Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Playing As A Non-Stereotypical Woman In A Role-Playing Video Game On Players’ Real World Gender Role Attitudes, Hunter Kincaid

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study had participants play the modern role-playing video game Skyrim as a female character with one of three different body types: an idealized feminine body typically found in video games, a tall muscular body that more realistically represents a warrior woman, and a lizard body that is hard to gender stereotype using human gender role attitudes. Participants were given a pretest and posttest measure that checked their gender role attitudes and were allowed to play the game with no restrictions on the role-play choices they make within the game itself. A lens of Black cyberfeminism was applied to critique …

Is Aggression In The Eye Of The Beholder?: An Eye-Tracking Study, Kemar P. Pickering

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The study of aggression offers opportunities to more deeply understand criminal behavior, personality and temperament. A deeper understanding of aggression has many implications in applied settings, including work, education and health. The knowledge gained may improve the treatment of behavioral misconduct and antisocial behavior. Additionally, the study of aggression has the potential to inform assessments of quality of life and development while offering information to guide early intervention and improve behavior trajectories.

Understanding aggression has many real-world applications, such as creating a better understanding of criminal activity, identifying who might be more likely to become a criminal, allowing for early …

Black Women And Social Movements: A Narrative Analysis, Nantasha Williams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The contributions of Black women in social justice movements are not well documented in the scholarly literature. Their roles as activists have been expunged from the history in America over centuries. This study revealed Black women’s experiences within social movement spaces. The purpose of this dissertation study was to discover the struggles, successes, and strategies of the lives of high-profile Black women activists working in contemporary spaces that are often co-inhabited by Black men and/or white women; it elevated the voices of Black women activists. The study employed a narrative analysis methodology utilizing open-ended individual interviews with three prominent Black …

Who’S Afraid Of Employer Sanctions?: Political And Institutional Dynamics Of Workplace Enforcement, Michael C. Macher

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since the breakdown of comprehensive immigration reform in 2007, a growing number of states have enacted work verification laws aiming to accomplish what the federal government could not: halt unwanted immigration by building a "wall" around the labor market. However, the empirical record on these laws remains mixed. While scholarly and journalistic reports observe that states appear to lack both the institutional capacity and political will to enforce their own work authorization policies, economic impact studies show that these same “poorly enforced” laws nonetheless produce substantive effects on the strategies of employers and migrants alike. This thesis asks the question: …

Language Play And Racial Dysphemism In The Marrakchi Language Space, Spencer Fausel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study seeks to divulge the meaning and popular usage of two phonetically similar yet reportedly distinct dysphemisms spoken and understood in the Marrakchi dialect of Moroccan Arabic (Darija). Darija speakers across the North African lingua-space use the term "qlawi" to denote testicles. In Morocco, speakers utter "qlawi" to express negation or pejorative notions of being, the term commonly wielded to disparage or vituperate a frustrating person or object—drawing connections to the subaltern, the lowly, the destitute, the stupid, the possessionless, and potentially to the racialized (non)object. The word itself can stand as a syntactic substitute for “nothing” in certain …

Three Essays Applying Dynamic Models In Economics, Finance, And Machine Learning, Lucas C. Dowiak

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a composition in three parts. Collectively, these essays investigate dynamic methods and their application in the fields of Economics, Finance, and Machine Learning. It pulls liberally from all three. In particular, this dissertation makes repeated use of multi-state modeling frameworks popular in Economics to bring a faceted view to the underlying data and detect its hidden heterogeneity. The challenge of modeling financial assets and estimating their dependence is another focus. For stimulus, concepts in the Machine Learning field are brought in to aid or compete with established econometric techniques.

Econometric Applications of the Hierarchical Mixture-of-Experts

In this …

Toward Otherworlding The Teaching-Learning Of Psychology With Community College Students, Francisco Medina

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation reimagines a different relationality to teaching-learning psychology in the community college classroom through a series of three separate articles. Each article draws on quasi-ethnographic, autoethnographic, and group discussions elements to wonder about the types of theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical dimensions that might make psychology courses more attuned and accountable to younger generations and the end of the world as we know it. The first article explores the metaphysical inseparability, interdependence, and co-constitution of teaching-learning, theory-making, and collective world-making in the psychology community college classroom as an invitation to the end of psychology as we know it. I argue …

Essays On Empirical Economics, Dorian Abreu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

CHAPTER 1: HIGH FREQUENCY TRADING AND MARKET LIQUIDITY

This paper provides evidence of the impact of High Frequency Trading (HFT) on liquidity. I use data from the NASDAQ OMX that identifies the trades of 26 HFT firms on 120 randomly selected stocks listed on the NASDAQ. I find that HFT improves overall market liquidity. However, the liquidity improvements come at the expense of the non high frequency traders. Results indicate that trades in which the HFT supply liquidity to non HFTs have a significantly wider spreads. This impact is larger for smaller cap stocks. Additionally, price impacts are largest when …

