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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Characteristics And Correlates Of Supportive Peer Mentoring: A Mixed Methods Study [Post-Print], Laura Holt, Melva Lopez Dec 2014

Characteristics And Correlates Of Supportive Peer Mentoring: A Mixed Methods Study [Post-Print], Laura Holt, Melva Lopez

Faculty Scholarship

In this mixed methods study, we employed thematic analysis (TA) to examine peer mentors’ perceptions of benefits, challenges, and roles they experienced as mentors, as well as benefits and challenges experienced by first-year college students. We also utilized quantitative student ratings to classify mentors as highly, moderately, or minimally supportive in order to determine whether any subthemes from the TA appeared more or less frequently across the three groups. Highly supportive mentors reported greater camaraderie among their seminar students and fewer unmotivated students, but also fewer opportunities to provide support to students. Moreover, mentors’ and students’ perceptions in the minimally …


A Conditional Cycle, James Wylie Deitch Sep 2014

A Conditional Cycle, James Wylie Deitch

The First-Year Papers (2010 - present)

No abstract provided.


Why Is A Free And Competitive Land Market Indispensable For Resolving The Three Agrarian Issues Through Endogenous Urbanization?, Guanzhong James Wen Jul 2014

Why Is A Free And Competitive Land Market Indispensable For Resolving The Three Agrarian Issues Through Endogenous Urbanization?, Guanzhong James Wen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Securitizing Immigration In The Age Of Terror, Anthony Messina Jul 2014

Securitizing Immigration In The Age Of Terror, Anthony Messina

Faculty Scholarship

In the context of the evidence presented in both the collected scholarship under review and other select works, this article asks if and to what extent migration-related issues have been securitized in Europe and the United States. In addressing these questions it executes three tasks. First, it critically assesses the four major dimensions across which contemporary immigration purportedly is securitized: on one side, rhetorically addressing immigration-related issues through political elite discourse, public opinion, and the mass media; and on the other, the policy processes through which immigration is securitized. Second, this article identifies the strengths and weaknesses of securitization theory …


Remittances And Economic Growth In Mexico: An Empirical Study With Structural Breaks, 1970-2010, Miguel D. Ramirez Jun 2014

Remittances And Economic Growth In Mexico: An Empirical Study With Structural Breaks, 1970-2010, Miguel D. Ramirez

Faculty Scholarship

This paper investigates remittance flows to Mexico during the 1980-2010 period in absolute terms, relative to GDP, in comparison to FDI inflows, and in terms of their regional destination. Next, the paper reviews the growing literature that assesses the impact of remittances on investment spending and economic growth. Third, it presents a simple endogenous growth model that explicitly incorporates the potential impact of remittance flows on economic and labor productivity growth. Fourth, it presents a modified empirical counterpart to the simple model that tests for both single- and two-break unit root tests, as well as performs cointegration tests with an …


A Different Global Power? Understanding China’S Role In The Developing World, Xiangming Chen, Ivan Su Jun 2014

A Different Global Power? Understanding China’S Role In The Developing World, Xiangming Chen, Ivan Su

Faculty Scholarship

China is now the largest trading nation in the world, with strong ties to Africa, Latin and America and the Middle East. This once impoverished and isolated nation has lifted several hundred millions of its own people out of poverty and is now reshaping the developing world. This article looks at China’s involvement in four developing regions to assess China’s influence as a rising global power.


Attitudes About Help-Seeking Mediate The Relation Between Parent Attachment And Academic Adjustment In First-Year College Students, Laura Holt May 2014

Attitudes About Help-Seeking Mediate The Relation Between Parent Attachment And Academic Adjustment In First-Year College Students, Laura Holt

Faculty Scholarship

Although numerous studies have documented an association between parent attachment and college student adjustment, less is known about the mechanisms that underlie this relation. Accordingly, this short-term longitudinal study examined first-year college students’ attitudes about academic help-seeking as one possible mechanism. As predicted, help-seeking attitudes mediated the relation between parent attachment and academic adjustment, even after controlling for gender and initial academic adjustment, with females holding more favorable attitudes about academic help-seeking. College personnel might explicitly encourage academic help-seeking in first-year students to maximize academic success and mitigate the effects of insecure attachment and gender-specific socialization.


