Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 114

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Male And Female Differences In Communicating Conflict, Jessica Cinardo Dec 2011

Male And Female Differences In Communicating Conflict, Jessica Cinardo

Honors Theses

Research suggests that males and females communicate using different styles of interaction. Men and women are biologically different, but evidence also demonstrates a social difference. The patterns displayed in cross- sex communication often reveal how men and women interact interpersonally. In conflict situations the contrasting behaviors between the sexes become more evident. This is a collection of research defining and explaining the differences which exist between males and females and how those differences develop within communication. Conflict is a prevalent element of all relationships and the manner in which it is handled is crucial to the survival of those relationships. …


"If You Build It, They Will Come": The Positive Economic Impacts Of Nfl Stadiums In Their Surrounding Cities, Mary C. Ewen Dec 2011

"If You Build It, They Will Come": The Positive Economic Impacts Of Nfl Stadiums In Their Surrounding Cities, Mary C. Ewen

Honors Theses

As with most sports, the incredible emotion that comes with dedicated fans radiates throughout the cities in which these teams reside. The positive economic impact that NFL stadiums have on their surrounding cities is the driving factor behind the creation of these sports power houses. NFL franchises increase tourism, and create an economic stimulus within the community that makes hosting an NFL franchise within a city extremely appealing. Studies show that there may be an incentive to creating these colossal entities. However, these outcomes are not always considered to be because of direct influences the stadiums exude, and in some …


Effects Of Menstruation On Women's Likeliness To Forgive, Brittany K. Gaillard Dec 2011

Effects Of Menstruation On Women's Likeliness To Forgive, Brittany K. Gaillard

Honors Theses

The effect the secretion and ovulation phases of the menstrual cycle has on forgiveness was examined in this study. It was hypothesized that women in either phase of their menstrual cycle would be less likely to forgive than those not in either phase of their menstrual cycle. Participants (N = 146) completed three questionnaires, one measuring their likeliness to forgive, one measuring their forgiveness of others, self, and situations, and the last collecting demographic information and information about their periods. The results showed no significant difference in woman's likeliness to forgive when experiencing a period and when not experiencing a …


Lesson Not Learned: Deepwater Horizon Research And Media Coverage Exposes Gaps In Knowledge And Risky Protocol Within The Oil Industry, Lauren Haller Dec 2011

Lesson Not Learned: Deepwater Horizon Research And Media Coverage Exposes Gaps In Knowledge And Risky Protocol Within The Oil Industry, Lauren Haller

Honors Theses

An insatiable thirst for oil has led poorly coordinated, risk-prone megasystems deeper into the ocean in search of new oil reserves. Profit-driven agendas at the corporate level have a top-down effect within these megasystems. Cost-cutting and risk-downplaying leaves the field employees unprepared to handle emergencies. A series of costly mistakes led to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which caused extensive damage to an already fragile ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. The wealth and political influence of the oil industry overpowers lax regulatory agencies and legislation-even though media and research has exposed frustrating parallels between the Deepwater Horizon …


Attending College Influences The Perception Of Parenting More Than Young Adults Or Students That Do Not Attend College, Brian Harrison Dec 2011

Attending College Influences The Perception Of Parenting More Than Young Adults Or Students That Do Not Attend College, Brian Harrison

Honors Theses

College has the ability to bring the best out of any individual. It is time consuming, difficult, and often far away from home. Going to college can be a remarkable experience. Moreover, the tools and knowledge one gains from college are invaluable. Most of what a student learns is taught just by going to college and experiencing it first-hand. Whether studying the night before an exam, taking notes during class, or reading for hours on end, everything a student does is a learning experience. But not all lessons are taught out of a textbook and not all lessons apply just …


Female Students' Clothing Styles And Their Effect On Perceived Intelligence By College Professors, Dea Kamberaj Dec 2011

Female Students' Clothing Styles And Their Effect On Perceived Intelligence By College Professors, Dea Kamberaj

