Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Beyond The Bedroom Door: Investigating Representations Of Sex In Young Adult Literature, Amelia Gutche

English Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines representations of sex in young adult (YA) fiction, focusing on negative patterns, empowerment, and healthy relationships. Through analysis of seven YA novels and existing scholarship, three research questions are addressed: the evolution of sexual representations in the twenty-first century, patterns characterizing teenage sexual situations, and distinctions between healthy and unhealthy relationships. Findings reveal a shift toward more inclusive and empowering depictions, yet lingering conservative values and silences persist. YA literature often portrays sex as a source of fear and obsession, limiting adolescent power and perpetuating unrealistic ideals. Healthy relationships are characterized by support systems, mutual respect, and …

An Educated Guess: The Impact Of Education On Conspiracy Theories And Voting, Ellie Bickelhaupt

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

How strongly does education impact one's perception and opinion of conspiracy theories and voting? Throughout the years, conspiracy theories have been a rising trend in recent years that many people find entertaining, but many believe to be actual facts. The impact of one's education level can substantially change a person's beliefs in conspiracy theories and overall trust in the government. This trend has been shown by analyzing media consumption, education status, and the American National Election survey. This research will compare the trends between education level and conspiracy theory beliefs and how both affect a person's voting behavior. This research …

The Moderating Effect Of Socioeconomic Status And Walkability On The Efficacy Of Physical Activity Interventions, Analisa Vavoso, Vincent Berardi, Marc A. Adams

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

To enable physical activity (PA) interventions to better tailor procedures to participant characteristics, we investigated the role of neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and walkability on the differential effectiveness of adaptive versus static activity goals (AG vs. SG) and immediate versus delayed (IR vs. DR) reinforcement in a PA trial.

Data was collected as a part of the WalkIT Arizona study, where healthy, inactive adults (n = 512) were instructed to wear an accelerometer daily for one year and were provided with daily goals for moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). The intersection of goal types (adaptive and static) as well as reinforcement types …

Fear Of China's Economic Power: Media And Party Affiliation On Public Opinion, Cloe Hughes

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The United States and China are the world’s two greatest economic rivals. The US-China trade war–which started in 2018–is a result of this battle for economic hegemony and has raged on for the past six years. While trade decisions are ultimately up to policymakers, public opinion is a large factor in international policy decisions, and American biases against the Chinese may adversely affect both the American and Chinese economies. In this paper, I will examine how factors including media consumption and partisanship impact American attitudes towards China’s economy overtaking the United States’ economy. Previous research has studied the effects of …

A Content Analysis Of Common Relationship Challenges Among People Who Practice Polyamory, Kalyn Su, Sophie Camilleri

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Approximately 1 out of 9 people in the U.S. have engaged in polyamory (Moors et al., 2021), a relationship type in which all involved agree to have multiple romantic and/or sexual partners. Despite the commonness of polyamory, there are many misconceptions about the polyamorous experience. However, research has yet to examine common challenges that people engaged in polyamory endure. The goal of the present qualitative study was to identify the disadvantages and stressors of polyamory in order to shed light on the unique experiences of people in these relationships. 219 adults who were currently in a polyamorous relationship were asked …

Navigating Islamophobia: Exploring Attitudes Towards Muslim Immigration And Policing, Devansh Mehta

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Since the September 11th terrorist attacks, Islamophobic dispositions in the United States have surged within its political and societal arenas. In this paper, I will examine two specific dimensions of Islamophobia such as ceasing immigration from Muslim countries and increased police presence in Muslim neighborhoods and how those behaviors may be influenced by political affiliation and different ways news is consumed using social media and cable news. Relying on the Chapman Survey of American Fears, a representative national sample of U.S. adults completed a forty-question survey in which I tested the above independent variables to see their individual effects on …

Peacekeeping The Commons: Un Peacekeeping Moderates The Effects Of Climate Change On Intercommunal Conflict, Cara Hunter

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The effects of climate change have been increasingly linked to the risk of intercommunal conflict, as climatic shocks have been shown to increase resource scarcity. Policymakers and academics agree that effectively designed institutions are critical variables in preventing and mitigating conflict, particularly in ecologically-fragile areas. However, there is a lack of evidence on the specific ways to strengthen institutions in the face of climate change, especially in conflict-affected settings. We argue that UN Peacekeeping Operations moderate the effects of climate change on intercommunal conflict by strengthening institutions governing common-pool resources (CPRs) to increase cooperation between communities sharing scarce resources. We …

The Impact Of Childhood Trauma On Adult Attachment Style, Luella Rubin-Wylie, Desiree Crevecoeur-Macphail

