Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Gender And Perceptions Of Leadership Tasks, Lydia Pena, Adam Butler

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

Women are underrepresented in leadership roles in organizations. This study examined student perceptions of autocratic and participative leadership tasks. There were no differences between men and women in the perceived desirability of these tasks or in their perceived ability to perform them. The results suggest that women aren’t self-selecting out of leadership due to tasks associated with the role.

Perceived Racial Discrimination And Sleep Patterns: The Moderating Role Of Race And Health Habits, Camille Petrich

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating role of both race and health habits (i.e., smoking illegal substances, vaping or smoking tobacco and nicotine, or drinking alcohol) in the links between perceived racial discrimination with sleep as well as anxiety. This current study used a sample of 173 participants from a midwestern university who were undergraduate students in the fall semester of 2019 and in the spring semester of 2020. All participants self-reported their own demographic background, sleep habits, anxiety levels, perceived racial discrimination experiences, and health habit experiences through an online questionnaire. While there was not …

Consent Form Presentation Effects On Participants’ Attitudes, Knowledge, & Data, Jordan Newburg, Alyssa Mccoy, Brian Fairfield

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

Across six studies we examined effects of various methods of consent form presentation on participants’ knowledge, attitude, and data quality. These varied methods generally had little effect on knowledge, attitude, or data quality, but shorter forms had some advantages. Future research should assess how to increase participant investment in consent forms included in online studies.

Field Study At Our Little Haven Daycare And Preschool, Jalie Belloma

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

This poster describes my experiences in my field study with Our Little Haven Daycare and Preschool. I began this field study intending to learn more about ways in which I could help the children at Our Little Haven Daycare and Preschool gain access to books. I also wanted to learn how to organize an event such as a book drive to further explore my interest in future careers which require community engagement and fundraising. This poster will include information about my inspiration and goals for the book drive, research and planning that went into the project, the overall outcome of …

Doctoral Psychology Students' Attitudes Toward Evidence-Based Practice, Jordan A. Newburg

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is using clinical judgement to apply the best evidence to clients’ cases as applicable, improves client outcomes, and aligns with healthcare standards. Practitioners may not fully engage in or understand EBP. Cultivating students’ positive attitudes towards EBP during their graduate education may increase their knowledgeable engagement in EBP later as professionals. This study investigated potential factors influencing students’ attitudes. Students with more favorable attitudes were in more interactive, research-focused, clinical programs with professors’ and self-identification with CBT orientation. Future research could explore possible causes for these findings to improve psychologists’ education and continual training.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy In The Treatment Of Hewitt And Flett's Socially Prescribed Perfectionism In University Students Prior To The Onset Of Depression, Lisa Taylor

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

Perfectionism is a multidimensional construct which has been positively correlated with a rising trend in psychopathology. Previous literature proposed that individualism, high parental standards, and neoliberalism’s meritocratic values contribute to the rise of perfectionism. The present study examined the mediational relationship between perfectionism and various aspects of psychopathology and the outcome of cognitive behavioral therapy in the treatment of perfectionism. The research found that unrealistic goal setting, self-criticism, avoidant coping, and frequently perceived failures cause perfectionistic concerns to become maladaptive. Although there is validity to each model of perfectionism, Hewitt and Flett’s socially prescribed perfectionism is centralized around interpersonal expectations …

Interventions For Child Labor In The Indian Brick Kiln Industry, Ishaan Nandwani

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

Hazardous child labor is defined as work which, by its nature, is harmful to the health, safety, and moral of children. Hazardous child labor is notably found in the brick kiln industry of India. Families rely on their children to increase their productivity, largely due to debt bondage. Other reasons for child labor in this industry include barriers to educational opportunities and social implications resulting from the caste system. It is beneficial for intervention policies to prioritize eradicating debt bondage. However, this can only be accomplished if alternative working options are available. Previous efforts to increase working opportunities in rural …

Policy Template, Kayla Siddell

Library Policies

Use this template for policy development

How Will Covid 19 Impact The 2020 Election, A. Lee Hannah, Craig Woolley, Laura M. Luehrmann

Political Science Faculty Publications

This is the second installment in the Shelter in Place (SiP) Lecture series. This installment deals with the impact and implications of the Shelter in Place order on the 2020 presidential election. It covers topics ranging from changes in implications on campaigning, the incumbent advantage, fundamental changes, policy effects, and more.

