Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Competence To Stand Trial And Criminal Responsibility: The Effect Of Pretrial Publicity On Insanity Verdicts, Hannah Hennessey

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Despite the legal distinction between competence to stand trial (CST) and criminal responsibility (CR), the potential for jurors to conflate these constructs due to pretrial publicity (PTP) remains an under-examined issue in forensic psychology research. Therefore, the current study investigated whether exposure to PTP about a defendant’s CST influences jurors’ CR verdicts. A national sample of jury-eligible adults (N = 598) was recruited through Prolific. Participants were randomly assigned to read one of three mock PTP news articles: (1) the defendant was CST, (2) the defendant was previously found incompetent to stand trial (IST) but was later restored to competency, …

“Literally Made Me Cry”: The Impact Of Course Material Costs On University Of Kentucky Students, Stephen Krueger

Library Reports and White Papers

The Student Course Materials Cost Survey was administered September 16 – October 6, 2024. It was open to current students at the University of Kentucky (UK). The goals were to help UK Libraries better understand how the cost of course materials affects students at UK and to provide a snapshot of student spending across the university. The questions were based on similar research done at other institutions in Virginia (Virginia Course Materials Survey, 2021) and Florida (2022 Student Textbook and Instructional Materials Survey, 2022). Other work based on those surveys includes the 2023 Illinois Course Materials Survey (CARLI, 2023) and …

Ua21 What's New, Wku Institutional Equity

WKU Administration Documents

Newsletter created by and about the Office of Institutional Equity.

• Demir, Ena. A Message from the Executive Director
• Training Opportunities: Stay Informed & Engaged
• Understanding Title VI
• Student Accessibility Center Joins the Office of Institutional Equity
• Need Workplace Accommodations?
• Web Accessibility Regulations
• Relevant Information
• Stop Campus Hazing Act
• Meet the Team

Elizabeth Female Academy: A Historical Case Study Revealing Antebellum Mississippi's Role In Shaping The Southern Belle, Summer Cutrer Tierno

Dissertations

Historians and educational scholars have extensively examined the subject of women's education, resulting in a rich body of literature that traces its evolution over the centuries. Moreover, this body of work encompasses significant movements advocating for women's rights to education and the establishment of colleges specifically for women. Scholars have also analyzed the challenges women encounter in accessing educational opportunities, including societal norms, economic barriers, and institutional discrimination. Notable works highlight the contributions of key figures, such as Mary Wollstonecraft, who advocated for women's education in both historical and contemporary contexts. Overall, this comprehensive scholarship not only documents the advancement …

Exploring The Connection Between Emotional Intelligence And Academic Achievement In Senior Nursing Students, Kimberly Smith

Dissertations

The need for nurses is now greater than ever, with a projected shortage of nearly five million nurses by 2030. Several factors exist that hinder the number of practice-ready nurses, causing nursing programs worldwide to explore and re-examine admission practices and increase student retention rates. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 2024) reported that over 100,000 students were denied enrollment in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2024, indicating that maximizing admission processes is crucial in addressing the current nursing shortage. This emphasizes the need for greater participation to ensure that all students have access to the educational …

Examining Nonprofit Social Service Sector Burnout And Turnover: Trait Mindfulness As A Moderator Of Work-Life Balance And Compassion Fatigue, Melissa L. Brown

Dissertations

Nonprofit burnout and turnover surpass all national industries, specifically in the social services subsector. In contrast to their for-profit counterparts, nonprofit turnover rates remain on the rise. While literature indicates that one of the primary drivers of nonprofit turnover is burnout, more granular research proposes that nonprofit social service employees encounter a distinct form of burnout generated by the exposure to secondary traumatic distress known as compassion fatigue. This study investigated the antecedents of this phenomenon by examining trait mindfulness as a moderator of work-life balance and compassion fatigue among nonprofit social service providers. To sustain a workforce that provides …

Adolescent Students’ Adaptability During The Covid-19 Pandemic Impacting Their Academic Preparedness In College: A Qualitative Exploration Of Resilience In Secondary School Disruptions, Nicole Tyanne Jameson

Dissertations

This study, conducted several years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, takes a unique approach to investigating the long-term effects of the pandemic-induced disruptions on adolescents during secondary schooling and their academic preparedness in college. The study combined a descriptive qualitative analysis of academic routine data with quantifiable resilience scores, providing a comprehensive understanding of the challenges students faced, their adaptability and resilience, and the overall impact on their education journey into college. This comprehensive descriptive qualitative study utilizes triangulation of quantitative data and qualitative approaches to understand the subject matter thoroughly. The quantitative scores meticulously analyzed resiliency and …