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Repeated and complex childhood trauma can have devastating effects on individuals and their future relationships. Attachment styles are developed in the early years of an individual's life, and adverse experiences during these early years can negatively affect the attachment style that an individual develops. Various traumatic experiences during childhood, such as abuse/neglect, death/separation of parent, or witnessing domestic violence, may lead individuals to develop insecure attachment styles in their future romantic relationships. In many instances, experiencing childhood trauma can result in the development of aninsecure attachment style of anxious, avoidant, or disorganized. This study aimed to examine the impact of …

Artistic Resistance Under Dictatorships In Spain And Argentina Through The Lens Of Communication Theory, Adrian Self

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Under dictatorships in Spain and Argentina, artists used their mediums to criticize the actions of the Catholic church and oppressive conditions enforced by the government, using allegories, metaphors, and symbolism in their art. While many artists tried to create works that fell within authoritarian guidelines, others intentionally created cinema and literature criticizing the Argentine and Spanish governments, values, and practices, knowing the works would be banned. This investigation uses examples of cinema and literature created and published deliberately to be prohibited or censored under the regimen of Francisco Franco from 1939-1975 in Spain or the last civil-military dictatorship from 1976-1983 …

Alcohol Use Disorder: Behaviors And Comorbidities In Recovery, Ryann Schochet

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The purpose of this study was to determine the connection between length of sobriety, for people with alcohol use disorder, and their experience with related disorders and traits. Impulsivity, compulsions, obsessions, generalized anxiety, panic attacks, and neuroticism have all been researched in relation with the development of alcohol use disorder and drinking behaviors. This study strived to determine the presence of these symptoms and behaviors within one’s recovery, and their effect on one’s overall sobriety. This study compared self-reported symptoms of Alcoholics Anonymous members to their current length of sobriety and past relapses. Symptoms of Attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Obsessive Compulsive …

Factors In Decision Making Of Political Candidates, Levi Ramirez Garcia

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

What factors impact the decision to run as non-partisan over one of the major US parties? It is essential to analyze this phenomenon to determine the real motivations of candidates and the party they represent because they impact society as a whole. The candidates' ideologies and how the candidates feel representing the parties' ideologies are the main reasons for choosing non-partisan over one of the major US parties. This occurs because humans tend to work where they feel comfortable and in places with the same values and ideologies as them. It is the same in the case of candidates; they …

The Gender Divide: Exploring Gender Patterns Of Perceived And Realistic Risks Of Murder By Unknown And Known Perpetrators, Haley Forth

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

In a society where vulnerability is often associated with femininity, women are depicted as helpless victims, which in turn underscores the gendered challenges faced by both men and women. It is thought that gender disparities among women increase the likelihood of fear and risk of murder victimization. Rather, both men and women face homicide at significant rates where gender vulnerability is correlated to different types of violence. In this paper, I examine the complexities of gendered perceptions of perceived and realistic risks behind the fear of being murdered by someone you know and murdered by a stranger. Relying on the …

Demographic Effects On Climate Change Awareness, Alessandro Demoreno

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Does wealth blind us to the planet's plight, or does it empower action? In this research, I examine the extent to which people's income, political affiliation, and media consumption have affected their fear of climate change. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, I will analyze data from the Wave 7 American Fears Methodology Report 2021; I hypothesize a strong negative correlation between income and fear of climate change. I will also examine the correlation between party affiliation and the level of fear. I hypothesize that those who identify as Democrats will score higher when it comes to fears relating to climate change …

The Contemporary Causes Of Americans' Fear Of Illegal Immigration, Amilie Cai

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Annually, the U.S. aspires to extend its liberality by opening its border to more than ten thousand refugees. In this paper, I examine how political party identification, census region, and internet usage influence U.S. adults' fear of illegal immigration. Relying on the 2023 Chapman Survey of American Fears, a representative national sample of U.S. adults, I find that political party has remained a consistent predictor for an American’s fear of illegal immigration, with people who align themselves with the Republican Party in 2022 being more afraid of illegal immigration compared to other political parties, such as the Democrat Party. In …

The Long-Term Effects Of Family Instability During Childhood, Emily Guillen

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The environment in which children are raised greatly influences the person they will grow up to be. Children who experience dysfunctional family relationships, such as constant changes and disruptions to the family structure, are likely to experience long term effects. The purpose of this study is to understand the link between family instability within relationships and the long-term psychological effects in early adulthood. Through the use of family systems theory, the research examines the family as a whole in which interactions within the family affect each member. This study investigated childhood experiences of unstable family relationships, and their likelihood to …

The Perception Of Children As Reliable Eyewitnesses, Shelby Mcdonald

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Eyewitness accounts have been integral to the criminal justice system. However, given that not every criminal case has forensic evidence that is available or admissible, the reliance on eyewitness accounts conjures questions about believability. This is an important area of research because the over-belief of witnesses may lead to wrongful convictions, yet under-belief may leave the victim without justice. The current study investigated how child-witness age, race, role as a witness (bystander versus victim), and the gender of the juror influenced the perception of child eyewitnesses through the lens of the Witness Credibility Model. Participants were presented with the testimony …