The Resource Curse In Africa, Madison Smith

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Countries with an abundance of highly valued natural resources face the possibility of thriving or struggling due to the presence of such resources. This project examines the potential resource curse in sub-Saharan Africa. The research here will draw on previous insights on how resources affect economic and political development in Africa. I will consider how the availability of valuable resources affects political elites’ relationship with their citizens and why the impact of resources matters in a comparative perspective. Using data collection and research on the existence of the resource curse, I expect to find that the curse is real and …

Democratic Development In Africa, Isabella Musherure

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

The last three decades have seen states in Africa, alongside states around the world, experiment with democracy to varying degrees. Scholarship on the successes and struggle among these democratic attempts suggest certain factors influence the transitions to and consolidation of democracy. These factors include structural and contingent factors, national vs. international factors, and economic vs. political factors. Yet there are still unknown influences on democracy. My research seeks to understand the call for democracy and the reasons why some citizens are pro-democracy and others aren’t, what neopatrimonialism is and the implications that it has on society. Lastly, understand how informal …

How Do Resilience Resources Change In Response To Acute Stress?, Victoria Gardner, Nina Cuthrell, Sydney Tressler

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

People respond to stress in a variety of ways. Resilience, or the ability to bounce back from adversity, is a common response (Bonanno, 2004). Because adversity is common, it is vital to further examine sources of resilience. There is a lack of knowledge related to resilience and everyday stress, thus, we intended to study the relationship between resilience resources and acute stressors. In particular, we wanted to test whether people with higher resilience resources experienced acute stressors as less stressful than others and whether self-ratings of resilience resources would change after exposure to acute stress. Participants are recruited through a …

Disability, Religiousness, & Spirituality, Kimberly Paquette

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Poliovirus, which is transmitted by a fecal oral route, caused worldwide epidemics in the 20th century, which peaked in the 1940s and 1950s. Today, post-polio syndrome (PPS) is affecting polio survivors and is considered a secondary disability. Individuals who are affected by PPS experience new symptoms similar to those of polio that include weakness in muscles, fatigue, and pain from joint degeneration. Besides these physical symptoms, previous research indicates that polio survivors and PPS affected individuals experience multiple psychological detriments such as anxiety, fear, and depression which could be related to experiencing this secondary disability after recovering from polio. Previous …

Ethics In Archaeological Lidar, Anna S. Cohen, Sarah Klassen, Damian Evans

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Airborne laser scanning or lidar has now been used by archaeologists for twenty years, with many of the first applications relying on data acquired by public agencies seeking to establish baseline elevation maps, mainly in Europe and North America. More recently, several wide-area acquisitions have been designed and commissioned by archaeologists, the most extensive of which cover tropical forest environments in the Americas and Southeast Asia. In these regions, the ability of lidar to map microtopographic relief and reveal anthropogenic traces on the Earth’s surface, even beneath dense vegetation, has been welcomed by many as a transformational breakthrough in our …

Kbart Phase Iii Update, Andrée Rathemacher, Nettie Lagace

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

Conference presentation, "KBART Phase III Update," presented at the 2020 New England Technical Services Librarians (NETSL) Annual Spring Conference, Under Pressure: Coping with New Realities in Technical Services on April 17, 2020. The conference took place online due to COVID-19.

Session 1D

KBART Phase III Update

KBART, a NISO Recommended Practice, enables the standardized transfer of data between content providers and knowledge bases, facilitating the efficient management of a library’s electronic resources. This session will provide an overview of the changes planned for KBART Phase III, which will clarify current recommendations, revise the KBART endorsement process, add support for additional …

Shift-Share Analysis: Appalachian Region Micropolitan And Metropolitan Areas, 2005 – 2018 Part I. Regions 1 - 60, Randall Jackson, Péter Járosi

Shift Share Analyses

In County-level CIE Supply Chain Analysis, the second of five p a rts o f A n E c onomic A n alysis of the Appalachian Coal Industry Ecosystem posted to the Commission’s website in January of 2018, we developed a set of metrics that were used to provide insights on the past and future supply chain implications of long-term coal industry decline in Appalachia.[1] These metrics were used to identify counties that have been heavily impacted by the decline of the coal industry, those that remain dependent on the coal industry ecosystem (CIE), and among the dependent counties, those …

Global Technologies: A Discussion Regarding The Digital Divide, Stephen Hommowun

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

The digital divide is a concept that explains the gap in technological access between the global north and south. The purpose of this study is to show how technology can be used to enact social change. This study has found that there is a positive correlation between less technological access and less social change. As such, this study will also discuss factors that limit countries’ ability to develop new technology. These factors include a country’s economic strength, their literacy and educational standards, infrastructure in place, and political organization.