How The Lack Of Copyright Protections For Fashion Designs Affects Innovation In The Fashion Industry, Serena Elavia Apr 2014

How The Lack Of Copyright Protections For Fashion Designs Affects Innovation In The Fashion Industry, Serena Elavia

Senior Theses and Projects

The fashion industry is a multibillion dollar industry that continues to grow. Currently, there is an ongoing debate on whether or not fashion designs should be able to receive copyright protections due to a phenomena called fast fashion. Fast fashion is when low end designers copy high end designs from both the spring and fall Fashion Weeks, produce the copied product quickly and sell before the high end good is released to stores. Copying in the fashion industry is possible because there are no copyright protections granted to fashion designs. With recent legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives …


The Effect Of Gender On Aggressive And Prosocial Behavior With Gaming Technology, Nikita Singhal Apr 2014

The Effect Of Gender On Aggressive And Prosocial Behavior With Gaming Technology, Nikita Singhal

Senior Theses and Projects

The relationship between different types of video games and male and female adolescent behavior has been widely speculated in the recent past. Research has suggested that violent video games may increase aggressive behavior, and prosocial video games may enhance altruistic behavior (Willoughby, Adachi & Good, 2012; Greitemeyer, Osswald, & Brauer, 2010). Bartholow and Anderson (2002) suggested that men may be more influenced by violent video games than women. Interestingly, past research on prosocial video games has not found any gender differences (Gentile et al, 2009). The current study examined the effect of gender on aggressive and prosocial behavior in relation …


Reform Failure And Underdevelopment In Egypt: An Institutional Explanation, Marissa Block Apr 2014

Reform Failure And Underdevelopment In Egypt: An Institutional Explanation, Marissa Block

Senior Theses and Projects

The January 25 Revolution in Egypt and the larger wave of demonstrations throughout the Arab World shattered the façade of stability and have brought the region to a critical juncture. The underlying causes of the Arab Spring point to the preponderance of socioeconomic issues, namely unemployment, poverty, and lack of social mobility. Yet, in the late 1990s in Egypt, Mubarak initiated a series of economic reforms designed to sustain economic growth. In light of the 2011 Egyptian uprisings, I seek to understand the failures of economic reform and persistence of underdevelopment in Egypt through the framework of new institutional economics. …


Stuck In The Trauma Story: The Construction And Consequences Of Narrative Liminality In A Domestic Violence Center In Cape Town, South Africa, Annie Arnzen Apr 2014

Stuck In The Trauma Story: The Construction And Consequences Of Narrative Liminality In A Domestic Violence Center In Cape Town, South Africa, Annie Arnzen

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.


Reacciones Culturales A La Sociedad Del Consumismo En España Contemporánea: Correlaciones Entre La Economía Y Los Repertorios Culturales, Taylor M. Perry Apr 2014

Reacciones Culturales A La Sociedad Del Consumismo En España Contemporánea: Correlaciones Entre La Economía Y Los Repertorios Culturales, Taylor M. Perry

Senior Theses and Projects

The phenomenon of postmodern society includes increased importance on consumerist culture and capitalist behavior. During the end of the twentieth century, economic prosperity reinforced this notion throughout Spain’s large cities. Following the demise of the Spanish financial and banking industries in 2010, society began to voice negative opinions surrounding consumer culture and the dependence on spending money to spur economic growth. High unemployment and increased debt levels yielded protesting art performances, politically charged editorials and various studies regarding a newly discovered “shopping addiction” disease. This social and political outrage conveyed through an assortment of cultural expressions surrounding an economic issue …


The Worth Of Water: A Look At The Water Scarcity Crisis And The Perceptions Of The Basic Need Of Water In South Africa, Megan O'Brien Apr 2014

The Worth Of Water: A Look At The Water Scarcity Crisis And The Perceptions Of The Basic Need Of Water In South Africa, Megan O'Brien

Senior Theses and Projects

Not every South African has access to the same amount of water, quality of water, or infrastructure for water. A core question for me during this research was if and how attitudes towards water and daily water consumption vary along with different levels of water accessibility. Considering both the emerging global water scarcity crisis and the legacy of Apartheid, evident by the institutional inequalities in South Africa, I unravel the current system of water allocation. First, I discuss the definition of water scarcity, the politics surrounding water allocation, and South Africa’s Constitutional right to water as well as the Free …


Learn 2 Learn: A Metacognitive Intervention For Middle School, Melva J. Lopez Apr 2014

Learn 2 Learn: A Metacognitive Intervention For Middle School, Melva J. Lopez

Senior Theses and Projects

Self-regulated learning is comprised of motivation, cognition, and metacognition. This study aimed to improve eighth grade social studies students’ self-regulated learning and academic performance through the implementation of an intervention into their social studies curriculum. The intervention centered on exposing students to the different dimensions of metacognition (i.e., comprehending and being able to control one’s own cognitive processes) based on research findings that showed a link between metacognition and academic performance (Dignath & Büttner, 2008; Kistner, Rakoczy, Otto, Dignath-van Ewijk, Büttner, & Klieme, 2010). The intervention was designed to foster the students’ knowledge and use of metacognitive strategies through group …


Self-Regulated Learning Intervention: Teaching Metacognition To Enhance School Performance And Motivation Of Middle School Students, Taylor K. Godfrey Apr 2014

