Social Psychology Commons^™

Exploring Gender Dysphoria Among Active-Duty Transgender Service Members In A Right-To-Serve-Openly Military, Ralph Ogburn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The U.S. Department of Defense’s June 2016 directive-type memorandum 16-005 permitting transgender service members to serve openly in the U.S. military disqualifies transgender personnel with a history of gender dysphoria from serving in the military unless a licensed medical doctor certifies that they have been free from significant distress for 18 months. Research has illuminated the prevalence of gender dysphoria among military veteran transgender members due to their military experiences, but not in active-duty military. Informed by role theory and minority stress theory, the purpose of this interpretive phenomenological analysis study was to explore role conflict and stress in the …

Perceived Islamophobia And Psychological Distress Among Muslim Immigrants In Canada: The Moderating Role Of Group Identification, Riffat Ali

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative correlational study with moderation was to examine the

differing moderating roles of centrality and in-group superiority in the relationship

between perceived Islamophobia and psychological distress. Perceived Islamophobia,

group centrality, in-group superiority, and psychological distress were measured using

Perceived Islamophobia Scale, the shorter version of the Identity Centrality Scale ,

Perceived In-Group Superiority Scale , and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. In this

study, a convenience sample (N = 113) of Muslim males and females above 18 years old

was used. An online survey tool, SurveyMonkey, was used to collect data from Muslim

immigrants living in …

Attitudes And Beliefs Related To Risk Of Sexually Transmitted Infection In Swingers Who Do Not Use Condoms, Deborah Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Sexually transmitted infection (STI) affects the public as a hidden epidemic of contagious disease with significant economic and health impacts. There are 110 million living with STI in the United States, with 20 million new infections annually. Condom use can reduce STI, but some people have sex without condoms, with risk for contracting or transmitting STI increasing when a person is in the same sexual network. Swingers are a growing sexual network and are a group at high risk of developing and spreading STI. The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to develop an understanding of the attitudes and …

Battered Women's Help-Seeking In The Rural Southwestern United States, Celina Gerese Bryant

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many victims of domestic violence who seek help are never able to break the cycle of abuse. Many studies address the stages and types of domestic violence, but few focus on successful recovery from abuse. The purpose of this study was to fill the gap in the literature concerning battered women's help-seeking processes in rural southwestern United States. The specific focus was on how victims and survivors of intimate partner violence seek help for domestic violence issues and whether their help-seeking processes determine successful recovery from domestic violence situations. This study was a qualitative case study based on symbolic interactionism …

Psycho-Social Processes Of Desistance In Post-Release Reintegration Of African American Ex-Offenders, Ladawn Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Virginia’s incarceration statistics revealed a significant increase in recidivism 6-36 months post-release, the highest jail occupancy rate in the United States in 2014, and the seventh highest prison occupancy rate in 2016. African American males are the highest incarcerated population every year statewide. Virginia’s diversion initiative, implemented to address recidivism and overcrowding, had a high failure rate among enrollees in reported outcomes from 2010 to 2015, a lower number of African American enrollees compared to White enrollees, and inconsistent funding from 2007 to 2015. This phenomenological case study focused on the reintegration experiences of African American ex-offenders in Virginia through …

Compassion Fatigue And Police Use Of Force, Amanda K. Devan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Compassion fatigue is a natural response to caring, where burnout and exhaustion result from helping professions which includes police officers. Exposure to trauma and stress increases the risk of developing compassion fatigue in helper professions and may have negative implications on overall mental health and physical well-being. However, not much is known about the behavioral effects of compassion fatigue among police officers during use-of-force incidents. The purpose of this study was to examine whether compassion fatigue in police officers is predictive of use-of- force incidents. The theoretical foundation was Figley’s theory of compassion satisfaction and compassion fatigue. Survey data were …

Exploring Cybersecurity Awareness And Training Strategies To Protect Information Systems And Data, Michael Hanna

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ineffective security education, training, and awareness (SETA) programs contribute to compromises of organizational information systems and data. Inappropriate actions from users due to ineffective SETA programs may result in legal consequences, fines, reputational damage, adverse impacts on national security, and criminal acts. Grounded in social cognitive theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies hospitality organizational information technology (IT) leaders utilized to implement SETA successfully. The participants were organizational IT leaders from four organizations in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Data collection was performed using telephone and video teleconference interviews with organizational IT leaders (n = 6) …

The Impact Of Perceived Stress, Happiness, And Religiosity On Political Orientation, Bryant Daniels

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Increasing stress levels over the past 30 years have reached an all-time high, which has also correlated with an increase in medical insurance costs due to the adverse effects on life expectancy, obesity rates, and non-communicable disease deaths. An additional social problem affecting the U.S. is a 20-year increase in political dichotomy. Research has shown a distinction between liberals and conservatives on a variety of characteristics ranging from sleep patterns, disgust, personality, and even cleanliness. This current study used two other characteristics that correlate with both stress and political orientation, and they are happiness and religiosity. The purpose of this …

