Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Vice President Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller And The Death Of Liberal Republicanism, Anthony Sterba

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller once stood as one of the most prominent figures in the Republican Party, standing as a champion of liberal Republicanism. But from the heights that he achieved with his ascension to the vice presidency, he fell from grace, not being re-nominated for the post alongside President Gerald Ford in 1976. This thesis seeks to explain why this occurred. In explaining this, Rockefeller's previous primary campaigns, vice presidential actions, and ideology are all explored to show the conservative opposition that rallied itself against him. In light of this, Ronald Reagan's challenge of Gerald Ford in 1976 for the …

Short-Term Rentals And Its Impact On Housing Attainability And Availability In Branson, Missouri, And Fayetteville, Arkansas, Sophie Mcadara

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Recent research in the short-term rental (STR) industry shows a positive relationship between the expansion of usage of home-sharing platforms and the cost of housing, as well as an inverse relationship between STR expansion and the availability of long-term housing units. In these studies, as short-term rental units increase, housing costs tend to go up, and long-term housing unit availability tends to decrease by a measurable amount. As the utilization of STRs can be a valuable source of income for citizens and assist with increasing housing prices and the cost of living, leaders, and researchers are also concerned about their …

"Not That Type Of Asian": Deconstructing The Model Minority Myth From A South Asian Perspective., Shraddha Patel

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The myth of the model minority is an essential aspect of the literature on Asian American racialization. However, dominant narratives of the concept largely focus on East Asians, with limited literature highlighting its unique impact on South Asians. In light of this, this qualitative study sought to illuminate where South Asian experiences align with, deviate from, or expand upon the themes observed in existing literature. Using interview data from 21 South Asian American participants from across the United States, we explored 1) identity and sense of belonging, 2) mental health as it pertains to expectations associated with the model minority …

Hand In Hand, May-June 2024

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Reinvestigating The Role Of Observational Contexts In Learning Hard Nouns, Kosta Boskovic, Sumarga Suanda

Honors Scholar Theses

Developmental scientists have long been fascinated by children’s prodigious word learning capacities and by patterns in the composition of children’s early vocabularies that reveal that certain types of words are learned earlier than others. One notable pattern has been that words that denote more abstract concepts (e.g., “story”) are learned later than words that denote concrete objects (e.g., “ball”). In fact, prior studies have concluded that different kinds of abstract words, including nouns whose referents are not whole, concrete objects (or “hard nouns”; Kako, 2005), are not learnable from observational contexts alone and necessitate linguistic information to be learned. In …

The Startup Spotlight: Chronicles Of Innovation (2016-2023), Dawn Hightree

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Institute for Innovation and Economic Development (iiED) is a nonprofit organization that has been pivotal in supporting entrepreneurial success in the Monterey Bay Region. The iiED’s programs and services are effective at helping to solve the problem that Too many entrepreneurs lack resources, support, and innovation to effectively start a business in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties. Nonprofit organizations need to provide adequate proof to all stakeholders of mission fulfillment. Limited staffing, funding dependencies, and entrepreneurs needing substantial business services to meet the companies are contributing factors that can lead to missed opportunities, failed program deliveries, and …

Allowing Latinx Students’ Voices To Be Heard, Sofie Jamieson

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

There are too many Latinx students falling behind academically, and coming to First Tee helped improve their academic performance. The First Tee of Monterey is a local non-profit organization that was established in 1997 and is based in Salinas, California primarily serving students who come from low-income backgrounds. The agency strives to support Latinx students who are fourth, fifth, and sixth grade who have a language barrier, not enough tutoring support, and not enough parent and teacher involvement. This increases the likelihood of dropout rates, mental health issues, and unemployment. Implementing an evaluation that the students can take part in …

The Need For Volunteer Engagement, Brittney Portillo

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Although there are a large number of non-profit organizations and volunteer opportunities available, there is a lack of volunteer engagement within organizations making it difficult to complete mission goals. This project was implemented and completed by Community Builders for Monterey County executive director and intern. Community Builders for Monterey County is a 501c(3) non-profit organization that was created to connect volunteers to different non-profit organizations around Monterey County. This project was created with the purpose of assessing potential volunteer needs in a survey style form in order to better understand how to get volunteers more engaged. The project resulted in …

Beyond The Field: Exploring Identity, Spiritual Growth, And Community Through The Fellowship Of Christian Athletes, Kyle Barileau

