Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Human Trafficking And Its Evolution Into Cyberspace: How Has Technology Transformed Human Trafficking Over Time?, Gabriela Landron

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Over the past few years, with the rise of technology, human trafficking has transformed into one of the largest clandestine crimes globally. Though the relationship between human trafficking and technology has gained attention over recent years, the empirical research on this topic is still underdeveloped. As such, the relationship between technological developments and the rise of human trafficking remains unanswered. Within this frame of reference, this research aims to explore this relationship to better understand how human trafficking has flourished in cyberspace and is beginning to depend on technological advancements for predation by using a content analysis of newspaper articles. …

The College Experience In The Eyes Of Adverse Childhood Experiences, Andrea I. Olmeda Santiago

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic events experienced by children and adolescents ages zero to 17 that can have a long-lasting effect on a person's overall mental and physical health. Recent studies have shown that the rate of students entering college with one or more ACEs has increased, potentially resulting in a lower rate of college completion. The purpose of this study is to gain insight into how college students with multiple ACEs navigate the college experience despite their barriers. College students are a unique population due to their range of diversity in every aspect of a student's life, including …

People, Places, And Things: The Relationship Between Presence, Demographic Factors, And Self-Concept On A University Campus, Lydell E. Kerbo Jr

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Within the framework of ecological psychology, environments are places, defined as landscapes of affordances, or the array of potential actions that can be executed. The feedback between direct perception-action and use of affordances results in the sense of presence in place. According to previous research, increased presence has been correlated with greater attachment and connectedness with the place as well as beneficial psychological states in a campus setting. However, it is unclear what factors, such as demographics, may influence differences in engagement with campus affordances, and hence, presence among individuals. The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship …

The Association Of Cultural Orientation With Identity Development And Psychological Adjustment, Madison M. Cooper

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The current study aimed to examine possible relationships between cultural orientation and identity formation. Late adolescent college students (N = 480) completed an anonymous survey online. Measures included the Cultural Orientation Scale, the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire, and the Identity Distress Survey. Contrary to predictions, neither identity exploration nor identity distress were found to be related to cultural orientation. However, identity commitment was significantly correlated with both individualism and collectivism. Further, a ONEWAY ANOVA suggested differences between identity statuses. An LSD post-hoc analyses found that the two committed statuses, Achievement (high in identity commitment after extensive identity exploration) and …

Investigating The Role Of Trust And Self-Confidence In Automation, Daniela R. Miele

Honors Undergraduate Theses

A proper calibration of trust in automation is imperative to achieve optimal overall performance in human-machine systems. Previous research has suggested that human operator trust could be influenced by various situational and dispositional factors, as well as operator self-confidence. It is critical to examine what traits and factors will influence how likely a person is to trust autonomous vehicles as they become more prevalent on today's roadways. The goal of this study was to further examine the relationship between individuals' level of self-confidence in their own driving abilities and their reported trust in automation when driving semi-autonomous cars. It was …

Gender Identity, Discrimination, And Adjustment Among College Students, Nicole A. Coco

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research sought to test the notion that the non-cisgender population experiences an inordinate toll in regard to their mental well-being as a result of inaccurate or incomplete classification of their self-identified gender identity among US college students (N = 591). In accordance with the previous literature, the non-cisgender population experienced a significant increase of perceived experience of microaggressions and internalized symptoms. Contrary to expectations, there was no significance found for rates of identity distress. Previous literature did not reflect a significantly lower score of challenging the binary for Caucasians in relation to Hispanic and Asian ethnicities, as this …

Implicit Bias And Discrimination In Healthcare As Experienced Through An Intersectional Lens, Angela Yen

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to better understand the way that intersectional identities affect one's perception of one's healthcare experience. Many previous studies focus on one facet of the minority experience, such as race or sexual orientation, and even then, limit it to a comparison between the majority population and one small subsection of the population of interest (ex: studying only African-Americans as racial minorities and disregarding other minority races). This study was more of a broad survey that sought to account for the unique intersection of different minority identities that one may possess and which ultimately affects how …

Conflicts In Communication And Academic Needs For Virtual Education Gifted Students, Sarah M. Finley

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Modern education has to take on various roles and contingencies over the last decade – both for good and worse. Public school systems are competing with private and now charter schools for student enrollment and virtual or online learning schools. A question many parents and educators struggle with – how do we grow and develop children and young adults' academic needs through the use of technology?