Honors Theses

This study was conducted to look at the contemporary effects of students' clothing styles on college professors' perceptions about the students' intelligence, attractiveness, and sociability. The effects of three dress conditions, formal attire, provocative attire, and casual attire, were studied on professors on a southeastern university. The hypothesis stated that a student wearing formal attire would receive the highest overall rating and the highest rating in intelligence. The casual attire condition would receive the lowest rating in intelligence and overall rating. The rating of the provocative clothing condition is predicted to change based on the sex of the rater. One …


Professional Sports Teams And Their Local Economic Impact, A. J. Kuznitz Dec 2011

Professional Sports Teams And Their Local Economic Impact, A. J. Kuznitz

Honors Theses

There has been debate about whether or not professional sports teams impact their local economies. Research shows local economic growth has been generated from the presence of a professional sports team in multiple ways: the creation of new jobs, increased consumer spending, increased sales in certain market segments, and increased tax revenue. Other beneficial impacts caused by sport franchises are increased tourism from hosting large nationwide events such as a Super Bowl or World Series, and game's media coverage provides free marketing/advertising for home cities. Teams also impact the lives of their fans and cities in non-measurable, qualitative ways, such …


Westernization And Muslims In Western Europe, Sean Manahan Dec 2011

Westernization And Muslims In Western Europe, Sean Manahan

Honors Theses

Many scholars argue that as a whole, Muslims in Europe are not successfully integrating into European society. The reasons why are debated and still far from understood. It is clear, however, that many Muslim communities are negatively affected by many socioeconomic factors, leaving them poor and viewed as outcasts. Given these circumstances, scholars have suggested that some individuals join radical Islamist groups to give meaning to their lives and secure a sense of inclusion because they do not feel a part of the country in which they live. However, this fails to explain the numerous cases of highly educated, middle …


Feminine Framing: Framing Theory And The Media's Portrayal Of Female Athletes, Kamber Seay Dec 2011

Feminine Framing: Framing Theory And The Media's Portrayal Of Female Athletes, Kamber Seay

Honors Theses

The biased portrayal of female athletes by the media has been studied and discussed extensively. The Framing Theory hypothesis is used here to identify a correlation between the way female athletes are portrayed by the media and the way consumers frame their opinions based on these portrayals. A brief public opinion survey was given to a random sample of the student population at Coastal Carolina University. Of the 66 consumers surveyed, 51 (77%) stated that they believe there should be more media focused on female athletes. Of the 66 consumers surveyed, 55 (83%) stated that they believe the media portrays …


Midterm Elections Used To Gauge President's Reelection Chances, Desmond D. Wallace Dec 2011

Midterm Elections Used To Gauge President's Reelection Chances, Desmond D. Wallace

Honors Theses

Conventional analysis of midterm elections is usually in relation to the previous presidential election, or the issues or events leading up towards a presidential election. Rarely is midterm elections considered in terms of whether the president, or his party in some cases, would retain the White House in the next presidential election. The focus of this research is to determine whether midterm elections can serve as a predictive indicator of the outcome in the following presidential election. For decades, scholars have speculated as to why the president's party suffers losses at the midterm election. An examination of these theories can …


Social Distance As A Function Of Mental Health Status And Gender Of College Student Peers, Kaitlyn A. Zuilkowski Dec 2011

Social Distance As A Function Of Mental Health Status And Gender Of College Student Peers, Kaitlyn A. Zuilkowski

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine college students' general preference for social distance from individuals who have mental disorders, as well as their preference for social distance from a peer with a specific diagnostic label of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), or a Stuttering Disorder. College students (N = 180) enrolled at a Southeastern liberal arts university completed the Modified Social Distance Scale which assessed general preference for social distance from people with mental disorders and subsequently read a short vignette describing a male or female college student who had been diagnosed with and …


Stepping Out Of The Disney Princess Castle Into The New Girl World With The Disney Divas: A Content Analysis Of Hannah Montana And Wizards Of Waverly Place, Hanna Munoz Dec 2011