The Interactive Soap Opera: Deceit, Romance And Abuse, Grace Canfield, Sage K. Colon, Mollie M. Denholm, Ava Freese, Grace Salter, Abigail M. Saplak, Alex N. Skocic, Derek M. Williams, Richard M. Perloff

Student Scholarship

One of the most interesting aspects of adolescents’ use of social media is the dynamic drama that occurs between followers of social media influencers in the wake of controversial actions performed by social media influencers themselves. A content analysis of followers’ comments about influencers’ and social media personalities’ scandalous romantic entanglements indicated that close to 90 percent of commenters were female and, in keeping with followers’ loyalty to their favored influencer, the highest proportion of comments were negative to the influencer’s adversary in the romantic dispute. A detailed analysis of the moralistic aspects of followers’ comments offered additional insights.

Aging Is Not All Doom And Gloom: How Do Beliefs About Aging Moderate The Effects Of Mortality Salience On Ageism Attitudes?, Kristen Schwindt Edmondson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study is to examine how young adults’ beliefs about aging moderate the effects of mortality salience on their ageism attitudes. Past research suggests that ageism is, in part, due to the presence of elderly people reminding people of their own aging process and mortality (Martens et al., 2004). Little is known, however, about how individuals’ beliefs about aging may moderate the impact of mortality salience on their attitudes toward aging. Some people tend to perceive aging-related changes as relatively fixed (i.e., essentialist belief), whereas others perceive them as relatively malleable (nonessentialist belief). Would a more malleable …

More Than A Mirror: Investigating Social Media’S Role In Shaping Social Comparisons And Identity Around Perceptions Of Beauty, Janella Eshiet

Communication (PhD) Dissertations

The rapid expansion of social media has transformed interpersonal communication and the way that individuals engage in social comparisons in their daily life. While existing literature emphasizes the negative psychological effects of both social comparison and the use of social media platforms, there remains a need to better understand the positive experiences of users in these digital spaces. Guided by social comparison theory (SCT; Festinger, 1954) and social identity theory (SIT; Tajfel & Turner, 1979), the current study applied an interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA, Smith et al., 2022) to explore how social media users interacted with beauty-centered narratives and the …

Demographic Characteristics And Selected Personality Traits Of Women In Competitive Bodybuilding, Chloe A. Zeeuw

Master's Theses

This study investigated demographic characteristics and measures of personality (dimensions of performance perfectionism and five-factor model characteristics) in women in competitive bodybuilding between 18-25 years old. A total of 24 women completed an online survey which included a demographic questionnaire, the Five Factor Model Rating Form (FFMRF), and the Performance Perfectionism Scale for Sport (PPSS) inventories. Descriptive results for the FFMRF were Openness (18.17±3.12), Conscientiousness (25.58±3.33), Extraversion (19.96±3.46), Agreeableness (19.88±4.58), and Neuroticism (15.67±4.94), and for the PPS-S were Self-oriented performance perfectionism (20.96±3.53), Socially prescribed performance perfectionism (13.96±4.26), and Other-oriented performance perfectionism (10.54±4.23). Pearson’s correlation coefficients and Shapiro-Wilk tests revealed that …

Funded To Win? Super Pacs And Electoral Advantage In The Southeast, Kyle Winstead

Poster Presentations

In 2010, two key pieces of legislation were passed: Citizens United v. FEC and Speechnow.org v. FEC. The results of these cases led to the creation of a new type of organization known as the super PAC. After their inception, the amount of super PACs exploded going from 83 in 2010 to 2,393 in 2016. Since then, the number of super PACs has remained relatively constant with a total of 2,458 super PACs in 2024. While Super PACs constitute a new method of civic participation in politics, there are concerns regarding their potential influence. The results of this research support …

Ua80/1 Agenda, W Club

University Organizations

Agenda of the August 2025 W Club Board of Directors meeting.

Newsletter, Wku Staff Senate

Staff Council

Newsletter created by WKU Staff Council to report on work accomplished.

Perspectives On Water Policies And Alternative Land Uses Among Alfalfa Farmers In The Great Salt Lake Basin, Bryn Watkins, Stacia Ryder

Publications

Climate change threatens many resources necessary for life. In arid and semiarid regions like Utah, water represents one of the key climate-related conflicts (1,2). In Utah, a changing climate paired with human overconsumption has contributed to the drying of the Great Salt Lake. Rising temperatures will lead to greater evapotranspiration and decreasing headwater streamflow and groundwater storage, resulting in increasing dryness in the Great Salt Lake Basin regardless of human water consumption (3). This in turn threatens the ecosystems, economies, and cultures of the Great Salt Lake Basin, accelerating the local impacts of climate change (4).

