Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Mister President & May It Please The Executive: Causal Barriers To Court-Packing, Mason Smith

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

As attacks on democracy have become increasingly ubiquitous, scholarship has begun to shed light on a common, effective, and inimical means of subverting governments accountable to the masses: court-packing. So, how can democracies prevent court-packing? Among many implicit causal theories taken from the extant research, which hasn’t directly tackled this problem, two seem the most plausible and ripe for analysis, suggesting that court-packing’s success turns on either the strength (i) of institutional constraints or (ii) of domestic judicial norms. To see which theory works better in practice, I use a narrowly tailored iteration of comparative process tracing, as it best …

Defining The Meta-Story Of Heroism Science: Initiation, Formation, And Governance In An Emerging Discipline, Peter Bray

Heroism Science

This article traces the meta-story of the journal Heroism Science across Volumes 1–10 by treating the publication record as a living narrative of field formation. Using an eight-dimension decoding framework (D1–D8), it argues that the journal’s development is best understood as a braided trajectory in which methodological maturation and theoretical maturation co-evolve. Special issues function as turning points: downside dynamics, whistleblowing, and heroic screens formalize consequence sensitivity and contestation, while later conference and legacy issues consolidate pluralism and reflexive ethics. The article contributes (a) an explicit coding and audit method for reading a journal as a field-forming narrative and (b) …

The Moderating Role Of Sadism And Psychopathy In The Relationship Between Stress And Malevolent Creativity, Kaitlin A. Dixon, Dr. Elizabeth Mancuso, Dr. Janet Trammell

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Malevolent creativity is creating original ideas with an intent to harm others. It is also associated with aggression and anger-inducing situations. To date, no research has examined stress as a potential trigger for malevolent creativity. We hypothesized higher stress would increase malevolent creativity (H1). Malevolent creativity is associated with the personality traits of the dark triad, psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. The dark tetrad expanded the dark triad by adding sadism. Sadism and psychopathy are often considered the most aggressive dark tetrad traits. We hypothesized sadism and psychopathy would separately moderate the relationship between stress and malevolent creativity (H2, H3). Participants …

The Role Of Political Orientation In The Relationship Between Masculinity Threat And Pain, Bethany Kronlund, Randy Corpuz Ph.D., Dr. Elizabeth Mancuso

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

This experimental study aimed to explore whether political orientation might moderate the relationship between threatened masculinity and pain tolerance among 128 college men. Research has shown that the manipulation of gender stereotypes and how it affects pain tolerance in men has yielded mixed results. We administered a bogus gender knowledge test with fake feedback placing participants into either a masculinity threatening condition or masculinity affirming condition. This was followed by a pain tolerance test using a pressure algometer, where pain tolerance, pain threshold, perceived unpleasantness, and perceived painfulness were recorded. We hypothesized that men in the threatened masculinity condition would …

Sense Of Social Belonging, Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help, And Psychological Distress Among Sexual And Gender Minority Students At Christian Colleges And Universities, Alethia Winley, Elizabeth Mancuso, Steve Rouse

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Sexual and gender minority individuals (SGMs) often report more mental health struggles than their cisgender and heterosexual (cis-het) counterparts, as described by minority stress theory. At the same time, research shows that religiosity is associated with fewer mental health struggles. This study examined one intersection of these topics among SGM students at Christian institutions of higher learning by testing if religiosity moderated the relationship between SGM status and psychological distress, social belonging, and attitudes toward seeking help. The sample consisted of 203 students, including 70 SGMs, from 38 American Christian institutions of higher learning. Consistent with past research, SGMs reported …

Evaluating Brief Intervention Effectiveness On Sexual Assault Stigma And Empathy Considering Culture Of Honor, Hannora Race, Dr. Elizabeth Mancuso, Randy Corpuz Ph.D.