Stepping Out Of The Disney Princess Castle Into The New Girl World With The Disney Divas: A Content Analysis Of Hannah Montana And Wizards Of Waverly Place, Hanna Munoz

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Emotional Intensity And Persuasion, Laurencio Tamayo Nov 2011

Emotional Intensity And Persuasion, Laurencio Tamayo

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Toward Democratic "No-Rule": A Conceptual Response To Contemporary Challenges To Political Freedom, Alexander W. Brockwehl Jun 2011

Toward Democratic "No-Rule": A Conceptual Response To Contemporary Challenges To Political Freedom, Alexander W. Brockwehl

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I argue that different conceptions of freedom yield different manifestations of governance. I demonstrate that in the United States, a private conception of freedom grounded in individual and state sovereignty has been repeated in political discourse with severe consequences for democracy. This conception of freedom derives largely from America’s founding, from a reliance on legal language, and from fundamental assumptions about the role of the people in governance. It institutionalizes social and political hierarchies through promoting and protecting individual autonomy. In contrast to this dominant form of freedom, I sketch an alternative that encourages public engagement, political …


Crisis Of Confidence: Presidential Decision-Making In The Carter Administration, Andrew N. T. Churchill Jun 2011

Crisis Of Confidence: Presidential Decision-Making In The Carter Administration, Andrew N. T. Churchill

Honors Theses

A play based on the life and career of U.S. President, Jimmy Carter.


The Impact Of Rap Music On White Youth, Freddie J. Dantus Jun 2011

The Impact Of Rap Music On White Youth, Freddie J. Dantus

Honors Theses

Music is a primary source of entertainment for American adolescents. Hip hop culture and rap music, in particular, have become the dominant genre of music among American youth. Hip hop rose primarily from the disadvantaged African American neighborhoods of New York City. Perhaps not surprisingly, though, it is White, middle class, suburban adolescents who drive the rap music industry with their disposable income and desire to resist the cultural norms of their parents’ generation. While sophisticated analyses of hip hop itself are appearing, the connection to white youth has not been well-studied. This project begins to fill this void, specifically …


A Gps Enabled Ipod Touch For Skiers, Camila Dorin Jun 2011

A Gps Enabled Ipod Touch For Skiers, Camila Dorin

Honors Theses

The purpose of my senior project was to design and build a system that provides GPS capabilities to the iPod touch. The system is used in conjunction with an iPod application, giving skiers the possibility to have access to the following outputs: graph of speed during run, distance skied, calories burned, and map of the slopes followed. The system consists of a GPS receiver, an Arduino microcontroller, a Wifi Shield, and iPod touch, and an iPod application. A central point during the development of the system was the transmission of data from one piece of hardware to the other and …


The Impact Of Public Approval Of Congress On Midterm Congressional Election Outcomes, Jordan L. Goldman Jun 2011

The Impact Of Public Approval Of Congress On Midterm Congressional Election Outcomes, Jordan L. Goldman

Honors Theses

Over the past half-century, the United States Congress has become less revered by the American people. The Constitution names Congress as the first branch of government. The framers instituted Congress in Article One of the Constitution to symbolize the importance of the rule of law of the people. Its members were to be chosen members of the public, rather than royalty or nobility, to give the branch a sense of democratic legitimacy. However, during the past fifty years, public opinion of the first branch of government has waned. The reasons for this diminished respect are complex and numerous. In general …


Culture Macroeconomics Adjustments And Economic Growth, Schuyler R. Hooper Jun 2011

Culture Macroeconomics Adjustments And Economic Growth, Schuyler R. Hooper

Honors Theses

This paper argues that culture is the underlying determinant causing the delays and massive social costs sometimes seen as countries attempt to stabilize after experiencing external shocks. While there have been significant ties between culture and economic performance in the past, as in Tabellini (2008) and Licht et al. (2007), this paper argues that culture matters more during periods of disequilibrium than it does during times of equilibrium. The empirical methodology for this paper closely mirrors that of Rodrik (1999), in which he proposed that latent social conflicts and poor institutions of conflict management were the reasons for delayed adjustments …