Sufferance For Snuff Puffs: The Acceptability And Behavior Of Smoking Marijuana And Tobacco Inside The House, Eusabeia Silfanus, Oliver Lopez, Vincent Berardi

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Secondhand smoke (SHS) released from indoor smoking contributes to household air pollution, releasing large quantities of fine particulate matter which can pose negative health outcomes, especially for developing children who spend most of their time at home. The increased legalization of marijuana increases its recreational and medicinal use along with its acceptability. With tobacco use remaining prevalent, the use of marijuana and/or tobacco remains common and may occur inside the home. Project Fresh Air conducted in San Diego County studies the air quality in households (n = 298) with at least one adult smoking tobacco and/or marijuana living with at …

Bundling In Advance Sales: Theory And Evidence From Round-Trip Versus Two One-Way Tickets*, Diego Escobari, Paan Jindapon, Nicholas G. Rupp

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

We theoretically derive an optimal price for a bundle of two goods that are sold in advance to risk-averse buyers. The theory predicts that a round-trip ticket is less expensive than two one-way tickets when demands for the outbound and the inbound are uncertain and positively correlated. Using a unique airlines dataset, we find evidence that is consistent with the theory; round-trip bundle discounts exist and they are larger for passengers who buy early in advance, stay on a Saturday night, and have higher valuations. We also find that the bundle discounts decrease with competition.

Gender Equity In Labor Market Opportunities And Aggregate Technical Efficiency: A Case Of Equity Promoting Efficiency, Gautam Hazarika, Maroula Khraiche, Levent Kutlu

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

This study applies a panel data stochastic frontier analysis to country data towards examining the effect of gender equity in labor market opportunities upon efficiency in the production of GDP. It finds that aggregate technical efficiency is improved by a widening of women’s labor market opportunities as indicated by a rise in their share of employment, but that this effect is dampened by patriarchal cultural norms whose strength is measured by the proportion of the population tracing its ancestry to ethnic groups who adopted the plough as an agricultural implement. That aggregate technical efficiency rises in women’s share of employment …

Social Support In An Internet Weight Loss Community, Richard Freund, Marta Favara, Catherine Porter, Jere Behrman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Many low- and middle-income countries have introduced public works programs (PWPs) to fight poverty. This paper provides the first evidence that children from families who benefit from PWPs show increased foundational cognitive skills. The results, based on unique tablet-based data collected as part of a long-standing longitudinal survey, show positive associations between participation in the Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) in Ethiopia during childhood with long-term memory and implicit learning, and suggestive evidence for working memory. These associations appear to be strongest for children whose households were still PSNP participants in the year of data collection. Evidence suggests that the …

The C-Terminal Domain Of Minc Inhibits Assembly Of The Z Ring In Escherichia Coli, Gabriel R Fries, Sarah H Sperry, Tamsyn E Van Rheenen, Emma Morton

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Cross-Cohort Replicable Resting-State Functional Connectivity In Predicting Symptoms And Cognition Of Schizophrenia, Chunzhi Zhao, Rongtao Jiang, Juan Bustillo, Peter Kochunov, Jessica A Turner, Chuang Liang, Zening Fu, Daoqiang Zhang, Shile Qi, Vince D Calhoun

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Schizophrenia (SZ) is a debilitating mental illness characterized by adolescence or early adulthood onset of psychosis, positive and negative symptoms, as well as cognitive impairments. Despite a plethora of studies leveraging functional connectivity (FC) from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to predict symptoms and cognitive impairments of SZ, the findings have exhibited great heterogeneity. We aimed to identify congruous and replicable connectivity patterns capable of predicting positive and negative symptoms as well as cognitive impairments in SZ. Predictable functional connections (FCs) were identified by employing an individualized prediction model, whose replicability was further evaluated across three independent cohorts (BSNIP, SZ …

Practice Facilitation And Peer Coaching For Uncontrolled Hypertension Among Black Individuals: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Monika M Safford, Doyle M Cummings, Jacqueline R Halladay, James M Shikany, Joshua Richman, Suzanne Oparil, James Hollenberg, Alyssa Adams, Muna Anabtawi, Lynn Andreae, Elizabeth Baquero, Joanna Bryan, Debra Sanders-Clark, Ethel Johnson, Erica Richman, Orysya Soroka, Jimmy Tillman, Andrea L Cherrington

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

IMPORTANCE: Rural Black participants need effective intervention to achieve better blood pressure (BP) control.

