Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Development Of A Positive Psychology Intervention For Patients With Acute Cardiovascular Disease, Jeff C. Huffman, Carol A. Mastromauro, Julia K. Boehm, Rita Seabrook, Gregory L. Fricchione, John W. Denninger, Sonja Lyubomirsky

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The management of depression and other negative psychological states in cardiac patients has been a focus of multiple treatment trials, though such trials have not led to substantial improvements in cardiac outcomes. In contrast, there has been minimal focus on interventions to increase positive psychological states in cardiac patients, despite the fact that optimism and other positive states have been associated with superior cardiovascular outcomes. Our objective was to develop an 8-week, phone-based positive psychology intervention for patients hospitalized with acute cardiac disease (acute coronary syndrome or decompensated heart failure). Such an intervention would consist of positive psychology exercises adapted …

David Grove's Metaphors For Healing, David Pincus, Anees A. Sheikh

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Within the ever-expanding list of approaches to psychotherapy, there is a tendency to overlook deep imagery approaches. The current article reports on one such metaphor-based therapy developed by David Grove (Grove & Panzer, 1989). The approach is analyzed within the context of mainstream contemporary psychotherapy in general, the state of empirical understanding of common processes to psychotherapy, and in relation to other deep imagery-based approaches to therapy. Next, a step-by-step description of the techniques used within metaphor therapy are presented, along with a case example demonstrating the use of these techniques on a case involving pain symptoms. Finally, it is …

“I Would Feel Uncomfortable If My Child’S Teacher Were Gay”: Examining The Role Of Symbolic Homophobia And Political Affiliation, Michael Moore, Amy C. Moors

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Symbolic homophobia is a general negative disposition towards lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals, which is demonstrated in symbolic forms of prejudice rather than overt actions. Stigma towards lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals has transformed from overt forms of prejudice to slightly less blatant more subtle forms in recent years (Schafer & Shaw, 2009). Based on previous research, it is has also been shown that conservatives will have higher levels of symbolic homophobia. (Linneman, 2004), Thus, in order to assess the more nuanced forms of prejudice in relation to political affiliation, Study 1 created a scale to assess symbolic homophobia. …

Unconscious Vigilance: Worldview Defense Without Adaptations For Terror, Coalition Or Uncertainty Management, Colin Holbrook, Paulo Sousa, Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Individuals subtly reminded of death, coalitional challenges, or feelings of uncertainty display exaggerated preferences for affirmations and against criticisms of their cultural in-groups. Terror management, coalitional psychology, and uncertainty management theories postulate this “worldview defense” effect as the output of mechanisms evolved either to allay the fear of death, foster social support, or reduce anxiety by increasing adherence to cultural values. In 4 studies, we report evidence for an alternative perspective. We argue that worldview defense owes to unconscious vigilance, a state of accentuated reactivity to affective targets (which need not relate to cultural worldviews) that follows detection of subtle …

Clinical Social Work And The Biomedical Industrial Complex, Tomi Gomory, Stephen E. Wong, David Cohen, Jeffrey R. Lacasse

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article examines how the biomedical industrial complex has ensnared social work within a foreign conceptual and practice model that distracts clinical social workers from the special assistance that they can provide for people with mental distress and misbehavior. We discuss: (1) social work's assimilation of psychiatric perspectives and practices during its pursuit of professional status; (2) the persistence of psychiatric hospitalization despite its coercive methods, high cost, and doubtful efficacy; (3) the increasing reliance on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, despite its widely acknowledged scientific frailty; and (4) the questionable contributions of psychoactive drugs to clinical …

Maternal Defense: Breastfeeding Heightens Aggression By Reducing Stress, Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Colin Holbrook, Sarah M. Coyne, E. Thomas Lawson

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Mothers in numerous species exhibit heightened aggression in defense of their young. This shift typically coincides with the duration of lactation in nonhuman mammals, which suggests that human mothers may display similarly accentuated aggressiveness while breast feeding. Here we report the first behavioral evidence for heightened aggression in lactating humans. Breast-feeding mothers inflicted louder and longer punitive sound bursts on unduly aggressive confederates than did formula-feeding mothers or women who had never been pregnant. Maternal aggression in other mammals is thought to be facilitated by the buffering effect of lactation on stress responses. Consistent with the animal literature, our results …

A Prospective Study Of Positive Psychological Well-Being And Coronary Heart Disease, Julia K. Boehm, Christopher Peterson, Mika Kivimaki, Laura D. Kubzansky

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objective: Research suggests that positive psychological well-being is associated with cardiovascular health. However, much of this research uses elderly samples and has not determined the pathways by which psychological well-being influences cardiovascular disease or whether effects are similar for men and women. This study investigates the association between two aspects of well-being (emotional vitality and optimism) and coronary heart disease (CHD) in a sample of middle-aged men and women, and considers potential mediating factors.

