Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

When Necessary Is Not Enough: A Study In The Effectiveness Of U.S. Military Force To Combat Terrorism In The Middle East, Lora Christine Vonderhaar

Honors Theses

This thesis will examine the relationship between the number and size of U.S. military bases in the Middle East and instances of terrorism in the same region. It seeks to analyze the complex set of impacts that U.S. military presence has on the area and determine if U.S. presence is overall more helpful or harmful to the situation on the ground. While size and number of U.S. bases is not a perfect measure of U.S. presence, it is a fair representation and a useful empirical starting point. This thesis will focus specifically on terrorism as a non-state actor and not …

The Influence Of Self-Enhancement And Stress On Weight Gain: A Biopsychosocial Approach, Olivia G. Grondalski

Honors Theses

The current longitudinal study was conducted to test if people perceive their physical body size to be smaller than it is, and if people do self-enhance their body size, then how do body self-enhancement and stress interact to predict subsequent Body Mass Index (BMI). This study toke a biopsychosocial approach to understanding why people make health decisions by measuring participants’ self-enhancement, perceived stress, cortisol baseline levels, and stress reactivity and observing their associations and interactions with subsequent weight gain. Self-enhancement is a type of positive illusion characterized by overly positive attitudes people have towards themselves, which is used for promotion …

The Other Woman: Mate Poaching Across The Menstrual Cycle, Margaret M. Jaeger

Honors Theses

The goal of the present work was to empirically examine how mate poaching, or romantically pursuing an individual already in a committed relationship (Schmitt & Buss, 2001), varies across the menstrual cycle. The existing literature strongly suggests that partnered women are wary of ovulating women because they are deemed threatening rivals (Krems, Neel, Neuberg, Puts, & Kenrick, 2016). The series of experiments described here tested this assumption by examining both the mate poaching behaviors and perceptions of ovulating women across the menstrual cycle. The first experiment examined if ovulating women would be more willing to mate poach an attractive man. …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of U.S. Anti-Slavery Legislation Through The Lens Of Supply Chain Management, Alexander Marion Mingus

Honors Theses

Whether knowingly or unknowingly, business supply chains are often tainted with slavery and forced labor practices. In an effort to address this reality, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (CTSCA) requires companies in California to publish a statement disclosing companies’ efforts to prevent this potential abuse. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the California legislation by observing media trends and collecting expert interviews and data from business leaders, academics, and legislators. The data reveals both strengths and weaknesses in the California bill, which informs future attempts to create antislavery legislation addressing corporate supply chain abuses. The CTSCA …

The Influence Of Self-Esteem And Stress On Academic Performance In College Students, Angel J. Pagan

Honors Theses

The research sought to examine if there was an association between performance self-esteem (i.e., self-worth regarding academic performance) and stress (perceived and physiological) on end of semester grade point average (GPA) in college students. It is hypothesized that the effect of performance self-esteem on GPA at the end of the semester will vary by stress. In the two part longitudinal study participants completed measures to assess performance self-esteem and perceived stress. Participants also provided two saliva samples to assess the steroid hormone cortisol, before and after an acute lab stressor task. Participants were for permission for the researchers to access …

Physiological And Psychological Effects Of Being Weighed In Female Participants, Julia Carroccio

Honors Theses

Stressful experiences such as constantly thinking about one's weight lead to harmful long-term physiological and psychological effects on the body. Many studies have examined the presence of weight stigma in society at large, but fewer studies have sought to determine the physical and psychological outcomes of that stigma. In the short-term, even momentary stressors could have an impact on factors such as blood pressure, for example when patients are stressed due to weighing before blood pressure is measured. This study tested whether female participants’ (N = 55) attitudes about their bodies, anxiety levels, and blood pressures were affected by being …

Fault Lines: Geopolitical Rivalry In The East China Sea, Nicholas A. Dalton

Honors Theses

The Senkaku Islands dispute in the East China Sea stands as a major territorial dispute between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Japan. This dispute has periodically reemerged in the interactions between these two states between 1895, when the Senkaku Islands were definitively administered by Japan, and the present day. The dispute has undergone significant changes both in its emphasis by the PRC and Japan as well as what the dispute is about. At its early stages, the Senkaku Islands dispute was largely ignored by both China and Japan. Between 1971 and 1978, when the Senkaku Islands dispute became …

Chronic Administration Of Probiotic L. Rhamnosus Increases Anxiety-Like Behavior In Group-Housed Male Long Evans Rats, Parker Maddison Griff