OBJECTIVE: Among Black rural adults with persistently uncontrolled hypertension attending primary care clinics, to determine whether peer coaching (PC), practice facilitation (PF), or both (PCPF) are superior to enhanced usual care (EUC) in improving BP control.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A cluster randomized clinical trial was conducted in 69 rural primary care practices across Alabama and North Carolina between September 23, 2016, and September 26, 2019. The participating practices were randomized to 4 groups: PC plus EUC, PF plus EUC, PCPF plus EUC, and EUC alone. …

The Cooling Impact Of Urban Greening: A Systematic Review Of Methodologies And Data Sources, Saman Galalizadeh, Angus Morrison-Saunders, Pierre Horwitz, Richard Silberstein, David Blake

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Urban greening is a practical adaptation to improve the liveability of a city by providing urban cooling. This paper systematically evaluates the existing literature to understand the methodologies and associated data sources for determining the cooling effect provided by urban greening. A bibliometric analysis, including research focus parallelship network analysis and keyword co-occurrence network analysis using Gephi and BibExcel, was first performed on 156 articles to identify the main resulting research themes in cooling provided by UGAs. Subsequently, 72 of these were selected to extract more information, such as the focus, the measured parameters, the methods, and tools employed to …

Measuring Inclusive Leadership In Nonprofit Performing Arts Organizations, Thomas Abruzzo

Dissertations

Inclusive leadership is undoubtedly a practice to strive for, and few would argue against the value of leading inclusively. Yet, empirically, little is known about what constitutes effective inclusive leadership, especially in the context of nonprofit performing arts organizations. This sector is a particularly apt place to study and practice inclusive leadership because, in addition to the many benefits it provides, the nonprofit arts sector has problematic roots in terms of privileging a dominant social class by prioritizing certain art forms over others. For example, the popularity of the nonprofit form in the arts sector, when compared to for-profit or …

California School Psychologists’ Assessment Practices With Cld Students: A Phenomenological Study, Hector Manuel Teran Jr.

Dissertations

School psychologists are tasked with assessing students to qualify them for special education, typically using standardized tests. Standardized testing, like IQ testing, routinely used in the psycho-educational process, serves to justify prejudices, as they often mark people of color as intellectually inferior to White people. A closer look at school psychologists’ assessment practices with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students is necessary, as these students have historically been placed in special education at a higher percentage, likely due to misperceptions related to their race, ethnicity, or linguistic background. While IQ tests are regarded as tools that identify the needs of …

Better The Devil You Know: Improved Forecasts From Imperfect Models, Dong Hwan Oh, Andrew John Patton

Research Collection School Of Economics

Many important economic decisions are based on a parametric forecasting model that is known to be good but imperfect. We propose methods to improve out-of-sample forecasts from a misspecified model by estimating its parameters using a form of local M estimation (thereby nesting local OLS and local MLE), drawing on information from a state variable that is correlated with the misspecification of the model. We theoretically consider the forecast environments in which our approach is likely to offer improvements over standard methods, and we find significant forecast improvements from applying the proposed method across four distinct empirical analyses including volatility …

Allocating Vehicle Registration Permits, Massimiliano Landi, Domenico Menicucci

Research Collection School Of Economics

We compare social welfare, consumer surplus and profits in two different institutional settings in which an item whose quantity is fixed and controlled (vehicle registration permit) is allocated to the buyers of a complementary good (car). In the first setting, which resembles the way in which vehicle registration permits are allocated in Singapore, the central planner runs a uniform price auction for permits in which the consumers who bid the highest receive the permits and pay the highest losing bid. Then each winning consumer purchases a car from a seller. In the alternative setting, the central planner first allocates the …

The Balance Of Concessions In Trade Agreements, Mostafa Beshkar, Pao-Li Chang, Shenxi Song

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper introduces a quantitative framework to analyze the WTO’s reciprocity principle. Utilizing two polar bargaining environments, we measure terms-of-trade concessions among WTO members and examine how shifts in applied tariffs and economic fundamentals affect bilateral and multilateral balance of concessions. We find significant disparities in concessions, largely driven by the rise in trade imbalances since the early 1990s. Notably, although US-China bilateral tariffs suggest considerable terms-of-trade benefits for China, under a hypothetical balanced trade scenario, their relationship evolves towards near reciprocity following China’s accession to the WTO. Furthermore, in contrast to the significant gains in its relationship with the …

Untangling Influence: The Effect Of Follower-Followee Comparison On Social Media Engagement, Yi Peng, Liling Lu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Social media platforms and marketers are keen on identifying truly influential creators. Number of followers (i.e., those who follow creators) and number of followees (i.e., those who are followed by creators) serve as cues to infer creators' influence. However, a cue of creators' actual influence is under-addressed and its effect on social media engagement remains to be explored. This research fills the gap in the literature by investigating how the cue of creators' actual influence (i.e., follower-followee comparison) may affect followers' engagement behavior. The study further examines the moderation effects of media-, topic-, and creator-related factors. The present work leverages …