Turning Movements Into Markets: How Corporations Co-Opt Cultural Values For Profit, Anthony J. Capote

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I explore how corporations engage in values-based marketing in the 21^st Century. It is hardly a new phenomenon for corporate advertising to co-opt popular cultural values and trends. With the rise of platform capitalism — under which digital platforms generate wealth by cultivating our online data and resell it to advertisers — as well as the political and social context of the Trump Administration, however, major corporations have entered a new phase in the marketing framework that aims to attract consumers based specifically on their cultural and political values. Using a mixed methods approach I explore …

Unpacking The Contested State Of Public Housing In New York City, Kristen Hackett

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In recent years, the New York City Housing Authority has announced and pursued two key plans for public housing that they promise will address the twin problems of disinvestment and disrepair that have been deepening since the turn of the century. In tandem with these announcements and pursuits, opposition from public housing residents has swelled and led to the formation of new grassroots groups that not only reject these directions, but also advocate alternatives. This dissertation delves into the details of these plans, the contestations they've inspired, and the futures they engender, with attention to the consequences of these changes …

Prosodic Marking Of Focus In Autistic And Neurotypical Adults, Nishtha N. Trivedi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Purpose: This study investigates how adult autistic speakers compare with neurotypical speakers in the manipulation of prosody to mark narrow and contrastive focus in American English. In particular, it explores whether the two groups differ in terms of pitch accent status, pitch accent type, and overall nuclear contour patterns in focus marking.

Methods: We conducted an experiment eliciting speech from autistic and neurotypical adults in which we compared their use of pitch accent in answers to wh-questions and in corrective statements.

Results: We found neurotypical speakers to primarily use H* to mark narrow focus on subjects and L+H* to mark …

Wuwei Praxis, Zachary L. Gelnaw-Rubin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The question of how to change the world is answered in the concept of praxis. For structural change to occur a “revolution in motivation or feeling,” - a paradigm shift - is needed. I argue that this requires the adoption of feminist liberation praxis, which involves a negativistic political stance, nonideal theorizing, and an openness to self-transformation. This entails a transformation of the concept of praxis itself within the Leftist idiom, a transformation which could be the linchpin of the needed paradigm shift in the larger culture.

The three parts of this thesis elaborate upon the different aspects of this …

Investigating The Relationship Between Malingering And Institutional Misconduct: Is Psychopathy The Link?, Lily A. Reed

Student Theses

Despite the established relationships between psychopathy and malingering, and psychopathy and risk for institutional misconduct, little empirical literature has been devoted to examining the interaction of these three constructs. The current study aimed to clarify this relationship by examining data from a sample of male criminal defendants within a federal prison located in a metropolitan area of the Southern United States. Data including the MMPI-2, PCL-R, diagnostic, institutional records, and demographic information was collected. Statistical analyses reinforced previous literature and theoretical conceptualizations that posit a relationship between psychopathy and malingering behaviors, as well as institutional misconduct. Preliminary findings suggest links …

A Modified Grounded Theory Analysis Of Luke’S Understanding Of His Thought Disorder, Daniel Dresher

Dissertations

This current Clinical Research Project examines patterns of therapeutic processing in “Luke”, a male diagnosed with schizophrenia, and how his understanding of his psychotic breaks and mental illness evolved over the course of person-centered psychotherapy. A modified grounded theory approach was used by multiple coders to analyze transcribed text samples from selected archival therapy sessions selected between 1996 and 2019 to develop further hypotheses as to how "Luke" uses schizophrenic language to process experience in ways that are clinically effective as well as ways that hinder his understanding of his experience. Results of this study demonstrated that while Luke’s use …

Who Do Civilian Review Boards Serve And Protect? Applying Andre Gorz’S Non-Reformist Reform Theoretical Framework To Empirical Analysis From New York State, Jackson Diamond

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the wake of countless high-profile instances of police violence and repression against civilians in the United States, waves of reformation have washed over American police departments. Some have questioned the efficacy of these reforms, as civilians continue to suffer acts of violence at the hands of the police. One such reform measure, adopted broadly in recent years, is the creation of civilian police review boards. To analyze how this reform has affected citizens’ ability to hold their police departments accountable for their actions, I analyzed a sample of 89 municipal police departments in New York state in the year …

The Unitary Executive And Power In The Modern American Presidency, Maxwell J. Fuerderer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In evaluating presidential power, substantive focus on the administrative aspects of the presidency emphasizes the crucial importance of a president’s degree of control, and dominance, over the executive branch. In this dissertation, I examine the relationship between the unitary executive, in practice, and the power of presidents to control administrative policymaking. I begin with a theoretical discussion and practical definition of presidential power. I define power as the degree to which a president has unilateral control and influence over the federal government’s agencies, the executive branch, and therefore administrative policies. I then assess the legitimacy and influence of the unitary …