Need To Belong, Fear Of Missing Out, And Social Media Use: Predictors Of Perceived Social Rejection, Linda K. Perna

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The decline in mental health among U.S. college students is a significant concern. Research suggests that social media use may contribute to this decline. Heavy reliance on social media has been linked to feelings of loneliness and disconnection, psychological distress, and a fear of missing out on rewarding social experiences, which may ultimately trigger feelings of social rejection. Using a foundation of need to belong theory, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine individual differences in the need to belong, fear of missing out, and social media use as predictors of emotional and behavioral reactions to ambiguous social …

Black American Millennials Coping With The Myth Of A Post-Racist Society, Edward Charles Hinton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For generations, Black Americans depended on religious coping strategies to counter the impact of racism; the idea of giving the problem to God was shown to alleviate powerlessness and racism-related stress among pre-Millennial generations of Black Americans. However, the shift to an allegedly post-racist society has complicated recognition of racism and the coping process for Black American Millennials (BAMs). The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether BAMs and pre-Millennials perceive racism as an ongoing problem and whether generation (i.e., pre-Millennial Blacks and BAMs) moderates the effectiveness of religious coping strategies to mitigate racism-related stress. The theory of …

The Impact Of Perceived Stress, Happiness, And Religiosity On Political Orientation, Bryant Daniels

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Increasing stress levels over the past 30 years have reached an all-time high, which has also correlated with an increase in medical insurance costs due to the adverse effects on life expectancy, obesity rates, and non-communicable disease deaths. An additional social problem affecting the U.S. is a 20-year increase in political dichotomy. Research has shown a distinction between liberals and conservatives on a variety of characteristics ranging from sleep patterns, disgust, personality, and even cleanliness. This current study used two other characteristics that correlate with both stress and political orientation, and they are happiness and religiosity. The purpose of this …

Mediating Effect Of Transformational And Servant Leadership On Perceptions Of Management Bullying, Wilsa Desir

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bullying by workplace organizational leadership will continue to present challenges until organizations adopt tools to identify feasible policies, programs, and solutions that can bridge the gap between oppressed employees and their organizations. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to examine the effects of transformational and servant leadership on organizational commitment and the mediating effect of management bullying in the workplace. The investigation was guided by the 3-component model (TCM) of organizational commitment, Burns's conceptual framework on transformational leadership, and Greenleaf's theory on servant leadership. Survey data were collected from 134 participants recruited via social media and snowball sampling. …

Strategies African American Stepfathers Use To Build Positive Relationships With Their Stepdaughters, Shauntele Peynado-Rogers

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have shown that strained relationships between stepfathers and their stepchildren contribute to family dysfunction and stress. As the number of blended families in the United States continues to rise, it is important to determine how stepparents develop positive relationships with their stepchildren. The purpose of this study was to determine what strategies African American stepfathers use to develop positive, supporting relationships with their school aged stepdaughters. Family systems theory guided this research. The generic qualitative approach was used to conduct the study. Purposeful sampling resulted in data being collected from 7 participants using semi structured interviews. Colaizzi's 7-step method …

Preservice Teachers' Perceptions Of Public School Violent Intruder Drills, Kati Oakes Pusey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public schools in the United States are increasingly implementing violent intruder drills in response to school shootings; however, the impact these drills have on the well-being of preservice teachers is not fully understood. A lack of knowledge also exists as to how intruder drills contribute to preservice teachers’ motivation to enter the profession. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of preservice teachers who have participated in violent intruder trainings and drills. Using prospect theory as the framework, the key research questions addressed preservice teachers’ perceptions of violent intruder incidents and drills as well as their …

Rural Counselors’ Use Of Technology To Address Professional Isolation, Jacqueline Dale Grantland

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractRural counselors experience high levels of stress and burnout because of increased job demands, a lack of professional resources, and professional isolation in rural community practice. Technology can be a useful tool for counselors to maintain connectivity and access resources not readily available. However, a gap in the literature exists on rural counselors’ experience with technology to remediate professional isolation. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological framework with an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) was to explore licensed professional counselors’ experiences with using technology to address professional isolation in rural community practice. The inclusion criteria included the counselors having 2 years …

Wrongful Conviction: Using Lived Experience To Explore Errors In Juror Cognition, Danielle Nicole Schulte Lewis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractWrongful conviction is a pressing legal and social justice issue that requires scholarly attention in the United States. The role of jurors in the criminal justice system has been empirically investigated and debated for many decades as researchers attempt to understand the juror decision-making process and how jurors contribute to wrongful conviction. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore how errors in juror cognition during decision-making led to juror reliance on narrative construction and commonsense reasoning rather than legal and judicial instruction in wrongful conviction cases. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 jurors who served on a criminal …

Race As A Predictor Of Recidivism Risk: An Epidemiological Analysis, Femi Folorunsho