Setback Of Foreign Aid In Sub-Saharan Africa, Sungmin Suh

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Every year, tens of billions of dollars are transferred as foreign aid to so-called developing countries, including sub-Saharan African states. My research regards the overall effectiveness in the development of these recipients. Some evidence supports the success of foreign aid in fostering development. My focus is to understand the effectiveness of foreign aid beyond the individual outcomes of various aid programs. Particularly, I will explore how aid affects investment, self-determination, democracy, and transparency in recipient nations. In this study, I examine the realities of the countries at individual country-levels rather than the macro measures focused on by such scholars as …

The Role Of Group Pride, Sympathy, & Guilt In Changing Privileged Groups' Views Of Racism, Natalie Trout, Maya Newell, Timothy Bartelds Ii

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

There’s a large gap between the way many Americans (especially Caucasians) and ethnic minorities perceive racism and the reality of experiencing racism. Among many Caucasians, there is a pervasive norm that race and racism are no longer a problem, yet 74% of Blacks polled in 2009 said they were personally discriminated against because of their race (Reid & Foehls, 2010). The goal of this study was to extend prior theory on group emotions to a new domain. We tested whether creating group pride, guilt, and sympathy influenced perceptions of racism in people who belong to a privileged group (Caucasians). We …

Understanding Moral Foundations: Gender, Politics, And Religion Within A Sample Of First Year Pre-Health Students, Grace Hannah

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

All individuals have a sense of what actions are moral or immoral, even without specifically deliberating about decisions. Prior research has shown that moral foundations theory is helpful in understanding variations in moral sentiments within a population. These moral foundations consist of five domains: harm, fairness, in-group/loyalty, authority, and purity/sanctity. For this research project, we looked into how respondents’ religious affiliation, gender, and political ideology affected their core moral foundations. We sent an electronic questionnaire to college freshman who indicated an interest in a health related studies or profession from an initial survey they took before beginning college. Results show …

The Digital Divide In Sub-Saharan Africa, Taylor Spanbauer

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

The existence of a digital divide affects all information technology (IT) users. The digital divide is known as the gap between those who are able to make effective use of technology and the Internet, and those who are not. My project will explore the existence of a digital divide between countries in the global north and countries in the global south. Additionally, I will investigate the possible causes of the digital divide, and the positive or negative effects the divide may have on societies, all with an emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. Causes of the digital divide can be traced to …

Population, Politics And Power: An Investigation Into The Tribal Systems Governing Nigeria’S Democracy After The 1967 Civil War, Marvellous Ogudoro

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Nigeria is the most populous Black nation in the world but economically underperforming relative to its huge natural resources. The country’s interesting history is a by-product of numerous forces that moved across Africa and Europe starting in the 18th century. The 1967 civil war that divided Nigeria was inspired by the tribal grievances created by British Colonizers. It was fought for economic reasons. The Nigerian state could not allow Biafra to successfully secede as most of the revenue-generating oil wells were located in the South-Eastern part of the country(known as Biafra during the war). The underlying tensions that led to …

How Religious Priming Affects Attitudes About Immigration, Taylor Richmond, Kelly Teahan, Carolyn Priebe, Matthew Severino

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Many world religions emphasize the importance of charity and hospitality towards those in need, so one may expect there to be greater levels of helpfulness towards immigrants among the religious. However, several social psychological perspectives, including Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979), Coalitional Psychology (Navarrete & Fessler, 2005), and Terror Management Theory (Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 2000), have found that people are more willing to help in-group members than out-of-group members. Religious texts often vary in theme and research has found that biblical passages about a violent God led participants to be more aggressive, (Bushman. Ridge, Das, Key, & …

Distinctions Between Democratic Developments In Africa: Different Journeys For Similar Outcomes?, Emma Deslauriers-Knop

