Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Manna From The Glossy Pulpit: Food Advertising In Women's Magazines, Kira-Lynn Reeves

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Women’s magazines reach millions of readers each month, and have been the subject of many academic inquires from media effects studies to feminist analyses. While many studies have investigated female readers’ experience with these texts, or examined the advertising content of women’s magazines, little research to date has focused on food advertising. This liberal feminist critique explores the experience of reading the 2011 issues of the three popular women’s magazines, Glamour, SELF, and Family Circle. Using Stern’s (1996) textual analysis method for advertisements, this study examines how food advertisements in women’s magazines encourage women to think about …

Investigating Predictors Of Preferences For Deliberative Qualities Of Political Conversations Using The Analytic Hierarchy Process, David L. Brinker

Master's Theses (2009 -)

This thesis presents a conceptual and methodological approach to researching preferences for political conversation. The thesis contends that although real-world political discussion is not deliberative, insofar as it fails to satisfy the rigorous requirements deliberative theorists have laid out, the lack of empirical evidence is not cause to reject deliberation as a viable political theory. To connect the theoretical and empirical, this thesis presents a “quasi-deliberation” framework. Quasi-deliberation, for the purpose of this thesis, is the state of political discourse shaped by the choices made when ideal deliberative qualities conflict in the real world. Quasi-deliberation suggests that the differences between …

Exploring The Social Entrepreneur: Individual And Organizational Identity Construction, Colleen C. Moore

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Social entrepreneurs play the role of the "change maker" in society by adopting business practices to create and sustain social value within the social sector. These individuals engage in processes that explore innovation and new opportunities to serve their missions. Social entrepreneurs are continually being described as visionaries, suggesting a defining characteristic of social entrepreneurs that they are relentless in their pursuit of fulfilling their vision. As social entrepreneurs continue to receive international attention for their goals for social change and innovation, it is important to further analyze social entrepreneurs from a communication perspective because it is believed that it …

Culivating And Retaining Committed Volunteers: An Analysis Of Volunteer Identification In Nonprofit Organizations, Nora Beth Pilak

Master's Theses (2009 -)

With nonprofit organizations expanding due to a weakened economy and a growing population, there is an increased need for volunteers to staff and support these organizations. Since most nonprofits operate with limited finances, these organizations have to generate and retain a group of effective and committed unpaid organizational members. In this study, I argue that the best way for nonprofits to cultivate efficient and dedicated volunteers is to use communication tactics that encourage members to identify with the organization. I also argue that if volunteers strongly identify with an organization, they are more likely to continue contributing their time and …

Visual Resistance: How To Challenge Brand Messages Visually, Daria S. Kempka

Master's Theses (2009 -)

No abstract provided.

Reclaiming "Victim" Through Untold Stories: An Analysis Of The Personal Stories Of Women Who Have Survived Violence, Ashley K. Collette

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Around the world one in every three women has been the victim of gender-based violence (Amnesty International USA, 2012). Be it sexual, physical, or psychological, violence against women is an epidemic that needs to end. Past research in the field of Communication has mainly focused on news media coverage of violent crimes. The accounts portrayed in news media were largely edited and focused on a hegemonic version of the experiences (Benedict, 1992; Meyers, 1997; Carll, 2003; Dowler, 2006). These news accounts generally ignore the lived experiences of the female victims, which leaves them feeling isolated in their victimization. Victims’ stories …

Seeking Safety? Applying The Risk Information Seeking And Processing Model To Sexual Aggression On A College Campus, Gregory J. Calhoun

Master's Theses (2009 -)

While a plethora of researchers have studied risk factors related to sexual violence, few studies have explored what differences account for the various ways women seek and process information about sexual violence. The study seeks to accomplish this by applying the Risk Information Seeking and Processing model (RISP) to the risk of sexual aggression on college campuses. RISP has been utilized to effectively explore the individual traits that influence how people seek and process risk information in a number of contexts. In analyzing a survey of 152 full-time female undergraduates at Marquette University, the results show that negative emotions and …

Relationship Of Facebook Usage To Team Identification, Caitlin Moyer

Master's Theses (2009 -)

This study examines the relationship of Facebook usage with sports team identification using Wann's (2006c) "Team Identification-Social Psychological Health Model" to help identify individuals' needs, or motives, for connecting with the team via Facebook as well as with the team itself. To the extent that the team's Facebook presence is believed to fulfill certain needs for an individual, connecting with a team via Facebook was expected to result in higher levels of team identification with that team. Thus, by determining the uses and gratifications that individuals glean from connecting with the team via the social networking site, marketers may be …

How I Was Saved: Christian Faith Narratives In Contemporary Society, Allison Berg

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Recent studies indicate that Christian membership numbers have declined in the last few decades. At the same time, polls record that Americans are becoming more religiously diverse. Some scholars suggest that these changes in American society are also leading to changes in the ways that Christians talk about their faith. Since Christian theology and tradition demands that Christians continue to share their faith with others, it is necessary to understand the ways that Christians talk about their faith today. Of interest to this study are faith narratives: stories about one's faith journey and experiences. Through sharing stories about their faith …

Mother: A Textual Analysis Of Contemporary Mother Identities In Popular Discourse, Katherine Mayer

Master's Theses (2009 -)

For centuries, women have struggled to understand the meaning of one of their most important roles in society, mother. Internet discussion boards have become an important venue for women to participate in ongoing discussions about the role of mothering in contemporary society and serve as a means by which they are actively shaping society's understanding of the role of mothers.

A textual analysis of a popular mothering discussion board yielded two dominate mothering identities, tensions that exist for each mothering type and how mothers resolve those tensions through the mothering discourse. The study ultimately revealed the ways in which the …

Effects Of Violence On Youths' Perceptions Of Peer And Sibling Aggression, Jessica Houston

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The present study examined the relationship between youth exposure to violence in the home and community and their perceptions of the acceptability of aggression in interactions involving peers and siblings. The importance of the context in which the violence occurs was investigated, as well the ability of parent-child attachment to buffer the effects of violence on aggressive attitudes. A diverse sample of 148 children, ages 9 to 14, completed measures of interparental, parent-child, and community aggression, as well as a measure of mother-child attachment. Youths also rated the acceptability of aggressive interactions between two peers and two siblings in written …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Standardized And Personally Relevant Stimuli In Two Mood Induction Procedures, Kathleen Hazlett

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The experience of emotion is a critical component of behavior, cognition, and general human functioning. In order to better understand emotional experience, researchers have utilized mood induction procedures (MIPs) to elicit specific emotional responses. Previous studies have reviewed the effectiveness of various MIPs; however, these studies do not account for more recently developed picture datasets and are limited in their examination of the impact that personal relevance has on MIP effectiveness. The present study examined changes in emotion using four different MIPs that varied based on stimuli type (either Picture or Vignette) and relevance to the participant (Personally Relevant or …

Effects Of Fashion Ads On Young Adults' Physical Self-Assessments, Michaela Engdahl

Master's Theses (2009 -)

This study examined the effects of fashion advertisements on young adults' physical self-assessments, including mood, leadership role selection, body esteem, and attributional style. Two hundred seventy seven participants, including 110 men and 167 women completed a series of questionnaires. Results indicated that both men and women who were exposed to images of same-sex physical exemplars responded with an externalizing attributional style after imagining a hypothetical "bad" blind date. Men's reported mood was consistent with their cognitive judgment, indicative of having engaged in the self-serving bias, while women's mood was discordant with their externalization of the event. Gender differences and similarities …