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Sexual assault stigma remains a barrier to reporting and help-seeking. This study examined whether culture of honor predicts sexual assault attitudes and whether brief interventions could reduce stigma. Participants (N = 189) completed measures before and after watching educational, empathy, or control videos. Social honor predicted lower stigma and rape myth acceptance, while family and feminine honor predicted greater rape myth acceptance. Only the education condition significantly reduced self-stigma. Culture of honor did not moderate intervention effectiveness. Brief educational interventions can reduce self-stigma but may be insufficient to shift broader attitudes, suggesting the need for more intensive, culturally-tailored program research.

The Role Of Religiosity In Moderating The Relationship Between Social Media-Induced Upward Social Comparison And State Self-Esteem, Cade Matthias Swearingen, Cindy Miller-Perrin, Elizabeth Mancuso

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The purpose of this study was to examine whether religiosity was a moderator in the relationship between social media induced upward social comparison and state self-esteem. Festinger’s social comparison theory suggests that upward social comparison negatively impacts self-esteem due to comparing oneself to someone perceived as better. It was hypothesized that individuals experiencing an upward social comparison social media condition would experience greater decreases in state self-esteem than individuals experiencing a lateral social comparison social media condition, and this effect would be moderated by strength of religious faith, such that stronger religious faith would be associated with less decreases in …

Computer, Diagnose This Paper: Ai Tools For Student Health Information Research, Brandon Kennedy

Library Class: Lunch & Learn

Discover how to harness the power of artificial intelligence to navigate the rapidly expanding landscape of medical literature in this bite sized 30-minute session. You will learn how to utilize relevant AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Consensus to enhance your ability to develop effective search strategies and interpret information while strictly adhering to academic and ethical standards. Perfect for students who want to incorporate AI within their research workflow.

Older Adults And Emerging Technology Fraud In The Ai Deepfake Era, Thiago Neves

Research Days

Artificial intelligence has accelerated faster than society's ability to adapt, leaving older adults extremely vulnerable to AI-generated fraud. Americans over age 60 lost $4.9 billion to scams in 2024, 43% more than the previous year. In this research, I investigate how digital illiteracy, combined with AI-generated deepfakes, creates this crisis. Older adults struggle with three principal vulnerabilities: distinguishing legitimate sites from scams, judging whether online information is truthful, and understanding how algorithms use their data. AI weaponizes these gaps through voice clones, synthetic video calls, and personalized phishing emails that avoid the trust cues seniors tend to rely on. I …

Designing Eco-Islamic Memory Palace Media To Reduce Math Anxiety And Enhance Academic Resilience, Annas Solihin, Neni Mariana, Budi Purwoko

Jurnal Kajian Bimbingan dan Konseling

Math anxiety continues to hinder students' performance and emotional well-being in elementary mathematics education. This study aimed to develop and test the effectiveness of Eco-Islamic Memory Palace Media in reducing math anxiety and strengthening academic resilience. Employing the Plomp development model, the study involved three phases: preliminary research to identify psychological needs, prototyping of the media design, and a formative evaluation with expert validation and empirical testing on students (N = 24). The media integrated environmental imagery and Islamic values into visual-spatial mnemonic structures to create meaningful, calm, and emotionally safe learning experiences. Quantitative data analysis showed a significant decrease …

Cripping The Border – Acompañamiento As Access: An Ethnographic Case Study Of Transborder Youth With Disabilities, Marco O. Amaral

Dissertations

The U.S.-Mexico border is a historical, geopolitical site of intense militarization where colonial logics of "othering" converge to marginalize disabled transborder youth. While transborder studies have expanded, students with disabilities remain relegated to the "void" and contained by educational systems that prioritize surveillance over access. Grounded in Sepúlveda’s (2011) acompañamiento and Transborder DisCrit, this ethnographic case study examines the lived experiences of both students and their families who cross the border daily to attend school in the U.S. It frames these journeys not as mere commutes, but as acts of defiance within the broader disability rights movement.

As a teacher-activist, …

The Core-Modulation Architecture (Cma): A Structural Overview Of Hallucination As Structural Mismatch, Griselda Poe

Publications and Research

Hallucination is defined not as factual error but as a structural failure of alignment across target, layer, and constraint.