Bartenders Know Best: An In-Depth Analysis Of The Impact Of Tourism On Local Barbadian Culture, Pearl E. Jurist-Schoen Jun 2011

Bartenders Know Best: An In-Depth Analysis Of The Impact Of Tourism On Local Barbadian Culture, Pearl E. Jurist-Schoen

Honors Theses

The purpose of my thesis is, through my own field research, to analyze the impact of tourism on local Barbadian culture. Caribbean tourism draws strong criticisms from anthropologists due to the region’s geographical location and environmental landscape, its history of colonialism, and the economic vulnerabilities that result from the wealth discrepancy between the local people and the tourists that vacation there. On the very small and densely populated island of Barbados, nearly every person is impacted by tourism. The focus of my ethnography is the cultural exchanges between guests and hosts, most specifically bartenders. A bar harbors many important elements …


Reform In The Credit Rating Industry, Ronald D. Knox Jun 2011

Reform In The Credit Rating Industry, Ronald D. Knox

Honors Theses

Ninety three percent of all AAA-rated subprime mortgage backed securities issued in 2006 were downgraded to junk bond status subsequent to the financial crisis. The credit rating agencies clearly failed to give the early warning signs on these and numerous financial products that went bust. This thesis investigates the role of credit rating agencies in the functioning of financial markets and proposes policy changes to reform this industry. The sources of market failures in this industry can be traced to conflicts of interest, barriers to entry, lack of accountability, and asymmetric information. I propose three possible reforms to improve the …


Governing Religion: A Study Of Religions Function Across Three Distinctly Different Societies, Sky Kochenour Jun 2011

Governing Religion: A Study Of Religions Function Across Three Distinctly Different Societies, Sky Kochenour

Honors Theses

Religion’s place in political order is a controversial subject. How does the function of religion compare to that of political order? Can it support a society in the same way? My research attempts to answer these questions by investigating three distinct time periods and cultures. I first examine the primitive people of the Azande tribe in Africa, an example of a society based mainly on religion. My research then turns to the fifth and sixth century Greeks, a society in flux, attempting to hold on to religion in the throes of a logical revolution. Finally, I turn to America to …


How Soft News Affects Attitudes And Behavior In 18-24 Year Olds, Kathryn E. Leary Jun 2011

How Soft News Affects Attitudes And Behavior In 18-24 Year Olds, Kathryn E. Leary

Honors Theses

In today’s media environment there are two different forms of news programs: hard news—news in the traditional sense of a newscast presenting the facts of an event—and soft news. The phenomenon of soft news is a hybrid of shows that mix politics with entertainment encompassing sensationalism and human-interest components when reporting on select high-profile political issues. An early form of this news type includes daytime talk shows such as Oprah to the now popular comedic faux news programs such as The Daily Show. The age bloc of 18-24 year olds has been considered the primary viewership of some soft news …


Foreign Direct Investment Response Following Intellectual Property Rights Reform, Samuel G. Lundquist Jun 2011

Foreign Direct Investment Response Following Intellectual Property Rights Reform, Samuel G. Lundquist

Honors Theses

Over the past several decades, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows across the globe have increased markedly. During this same period, a large number of countries have strengthened their Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) regimes in response to global legislative changes such as the Agreement of Trade-Related Aspects of IPRs or domestic policy initiatives. In this thesis, I empirically investigate the impact of IPR reform on FDI activity. I use a panel data set that consist of FDI flows from Germany and US into 15 host countries over a 24 year time period. As a proxy for IPR regime change I use …


International Aid In Afghanistan: Examining The Effectiveness Of Traditional Aid And Development Programs, Samuel A. Merlin Jun 2011

International Aid In Afghanistan: Examining The Effectiveness Of Traditional Aid And Development Programs, Samuel A. Merlin

