical Theology: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine, Justo González’s A History of Christian Thought, and Alister McGrath’s Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought. The three major topics treated include Augustine’s Trinitarian thought, the Donatist Controversy, and the Pelagian Controversy. The findings …

Religiosity And Relational Anxiety: A Cross-Denominational Study, Timothy Steininger

Honors Program Projects

Prior research has provided evidence for a correlation between religiosity and anxiety, quantifiable differences between denominations, and a somewhat equivocal link between religiosity and social trust. This present study seeks to extend the existing body of knowledge by assessing the relationship between intrinsic religiosity and both trait and relational anxiety across denominational groups, and by measuring the relationship between relational anxiety and social trust. Participants (N = 1,905) were asked to provide their religious and denominational affiliations. Analysis revealed a modest negative relationship between intrinsic religiosity and trait anxiety. Overall, a weak, positive relationship between intrinsic religiosity and relational …

The Reliability And Validity Of The Open Enneagram Of Personality Scales, Kayleigh Kastelein

Honors Program Projects

The purpose of this study is to assess the reliability and validity of the 36-item Open Enneagram of Personality Scales (OEPS). Our general hypothesis was that the OEPS would show adequate reliability evidence but not validity evidence. Participants were acquired through a small denominationally affiliated Midwest university, Amazon Mechanical Turk, and social media. Test-retest reliability was done with 249 participants while internal consistency reliability, factor analysis, and correlations with the Big Five Inventory (BFI; John, Donahue, & Kentle) were done using 1039 participants. An average Pearson’s correlation of .68 (range: 0.54 - 0.75) showed inadequate test-retest reliability for the OEPS …

Time To Stop Worrying: A Correlational Study On Individualist Versus Collectivist Time Perspectives And Anxiety, Anna Waldron

Honors Program Projects

Purpose

Research has indicated a significant relationship between anxiety and time perspective (TP), which is the way one views life in terms of the past, present or future. TP is broken down into five facets based on the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), including past negative (PN), past positive (PP), present fatalistic (PF), present hedonistic (PH), and future (F) time perspectives (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). These are seen to be impacted by one’s culture as well, although there is a lack of representation in studies on TP cross-culturally which makes it difficult to generalize. In order to add to the …

Monetary Policy And Income Inequality In The United States And Spain, Brooke Whetstone

Honors Program Projects

Background Contractionary monetary policy has long term effects on inequality (Feldkircher & Kakamu, 2018). However, other forms of monetary policy do not have a clear effect on income inequality. Central banks defend the position that other factors are the driving forces behind income inequality (Powell, 2018).
Methodology This investigation utilized ANOVA Regression analysis to determine if income inequality, as measured by wage growth by sector, is related to interest rates in the United States and Spain. If applicable, slopes of the regression lines for each sector were compared to see if they were significantly different, in a statistical sense.

Results …

Personality Traits As Covariates Of Rock-Climbing Performance In Novice Rock Climbers, Courtney Gearhart

Honors Program Projects

Existing literature has connected heightened levels of conscientiousness and grit and lowered levels of neuroticism to greater general athletic performance (Courneya & Hellsten, 1998; McEwan, Boudreau, Curran, & Rhodes, 2019; Steca et al., 2018). Rock-climbing is a growing field of interest and the question of whether conscientiousness, neuroticism, and grit are correlated with rock-climbing performance and improvement remains unknown. To assess relationships among conscientiousness, neuroticism, grit, and rock-climbing performance, 23 undergraduate students with no significant climbing experience participated in a two-part study at a small religious university in the Midwest. Participants were recruited through professors known by the researcher, who …

The Relationship Between Faith Maturity And Life Satisfaction, Amanda L. Roche

Honors Program Projects

Background

Studies have been conducted that conclude that having a more mature faith correlates to healthier psychological well-being and healthier personal relationships (Hill & Pargament, 2003; Okun & Stock, 1987; Powell & Pepper, 2015). A significant amount of research has been conducted on life satisfaction, however fewer studies have explored the relationship between life satisfaction and faith maturity. Hawkins, Tan, and Turk (1999) compared a secular inpatient cognitive-behavioral therapy program to a Christian inpatient cognitive-behavioral therapy program and discovered that there was a negative correlation between spiritual well-being and depression, but little has been done beyond this study to examine …

The Japanese Way In America: A Comparison Of The Spiritual Beliefs, Habits, And Ideas Of The American Religious ‘Nones’ And Contemporary Japanese Nationals, Jarrett Stalinger

Honors Program Projects

There has been growing interest in the religiously unaffiliated within America. This growing interest has caused a new name to come about, the Nones. The present discussion attempts to give context to the rise of the Nones and to compare the religious beliefs and habits of these American Nones with the Japanese Nationals who inhabit Japan. There are many similarities between these two groups relating to ethics, interactions with people, and connection with nature. These comparisons show that there is a possible connection between people which explains spiritual experience, even outside that of normalized, institutional religions. This “intuition of the …