Within the Core-Modulation Architecture (CMA), cognition proceeds through layered processing and requires layer-specific termination conditions. Hallucination arises when Modulation-level termination is registered as completion while Core-level resolution has not occurred, producing structurally ungrounded but locally coherent outputs.

Detection is therefore structural rather than content-based, focusing on layer mismatch and termination failure.

This document presents a minimal structural account of hallucination within the CMA framework.

Collapse On The Eastern Frontier: The Abandonment Of Tijeras Pueblo 1300-1425 Ad, Gage Anderson

The Agora

Tijeras Pueblo (LA-581), was an Ancestral Puebloan settlement occupied intermittently between approximately 1300 and 1425 AD. The pueblo is located at the intersection of the Sandia and Manzano Mountains near Tijeras, New Mexico. Despite the Pueblo’s strategic position at the intersection of several large canyons and mountain passes, and valuable trade connections as a result of this, the settlement experienced two major abandonment episodes. The first around 1370 AD, and the second around 1425 AD. This paper uses Tijeras Pueblo as a case study to examine the causes of settlement failure on the eastern Puebloan frontier. This analysis draws on …

An Immersive Placements And Moral Growth At Barretstown: Integrating A Transformative Framework With Preservice Teachers In Marianist Teacher Education, Jeremy R. Mills, Annie Chiles, Caroline Miller, Lauren Windsor

Thomas C. Hunt Building a Research Community Day

This study examines how immersive experiential learning at Barretstown, a therapeutic camp in Ireland, nurtures intellectual, ethical, and spiritual growth in preservice teachers. Framed by William James’ four characteristics of mystical experience — ineffability, noetic quality, transiency, and passivity — and grounded in the Marianist philosophy of education, the research employs a qualitative, phenomenological design. Reflective narratives from three teacher candidates were thematically coded, revealing transformative experiences marked by ineffable joy, revelatory insight, enduring impact, and openness to grace. Findings suggest that experiential learning integrated with spiritual and communal formation cultivates educators grounded in empathy, moral awareness, and authentic presence.

Addressing Sensory Processing And Regulation To Improve Developmental Outcomes In A Nicu Developmental Clinic, Faith Crumley

Entry-Level Occupational Therapy Doctorate - Doctoral Capstone Symposium

Background and Significance 

Infants and children who spent time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) experienced intense sensory stimuli early on, during a critical period of brain development. These early experiences have been associated with later challenges in sensory processing and regulation, impacting developmental outcomes (Pineda et al., 2023). Following discharge, NICU Developmental Follow-Up Clinics play a key role in monitoring developmental progress and identifying delays. Given the influence of sensory processing on regulation, motor development, and participation in occupations, early identification is critical. This capstone project was conducted at a NICU Developmental Clinic to address the need for …

Ai's Double Edged Sword: Fighting Against Synthetic Csam, Shekhinah Adra Green

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The rapid advancements in generative artificial intelligence has introduced new challenges in the production and distribution of synthetic child sexual abuse material (CSAM). AI has the capabilities of creating highly realistic imagery and videos, which  raises serious legal and ethical concerns, increasing the risk of harm, exploitation, and revictimization.

This paper discusses the legal improvements needed in order to lower the change of legal loopholes, how digital forensic analyst use advanced tools to identify and investigate synthetic material, and different methods to start the reduction of synthetic CSAM.

Library Discovery Kiosks Using Microsoft Webview2, Andres Cazares Reyes, Tom Tran

Library Services Publications

This presentation describes how our library developed a Primo discovery search kiosk using Microsoft WebView2. The session will cover kiosk inactivity reset automation, navigation controls, and deployment.