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

For this Capstone Project, the researchers investigated Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) representatives’ views on bringing student-athletes to have a relationship with Christ and why they think it is important. Based on an analysis of the data and the relevant research literature, the researchers used what they have learned to formulate an action that responds to improving FCA in a way that inspires, informs, or involves a particular audience. This is important because student-athletes need a sense of community and safe space to express their relationship with God. It is argued that having a relationship with Christ is important, especially …

The Importance Of Maintaining Healthy Relationships In Middle Childhood, Hailey Oyoque

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

My Capstone Project focuses on the importance of healthy relationships in middle childhood, ages nine to eleven. Middle childhood is a sensitive time period in the lifespan . Fourth and fifth graders in particular (9-11 years of age) are gaining a greater perception of the world around them as they are anticipating adolescence. These factors can have an influence on their peer relationships. In completing service learning at Henry F. Kammann elementary school in Salinas, California, I have learned that most students have dealt with peer conflicts (bullying, discrimination). As stated in an article called Middle Childhood, “Children in this …

A World Between: The Macro And Micro-Relationships That Shape The Borderlands, Teresa Digerolamo

Honors Theses

This thesis explores changing border policies, their effects on migrants, and the humanitarian community that has emerged to meet the needs of migrants. Border policy has sought to make the journey through the U.S.-Mexico border perilous and unattractive for travelers, pushing migrants into dangerous terrain known to reach life-threatening extremes in the summer and winter months. Over 8,000 migrants have died since 1998 along the U.S.-Mexico border, and aid groups have emerged to meet the need for life-saving care. The humanitarian community in southern Arizona is active and dynamic, adapting to ever-changing border policy and mobilizing resources year-round. Through reviewing …

Believe In Yourself And Keep The Doctor Away: Health Self-Efficacy Mediates The Relationship Between Retrospectively Reported Adverse Childhood Experiences (Aces) And College Students’ Current Self-Reported Physical Health, Amber Sale

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are potentially traumatic events occurring during the first 18 years of life (CDC, 2022) and are strong predictors of later negative outcomes such as poor physical health, risky health behaviors, and poor lifestyle habits (Felitti et al., 1998; Lovis-Schmidt et al., 2022; Windle et al., 2018). Previous literature has suggested that self-efficacy may explain the negative impact ACEs have on later physical health (Sachs-Ericsson et al., 2011). Therefore, the present study examined the relationship between college students’ retrospectively reported ACEs and current self-reported physical health, in the context of health self-efficacy levels (i.e., self-perceptions of one’s …

Heuristic Expectations Of The Cinderella Effect As A Function Of Sexual Dimorphism In Men's Facial Structures, Lindsey Eagan

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Masculinized male faces have an ambivalent signal value, wherein perceivers recognize various coalitional benefits and costs. Within parenting domains, masculine men could afford protection toward their offspring despite potentially using more aggressive behaviors toward them. Nonetheless, the benefits of masculine fathers could be limited to their biological children while the costs toward stepchildren would be greater. Perceivers could develop implicit theories about parental behaviors as a visual corollary of the Cinderella Effect, or stepchildren’s greater vulnerability to abuse. Participants evaluated a series of masculinized and feminized male faces described as either biological parents or stepparents in domains related to positive …

“It's More Than A Book Club”: Counterspaces And Bibliotherapic Wellness Among Black Undergraduate Women, Khrystal Johnson

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Black students at Predominantly White Institutions (PWI) face heightened vulnerability to general and race-related stressors, necessitating the identification of culturally responsive and alternative care approaches to complement traditional talk therapy and clinical assessment, given the associated adverse academic and psychological outcomes. The current study explores the utility of a Black women-focused book club as an inclusive and identity-affirming space for Black women attending an elite and private PWI. Additionally, we consider how this bibliotherapic and group-based approach offered a critical counterspace for participants. Over the course of a four-month semester, two Black women co-facilitators held a monthly book club series …

The Domain Specificity And Conscious Awareness Of Learned Memory Biases, Gizem Filiz

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The False Positive Feedback (FPF) manipulation encourages certain recognition errors by inducing either liberal (lax) or conservative (strict) recognition memory decision biases. FPF manipulation involves trial-by-trial probabilistic positive feedback for commission or omission errors while the other stimulus class always received fully correct feedback during testing. We investigated whether these learned biases are restricted to the stimulus class triggering FPF, or whether they instead spread to an intermixed class receiving valid feedback, by selectively delivering FPF to words or pictures. A spreading bias would suggest that subjects learn to be liberal or conservative in interpreting recognition evidence in general during …