Honors Theses

The US‐led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 brought to light the comprehensive destruction of the Afghan state. Twenty years of continuous war had ravaged the country, and with the Taliban’s expulsion of western aid agencies, Afghans were further deprived of their basic needs. The international community has rallied around this cause, donating nearly $40 billion in aid since 2001 to help develop Afghanistan. However, this international investment has not yielded optimal results; fundamental mistakes have limited the growth in capacity of the Afghan government and its people. Through analyzing the effectiveness of the major donor programs, a key lesson was …


Secrecy In An Open Society, Nicholas A. Poli Jun 2011

Secrecy In An Open Society, Nicholas A. Poli

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the difficult task of finding a balance of secrecy and openness in America. The common notion is that America is an open society; however, with an intelligence community predicated upon secrecy, an imbalance of power between the Executive and Congress, a media which does not always report objective news, and a complacent American public, openness ultimately becomes more difficult to maintain. To find a balance, I propose a hypothetical spectrum of openness in which there is a straight line with two endpoints- one endpoint representing complete secrecy, the other complete openness. I argue that both ends of …


Eminent Domain In The Wake Of The Kelo Decision, Matthew J. Rogers Jun 2011

Eminent Domain In The Wake Of The Kelo Decision, Matthew J. Rogers

Honors Theses

The controversial Supreme Court decision, Kelo v. The City of New London, allowed a local government to utilize eminent domain to transfer land from one private entity to another in order to enhance economic development. In response, state governments rushed to pass legislation in order to curtail the use of eminent domain. State governments, however, struggled to pass meaningful eminent domain legislation, since many powerful forces, such as major corporations, stood in their way. Opponents of eminent domain claim that the politically weakest in our society, namely the poor and racial minorities, are saddled with the resulting hardship emanating from …


From Ankara To Jerusalem: An Analysis Of The Decline In Turkish-Israeli Relations, Kama Sacajiu Jun 2011

From Ankara To Jerusalem: An Analysis Of The Decline In Turkish-Israeli Relations, Kama Sacajiu

Honors Theses

Turkey and Israel had been strong allies in the Middle East, however in recent years, these relations have turned sour. Turkey was the first predominantly Muslim country to recognize the state of Israel upon its creation in 1948. However, Present day Turkey has gone as far as to pull its ambassador from Tel Aviv. The importance and implication of the decline in relations between Turkey and Israel will be explained in the following chapters. The examination of Turkish foreign policy, and specifically a history of its relations with Israel, gives a basis to explain the changes that occurred with their …


Identitat-Anlage Durch Warter Und Aussehen, C. David Robba Jun 2011

Identitat-Anlage Durch Warter Und Aussehen, C. David Robba

Honors Theses

The identity of a person is his most important aspect. It has a big impact on the way someone sees himself, and how other people recognize him. Without a unique identity, a person has no characteristic character. In their lives, everyone creates an identity. However, identity becomes most important when one is a foreigner or visits a foreign country. Because of this, many aspects of society and everyday life could be very different, and if one lacks what he knows, he can find solace in his identity. However, if a person's identity is not certain, they may feel lost afterwards. …


The Sex Generation: The Impact Of Teen Attitudes Views And Knowledge Of Contraceptives And Sexual Activity On The Teen Pregnancy And Std Rates In The United States, Haritha Sishtla Jun 2011

The Sex Generation: The Impact Of Teen Attitudes Views And Knowledge Of Contraceptives And Sexual Activity On The Teen Pregnancy And Std Rates In The United States, Haritha Sishtla

Honors Theses

Among all industrialized nations, the United States faces the highest rates of teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Previous studies have indicated that teens use engagement in sexual activity as a social mechanism to gain popularity among their peers. This paper focuses on two issues: social factors such as peer perceptions towards other peers engaging in sex and using contraceptives, and assesses the level of knowledge teens have about sex, STDs, pregnancy, and contraceptives that could have an effect on the teen pregnancy and STD rates in the United States. Cross-sectional data from Waves I and II (1994-96) National …