Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Obligations Of The State: State Behavior And The Occurrence Of State Success, Brendan Mark Morris

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The start of the twenty-first century has coincided with the emergence of the concept of state failure as a major humanitarian and security concern. While the occurrence of state failure has received much attention, there has been little agreement on the actual definition and conceptualization of state failure. This study intends to aid in the improvement on the discourse of state failure by providing a new approach on failed states that analyzes shifts in state fragility. In this new approach, this study focuses on the occurrence of state success and explain how states succeed by focusing on the fulfillment of …

The Psychophysiological Correlates Of Personality, Trauma, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And Social Support, Meghan E. Pierce

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Theories considering the etiology of psychopathy suggest that trauma exposure, specifically childhood maltreatment and sexual abuse, is related to the development of callous-unemotional traits in children and adolescents, which are precursors to psychopathic traits in adulthood. Furthermore, posttraumatic stress disorder has an opposite relationship with many of the emotional and behavioral components of the two-factor model of psychopathy. Specifically, PTSD is positively associated to IA and traits associated with it and negatively associated with FD. Thus, this study sought to expand upon the current theories of a trauma-based etiology of psychopathy by investigating the relationship between trauma, PTSD, and psychopathic …

Nonmonotonicity In Absolute And Relative Preferences For Real And Imagined Rewards, Nicholas Carfagno

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A key assumption in many studies examining valuation of reward is that participants’ preferences for various rewards are meaningfully, monotonically ordered with respect to other possible rewards. However, this assumption has not been systematically tested. Two studies consisting of 74 undergraduates from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and 122 community members demonstrated nonmonotonic reward preferences when provided with parametrically varied reward magnitudes. Although deficits in reward processing are believed to be a key feature of depression, depressed participants were more willing to work hard for rewards and exhibited more monotonic reward preferences than non-depressed participants. Relative to imaginary rewards, …

Jornaleros Engaged In A Multidimensional Struggle: A Critical Ethnography With Day Laborers In Las Vegas, Jorge Adrian Castrejon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Day labor work has spread across the entire Unite States as part of the secondary labor market, or as Cherrie Moraga describes it- survival work. Day laborers in Las Vegas, Nevada have become a significant part of this trend in the Southwest, where the highest rate of day laborers work, and for which little community and scholarly work has been produced. The National Day Labor Survey, the most comprehensive study with day laborers, reports that the day labor market is rife with abuse and violations of worker rights. But, the exploitation of this predominantly migrant workforce would not be possible …

Volunteer Management In Faith-Based Organizations, Cheryl Regina Coleman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) rely heavily on volunteers to carry out their mission, making volunteer labor fundamental to an organization’s business operations and outcomes. A review of the literature revealed a significant gap in managing volunteers effectively in a nonprofit, faith- based setting. The standard business management practices typically employed when managing volunteers lack effectiveness in nonprofit FBO environments. Employing for-profit management practices to managing volunteer labor in nonprofit settings is especially challenging given the uniqueness of nonprofit organizations that rely on volunteer over paid labor. Challenges include the organization’s values, mission, identity, social goals, outcomes, and ideological characteristics. The purpose …

Temperament And Behavior Factors In A Community Sample Of Youth With Selective Mutism, Rachele Alexandra Diliberto

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Children with selective mutism often present as a very diverse population, with both oppositional (APA, 2013; Cohan et al., 2008; Steinhausen & Juzi, 1996), and anxious symptoms (APA, 2013; Kristensen, 2000; Vecchio & Kearney, 2009) most commonly reported. The first aim of the current study was to validate the presence of previously identified anxious and oppositional behavior factors in a community sample of youth with selective mutism. These factors were previously identified in a clinic sample of youth with selective mutism (Diliberto & Kearney, 2016). The second aim was to examine the association of anxious and oppositional behavior factors with …

Aging And Fermentation As Adaptive Food Management Strategies In The Arctic, Celeste Giordano

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation is composed of three papers: one published article, one article under review for publication, and one published commentary. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to the dissertation as a whole – a work that investigates food aging and fermentation techniques in an indigenous Yup’ik Alaskan community, proposes an adaptive explanation for these strategies in the circumpolar north, and explores the potential importance of them cross-culturally and evolutionarily. Chapter 2 is a paper that describes the seal poke storage system – an indigenous food preservation and storage technique that Yup’ik Alaskans used to manage food security up until approximately one …