The question may be simple; however, the answer is far complicated. Technology provides help in various ways a human being cannot, including instant gratification of Google searches, video education, synchronous education game formats, distant …

Technology Or Taboo?: An Analysis Of Emerging Technology Weapons And Weapon Taboos, Mia R. Wilson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Technology tends to evolve over time, leading over things to evolve with it. One example may be the evolution of weapons with technological advancement. When these weapons change, it changes how war is conducted. This paper seeks to delve into the specifics of this phenomena. With technological advancement, the world has seen new threats such as lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs) and cyber weapons. New weapons have been, at times, too threatening. They have created so much stigma around themselves the international community ultimately decided against their use. These weapons may then receive a weapon taboo, discouraging their use. This paper …

Authoritarian Regime Resiliency In The Middle East: A Comparative Case Study Of Syria And Jordan, Mohammed Al Awwad

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Following the onset of the Arab Spring in 2011, the authoritarian regimes of the Middle East were expected to crumble while paving the pathway to democratization. Yet many of these regimes have remarkably survived. Even the regimes that had been toppled following popular protests were displaced by more repressive regimes characterized by the same form of rule as their predecessors. A prominent example of this pattern is Mubarak's regime that was initially displaced by Morsi's democratically elected government until it was overthrown by a coup spearheaded by General Sisi and replaced with a military dictatorship that persists today. The number …

Strategic Culture And Cyber Strategy, Andrew S. Olejarski

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this paper is to explore the relationship between strategic culture theory and how it interacts with war-parallel usage of cyber methods. Cyber methods, at times incorrectly classified as "cyberwarfare", as a means of statecraft are becoming increasingly prevalent, and developing an understanding of how states use them, particularly during conflicts, would be a great boon to the field of security studies. Strategic culture theory, an international relations theory focusing on the relationship between culture and strategy, may be an effective means to analyze conflict-parallel use of cyber methods. This paper will consider the relationship between strategic culture …

Misinformation In The Media And Its Influence On Racism, Jared Champa

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of the current study was to examine how the media's positive and negative portrayals related to racism impact the viewer's attitudes regarding African Americans. Previous research has shown how misinformation in the media can implicitly affect one's level of racism. Previous research has also shown that gender and one's sociodemographic status can affect the way individuals perceive misinformation. This study aimed to address the relationship between misinformation depicting racist views directed toward African Americans and consumer's attitudes toward African Americans. It was hypothesized that exposure to misinformation will have a significant impact on participants' level of racism. A …

College Men's Sexual Aggression Perpetration: Understanding The Role Of Child Abuse, Romantic Rejection, And Self-Worth, Alexandra C. Sabal

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Sexual aggression is a pervasive issue on college campuses, and many risk factors have been studied in an attempt to understand and reduce perpetration. In the current study, I focus on men's history of child abuse, romantic rejection, and sources of self-worth as potential predictors of sexual aggression perpetration. As part of an ongoing online cross-sectional study (target N = 600), data were analyzed for 72 college men. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were used to characterize the current sample describe patterns of relationships between study variables. Results indicate that all forms of child abuse were significantly positively associated with …

Construction Of The Social Distance Scale And The Relationship Between Trait Empathy And Social Distancing, Michaela Prachthauser

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This paper describes the development of a brief self-report screening measure of adherence to social distancing and self-protective behaviors in pandemic situations. It provides initial statistical evaluations of correlations between social distancing behaviors and two trait measures (social desirability and trait empathy). Items measures were designed to quantify behaviors recommended by the CDC as primary strategies to prevent and reduce the spread of the COVID-19 infection. An item pool of 29 questions was generated with the aim of estimating the frequency of specific behaviors and were written to avoid confounding the description of behavioral actions with evaluative judgements. Responses were …

The Role Of Acculturative Stress In Immigrant Mental Health, Daaman S. Lall

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Acculturative stress, the stress that originates from adapting to a new culture, is investigated for its role in immigrant mental health. Prior research shows that acculturative stress is commonly associated with adverse mental health outcomes, but this relationship is not inevitable and depends upon many in-group and individual characteristics. This survey study intended to determine whether the relationship found in the literature exists among UCF undergraduate immigrants and whether new variables can play a role in this relationship. Valid and reliable scales were used to measure acculturative stress, mental health, social support, subjective wellbeing, bicultural integration, and cultural orientation. Inconsistent …

Self-Affirmation Intervention On Eating Disorders, Stephanie Kaine

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research studied the feasibility of a self-affirmation identity technique as an intervention in the treatment of eating disorders patients. Self-affirmations have been proven successful among various problems so this research examined the effectiveness it'd have on participants with eating disorders.