Method: Between 1991 and 1994, well-being and coronary risk factors were assessed among 7,942 individuals without a prior cardiovascular event from the Whitehall II …

Improving The Detection Of Narcissistic Transformational Leaders With The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire: An Item Response Theory Analysis, Dale Frederick Hosking Martin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Narcissistic transformation leaders have inflicted severe physical, psychological, and financial damage on individuals, institutions, and society. Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) has shown promise for early detection of narcissistic leadership tendencies, but selection criteria have not been established. The purpose of this quantitative research was to determine if item response theory (IRT) could advance the detection of narcissistic leadership tendencies using an item-level analysis of the 20 transformational leadership items of the MLQ. Three archival samples of subordinates from Israeli corporate and athletic organizations were combined (N = 1,703) to assess IRT data assumptions, comparative fit of competing IRT models, item …

The Octofoil, January/February/March 2011, Ninth Infantry Division Association

The Octofoil

The Octofoil is the offical publication of the Ninth Infantry Division Association, Inc., an organization formed by the officers and men of the 9th Infantry Division in order to perpetuate the memory of fallen comrades, preserve the esprit de corps of the Division, promote peace and serve as an information bureau about the 9th Infantry Division. The Association is made up of 9th Infantry veterans from WWII and Vietnam, spouses, widows and lineal descendants.

Perceptions Of The Role Of Nurses In Providing Psychosocial Care For Patients With Cancer, Kerry Suzuki

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Psychosocial care for patients with cancer is aimed at detection, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of psychological distress (PD). PD is a universal clinical phenomenon experienced by at least 38% of patients with cancer, yet only10% are identified as having PD. Nurses are presumed providers of psychosocial care, yet no research examined what nurses perceive as their role in caring for patients with cancer, and whether nurses believe that providing psychosocial care to patients with cancer is within their role. Patient care that rests on assumptions is too precarious; nurses' role beliefs are critical in light of their impact on practice …

Biometrics Technology: Understanding Dynamics Influencing Adoption For Control Of Identification Deception Within Nigeria, Gideon U. Nwatu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

One of the objectives of any government is the establishment of an effective solution to significantly control crime. Identity fraud in Nigeria has generated global attention and negative publicity toward its citizens. The research problem addressed in this study was the lack of understanding of the dynamics that influenced the adoption and usability of biometrics technology for reliable identification and authentication to control identity deception. The support for this study was found in the theoretical framework of the technology acceptance model (TAM). The purpose of the study was to provide scholarly research about the factors that influenced the adoption of …

Public Sponsored Health Insurance To Improve Health Outcomes With Implications For Government Health Policy, Design, And Decision Making, Steven M. Wagner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This research sought to ascertain the extent to which providing public sponsored health insurance (PSHI) to previously uninsured Mexican-American Hispanics improves health outcomes among those requiring ongoing treatment to control diabetes. Prior research utilizing insurance access theory; access, equity, and health outcome interrelationship theory; health affordability theory; and financial and resource burden theory suggests the uninsured receive less care than the insured, with delayed treatment, leading to chronic conditions. This research tested each of those major theoretical constructs into a blended conceptual framework based on the notion that providing health insurance helps alleviate the disabling effects of diabetes among this …

Ethical Leadership And Good Governance In Nigerian Local Governments, Bartholomew Okechukwu Okagbue

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research literature identifies ethical leadership, a leadership grounded in ethical norms and practice, as a critical vehicle for achieving organizational goals and fostering good governance. However, little research on leadership has focused on the public sector, leaving a gap in the literature. Leadership in governance is a concern in local government in Nigeria; in spite of the 1976 reforms, the country still lacks good governance and corresponding socioeconomic development. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore an ethical leadership model, and determine how such a model could inspire and sustain good governance in Nigerian local government administration. …

Values, Perceptions, Conceptions, And Peacebuilding: A Case Study In A Mexico City Neighborhood, Mauricio Meschoulam

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mexico is not a country at peace. Despite the government's fight to restore stability, violence has erupted since 2006 in several areas of the territory. According to Vygotsky's social constructivism and to Galtung's integral perspective of peace, some elements of peacelessness are informed by values, perceptions, and conceptions about violence and peace. These topics have not been qualitatively investigated in Mexico. The purpose of this case study was to explore the process involving the social construction of values, perceptions, and conceptions in regard to organized criminal violence and peace possibilities in Mexico. Research questions focused on the role of mass …