The Engaged Eurosceptic: Explaining Eurosceptic Success And Failures In European Parliamentary Elections, Nathan William Henceroth

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Eurosceptic political parties are predicted to over perform in second-order elections such as the European Parliamentary (EP) elections. Yet, not all eurosceptic parties have been successful in taking electoral advantage of their second-order electoral benefits. I argue that EP voters respond to EP legislative behavior and reward eurosceptic parties that actively oppose the EU by posing questions and attending plenary sessions, while EP voters punish eurosceptic parties that do not actively participate in the EP. Furthermore, the media provide the vital link between eurosceptic party EP legislative engagement and EP voters by providing increased levels of media exposure for engaged …

Societal Opinon Of Government And Private Agencies’ Surveillance Capabilities Post 9-11, Stephanie E. Kaplan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States has placed an increased focus upon government and private agencies to engage in surveillance practices in order to combat terrorism. The passing of the United States PATRIOT ACT (2001) expanded the surveillance capabilities of law enforcement officials thus allowing both federal and state agencies to legally wiretap a range of communication devices. Under the justification of “fighting terrorism,” federal and state agencies now have more access to sensitive data on/about a range of persons including subjects of interest. Legal scholars (Bam, 2015, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), …

The Relationship Between Mood And Implicit Learning, Kathleen Larson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation investigates whether a person’s current mood state influences their ability to learn implicitly. Implicit learning refers to learning about regularities in the environment without having conscious access to the information (e.g., Reber, 1967). According to the affect-as-information hypothesis, a positive mood increases global processing of incoming information and negative mood leads to local processing (e.g., Clore & Storbeck, 2006); however, most previous studies that investigated mood and cognition have focused on more explicit types of learning and decision making, but few have examined implicit processes. Thus, the current experiments examined how varying levels of mood and arousal affect …

Distracted Driving In Clark County, Nevada: Analysis Of An Intervention On College Students, Heidi Ann Manlove

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Distracted driving is a growing public health concern. Highlighted in the media, local and government agencies and in peer-review literature are increased associations of motor vehicle crash related injuries and fatalities with distracted driving, especially involving youth drivers. The goal of this thesis was to analyze the effects of a distracted driving intervention on college students at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Quantitative statistical analysis was performed to compare self-reported pre and post-intervention questionnaire responses of the experimental and control groups. Between-group analysis was performed using independent t-tests and ANOVA. Within-group differences were analyzed with Repeated Measures ANOVA (RM-ANOVA) and …

Conflicted Provision: Exploring The Intersection Of Social Support And Deception, Courtney Lane Mcdaniel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Social support and deception are both significant elements of close relationships. Social support involves verbal and nonverbal behaviors that are used when an individual is trying to help another person (Vangelisti, 2009). Social support is imperative to relationships, and as such, plays a large role within friendships, romantic relationships, and professional relationships alike. Research has suggested that friends in particular are one of the most enduring and irreplaceable sources of social support (Burleson, 1994; Burleson & Goldsmith, 1998; Floyd, 1995; Floyd & Parks, 1995). Thus, because friends comprise the strongest support system for many individuals, studying how deceptive communication functions …

Iran Through Time: A Visual And Content Analysis Of Iranians On The Cover Of Time Magazine, Kianoosh Mousavi Niaraki

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study analyzed media bias in the coverage of Iran by studying the covers of Time magazine that have featured Iranian individuals, politicians, and ordinary citizens. Previous literature has studied media’s influence on shaping perceptions of various issues and foreign culture and politics, as well as more detailed studies of media’s coverage of foreign countries and societies; however, this study focused on a neglected area of scholarship regarding depictions of Iranians in popular media. It used visual and content analyses of covers to determine the way Time magazine depicts Iran to American audiences.

An Examination Of Differences In Division I Fbs Student-Athlete Academic And Athletic Performance, Marissa Katherine Nichols

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The student-athlete literature if rife with studies that examine the factors that appear to improve or inhibit academic or athletic performance. However, internal characteristics that may influence variations in performance have been understudied, and athletic performance tends to be examined separately from academic performance. This study examined how different types of Division I FBS performers – high academic, high athletic; high academic, low athletic; low athletic, high academic; and low academic, low athletic – differ on three theoretical and conceptual frameworks representing internal factors. Each of the frameworks, Mindset, Personal Growth Initiative, and Student-Athlete Experiences, have positive attributes relative to …

An Examination Of Accuracy And Elaborations For Character Traits In A Narrative, Michael Palena