Decolonizing Neo-Liberalism, Empowering The Local: A Global South Reading Of Noir In The 2000s., Jean-Hugues Bita’A Menye

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research aims at providing a Global South reading of noir in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It relies on the premise that noir, a sub-genre of crime fiction born in France during World War II, offered new avenues of literary creation and political criticism. Based on a selection of authors from the U.S., Mexico, Algeria, and Cameroon, the dissertation explores how authors from underrepresented or formerly-colonized communities discuss the impact of neoliberal thinking in their communities. With an emphasis on race and gender dynamics, nation building and terrorism, police corruption and brutality, or the growth of organized, each …

Moral Dilemmas: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Military Members Experience Of War, Deborah Allsbrook Roth

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Due to increasing mental health concerns in combat exposed military members, including posttraumatic stress, there is a commiserate need for improved mental health services. Other mental health concerns include an increasing rate of suicide deaths in military members who have served during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), or Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). There is a need for mental health counselors to have a more nuanced understanding of the clinical needs of combat exposed military members. In more recent years the construct of moral injury has emerged as a potential explanation for the presentation of certain combat exposed military members. Moral injury …

Muslim International Students’ Perception Of Islamophobia In Their Immigration Journey To The U.S.: A Case Study, Sheri Beyer

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study serves as an impetus for universities to address improving pre-arrival services and procedures for Muslim international students and a resource for practitioners and lawmakers to examine current policies specifically through the lens of Critical Race and Critical Muslim Theory. Policymakers can examine the effects of Islamophobia on international students and how it affects higher education, communities, and the economies.

The Demotechnic Index Of Nations (1980 - 2018) And Its Correlation With The Human Development Index (1990 – 2021), Camden Rainwater

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Demotechnic Index (DI) and the Human Development Index (HDI) are both useful metrics for assessing the development of nations, with each providing unique insights about a country’s standard of living. The DI, which uses energy consumption as a gauge, excels in capturing the impact of conflicts and economic disruptions. Additionally, its ability to be calculated based on different energy sources allows for evaluation of a nation's progress towards sustainable consumption patterns. Conversely, the HDI combines healthcare, education, and income dimensions, and uses them as a proxy that highlights human health crises, educational improvements, and economic growth, albeit with less …

Gym Sexual Harassment And Bystander Intervention: An Application Of The Reasoned Action Approach, Eric Schisler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objective. The purpose of this study was to modify and validate an instrument to examine factors associated with being an active bystander when witnessing sexual harassment at a gym or fitness center. Using Fishbein and Ajzen’s Reasoned Action Approach (RAA), this study aimed to better understand the influence of a person’s attitude, social norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) on their intention to be an active bystander when witness to someone being sexually harassed at the gym in the next 30 days. Methodology. This study utilized an exploratory sequential mixed methods design, with phase one taking place between June and …

Co-Creating A Process Of Tacit Knowledge Seeking Using Appreciative Inquiry: An Exploratory Case Study, Kristina Lewis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In today’s dynamic workplaces, knowledge exchange among employees is vital for organizational innovation and competitive advantage. However, existing literature on knowledge management has primarily focused on knowledge sharing, neglecting the proactive process of knowledge seeking, particularly regarding tacit knowledge. This study aims to bridge this gap by exploring the social process of tacit knowledge seeking in the workplace. Using appreciative inquiry as a method for collecting data, this qualitative exploratory single case study examines how employees seek tacit knowledge in an international consumer products organization. Guided by a social constructionist framework and appreciative perspective, the study seeks to understand the …

Fire Potential In Arkansas Through The Lens Of The Keetch-Byram Drought Index, Charles Steward

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Vegetation fires are a complicated phenomenon to predict both the occurrence and intensity. In the United States, fire behavior has been widely studied in high-risk regions such as in the American West, but fires also occur regularly in states that receive greater levels of precipitation, such as Arkansas. Fires are an expensive and dangerous environmental problem. As climate trends caused by global warming continue to progress, quantifying the extent to which climate factors influence their occurrence in Arkansas would be useful for land management, public safety, public health, agriculture, urban development, and to advance the science of fire-climate dynamics in …

Mental Health In College Journalists: Recognizing Causes Of Trauma And Recommendations For Training In College Programs, Sydney R. Mulvenon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