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Democracy has had a tumultuous experience in sub-Saharan Africa. However, democracy has been gaining traction across the continent especially since the early 1990’s in the so-called “third wave” of democracy. This study explores democratic developments in Africa in order to determine potential factors of influence within the creation and “success” of a democracy, as reported by indices such as Freedom House Index and Transparency Index. In addition to the resulting democracy, this study examines the process of the transition of power from the previous regime of a country to the newfound democracy, and how this is a critical make or …

The Influence Of Hsv-1 Infection On Circadian Rhythms And Behavior In Mice, Lauren Evert, Kevin Catalfano, Victoria Gardner, Anna Lunderberg

19th Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2020)

Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection is a lifelong viral infection that affects approximately half of the human population (McQuillan et al., 2018), yet little is known about its neurological effects. There is correlational evidence that infection with HSV-1 can induce cognitive decline and increased anxiety behaviors (Harris & Harris, 2015; Steel & Eslick, 2015; Tarter, Simanek, Dowd, & Aiello, 2014). In addition, HSV-1 may be associated with disruptions to circadian rhythms because HSV-1 is associated with chronic fatigue syndrome (Bond & Dinan, 2006), the time of HSV-1 infection impacts the viral replication (Edgar, 2016), and HSV impacts CLOCK machinery …

Top Apps To Explore During Covid-19 Quarantine, Sandy Avila

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Having trouble staying on task, looking to be kept entertained, or care to visit a faraway land? We will explore these and other areas of interest as we look at how mobile apps and their desktop counterparts can help you escape your mind, center your body, and tickle your spiirt during COVID-19 quarantine.

Shift-Share Analysis: Appalachian Region Micropolitan And Metropolitan Areas, 2005 – 2018 Part Ii. Regions 61 - 120, Randall Jackson, Péter Járosi

Shift Share Analyses

In County-level CIE Supply Chain Analysis, the second of five p arts o f A n Economic Analysis of the Appalachian Coal Industry Ecosystem posted to the Commission’s website in January of 2018, we developed a set of metrics that were used to provide insights on the past and future supply chain implications of long-term coal industry decline in Appalachia.[1] These metrics were used to identify counties that have been heavily impacted by the decline of the coal industry, those that remain dependent on the coal industry ecosystem (CIE), and among the dependent counties, those that are at greatest risk …

Covid-19-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices Among Decisionmakers Of Indigenous Municipalities In Guatemala: Study Description, Angel Del Valle, Hannah Briggs, Benjamin Chang, Aiken Chew, Brian Medina, Gabriela Muñoz, Thoai Ngo, Elizabeth Vásquez, Corinne White, Ramón Zamora

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Indigenous communities are often socially and economically marginalized which makes them particularly vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19. The Population Council has a longstanding partnership with indigenous communities in Guatemala through the "Abriendo Oportunidades" program. To understand the knowledge, perspectives, and needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will conduct key informant interviews with indigenous community leaders and frontline workers. Phone-based surveys will be carried out with approximately 130 key informants in the municipalities of Chisec, Patzún, San Andrés Semetabaj, San Juan Ostuncalco, San Juan Sacatepéquez, San Pedro Carchá, Santa María Chiquimula, Totonicapán, Uspantán and Sololá in April 2020. These …

Does Description Equal Prescription? A Case For Gender Quotas In Latin America, Samuel E. Hobbs

Honors College Theses

Extant research demonstrates that gender quotas do increase women’s descriptive representation in national legislatures, including in Latin America (Smith 2016; Mark et al. 2012). However, there has been an evident lack of research conducted to identify the relationship between gender quotas and outcomes of gendered legislation. I argue that gender quotas implemented on the national legislature in Latin America do increase the outcome of gendered legislation. I test my hypothesis by examining the government of Chile to analyze the effects of the augmentation of women in national legislatures. To do so, I use the government’s national legislative database to search …

Perspectives Of Health Care Providers In The Dominican Republic Towards Pregnant Haitian Women, Diana Hernandez

Honors Theses

Due to the lack of basic health care in Haiti, many Haitian women cross the border looking for a better public health service in the Dominican Republic. However, differences in cultural and medical practices exist between both countries. Thus, for my thesis, I intend to study and explain the challenges that Dominican health care providers feel might impede their abilities to provide adequate health care to pregnant Haitian patients and how they respond to and manage those challenges that they face.