Sign Language And Language Development: A Meta-Analysis, Yasmin Sanchez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study takes a look at baby signing and its effect on caregiver responsiveness, considering how vital caregiver responsiveness is when it comes to language development. A meta-analytic review that quantitatively combines data was conducted to estimate the effect size between baby signs and caregiver responsiveness. There were no restrictions on geography or culture in which studies were conducted. However, the time period of publication was limited from 2009 to 2020 in an attempt to examine the most recent research possible. The following search terms were used: baby signing, gestures, caregiver responsiveness, caregiver interactions, and caregiver. For a study to …

"To Love Or To Loathe": The Impact Of Childhood Bullying On The Quality Of Adult Romantic Relationships, Richelle M. Cruz Quetell

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The current study explored whether childhood bullying has a lasting impact on the quality of adult romantic relationships. A complete case analysis of 86 participant responses examined the association between bullying, insecure attachment, romantic relationship satisfaction, and trust. The findings partially supported study hypotheses. Specifically, a significant positive correlation between social manipulation, a type of bullying, and avoidant attachment was found. Physical victimization was also positively correlated with trust. However, no significant association between bullying and relationship satisfaction was found. Exploratory multiple regression analysis showed that both physical victimization and romantic relationship satisfaction predict the level of trust experienced in …

Parallel Systems Of Health Care: How Grassroots Organizations And Health Care Practitioners Perceive Farmworker Health, Andrea Ocasio Cruz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Socioeconomic and citizenship barriers prevent farmworkers from accessing public health care; thus, grassroots organization members and health care practitioners collaborate to create community health clinics that provide care for farmworkers and low-wage immigrant workers. Such community clinics are known as parallel health care systems, yet the concept's existing literature lacks comprehensive studies on the parallel systems operating within farmworker communities. To fill this research gap, I conducted nine semi-structured interviews to collect the perceptions of key community stakeholders involved in providing accessible health and financial aid to farmworker communities in Florida. I analyzed the interviews through the qualitative grounded theory …

Applying Usability Methods To Categorization Of Phishing Emails, Oshin T. Thomas

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Phishing emails are a continuing threat in today's society—this study aimed to unpeel the layers on why certain people are prone to phishing emails than others. Participants were presented with twenty legitimate emails as well as twenty phishing emails in random order and were asked to be phishing or not. They were also asked to explain why they chose the answer they believed was right in a couple of sentences. Data was compiled and collected via a Qualtrics survey and analyzed using JASP. Results obtained indicated little to no correlation between the number of features mentioned in the study and …

Examining Motivation In Online Learning Amongst Traditional And Nontraditional College Students, Juan J. Echeverri

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Nontraditional students continue to grow as a population in universities across North America. These individuals are characterized as twenty-five years of age or older, have taken time off from school, and usually hold a job outside of their school duties. With our increased immersion in online environments, many individuals earning an educational degree through online participation, and previous studies calling upon further research, we decided to investigate this line of research. Specifically, the present study seeks to understand the motivational factors seen between traditional and nontraditional students, with an emphasis on intrinsic motivation. The results suggest that nontraditional students are …

Examining The Relationship Between Mental Health Conditions And Risk Perception In Determining Covid-19 Preventative Health Behaviors, Krupali Patel

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Depression and anxiety are relatively common among college students and research suggests that risk perceptions may be modulated by these mental health conditions. In addition, studies have demonstrated that higher perception of risk predicts more frequent practice of preventative health behaviors, and this relationship may also be modulated by depression and anxiety. The present study examined the relationship between these factors in the context of COVID-19. Using survey data from undergraduate students, risk perceptions about COVID-19, self-reported practice of COVID-19 preventative behaviors, and their relationship were compared between those with and without the common mental health conditions of Major Depressive …

The Girlhood Double-Standard, Juliet J. Cahow

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Due to the patriarchal and racial hierarchies that structure education, girls, and specifically girls of color, occupy a marginalized space within it. This is in contrast to boys, who are considered more intellectually gifted, yet held to lower academic and behavioral standards. This study explores the impacts of gender, racial, and ethnic stereotypes perceived by 30 white, Black, and/or Latinx women (ages 18-22) during their experiences in U.S. public middle schools (grades 6-8). Participants were surveyed to ascertain general information about them and their middle school experiences, then invited to participate in focus groups to share their individual narratives. In …