Emotional Support In Managing Cardiovascular Diseases Among Hispanic And Non- Hispanic Menopausal Women, Claudette Andrea

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Effective recognition and proper treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in Hispanic woman is a public health problem that needs further investigation. Guided by the stress and coping social support theory, the purpose of this cross-sectional survey study was to examine the relationship between attitudes, emotional support, and the perception of success in managing cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in 335 Hispanic women living in Atlanta, Georgia. Correlations, independent-sample t tests, simple linear regression, and multiple linear regressions showed ethnicity as a moderating variable between the perception of success in handling CVD and emotional support, while emotional support was shown to be a …

Book Availability And Performance Measure In An Academic Library: The Case Of The Walter Sisulu University (Wsu) Library, Mthatha Campus, Gbade A. Alabi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study evaluates the book availability as well as the performance measure of the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) Library and determines the levels of satisfaction among its users. Attention was focused on four parameters of performance measure, namely: Acquisition (Pa), Circulation (Pc), Users' performance at the catalogue and success in obtaining materials from the shelf (Pu), and, the Library administrative operation (Pm), all of which were independently measured. An overall availability rate of 33% was obtained for the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) Library. This is rather low. This low availability level obtained was associated with the low circulation performance (Pc) …

The Economic And Social Benefits Of Ict Policies In Nigeria, Sylvester Ozioma Anie

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study examined the economic and social benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policies in Nigeria: Igyor (1996) declared that one of the most striking structural changes in the world's economies over the years has been the shift of allocation of human and capital resources from the task of processing material goods to that of processing information. On the basis of occupational statistics, those individuals whose function is primarily to create, process and handleinformation can be identified in a growing nation of working professionals that share in the information age, people such as administrators, clerks, secretaries, bankers, lawyers, scientists, …

The Prevalence Of Arabic And Ajami Manuscripts In Northern Nigeria, Implications For Acccess, Use, And Enduring Management: A Framework For Research, Musa Abdu Auyo

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

A paper presented at a National Conference on Exploring Nigeria’s Arabic/Ajami Manuscript Resources for Development of New Knowledge, organized by Arewa House and Ford Foundation Office of West Africa Region, Kaduna, Nigeria, 7th-8th May, 2009

Use Of Newspapers By Students Of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria, O. M. Bankole, S. O. Babalola

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study investigates the relative importance of newspaper information, purposes for consultation, types of information sought, the extent and satisfaction derived from the use of library newspaper services, and problems that might constrain students from visiting the newspaper sections of Olabisi Onabanjo University library, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State, Nigeria. A survey research design and interviews were used for data collection. A self-administered questionnaire was given to 456 who had used the library newspaper services in the past, of which 92.1% were found usable. The students ranked newspaper information as their third most important source of overall daily information. The respondents …

A Critical Examination Of Information And Communication Technology Policies: Effects On Library Services In Nigeria, Emmanuel E. Baro

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have changed nations and their citizens across the world regardless of their political or socioeconomic systems. The paper critically examined the effectiveness of the various ICT policies in Nigeria, and their effect on library services. This study became imperative due to the fact that, nations like Nigeria need strong ICT policies that are fully implemented to change the nation and her citizenry. It is obvious that the various information and communication technology policies in Nigeria have not achieved the set objectives. This is because the policies are not fully implemented by the various …

Usage Of E-Resources In Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla, With Special Reference To The Ugc-Infonet Digital Library Consortium, Suresh K. Chauhan, Prem Chand, Sarbjot Kaur

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper accommodates international scenario of library consortia in the beginning and then shifted to Indian library consortia. UGC-Infonet Digital Library consortium scholarly information is being given free of cost to more than 150 universities. Himachal Pradesh University is one amongst the beneficiaries of this program. Electronic resources usage statistics of this university is analyzed to cater the shortcomings in the available e-resources facility. To describe the current status of Himachal Pradesh University with reference to usage of electronic resources which are being accessed under UGC-Infonet Digital Consortium. The study identifies the limitations and problems for low usage of e-resources …

The Use And Impact Of Electronic Resources At The University Of Lagos, Halima Sadia Egberongbe