Honors Theses

Early life stress is a risk factor for later development of alcohol use disorders and anxiety disorders in humans. Using rodent experimental models, we know that rats experiencing social isolation as early-life stress exhibit greater anxiety-like behavior and alcohol consumption than rats housed in groups. Examining potential preventive strategies, we investigated the effects of probiotics, which have previously been shown to decrease rodent anxiety-like behavior, on the relationship between early-life stress and anxiety-like behavior in rats. We hypothesized that probiotics consumption would decrease anxiety-like behavior in socially isolated rats, as well as in rats housed in groups. To our surprise, …

Differences In The Development Of Internalizing And Externalizing Behaviors In Offspring Of Depressed Mothers, Hannah Jackson

Honors Theses

This study examines the development of internalizing and externalizing behaviors in offspring raised by mothers with depression. Specifically, it explores mediating variables that explain differential associations of maternal depression with the offspring outcomes of internalizing problems and externalizing problems. Previous research has established that there is an association between maternal depression and the development of emotional and depressive (internalizing) behaviors as well as delinquency and antisocial (externalizing) behaviors in children. This study evaluates factors such as family instability, parental patterns and behaviors, and mother-offspring relationships in order to better understand the intervening processes that explain the link from maternal depression …

Wives’ Perceptions Of Husbands’ Housework And Parenting Contributions, Reilly Kate Kincaid

Honors Theses

Although husbands today may contribute more home and family labor than in previous decades, the type of contributions they make tend to be those of a “helpmate,” leaving the responsibility for organizing and managing housework and childcare to their wives. Gordon and Whelan-Berry (2005) found that husbands generally spent more time “doing” rather than “managing” in the household. The present study sought to examine working wives’ perceptions of how much their husbands “do” and/or “manage” in terms of housework and childcare. Results provide quantitative support for the high incidence of high-doing but low-managing husbands and shed light on the different …

How Academic And Extracurricular Workload And Stress Impacts The Mental And Physical Health Of College Students, Aidan Koch

Honors Theses

Academic workload and extracurricular involvement can be sources of stress for college students. Academic workload is characterized as the student's major, course work and future graduate school and/or career path plans. Extracurricular involvement can pertain from anything to intramural sports to being the President of a student organization. The current research sought to investigate changes in mental and physical health over a semester by examining physiological and perceived stress levels in college students, in conjunction with academic workload and extracurricular involvement. Previous research found an association between stress and physical health (Peer, Hillman, Van Hoet 2015). Studies have shown sympathetic …

Personality Types And Self-Reported Eating Habits, Thomas R. Lawler

Honors Theses

People with different personality types lead very different lifestyles; these personality types also affect the eating habits of an individual. Poor eating habits can lead to a myriad of health problems, including obesity and diabetes, while healthy eating habits can promote longevity. An associated problem is inaccurate reporting of eating habits by research participants and medical patients. While many studies have been conducted to examine the relationship between eating disorders and personality types, very few, if any, have examined the effects of personality types on actual eating habits as well as perceived eating habits. The proposed study will test for …

The Effects Of Adolescent Housing Condition And Voluntary Exercise On Alcohol Intake And Stress Response In Male Long-Evans Rats, Caroline Lynch

Honors Theses

Can regular exercise during adolescence, combined with living in a social environment, decrease the negative effects of chronic stress and lower alcohol intake later in life? The aim of this research is to answer this question using a rat model that introduces a novel behavioral intervention in the form of regular voluntary exercise in order to counteract the negative effects of chronic stress caused by socially isolated housing during adolescence. Chronic stress has been linked to the development of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) in humans, and this study attempts to both model and hamper this phenomenon in rats using voluntary …

The Effects Of Anxiety Induction On Olfactory Function In Healthy Young Adults, Lauren T. Olson

Honors Theses

There is significant overlap in the neural structures involved in the human limbic (emotion) and olfactory systems, and prior research findings have suggested both positive and negative associations between anxiety and odor detection sensitivity (threshold), odor identification accuracy, and odor hedonic ratings (Havlicek et al., 2012; Krusemark et al., 2013). However, knowledge about whether anxiety causes changes in olfactory perception remains unclear due to limited research findings. The present study aimed to extend the literature on olfaction and state anxiety by investing the impact of an anxiety induction on odor detection sensitivity, odor identification accuracy, and odor hedonic ratings. It …

Alcohol Deprivation Effect: An Investigation Of A Model Of Alcohol Dependence And Relapse Behaviors In Male And Female Long Evans Rats, Hanna J. Peterson