Hungary For More? Russian Storm-1516 Narratives And Engagement Tactics Targeting Hungary’S 2026 Parliamentary Election., Ella Murray, Darren Linvill, Patrick Warren

Media Forensics Hub Reports

This report identifies and analyzes a coordinated influence operation aligned with the Russian Storm-1516 ecosystem and targeting Hungary’s 2026 election. The campaign leverages a network of inauthentic social media accounts to disseminate fabricated narratives, amplify political attacks, and undermine trust in Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar and the TISZA party. The campaign reflects a broader evolution in Russian influence operations, combining established narrative laundering techniques with new amplification strategies. These include the use of fabricated media outlets, paid influencers, and a network of commercial marketing accounts with links to Africa. The campaign leverages likely compensated influencer accounts as well as …

What Is Love? Baby Don't Hurt Me, Don't Hurt Me, No More, Sydney H. Crockett

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Is love a choice? A literature review demonstrated that love and behavior are inextricably linked, and one’s choices influence the development of love, suggesting it could be a choice. Interviews demonstrated that the assumption that love is a choice was baked into almost every respondent’s behavior, providing merit to the conclusion.

Parental Awareness And Response To Cyberbullying: A Qualitative Study Of Nigerian Parents, Adaobi Jennifer Iloakasia, Nneka Anthonia Obumse

Jurnal Kajian Bimbingan dan Konseling

The problem of cyberbullying has been gaining momentum in modern society because of the dynamic development of digital technologies and the extensive use of social media by adolescents. This paper thus examined the parental cognition and reaction to cyberbullying of Nigerian parents with a particular emphasis on Anambra State. The research design in the study was a qualitative one, based on a phenomenological approach to reflect the experiences of parents. Purposive selection of parents with children in secondary schools was done (30 parents). The collection of data was done via semi-structured interviews, and thematic analysis was used to analyze the …

Adapting As Pioneers: A Phenomenological Study Of First-Batch Medical Students In A New Medical Faculty, Hilma Tsurayya Ifitahurroza, Tisnalia Merdya Andyastanti, Anditri Weningtyas, Rosalie Aurellie Wibowo, Callysta Neysa Yusangka

Jurnal Kajian Bimbingan dan Konseling

Entering medical faculty is inherently demanding for first year student and the challenges are amplified for first-batch students in newly established faculties. These students must navigate academic, social, and professional adaptation simultaneously with evolving institution systems. Understanding their adaptation is essential to support success and resilience. This study aimed to explore the adaptation experiences of first-batch medical students in their first year in a new medical faculty. A descriptive phenomenological approach was employed. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted in September 2024 with seven first-year students at the Faculty of Medicine, State University of Malang, established in 2023. Participants …

Detention Before Adjudication: Evaluating Its Role In Juvenile Justice Outcomes, Ella Morrow

2026 Spring Honors Capstones Projects

Pre-adjudication detention involves confining juveniles while they await a hearing, aimed at ensuring court appearance and upholding public safety. However, the use of pre-adjudication detention has expanded significantly, which has raised concerns regarding the impact on juvenile justice outcomes. This study reviews established peer-reviewed research and observational data from internships to evaluate how this type of detention influences legal outcomes and juvenile development. The research findings demonstrate that detention is associated with harsher dispositions, higher recidivism rates, and long-term consequences. For example, a 38% reduction in high school graduation rates is attributed to pre-adjudication detention. Research has also shown that …

Booster Pack: Tools And Resources For Trading Card Games At Your Library, Logan Janicki, Melissa Snow

Faculty and Staff Publications – Milner Library

In recent years, public libraries have begun dedicating space in their collections and programming for games and gaming events, recognizing games as a legitimate part of libraries’ collections, as well as their ability to draw new users to the library. Despite these inroads, trading card games (TCGs) have been slow to enter libraries. Cards are difficult to catalog and track, and library staff can feel they lack the expertise and resources to design programs around them. However, patrons often use library resources to engage with these games, and even more with an interest in these games remain invisible to the …

A Counterfactual Analysis Of The Impact Of Stock Market Absence On Economic Growth In Selected Sub-Saharan African Countries, Etsub Tekola Jemberu, Adriana Knápková, Bruce Dehning