I'M Okay Being Square In A Round Hole: A Black Feminist Autoethnography Traversing Workplace Oppression, Sense Of Self, And Resistance, Maria A. Duffy

Master of Arts in Media and Communication Plan II Graduate Projects

Although Black women are an important part of the U.S. workforce, they continue to experience discrimination at the workplace. Prior research has examined Black women workers’ resilience and strength (e.g., Allen, 2020; Ross et al., 2020; Woods-Giscombe et al., 2023). Researchers also have explored different types of institutional and interpersonal discrimination that have harmed Black women---especially those with white collar jobs (e.g., Bloch et al., 2021; Patton, 2010; Weiner et al., 2019). However, more research is needed on how discrimination at blue-collar workplaces can affect Black women’s intrapersonal communication, self-concept, and co-cultural communication. In this project, I explore the intersectional …

Friendship Through A Narcissistic Lens: The Role Of Narcissism In Perceived Humor Similarity Among Friends In Germany And The Us, Tobias Altmann, Destaney Sauls

Michigan Tech Publications

Theoretical perspectives on how narcissism functions in social relationships suggest that narcissistic individuals may either enhance or devalue their close others. On the one hand, because close others are generally perceived as similar to oneself, narcissists may project their own grandiosity onto them, thereby enhancing their characteristics. On the other hand, narcissists strive for uniqueness and superiority, which may lead them to devalue their close others in comparison to themselves (self-enhancement). These conflicting assumptions about the role of narcissism in social relationships have yet to be directly tested. The present study examines how narcissism relates to perceived similarity and the …

August 2025, Volume 21, Number 2, Winthrop University Archives And Special Collections

Retrospect: News from the Louise Pettus Archives and Special Collections at Winthrop University

No abstract provided.

Building Capacity For Born-Digital Archives Through Accessioning Workflows At The Friends Historical Library, Emily Higgs Kopin, J. Hutchison, James E. Truitt

Library Staff Works

Large archival institutions have contended with the challenges presented by born-digital materials for much longer than smaller institutions, with the latter only recently beginning their own attempts to manage these items. This case study details the process of starting a born-digital archival accessioning program and iteratively designing workflows scalable for a small institution. We review our approach to acquiring storage space and assessing our existing born-digital holdings and needs, lay out our initial accessioning workflow, discuss our processes of documentation and iteration, and reflect on tensions with archival education and best practices. By sharing this case study, we aim to …

Community Organizations, Immigrants, And Air Pollution Risks In Utah, Nowrin Fatema, Kirsten Vinyeta, Erin Hofmann

Publications

Over the past 25 years, Utah’s Wasatch Front, a metropolitan region along the Western flanks of the Wasatch Mountain Range that includes Salt Lake City, has emerged as a new international immigrant gateway (1). While in Utah, immigrants may find economic opportunity and safety relative to their home countries, they may also experience notable life-altering disparities, including disproportionate exposure to the region’s worsening air pollution. As some of the first and few institutions interacting with newly arrived immigrants and refugees, non-governmental community organizations are well positioned to serve as information hubs regarding regional air pollution risk. Yet our research, in …

The Relationship Between A School Psychologists Workplace Stressors To Their Home Life Functioning, Trevor Burns

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

School psychologists face increasing professional demands due to rising caseloads, paperwork requirements, and staffing shortages, which contribute to elevated levels of occupational stress. Although prior research has examined job-related stress within the profession, little attention has been given to how these stressors may impact practitioners’ personal and home lives. The purpose of this study was to examine how occupational stress experienced by school psychologists relates to stress experienced in their home lives. A total of 176 practicing school psychologists from across the United States completed an anonymous online survey, which included the School Psychologist Distress Inventory (SPDI) and a newly …

From Heaven To Hell: A Reinterpretation Of Comparison Between Germany’S Airborne Fallschirmjäger Operations And The Allied Airborne Operation At Arnhem In World War Ii, Jeremy Herbert

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis examines the legacy of the German paratrooper corps and compares them to similar Allied operations during World War II. Relying on archival documents as well as 80 years of analysis by historians, the thesis argues that the overwhelming consensus among historians of the German Fallschirmjäger as a failed experiment is undeserved, since the pitfalls experienced during their operations pale in comparison to similar British operations. The German invasion of Crete in 1941 serves as the base example for Anglophone historians who favor the idea of German failure solely based on the number of German casualties. In reality, the …