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand relapse behavior through a pre-clinical rodent model of relapse which models the important aspects of the human addiction and relapse condition, called the alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) model. It has been found to model alcohol addiction and relapse in rats and can therefore allow for further understanding of relapse behavior as well as allow for testing of the effects of various variables like stress or therapeutic drugs on relapse behavior. The model gives rats baseline access to ethanol and then allows them access to only water, called deprivation periods, and then gives …

The International Committee Of The Red Cross Managing Neutrality In An Increasingly Public, Media-Hungry World, Mercedes C. Ramsey

Honors Theses

One of the oldest humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has long been a cornerstone around which all other humanitarian NGOs are built. The ICRC conforms to strict principles regarding their behavior and practices so that they can provide aid to those who need it around the globe. As NGOs began using both traditional and social media to their advantage to promote certain causes, the media and public began to push back, pressuring humanitarian NGOs to adopt some causes or speak out on others. Through analyzing ICRC media communications during both the Nigerian Civil …

Do Normative And Pathological Personality Traits Overlap? Exploratory And Confirmatory Factor Analyses Of The Neo-Pi-3 And Pid-5, Lisa Eileen Stone

Honors Theses

Historically, personality disorders have been conceptualized as qualitatively distinct clinical syndromes, based on operational criteria. Consistent with this model, ten distinct set personality disorder criteria are outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). However, debate persists about the clinical utility of this categorical model, with many (Krueger, et al.) researchers supporting a dimensional model that focuses on pathological levels of normative personality traits.

An exploratory factor analysis (De Fruyt et al., 2013) of the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (NEOPI-3; Costa & McCrae, 2010) and The Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5; Krueger, Derringer, …

“Eat, Sleep, Hydrate, Masturbate!” Sexuality Education, Digital Media And Creator Identity Implications, Emma Venetis

Honors Theses

The introduction of sexuality information to young people has been a point of tension in our society for decades as adults argue over how, when, or if young people should learn such information. However, with the rise of digital technology, the ability of adults to regulate young people’s access to information about sexuality has minimized significantly. Yet the curriculum in sexuality education classrooms continues to be debated while little research has been done examining the easily-accessible information that lives on the Internet. This thesis analyzes two popular sexuality education channels on YouTube, sexplanations and lacigreen, with subscriber counts ranging from …

Lending Club’S Note Trading Platform Facade: An Examination Of Peer-To-Peer (P2p) Lending Secondary Market Inefficiency, Stephen Harvey

Honors Theses

The original objective of the study was to monitor and analyze the inefficiencies in Lending Club’s Peer-toPeer (P2P) secondary market, in order to exploit these inefficiencies for a risk-free return. Upon a threemonth examination and analysis of the secondary market, the findings indicate that arbitrage conditions do not exist as a result of the observed volume of the marketplace being vastly lower than initially believed. Only 0.44% of note listing instances on Lending Club’s secondary market over the three-month period resulted in successful trades. As a consequence, investors assume a purported level of liquidity that is never met, thus they …

Social Media And The Political Behavior Of Young Adults In The 2016 Election, Sylvia Shipman

Honors Theses

The most recent presidential election saw a great divide in Americans' political ideologies (Enli 2017) as well as an increase in social media use in relation to obtaining political news (Gottfried and Shearer 2016). Social media is a growing platform to obtain political news, and this study found that 86% of young adults surveyed saw election news on social media multiple times a day. This study examined how young adults used social media in relation to the 2016 election, including whether or not they used social media's unfriend/unfollow feature to selectively expose themselves to outlets to which they had partisan …

Caffeine Rush! Examining The Effects Of Caffeine On Spatial Working Memory, Alexander Lawriw

Honors Theses

Past research concerning caffeine and its effects on memory have yielded varying results. One study found that a 3-mg/kg dose of caffeine decreased reaction time during a selective attention task. However, this improvement was only found during a low display load, with no effect on reaction time occurring within a high display load (Lorist, Snell, Kok, & Mulder,1996). As such, the effects of caffeine may be dependent on a variety of other factors, such as the difficulty of the task at hand (Nehlig, 2004). This present study aimed to explore further the potential memory-enhancing qualities of caffeine with respect to …

Olfaction And Disgust As Predictors Of Elevated Perfectionism, Maia Mclin

Honors Theses

Odor detection and disgust sensitivity were once vital to survival by providing a means to assess if foods were safe for consumption. Along with odor detection and disgust sensitivity, obsessivecompulsive traits, such as checking, may have increased chance of survival by decreasing the likelihood of consuming contaminated foods leading to an evolutionary advantage (Rozin & Fallon, 1987). Current regulations that prevent the distribution of spoiled and contaminated foods in developed societies make these processes less necessary to survival today; as a result, obsessive compulsive traits that may have once been advantageous may now be pathological. Neural connections also suggest a …