Accounting Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the global expansion of financial markets as a strategy for financial reform over the past century, around one-sixth of the world’s countries lack a formal stock market. This paper provides novel evidence from nine sub-Saharan African countries on how the absence of stock markets impacts economic growth. Using the synthetic control method (SCM), we estimate the counterfactual GDP per capita these countries would have experienced had they established a stock market during 1993–1995. The findings reveal that the absence of a stock market resulted in substantial losses for most countries, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Guinea, …

Mindset Transformation In School Counseling Services After The Training Program 7 Jurus Bk Hebat: A Mixed Method Study, Mulawarman Mulawarman, Farida Aryani, Aldila Dyas Nurfitri, Najma Sana Nadhirah Hilman, Galuh Nadhita, Erna Dwi Nugraini, Abi Fa’Izzarahman Prabawa, Eni Rindi Antika

Jurnal Kajian Bimbingan dan Konseling

School counseling services have shifted from a remedial approach to one of development and prevention, requiring school counselors to possess a reflective and adaptive professional mindset. This study aims to analyze the transformation of counseling mindsets among guidance and counseling teachers after participating in the 7 Jurus BK Hebat training program, as well as to identify supporting and inhibiting factors. Using a mixed methods approach with a convergent design, the study involved 411 participants selected through convenience random sampling. Data were collected using a mindset transformation scale (α = .939) and open-ended questionnaires, then analyzed descriptively and thematically. The …

Powering Up Clinical Scholarship In Pain Management / Chronic Pain Fellowship, Evelyn Wang

HSLIC Faculty and Staff Instructional Resources

This presentation introduces chronic pain fellows to clinical scholarship pathways in pain management, highlighting core literature search strategies, evidence‐based resources, and HSLIC services that support research, publishing, and teaching in chronic pain care.

Exploring How Long-Term Residents Influence Environmental Policy Decisions In The Takushara Settlement In Abuja, Nigeria, Agbanusi Uchechukwu Jonathan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Rapid urbanization of Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has increasingly marginalized indigenous communities, creating a significant disconnect between top-down environmental governance and how it affects residents. Previous research has found that this land swap displaces indigenous stewards and erodes their traditional ecological knowledge, endangering local livelihoods, food security, and sustainable management of natural resources. The purpose of this narrative qualitative study was to explore how long-term residents perceive and experience their influence in environmental policy decisions through the lens of the social-ecological systems framework and the theory of resilience. This study examined the systematic exclusion of long-term residents of the …

Emotional Intelligence Training In Physician Assistant Education: Comparing Workshops Alone To Workshops Plus Coaching, Mickey Lebowitz, William Holmes

Innovations in Health Sciences Education Journal

Introduction

Clinicians and health care students with higher emotional intelligence (EQ) are more likely to experience positive outcomes for themselves and their patients. Given these benefits and EQ’s learnability, teaching EQ to health care students has been suggested. Therefore, we aimed to assess the impact of workshops combined with coaching (W+C) relative to workshops only (WO) on PA students’ EQ, and, as an outcome measure, their feelings of success. Additionally, we investigated whether these impacts depend on students’ baseline EQ.

Method

Using the Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Inventory, we retrospectively tracked first- and second-year changes in EQ and success scores …

Croatian Seagrass Meadows: Time Change Detection Of Loss Due To Anchoring Damage, Eliza J. Hammari, Gabe Mills, Ruth Kerry, Steve Schill

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Posidonia oceanica in the Croatian seascape is an important seagrass species for carbon sequestration and habitat stability. One of the largest threats to seagrass is boat anchoring. In this study we used satellite imagery to detect changes in seagrass in anchoring hotspots over a seven-year period.

Tracking The Russian Invasion Of Utah Wheat Fields, Eliza J. Hammari, Ruth Kerry

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Russian thistle (tumbleweed) is one of the most economically damaging weeds for agricultural fields. Using remote sensing methods, thistle presence in Utah wheat fields was measured and spatial patterns were analyzed to examine how weed infestation corresponds with soil water content and wheat yield harvests.