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

When people read a story, they often form a highly detailed representation known as a situation model. The event-indexing model (Zwaan, Langston, & Graesser, 1995) proposes that situation models are constructed along several indices, one of which is protagonist or character. While much research has been devoted to the study of tracking and forming trait-based models of fictional characters, little attention has been paid to the representation of characters’ external attributes. In Experiment 1, participants read a short story containing various characters and their attributes. Participants were then asked to recall the characters and their attributes, either according to their …

The Role Of Social Location In Coping With Caregiving, Jacqueline Ragin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A salient concern stemming from population aging is the expected rise in demand for informal family caregivers for diseases impacting the elderly, including dementia (MMMI 2010; NIA and WHO 2011). Studies of caregiver well-being often problematize the sociodemographic caregivers (e.g. gender, marital status) while caregiver intervention studies typically focus on the program itself (Gallagher-Thompson et al., 2008; Rabinowitz et al., 2006; Shulz et al., 2003). In this dissertation I unite these two bodies of caregiver research and examine how the sociodemographic characteristics of participants in a caregiver intervention program relate to the program’s effectiveness. I use secondary data from the …

De-Colonizing Language Needs: A Critical Ethnographic Study Of Former And Current Teachers’ Language Dispositions And How Taking A Multicultural Education Course Mediates Those Dispositions, Ravijot Singh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this critical ethnographic research was to examine how taking a Multicultural Education course mediated teachers’ language dispositions. Particularly, this study examined how language and culture have a profound connection that is largely unrecognized in the American education system, and how lack of respect for the home language of students by their teachers leads to negative attitudes towards the children and impedes students’ academic progress.

This study used a theoretical and conceptual framework that incorporate intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1991) as its research paradigm to understand the interaction and overlapping roles of language and culture in society, and how neoliberal …

Launching Conservative Resistance: A Rhetorical Criticism Of The Young Americans For Freedom, Tyler John Snelling

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

At the end of the 1940s, conservatives faced internal divisions, an elitist image, and people supporting government post Great Depression. Liberalism seemed entrenched throughout society. Yet, the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF), the first national, conservative movement, formed in 1960. This thesis investigates YAF’s earliest “publicity” in National Review, an influential magazine, to understand part of what preceded conservatism’s evolution. Publishing “The Ivory Tower: Young Americans for Freedom” by William F. Buckley and the “Sharon Statement,” YAF’s manifesto, side-by-side formed a new identity—young conservative—that empowered activists. From Maurice Charland’s “constitutive rhetoric,” chapter two investigates Buckley’s telling of the past as …

President Barack Obama Responds To Gun Violence: A Rhetoric Of Transformation., Gabriela Tscholl

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Over the course of his presidency Barack Obama responded to 15 incidents of gun violence. Moments of tragedy serve as one of the greatest tests of presidential leadership as they require the chief executive to articulate a definition of tragedy that enables citizens both to understand and to work through the experience. It is through the act of definition that presidents increase their rhetorical power, thereby allowing them to advocate or advance specific policy proposals. This thesis examines seven of President Obama’s memorial speeches: Fort Hood, TX (2009); Tucson, AZ (2011); Newtown, CT (2012); Washington, D.C. Navy Yard (2013); Fort …

International Responses To Human Trafficking: A Comparative Secondary Data Analysis Of National Characteristics, Olivia Germaine Tuttle

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Human trafficking is a rising international issue that has become a key concern for human rights organizations and governments throughout the world. As such, new policies are being developed and implemented to combat the problem. A guiding standard for these policies is the United Nations (UN) 2003 Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, which established a formal definition of human trafficking. While the UN Protocol was a significant step in the fight against human trafficking, it is limited by its framework, which focuses heavily on criminalization and punishment of traffickers. Recent discourse and …

Understanding Transitions Of Trust Across Different Business Contexts: An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Study, Sungsik Yoon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Airbnb’s influence has been growing rapidly in the last few years, and hotel operators are beginning to recognize the competitive threat it poses. However, consumers may perceive Airbnb differently than hoteliers. Thus, the current study attempts to explore hotel customers’ perceptions of the sharing economy business (Airbnb). It is important to pay attention to the different business settings of the channels that currently exist in the lodging industry. Moreover, investigating the relationship between trust and perceived risk in this new channel (i.e., Airbnb) is crucial due to the inherent risk of transactions on Airbnb, especially when compared with traditional Business-to-customer. …