Mental Health First Aid Training: Evaluating A Brief Training Intervention For College Students, Erica Sandtorv

Honors Program Projects

Background

Mental health literacy, or the public’s knowledge and beliefs about mental health, has been shown to be lacking; therefore, the proper first aid actions are not always taken to recognize and encourage treatment for psychological disorders (Burns & Rapee, 2006; Jorm et al., 1997; Jorm, 2012; Yap, Wright, & Jorm, 2011). This issue is particularly relevant in a university setting where mental health issues are common and students often rely on their peers for support (Hefner & Eisenberg, 2009; Kitzrow, 2009; Morse & Schulze, 2013). Studies have shown mental health first aid (MFHA) training to be successful in equipping …

Empirical Correlates Of Mental Health Stigma, Emily Raduns

Honors Program Projects

Background

Mental health stigma describes the prejudice and discrimination faced by those with mental health disorders. Existing literature has connected heightened levels of stigma to lower levels of mental health education and lower levels of interpersonal contact with those experiencing mental health issues. Research also suggests a possible link between high religious fundamentalism and stigma.

Methods

To assess these relationships among these variables, a questionnaire was distributed online to 194 undergraduate students at a small religious university in the Midwest. The questionnaire included scales measuring fundamentalism and stigma, along with questions about mental health education levels and interpersonal contact with …

Stigma As A Predictor Of Parental Willingness To Seek Mental Health Services For Their Children In Rural America, Reed M. Smith

Honors Program Projects

Stigma exists in some capacity towards mental illness. This stigma is a barrier to mental health services for some people. Rural populations are known to have more stigma than their urban counterparts. This is on top of already lacking access to mental health services. This especially affects children. Polaha and Williams (2015) found stigma to be negatively correlated with willingness to seek help in rural parents. This study sought to explore this relationship in a more generalized sample. I posted a survey on Amazon Mechanical Turk that screened for rural parents of children under the age of 18. It included …

The Relationship Between Musicianship, Academic Achievement, Academic Motivation, And Self-Esteem, Ellie Krumsieg

Honors Program Projects

Background

Past research suggests that students involved in music are intrinsically motivated. For example, Diaz (2010) showed that undergraduate musicians possessed high levels of academic intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is a predictor of high academic achievement as well. Additionally, past research indicates that music education is positively correlated with academic achievement and self-esteem. This study continues to investigate the relationships between musicianship and academic motivation, academic achievement, and self-esteem, but does so using a post-secondary sample and an expanded classification system for musicianship.

Methods and Procedures

A survey link was emailed to all undergraduate students at a small, Christian university …

Evaluation And Revision Of Bsri Trait Selection, Valerie Seehafer

Honors Program Projects

The Bem Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI) is a tool created by Sandra Bem in the 1970’s which is aimed at measuring an individual’s androgyny. Critiques concerning the theoretical and methodological framework of the BSRI suggest that it is in need of an update. The purpose of my research was to determine if and what adjustments were needed for the BSRI. An adjusted version of the short form of the BSRI was distributed to undergraduate students on a small Christian university campus in the Midwest. Respondents rated traits from the BSRI in regards to social desirability, personal desirability, and gendered connotation. The …

What's More Important: Design Or Content? An Analysis Of The Impact Of Website Design And Argument Quality On Source Credibility, Luke David Salomone

Honors Program Projects

When evaluating information online or offline, two important aspects are considered by readers: the credibility of the source and the quality of the argument. It is well known that strong arguments are more persuasive than weak arguments of the same length (Petty and Cacioppo, 1984), and recent research has shown that in an online environment source credibility is determined by the reader in part by the design aspects of website (Lowry et al., 2013). Using a 2 (website quality: good vs bad) x 2 (argument quality: strong vs weak) ANCOVA with need for cognition (NFC) and disposition to trust as …

The Political Glass Cliff: Potential Causes Of Female Underrepresentation In The U.S. House Of Representatives, Erica Browning

Honors Program Projects

The study of gender equality in leadership roles has for the majority of its history focused on the phenomenon of the glass ceiling. A new theory has recently immerged calling attention to the idea that women who attain leadership roles are set up in crisis or failure situations more often than their male counterparts. This is called the ‘glass cliff theory’ and over the past decade has been studied in the fields of business and politics. This research will discuss the leadership stereotypes that may affect women in these roles, and the evidence of the existence of the glass cliff. …

Male Body-Satisfaction And Ideal Body Images In The Media: A Positive Intervention, Sarah Allison