Why Does The Cost Of Employer-Sponsored Coverage Keep Rising?, Salpy Kanimian, Vivian Ho

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Over the past 25 years, the gap between the increase in health insurance costs and workers' wages has significantly expanded. This trend has led to significant concerns about healthcare affordability, with surveys revealing conflicting opinions regarding whether hospitals or health insurance companies bear the blame for escalating costs. To better understand these dynamics, we examined consumer price indices for health insurance, hospital services, and professional services from 2006 to 2023 using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Our analysis shows that the hospital price index rose steadily between 2006 and 2023, faster than insurance premiums or professional services. To examine whether …

Flanker Task Performance In Young And Older Adults: A Behavioral And Erp Study, Fatima Medrano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research suggests that as we get older, executive function abilities decline (Hasher & Zacks, 1988; Salthouse, 1996). One affected ability is that of inhibitory control, which aids in monitoring our responses to non-target stimuli or information. Current research on inhibition reveals inconsistencies across studies. Monitoring brain responses during the Flanker (used to measure inhibitory control) task may add valuable insight into the processes underlying group differences behaviorally, by studying the N200 and P300 event-related potentials which have been associated with inhibitory control processes. This study investigated whether there are differences between older and younger adults in inhibitory control and whether …

Examining Visual Processing Of Hierarchical Figures Through Behavioral Measures And Pupillometry In Relation To Autistic Traits In Adults, Chloe Brittenham

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and autistic traits in the general population are associated with differences in sensory processing, particularly within the visual domain. Previous studies examining global (i.e., overall gist) and local (i.e., detail) visual processing in relation to ASD have sometimes yielded contradictory findings yet converge on a common theme: slowed global processing and increased local bias associated with ASD. Despite this consensus, the mechanism underlying these differences remains unclear, whether it be differences in visual attention, higher or lower visual perception, and/or cognitive style. The use of traditional tasks and stimuli may further complicate the understanding of contributing …

Heteronormativity And Fair Housing: Comparing Housing Opportunities Among Cisgender And Transgender Women, Joseph E. Lara

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the American housing market, gender norms regulate access to safe and stable dwellings. When looking for a home, transgender communities, plagued by multiple vulnerabilities and politicized by conservative politicians, endure vastly different experiences than their cisgender counterparts. Despite an ongoing housing crisis, civil rights laws have widened homeownership opportunities for cisgender women, but transgender women face multiple obstacles to owning a home. How have gender norms influenced the housing market, and how have socially embedded heterosexism and cisgenderism benefited cisgender women over transgender women? This manuscript explores the cultural norms regulating the creation and access to housing, the history …

Legislating The Taboo: Taboo Subcultures, Political Communication, And Public Policy, Rebecca S. Krisel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation, titled "Legislating the Taboo: From Subculture to Public Policy," comprises three articles that collectively delve into the intersection of taboo subcultures, political communication, and public policy. While the fields of sociology and anthropology more thoroughly explore the concepts of "taboo" and "subcultures," political science has not given them due attention. This research seeks to bridge this gap by examining how taboo subcultures evolve into political constituencies with policy demands and how these demands are communicated through various mediums, including mainstream and social media.

The first article, "Virtual Dance Communities and The Right to the Internet," investigates how the …

Recognizing Elder Abuse In Mongolia: Experiences Of Family Physicians, Ariunsanaa Bagaajav

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Elder abuse is a globally recognized social problem with serious consequences. The most recent meta-analysis estimates the prevalence of elder abuse at 17%. Studies conducted in Asian countries suggest prevalence rates higher than the global average. Social stressors including alcoholism, unemployment, and poverty related to economic transitions, many of which apply in Mongolia, are associated with elder abuse. International studies have found that health care providers play critical roles in detecting cases of elder abuse. Due to universal access to primary care in Mongolia, family physicians are uniquely positioned to interact with potential victims of elder abuse. However, the extent …

Black Food Geographies And The Politics Of Resistance In The Brick City. An Intersectional Analysis Of Black Food Provisioning Practices, Food Access, And Racial Food Inequities In Newark, New Jersey From 1666 – 2020, Angelika Winner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This work studied Black food geographies in Newark, NJ, which represent alternative food provisioning practices and strategies working within but also parallel to traditional food geographies and exist within and despite of foodscapes of domination. Black food geographies not only include the spatial agency of Black residents but also entail the structural intersectionality and organized abandonment that Black residents currently experience as well as their historical production. Thus, food access of Newark’s Black resident was analyzed with a three-pronged mixed methods research design, a supply-centered analysis from a Positivistic perspective, a political economy-centered historical analysis from a Marxist perspective, and …