Message, Messenger, Or Receiver: Effects Of Social Identity And Personality Characteristics On Foreign Policy Decision Making, Joseph Aromando Iv

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This project investigates the effects of social identity and personal characteristics on foreign policy decision-making. The two main US political parties, Democrats and Republicans, were used as markers for social identity. Participants were first instructed to read a scenario regarding a hostile fictional country followed by a speech regarding the same fictional country. Two speeches were created using a content analysis of speeches from Democrats and Republicans prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Participants were randomly placed into one of four conditions. One condition paired a Democratic-themed speech with a Republican speaker, another paired a Democratic speech with a …

The Impact Of Childhood Sexual Abuse On Adult Sexual Assault Victimization, Psychological Distress And Substance Use, Diamonde Mccollum

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The goal of this thesis is to explore the mechanisms underlying the association between women's experiences of child sexual abuse (CSA) and substance use in adulthood. Specifically, I evaluated the role of CSA, adult sexual victimization (ASA), and psychological distress including symptoms of depression, perceived stress, and PTSD on substance use. Research has shown that individuals who experience CSA are more likely to experience ASA, which results in psychological distress. Individuals may engage in substance use to cope with psychological distress from CSA and ASA, consistent with the self-medication hypothesis. Women (N = 225) were recruited from Mechanical Turk …

The Effects Of Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy On Irritability In Menopausal Women, Giavana Hanna

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The start of the menopausal transition involves the introduction of various somatic, urogenital, and psychological symptoms; of the symptoms, irritability is one of the main complaints reported by women. The use of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy has become more prevalent in society, specifically treating the somatic and urogenital symptoms of the menopausal transition. This study aims to determine the effects of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) on irritability in menopausal women. To test the hypotheses, an online survey was distributed to women via social media and word-of-mouth. Participants were asked to respond to various questions, which were then analyzed based …

The Effect Of Microdosing Classical Psychedelics On Cognitive Performance, Michael Harris

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Public interest and scientific inquiry are currently bringing psychedelic research back into the spotlight after a decades-long respite from clinical human trials. A majority of the research during this recent renaissance has surrounded applications of psychedelics in the fields of mental health. Less attention is being focused to other research areas where psychedelics may also prove informative, such as cognition and information processing. A common trend taking place is the act of administering very small doses of psychedelics as a potential cognitive enhancer, called microdosing. With less research being focused on these areas however, it is not well documented whether …

The Failure Of Third-Party Interventions In Civil Wars, Benjamin D. Giltner

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to understand the circumstances that result in the inability of third-party interventions to solve civil wars. Previous research has examined the impact of third-party interventions on the outcomes of civil wars, the interests of third-party actors in civil wars, as well as the perceptions of civil war participants on third-party actors. The theory in this paper asserts that third-party interventions are unsuccessful when the government and leader of at least one country place the interest of special interest groups ahead of the national interest of their country. This research uses the war in eastern …

The Influence Of Intersecting Identities On Chronic Stress In College Students, Heather E. Meyer

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study explores the influence of chronic stress in college students. It focuses on the broader chronic stressors that college students experience related to physical and mental health, financial health and wellbeing, and presence of social supports, then addresses the more specific chronic stressors related to intersecting identities of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. This phenomenon is analyzed under the theoretical frameworks of social determinants of health, intersectionality, and systems theory. An online survey with both open and closed-ended questions was conducted with undergraduate social work students from the Bachelors of Social Work program at the University of Central …

Craving For Attention: Examining Mood And Attention Bias In The Moment As Predictors Of Alcohol Craving, Katie R. Moskal

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Alcohol consumption is prevalent on college campuses. There are a number of theories that seek to explain the link between alcohol use and mood. The affective-processing model posits that negative affect may interact with subconscious cognitive factors, such as attention bias (AB), to promote drug-seeking behavior. In contrast, the incentive-sensitization model suggests positive mood may drive drug seeking behavior, and this drive may be moderated by cognitive factors (e.g., AB). The current study hypothesized that both positive and negative mood would be associated with drug craving in the moment. It was further hypothesized that AB would moderate mood-craving associations. Participants …