A Communibiological Investigation Of Gender Communication Differences During Licensed Professional Counseling Sessions, Kimberly S. Mack

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Addicts Speak: An Exploratory Ethnographic Study Of Opioid Addiction, James A. Hamm

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the experiences of people in recovery from opioid addiction in order to better understand the many process of recovery. Employing both participant observation and focused life history interview, and utilizing a grounded theory approach to data analysis, this research emphasizes data-driven conclusions. The research provides numerous insights into the process of recovery from opioid addiction, as well as factors that help to facilitate and sustain the process, the role that services play, and how services can be developed to better meet the needs of those in recovery.

Attitude Change Intervention For Victim Blaming Of Sexual Assault, Catharine Sciolla

Honors Theses

This research explores the possibility of an Attitude Change based intervention for victim blaming following and surrounding incidents of sexual assault and sexual violence. The study aimed at creating an intervention to successfully decrease and minimize victim blaming attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and tendencies through a combination of internalization strategies, self-reference effects, and empirically supported attitude change methods. There were 149 participants who completed the study. Participants were tasked to complete a series questionnaires measuring Hostile sexism, Benevolent sexism, Just World Bias, Robbery Victim Blame, then complete the intervention, a brief educational reading and a self-generated response to a fictional rape …

Waste Reduction In Public School Cafeterias Through Sorting And Diversion: An Analysis Of Three Southern Maine Schools, Jeremy P. Ravenelle

Honors Theses

Solid waste is a serious environmental problem in the modern world. School cafeterias are one source of food and packaging waste that must be dealt with. Reducing the amount of cafeteria waste disposed of as trash through source reduction, recycling, and composting can not only improve environmental outcomes but also teach students about sustainability and save schools money. Social practice theory provides some factors that may be helpful to examine school cafeteria waste reduction programs. Using these factors, this thesis first examines school waste reduction programs in articles from academic databases, and then in three case study elementary schools in …

Emerging Care Regimes: An Analysis Of The Domestic Labor Market Of Shanghai, Nellie S. Lavalle

Honors Theses

The People’s Republic of China today faces a rapidly growing demand for care. Care consists of childcare, eldercare, and various domestic duties. Due to the increased pressures for dual-earner families and the aging population, there has emerged a significant deficit between the amount of care needed and the care available. In recent years, private employee-based enterprises have risen to a prominent position in the system of care provision. The phenomenon leads to questions of how states structure care provision. This paper seeks to answer two questions. First, what care-regime model has arisen in Shanghai to meet the demands of the …

Mechanism Design, Matching Theory And The Stable Roommates Problem, Yashaswi Mohanty

Honors Theses

This thesis consists of two independent albeit related chapters. The first chapter introduces concepts from mechanism design and matching theory, and discusses potential applications of this theory, particularly in relation to dorm allocations in colleges. The second chapter investigates a subset of the dorm allocation problem, namely that of matching roommates. In particular, the paper looks at the probability of solvability of random instances of the stable roommates game under the condition that preferences are not completely random and exogenous but endogenously determined through a dependence on room choice. These probabilities are estimated using Monte-Carlo simulations and then compared with …

What The Walls Say: Finding Meaning And Value In Tel Aviv’S Street Art, Rachel R. Bird

Honors Theses

This thesis explores street art in Tel Aviv, Israel through anthropological concepts of value. By defining street art as an interstitial practice—one that exists between permeable, socially defined boundaries and is characterized differently by different power structures—I attempt to define some of the different regimes of value that apply to street art. Using the emerging market of “street art tours” as a fieldwork site, I look at how street art is presented and re-presented to both tourists and locals. By situating my research in a historical and geographic context, I hope to understand the ways different value schema, from economic …

What Effects Did United Airlines' De-Hubbing Of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Have On Cleveland Passengers?, Joshua A. Young

Honors Theses

This paper uncovers the effects on passengers from United Airlines’ 2014 de-hubbing of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport (CLE). Airline networks are often reorganized for efficiency; during the process, an airport may gain or lose hub operations, affecting passengers in different ways depending on the market environment. I take an empirical approach using difference-in-differences models to analyze 28 quarters of Bureau of Transportation Statistics data. I find that de-hubbing contributed to significant reductions in airfare per mile out of CLE. This is consistent with past cases of de-hubbing where low-cost carriers were present. However, quality measures, including the number of nonstop …