Social Workers Working With Intimate Partner Violence Survivors: The Influence Of Trauma Work On The Social Worker’S Intimate Relationships, Claire T. Mccue

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Working therapeutically with trauma survivors, such as survivors of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) carries a risk of vicarious traumatization (VT) for social workers, as well as the potential for vicarious post-traumatic growth (VPTG). This phenomenological study sought to explore and understand how vicarious exposure to trauma affects social workers who treat survivors of IPV and their intimate relationships positively and negatively. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 15 social workers working directly with survivors of IPV in New York while being involved in their intimate relationships.

Utilizing the constructivist self-development perspective, the study found social workers experienced physical, emotional, …

Essays On Monopoly Power In Housing Rental Markets, Goncalo Filipe Pessa Figueiredo Costa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of three chapters on market power in housing rental markets. It introduces the concept of dynamic monopoly power in housing rental markets, develops methods to estimate that form of market power, and uses its analytical lense over the New York City (NYC) housing rental market.

In the first chapter, I formulate a search model in which market frictions give landlords rent-setting (dynamic monopoly) power. This model incorporates search frictions in the spirit of Manning’s (2003) monopsonistic labor market framework. In this setting, the demand faced by individual landlords (i.e., residual demand) results from an equilibrium between tenants’ …

Altruistic Imperialism: The Co-Optation Of Mutual Aid By The Nonprofit Industrial Complex, Kelly T. Waltz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis assesses the role of the nonprofit industrial complex (NPIC) in neoliberalism’s material destruction of global community development and its exploitation of human benevolence. An examination of the institutionalization of high-profile social movements such as BLM and #MeToo demonstrates that the nonprofit industrial complex is built upon a misappropriation of feminist and liberation ideologies and practices, an insidious weaponization of our collectivist tendencies, and the systematic subjugation of mutual aid networks originally created and operated independent of systems of capital. The systemic and conceptual limitations of mainstream methods and the criteria by which nonprofit organizations’ effectiveness is evaluated are …

Empirical Essays On Retail Investors, Institutional Investors, And Anomalies, Yuqing Yang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation consists of five chapters on market efficiencies through retail and international mutual fund investors.

Chapter 1 This chapter briefly introduces this dissertation.

Chapter 2 This chapter Anomalies Never Disappeared: The Case of Stubborn Retail Investors delves into the “stubborn” retail investors and finds that anomalies traded against by retail investors never disappear in the long run, defying the conventional wisdom that anomalies are disappearing in recent years as market efficiency improves. Incorporating retail trading, I develop asset pricing models that surpass existing prominent models in explaining these long-run alphas. I hypothesize that retail investors exacerbate anomalies: the more …

Fornix Integrity And Reaction Time To Novel Scenes And Objects In Visual Recognition Memory, Melissa Elder

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The fornix of the hippocampus may play an important role in working and long-term visual recognition memory. Data from a study on the role of hippocampal subfields in visual recognition memory was used here in conjunction with diffusion tensor imaging of the fornix to assess the relationship between the fornix integrity and behavioral performance, including percentage correct and reaction times. Two tasks were employed to separately evaluate working and long-term visual recognition memory, using a combination of indoor and outdoor naturalistic scenes and everyday objects. The subjects included 32 healthy adults, aged 18-44 years whose tensor imaging tractography was obtained …

Religious Communication In Interfaith Romantic Relationships: Positive Approaches To Improve Relationship Outcomes, Jaclyn K. Doherty

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As interfaith romantic relationships become more common, it is important to understand how couples can effectively navigate their religious differences and promote positive relationship outcomes. A critical strategy to this end is communication, yet the existing literature provides limited evidence to understand how the content of religious conversations affects couples’ outcomes. This dissertation explores communication about religion in interfaith relationships and positive relational approaches to religion that may increase relationship quality.

First, I conducted a mixed methods pilot study, finding that interviewees in interfaith couples promoted relationship quality, in part, by addressing their religious differences and recognizing their religious similarities. …

Chipping The Blue Wall: The Effect Of Dogs On Police Officer Receptivity To An Employee Assistance Program, Kenneth M. Quick

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is substantial evidence that demonstrates the negative impact of stress on police officer mental health is increasing due in large part to perceived societal shifts in support for the police and trends in criminal justice reform efforts. While employee assistance programs (EAP) are the dominant mechanism for police agencies to address officer mental health, officers are reluctant to use them due to a combination of mental health stigma and organizational distrust. This dissertation studied police officer perceptions of an employee assistance program (EAP) and the effect of exposure to professionally trained dogs during an outreach session on indicators of …