Honors Program Projects

Growing evidence suggests that media images of ideal female and male body-types have a negative impact on body-satisfaction (Galioto & Crowther, 2013; Groesz, Levine, & Murnen, 2002; Hargreaves & Tiggeman, 2009; Hobza et al., 2007). Therefore, discovering ways to raise body-satisfaction after it has been lowered as a result of viewing media images may be an important area of research. This study sought to discover whether males receiving a positive intervention after looking at images of ideal male body-types would differ from males receiving no positive intervention after looking at these images in terms of body-satisfaction. This study also aimed …

A Practical Approach To Address Pornography Viewing At Olivet Nazarene University, Jacob Ruetz

Honors Program Projects

The pornography industry gains new ground and pushes new limits every day in an effort to raise revenues and demand. When pornography is evaluated as an efficient business, the potential for dehumanization, physical and emotional degradation, and the deterioration of a person’s spiritual and relational health become possible. On a small, Christian campus like Olivet Nazarene University (ONU), discussing topics as harmful and popular as pornography should be simple. However, the mindset of fear and silence when admitting weakness as a Christian can deter progress. Through a voluntary survey distributed to current undergraduate students, an overview of the student knowledge, …

Promoting Awareness Of Teen Pregnancy Through Multimedia Storytelling: The Case Of Elizabeth House In Ecuador, Mary Hall

Honors Program Projects

Advocacy journalism takes the basic principles of journalism — factual integrity, clear concise writing, storytelling, and educating the public — and uses them to tell the story of a particular cause or organization. Advocacy journalism moves one step past the traditional confines of journalism to reach an audience with a particular message. As Reader (2011) said, "Objectivity is about presenting what is, but advocacy is about changing what will be" (p. 2).

The goal of this project was to use advocacy journalism within a blog platform to raise awareness of the work for the not-for-profit organization, Casa Elizabeth, a home …

Tracking Faith: A Statistical Analysis Of The Spiritual Profiles Of Chicago And Dallas-Ft.Worth Over The Last 15 Years, Kaitlyn Fitzgerald

Honors Program Projects

This project explored the question of whether the spiritual profiles of the Chicago and Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) markets have changed significantly over the last 15 years and if those spiritual profiles differ significantly from each other. The Barna Group is a market research firm that has tracked the role of faith in America for over 30 years. This project was the extension of work done during an internship with the Barna Group in Summer 2014, and their extensive database was made available for this research. Regression analysis and test of hypotheses for population proportion comparison were performed on the responses …

The Collaboration Of Faith And Social Work In Creating A Gateway Of Helping, Breanne M. Bambrick

Honors Program Projects

When tragedy occurs, trauma follows. In crises, emergency response professionals are called upon in order to aid survivors. While the majority of professionals involved have received formal education on crisis management or disaster relief, the faith community is often called upon to assist without such prior knowledge. However, based on their mutual commitment to serve those in need, the social work profession and faith community represents a natural partnership in preparing for the disaster management process. Therefore, social workers can assist faith leadership in order to empower the faith community to be involved in crisis response. Specifically, this research addresses …

An Evaluation Of Youth In(Vol)Ved: Impact On Participants' Attitudes Toward Volunteerism, Kelsey G. Steines

Honors Program Projects

Youth In(VOL)ved is an 8 week youth volunteer program directed by the Grant Wood Area American Red Cross, which is located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The purpose of the program is to contribute to the American Red Cross’ goal of motivating and recruiting a new generation of volunteers, which supports the organization’s mission of alleviating human suffering in the face of emergencies. This paper examines the impact of Youth In(VOL)ved on participants’ attitudes toward volunteerism, which is information that can be used by the American Red Cross to apply for grant funding and to improve the program in future years. …

Relationships Between Elements Of Leslie Matrices And Future Growth Of The Population, Lorisha Lynn Riley

Honors Program Projects

Leslie matrices have been used for years to model and predict the growth of animal populations. Recently, general rules have been applied that can relatively easily determine whether an animal population will grow or decline. My mentor, Dr. Justin Brown and I examine, more specifically, whether there are relationships between certain elements of a population and the dominant eigenvalue, which determines growth. Not only do we consider the general 3x3 Leslie matrix, but also we looked into modified versions for incomplete data and migration models of Leslie matrices. We successfully found several connections within these cases; however, there is much …

Direct Human Service Experience And Its Effect On Volunteers' Self-Perceived Generosity And Meeting Volunteer Expectations, Emily M. Borger

Honors Program Projects

A study using participants (n=61) from a small liberal arts college was conducted to analyze the effect of direct human service on volunteers’ self‐perceived generosity, expected versus actual appreciation, expected versus actual satisfaction in work, and expected versus actual value of work. An experimental group (n=31) was given pre‐ and post‐surveys evaluating these dependent variables using a Likert scale. Between the surveys the experimental group received treatment of direct human service at a free community lunch program. The control group (n=30) was given the same pre‐ and postsurveys without treatment.

It was hypothesized that …