Self-Regulated Learning Intervention: Teaching Metacognition To Enhance School Performance And Motivation Of Middle School Students, Taylor K. Godfrey

Senior Theses and Projects

Self-regulated learning is comprised of motivation, cognition, and metacognition. This study aimed to improve eighth grade social studies students’ self-regulated learning and academic performance through the implementation of an intervention in the social studies curriculum. The intervention centered on exposing students to the different dimensions of metacognition (i.e., comprehending and being able to control one’s own cognitive processes) based on research findings that showed a link between metacognition and academic performance (Dignath & Büttner, 2008; Kistner et al., 2010). The intervention was designed to foster the students’ knowledge and use of metacognitive strategies through group work and cognitive discussions based …


Negative Externalities And Environmental Regulation: An Application Of The Principal-Agent Model, Emily Hickox Apr 2014

Negative Externalities And Environmental Regulation: An Application Of The Principal-Agent Model, Emily Hickox

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis considers optimal enforcement strategies in the context of principal-agent relationships for industries where there is a high risk of negative externalities. The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill—the largest accidental spill of all time—is used as a case study to highlight the regulatory issues that can arise in industries that can have far-reaching and negative impacts on society. An in-depth analysis of the events surrounding the disaster makes it clear that complex principal-agent relationships between agencies and firms are common in the industry, as are problems with conflicting objectives, improper incentives, and moral hazard. As these are all features …


A Piece Of The Puzzle: Can Behavioral Insights Help Understand Currency Returns?, Samuel D. Russell Apr 2014

A Piece Of The Puzzle: Can Behavioral Insights Help Understand Currency Returns?, Samuel D. Russell

Senior Theses and Projects

This paper finds further evidence using a Cointegrated Vector Autoregression to support claims against the Uncovered Interest Rate Parity (UIP) ex post, referred to as the Forward Discount Anomaly (Fama, 1984). This anomaly suggests predictable profits simply from investing in a country with a higher interest rate. Potential explanations could be attributed to risk or deviations from the rational expectations hypothesis. UIP ex ante is tested using survey data. These results indicate a time-­‐ varying risk premium. Further it is found that this premium is related to the gap between the exchange rate and Purchasing-­‐Power-­‐Parity value. Additionally it is determined …


Balance Of Power In Monetary And Fiscal Policymaking And Its Effect On Economic Outcomes, Rachel Ng Apr 2014

Balance Of Power In Monetary And Fiscal Policymaking And Its Effect On Economic Outcomes, Rachel Ng

Senior Theses and Projects

By analyzing the balance of power between key policymakers involved in restoring the economy back to health during two periods in history – the Nixon administration and the 2008 financial crisis –, my thesis reveals the detrimental effects the political business cycle has on the success of recovery. In the Nixon era, the evidence supports the notion that Nixon coerced Burns into lowering interest rates past Burns’ threshold, which exacerbated inflation and sent the economy into the dismal state of stagflation. Contrary to the popularly held belief that the Fed acts as an arm of the Treasury, Bernanke held his …


Subprime Disaster Capitalism In New Haven, Jacob D. Miller Apr 2014

Subprime Disaster Capitalism In New Haven, Jacob D. Miller

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis seeks to employ the fusion New Haven, Connecticut's municipal legacy with current market forces and players to critically analyze the urban condition. I will utilize Naomi Klein's notion of disaster capitalism to explore how development and management corporations in New Haven capitalized on the subprime crisis to further exploit already marginalized communities through vast land grabs and limited real estate maintenance. New Haven’s current urban composition is the result of a legacy of disproportionate municipal support and selective appropriation of socio-cultural value in the city’s low-income neighborhoods. In order to avoid addressing the systemic inequalities created by the …


China's Unbalanced Development, And What We Can Learn From It, Manfredo F. Camperio Ciani Apr 2014

China's Unbalanced Development, And What We Can Learn From It, Manfredo F. Camperio Ciani

Senior Theses and Projects

This paper argues that China’s development is unbalanced, and to see the unbalance we must divide the concept of development into different categories representing its different aspects, such as economic, urban, social, and sustainable. By looking at the different characteristics of development through time, it is possible to see where the unbalance lies. Furthermore, we learn that by categorizing the nature of development, we can gain a more comprehensive insight into the development of individual countries. In conclusion, this paper proposes the creation of a possible Development Index, as it can provide greater understanding of each country’s development.


Alternative Tourism And Development: Implications For International Study Abroad And Volunteer Programs In The Global South, Avery E. Dwyer Apr 2014

Alternative Tourism And Development: Implications For International Study Abroad And Volunteer Programs In The Global South, Avery E. Dwyer

Senior Theses and Projects

Recent years have seen rising interest among Western travelers in the so-called “Global South” or “developing world,” especially through experiences that fall under the umbrella term of “alternative tourism.” Many travelers engage in this type of tourism through experiences in either one or both of alternative tourism’s most popular sub-genres: alternative study abroad and volunteer tourism. With many of these programs either implicitly or explicitly geared toward development, this paper discusses the possible development-related consequences upon the places in which they operate. It traces origins and causes of alternative tourism’s rise, and explains how it has come to be associated …


Star Trek As An Agent Of Cultural Reproduction, Jacob H. Pullis Apr 2014

Star Trek As An Agent Of Cultural Reproduction, Jacob H. Pullis

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.