News reporting serves as an important vehicle for sharing breaking news across diverse communities, yet it often entails significant stressors. Some news reporters may experience trauma while covering challenging stories or navigating negative experiences within the newsroom. Many professionals in journalism have expressed concerns about the lack of awareness of mental health in the field. Addressing this need, this research using a documentary format, explores the need for integrating trauma training and awareness initiative into college-level journalism programs. Drawing on stories from former journalists and other professionals connected to journalism, this documentary highlights the pressing need for trauma-focused coursework to …

A Mobile Application Intervention For Insomnia Among College Students, Veronica Floyd

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies have found that the prevalence of insomnia among college students is high. This has implications for students mental and physical well-being, academic performance, and the onset of more chronic insomnia symptomology. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) is the front-line treatment for insomnia, but cost and time are often barriers to treatment access. The goal of this study was to test the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a more cost-effective self-guided version of CBT-I (via mobile application). Fifty-five college students, who were mostly women (82%) and mean age 19.3 (SD = 2.3) years with moderate insomnia symptoms were …

The Constant String Of Crises: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Twitter Responses To Celebrity Crisis Communications, Megan Willman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Celebrity crises are more prominent in today’s social-media-fueled world than ever before. Public relations teams are hired to handle these instances on behalf of the celebrity, but no one can control the discourse that ensues on social media. The end goal of these teams is to restore trust and reputation with stakeholders and fans. Although there have been many studies on crisis communications, there are few studies thus far that have examined the strategy as well as the discourse of such timely crises. The public figures included in this paper are Ashton Kutcher, Lizzo, Luke Combs, Mila Kunis, and Taylor …

Working Alongside People With Disabilities: Their Impact And Value, Alice A. Jensen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

U.S. policies such as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 and the Americans with Disabilities Act support the inclusion of adults with disabilities in all areas of employment. Through WIOA, the federal government required public entities to provide training and help job seekers with disabilities access high-quality, competitive, integrated employment in the labor market. Nevertheless, two-thirds of unemployed PWDs report wanting employment but cannot find a job. Negative perceptions held by employers and hiring managers and their views that PWDs lack abilities create barriers to employment. In contrast, research has also shown that coworkers can greatly influence successful …

A Comparative Examination Of Background Attributes, Criminogenic Factors, Status Changes, And Preparatory Activities Across Ideological And Non-Ideological Mass Shootings, Brynn Schuetter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The overall focus of this study is the relevance of extreme ideology as a distinguishing factor underlying the motivational circumstances of mass shootings in the United States over the last few decades. Along with comparatively examining the lethality of mass shootings, background attributes, criminogenic factors, status changes, and preparatory activities are compared across ideological and non-ideological mass shooters. Data are extracted from the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB), the Bias Homicide Database (BHDB), and Schildkraut’s Database on Mass Shootings. Results highlight key differences in offenders’ experiences of personal status changes and engagement in preparatory activities prior to committing mass shootings. These …

Exploring Diversity, Discrimination, And Performance Dynamics, George Agyeah

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation utilizes empirical and experimental approaches to investigate the multifaceted factors that affect decision-making in economic contexts. The three chapters place a particular focus on group affiliation, perceived discrimination, and the gender gap in entrepreneurship. The first chapter explores the impact of team diversity on economic decision-making within a dynamic context. Through a series of laboratory experiments involving participants randomly assigned to teams, the study examines how team diversity influences individual behavior and performance. Results indicate that team diversity significantly affects individual behavior, with newcomers being particularly influenced by the diversity of the team they join. The findings underscore …

The International Experience: Foreigners In Fayetteville, Khadn Blaine Adderley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project is aimed toward showcasing the stories of some international students who currently attend or recently attended the University of Arkansas and have lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas. With the University of Arkansas being home to a range of international students from all over the world, it’s important to get an understanding from some of those students who leave their home country to spend the next four years as a member of the Fayetteville community. This project is a podcast that is split up into four episodes, highlighting the experiences of international students, University of Arkansas employees who assist with …

Outcome Measures Or Graduation Rates, That Is The Question, Miran Kang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study compared the Outcome Measures (OM) to the traditional Graduation Rates (GR) to ascertain if OM portrayed the performance of higher education institutions differently than GR and to determine which of the two metrics aligned better with accountability policy objectives. GR refers to the percentages of first-time, full-time students who obtain a degree or certificate within 150% of the normal time. OM presents the award status of all degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students on four cohorts: first-time, full-time (FTFT); first-time, part-time (FTPT); non-first-time, full-time (NFTFT); and non-first-time, part-time (NFTPT). OM was a more comprehensive indicator than GR, particularly for 2-year institutions, …