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The paper examines the various electronic resources in University of Lagos, use and impact of electronic resources on productivity of end users.A questionnaire survey was used for data collection, and 82 out of a 100 were returned.The analysis of data collected covered awareness of electronic resources use of, impact of use of electronic resources on the academic productivity of respondents and problems faced by researchers while using electronic resources. The study found that the e-mail and Internet are the most used of the e-resources. There was a general indication that respondents did not receive adequate training in the use of …

Correlation Between Productivity And The Use Of The Library By Nigerian Agricultural Research Institute Research Officers, Lily Oluebube Ezeala, Kenneth Ivo Ngozi Nwalo

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study is an investigation of the role of agricultural research institutes’ libraries in Nigeria in the expeditious achievement of the overall goals and objectives of the parent institutions. The purpose of these institutes is to conduct research in various areas of agriculture to enhance agricultural production. Research results are published and also communicated to farmers through agricultural Extension. The research library is responsible for acquiring, organizing and disseminating information relevant to the mandate of the research institutes. Unfortunately, very few researchers patronize the library.

Modeling Lis Students' Intention To Adopt E-Learning: A Case From University Of Nigeria, Nsukka, Helen Nneka Eke

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

E-learning is one of the emerging issues in LIS education in Nigeria and students in the LIS profession have been adopting some of these technologies in enhancing their professional skills. E-learning is becoming increasingly prominent in higher education, with Universities increasing provision and more students signing up. In University of Nigeria, E-learning is at its infant stage, though a good number of the students have been introduced to it, and some of the students have already started using it for some courses. This paper examines factors that predict UNN LIS students’ intention to adopt e-learning. Understanding the nature of these …

Reading Culture And Nigeria’S Quest For Sustainable Development, Kingsley Nwadiuto Igwe

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The paper highlights the role of reading culture as an aspect of the educational system in the development of a nation. With Nigeria as the nation in focus, it laments the neglect of its education sector including libraries over the years in terms of funding and inadequate infrastructures for human resource development; and emphasizes on the fact that qualitative and functional education remains the focal point for development. The paper also enumerates constraints to the improvement of reading culture. Strategies for the improvement and development of reading culture in Nigeria were suggested, of which if implemented will see the country …

Security And Crime Prevention In Academic Libraries: A Case Study Of The Kano State College Of Education, Kano, Nigeria, Andrew Leo Ogbonyomi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The security and prevention of crimes in academic libraries have always been major concerns to the librarians of these libraries. Attempts of many authors to suggest solutions to these disturbing issues have not yielded the required solution. In this research work, the researcher looked into a case study of an institution, which is making frantic efforts to fight theft, mutilation, vandalism and defacement of its information materials. This research work discovered that poverty, carelessness and selfishness among the patrons of the Kano State College of Education Library are major causes of crimes in the library, while poor funding, inadequate staffing …

Use Of Electronic Information Sources By Postgraduate Students In Nigeria: Influencing Factors, Olatokunbo Christopher Okiki, S. M. Asiru

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study investigated the factors that influenced the use of electronic information sources by postgraduate students in six Universities in the South West, Nigeria. Questionnaire was the main research instrument used. 2500 copies of questionnaire were distributed and 2,187 copies were returned. The findings revealed that the factors that influenced the use of electronic information sources by respondents varied according to their program of study, the need to carry out researches to excel in their academic endeavour and versatility in the use of information technologies to search for information recommendations were made for the identified problems in the use of …

Factors Affecting Student Use Of Information Technology: A Comparative Study Of Federal University Of Technology, Owerri And Niger Delta University, Amazoma, Joyce Chinyere Oyadonghan, Felix Mmanuoma Eke

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

A survey of two universities in Nigeria explored the use of information technology by students. Registered student users of FUTO and NDU library make adequate use of IT resources. However the return of duly completed questionnaire shows that 500 level students of FUTO and 400 level of students of NDU uses the IT in the library more than other levels as shown in table 1. The use of photocopying machine ranked highest amongst the student of both University. But a similar study on the use of internet and electronic resources by Dental science students at Baba Farid university of health …

Review Of Structures For Organizing Knowledge: Exploring Taxonomies, Ontologies, And Other Schemas, Yuezeng Shen

Michael Schwartz Library Publications

Review of Structures for Organizing Knowledge: Exploring Taxonomies, Ontologies, and Other Schemas

The (Coming) Social Media Revolution In The Academy, Jessie Daniels, Joe R. Feagin

Publications and Research

A revolution in academia is coming. New social media and other web technologies are transforming the way we, as academics, do our job. These technologies offer communication that is interactive, instantaneous, global, low-cost, and fully searchable, as well as platforms for connecting with other scholars everywhere.