"It Would Never Happen To Me": Female Perceptions Of Community And Experience Of Crime On And Off Campus, Jillian Zieff Apr 2014

"It Would Never Happen To Me": Female Perceptions Of Community And Experience Of Crime On And Off Campus, Jillian Zieff

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.


Success By Class: How Socioeconomic Status Affects Students’ Definitions Of Success At Private Liberal Arts Colleges, Sophie Katzman Apr 2014

Success By Class: How Socioeconomic Status Affects Students’ Definitions Of Success At Private Liberal Arts Colleges, Sophie Katzman

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.


China And South Asia: Contention And Cooperation Between Giant Neighbours, Xiangming Chen, Pallavi Banerjee, Gaurav I. Toor, Ned Downie Apr 2014

China And South Asia: Contention And Cooperation Between Giant Neighbours, Xiangming Chen, Pallavi Banerjee, Gaurav I. Toor, Ned Downie

Faculty Scholarship

Are China and India allies or enemies in the South Asian economy? Well, it seems they are both; working together in healthy and profitable partnerships while maintaining armies in the contested China-India borders. This article explains the paradoxical nature of the China-India relationship and its impact and implications for the smaller countries in South Asia and neighboring Southeast Asia.


Vanguards No Longer: Challenges To Al Qaeda Leadership Of The Jihadist Community, Byron J. Doerfer Apr 2014

Vanguards No Longer: Challenges To Al Qaeda Leadership Of The Jihadist Community, Byron J. Doerfer

Senior Theses and Projects

2014 marks the first time that al Qaeda’s supremacy in the Jihadist community has been challenged. al Qaeda’s former franchise in Iraq, now called the “Islamic State,” has declared the organization responsible for 9/11 “Tyrants” and “Apostates.” The Islamic State has begun openly attacking al Qaeda’s official franchise in Syria, Jabhat al Nusra. These events are a consequence of the strategy of franchising that al Qaeda undertook following 9/11. The root of the issue between al Qaeda and its former Iraqi franchise is over a difference over the importance placed on popular support as a key ingredient in achieving the …


Effects Of Public Funding On State Legislative Elections, Eva L. Lauer Apr 2014

Effects Of Public Funding On State Legislative Elections, Eva L. Lauer

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis analyzes the effects of public funding on state legislative elections in Maine, Arizona, Connecticut, and Minnesota for the 2008 and 2010 election cycles. in order to answer the research questions: “ Among the states that provide full public funding for their legislative candidates, which state is most successfully able to provide public funding programs that incentivize their state legislative candidates to accept the limitations of their public financing laws?” and “Which state has the most competitive elections among major party legislative candidates who accept public funding for their campaigns?”


Customary Law And The Limits Of Female Land Tenure Reform In Kenya, Erica M. Bertoli Apr 2014

Customary Law And The Limits Of Female Land Tenure Reform In Kenya, Erica M. Bertoli

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.


Interpreting The Roman Squatting Tradition, Shaun J. Mcgann Apr 2014

Interpreting The Roman Squatting Tradition, Shaun J. Mcgann

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis addresses the rich tradition of urban occupations, also known as "squatting", in Rome, Italy. I argue that Roman squatting had its origins mainly in the Social Center Movement of the late 1970s and a preceding wave of occupations aimed at garnering affordable housing. In order to provide a context for these social movements, I first briefly describe the urban development history of the city since the late 1800s. The Roman pattern of urban development favored private interests and land speculation in a manner that resulted in overconsumption and the marginalization of a large sect of the population. In …


The Effect Of Aggressive And Prosocial Video Games On Aggressive And Prosocial Behavior, Valerie L. Scelsa Apr 2014

The Effect Of Aggressive And Prosocial Video Games On Aggressive And Prosocial Behavior, Valerie L. Scelsa

Senior Theses and Projects

The relationship between video games and aggressive and prosocial behavior has been a topic of special interest for psychologists, as it may have important implications for society. Research has suggested that violent video games increase aggressive behavior, and prosocial video games increase prosocial behavior (Adachi, Good and Willoughby, 2012; Brauer, Greitemeyer and Osswald, 2010). However, the literature on aggressive behavior is somewhat conflicting and the research on prosocial behavior is relatively recent. Therefore, the current study aimed to fill in some of the gaps in the current literature by examining the effect of prosocial and aggressive video games on prosocial …