Himmelfarb Library Liaison Letter - August 2025, The George Washington University, Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library

Himmelfarb Library Liaison Letters

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Supervisor Multicultural Competence And Supervisor Cultural Humility On The Supervisory Working Alliance And Trainee Nondisclosure: A Structural Equation Model, Johnny Liang

Selected Full-Text Dissertations 2020-

Parental post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have been associated with various psychological and behavioral outcomes in their offspring. Utilizing a sample of (N=330) adult offspring of trauma-exposed parents, this study used self-report and behavioral measures to examine the relationship between parental PTSD symptom severity and adult participant’s romantic attachment insecurity, pathological personality traits, and facial emotion recognition (FER) accuracy for subtle emotional expressions. Additionally, it explored the role of maladaptive parenting behaviors on these associations. Results indicated that higher parental PTSD was associated with higher levels of parental care and an affectionate constraint parenting style. Additionally, parental PTSD was related …

Student Loan Default: Does Race/Ethnicity Or Socioeconomic Status Play A Larger Role In Student Loan Default In Texas Public 4-Year Institutions?, Traci Armes

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated whether Black students were more likely to default on federal student loans compared to Pell Grant-eligible students who completed their degree programs at public four-year institutions in Texas. The study examined Black, White, Asian, and Hispanic Pelleligible and non-Pell-eligible students to determine whether socioeconomic status or race/ethnicity played a more significant role in determining default rates. The analysis was limited to four-year public institutions in Texas to control for the excessive default rates prevalent in two-year and proprietary institutions. The study was also limited to students who had completed their degree programs. Historically Black Colleges and Universities …

Caregiver Perceptions, Knowledge, And Likelihood To Intervene With Suicidal Youth, Amber L. Willwerth

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study utilized an online survey to target primary caregivers of a child aged 5-18. The survey highlighted factors regarding caregiver involvement in suicide prevention efforts, such as their knowledge, comfort and confidence intervening with a youth experiencing suicidality, and barriers to doing so. It was found that caregivers who had experienced suicide prevention training reported higher levels of comfort and confidence intervening with their own child and another child than those who had not, as well as lower levels of worry. Higher levels of education were also found to predict lower levels of worry, suggesting that further training and …

Notes For The Stalled, V18n01, August/September 2025, University Of Northern Iowa. Rod Library.

Rod Library newsletter: Notes for the Stalled

Contents:

--- Welcome to the Rod
--- You Belong @ Rod
--- TEACH Studio in Schindler
--- Career Readiness

Centering Community Voice In Strategic Design: The Build Health Challenge Model, Melissa Monbouquette, Jessica Mulcahy

The Foundation Review

It is commonplace today for philanthropies to require grantee partners to have a community engagement strategy to ensure that the institution reflects the community that it serves. It is also incumbent on foundations to embrace the same intent. Alongside participatory practices, listening is an opportunity to level the power dynamics inherent to philanthropic practice.

The BUILD Health Challenge® (BUILD) is an innovative funder collaborative designed to support local cross-sector action to address the root cause of health inequities. Established in 2015, BUILD supports participants from across the U.S. to engage in partnerships including residents, community-based organizations, health departments, and health …

Evaluating Demand-Responsive Scheduling In Public Transportation Service Offerings To Retirement Communities, Steven D. Silver

Mineta Transportation Institute

This project addresses alternatives to fixed schedule local transportation service offerings to members of retirement communities. The project design measures the effects of the contrast between fixed schedule (Fixed) service and demand-responsive services (DRT) in retirement communities in Santa Clara County that are closely matched in demographic profiles and geographic location. The research team investigates the effects of scheduling alternatives in a diary format with a within-person variable of four recent trips. The measure of public transportation usage under the Fixed schedule and DRT service offerings is supplemented by a measure of subjective well-being (STS) for each trip—in other words, …

Evaluation Of Prerequisite Discrimination Skills For Obtaining Assent From Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities: A Translational Study, Jessica J. Helen Detrick

Dissertations

Assent can be defined as an individual’s affirmative agreement to participate and should be obtained by those who cannot consent (i.e., children and adults deemed as “incapable”) when conducting research or providing services. Federal policies recommend considering age, maturity, and psychological state to determine if a participant can assent. Beyond these considerations, there is little guidance. However, practitioners and researchers still have an ethical obligation to obtain assent. Morris and colleagues (2021) conducted a literature review of assent procedures documented within behavior-analytic journals and found few studies. Of the procedures identified, many would likely be difficult to implement with participants …