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prisoner recidivism is a problem of great social importance, as recidivism represents a failure of the rehabilitative goal of incarceration. The problem addressed in this study was the lack of accurate estimates of race as a predictor of recidivism risk in the United States, after taking demographics and criminal variables into account. Applying the life-course theory of recidivism, the purpose of this archival, epidemiological study was to calculate whether recidivism risk varied based on race, across different seriousness levels of commitment offense and number of prior arrests, among a sample of male federal prisoners released from custody. A Cox proportional …

The Experiences Of Black Parents In Choosing Intervention Programs For Juvenile Offenders, Deborah Hawkes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juvenile offense is a social problem that affects communities and families. Black juvenile offenses occur at a higher rate than White juvenile offenses. The parents of these offenders may engage in the intervention process of their juvenile offender with the intent to improve the intervention outcome. The literature on this topic, however, is primarily focused on the treatment outcomes of various types of intervention. The identified gap in the literature is research on Black parental input on the process used to select various types of intervention for their offending children. The high rate of incidence compounded by the racial disparity …

Exploring The Advancement And Authority Experiences Of Lesbian And Gay Corporate Leaders, Michael Eric Baker

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has shown lesbian and gay (LG) corporate leaders are likely to experience issues in advancement and authority in the workplace. However, little is known about how LG leaders experience these issues, and how their experiences influence their careers and organizations. This qualitative multiple-case study explored the advancement and authority experiences of 12 gay male corporate leaders using a constructivist paradigm. The theoretical foundation used Tajfel and Turner's social identity theory and Fassinger, Shullman, and Stevenson's affirmative lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender leadership model. The conceptual framework included stereotypes, discrimination, sexual identity disclosure, corporate culture, and sociopolitical culture. Research questions …

African American Women's Understanding Of How Family Values Contribute To Social Aggression, Elsa Bernice Butts

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Researchers have found that social aggression has increased among African American females. Researchers have reported that the family value systems of many African American families endorse aggressive behaviors. Beliefs of fighting verbally and physically for self-worth and equality have been embedded in the socialization process for some African American females. It is important to explore the influence of family values on socially aggressive behaviors among this population. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of African American females in early adulthood and to understand how their socially aggressive behaviors are influenced by their family values. …

A Phenomenological Examination Of Heterosexual Men Who Experience Psychological Abuse, Raymond Carson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although sexual and physical abuse have clear definitions, psychological abuse is difficult to define and conceptualize. Though men can and have experienced psychological abuse, there is limited research on heterosexual men's experiences with psychological abuse and much of the research on abuse has been on women. Therefore, this qualitative phenomenological study, grounded on control theory, the social choice framework, and narrative theory, was conducted to investigate how heterosexual men describe their experiences with psychological abuse. A phenomenological qualitative approached with purposeful sampling was used to draw a sample of heterosexual male participants (N = 6), ages 30 to 42 were …

Cultural Distance, Acculturative Stress, Social Support, And Psychological Adaptation Of International Students, Ariel Mitchell Ladum

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

International students experience stress and adaptation difficulties as they study in a new culture. This study examined how cultural distance, acculturative stress, and social support interacted to influence positive and negative emotional responses among international students in the northern part of Cyprus. Acculturation models and the stress-buffering hypothesis served as theoretical frameworks. The 2 research questions involved understanding whether international students experienced more negative emotional responses compared to students from the home culture and whether social support moderated acculturative stress and reactions to being in the northern part of Cyprus. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine differences …

The Influence Of Spiritual And Emotional Intelligence On Romantic Relationships Of African Americans, Wanda Raquel Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The use of religion-based spirituality was examined as a factor in strengthening and increasing emotional intelligence and regulation, facilitating relationship choices and maintenance, and as a key factor in the decision-making process of dating and partner selection among African Americans. The theoretical framework for this study included Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, on which both theories of spiritual and emotional intelligence stand, and Bowlby's theory of attachment. A multiple regression analysis was conducted to analyze relationships between spiritual and emotional intelligences and attachment styles among African American adults. In a criterion-based purposeful sample of 98 African American participants aged 27 …

The Relationship Between Workspace And Office Placement And Workforce Productivity And Wellbeing, Mladen Cvijanovic

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The quality of the physical workspace environment has been widely debated in research and corporate communities. Inadequate workspace conditions have been associated with elevated levels of work-related stress, productivity, and job satisfaction. However, scholarly literature offers very little on the relationship between workspace and office placement, and workforce productivity and wellbeing. The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative study was to examine the impact of customized workspace and strategic office placement on work related stress, productivity, and job satisfaction. Optimal distinctiveness theory and cognitive-motivational-relational theory provided the theoretical framework for this study. Nine research questions in this study were designed to …

Perceptions Of Online Cheating: Impact Of Age, Gender, And Sexual Preference, Rosanna Helen Kallay

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The current quantitative study examined perceptions of online infidelity using ANCOVA calculations to determine if significant differences existed between variables of gender, age, orientation. The study considered the applicability of sexual strategy theory (SST) in today's culture and whether it remains relevant in current to today's relationships. SST and previous research suggested a clear trend in differences in perceptions of infidelity based on gender and age, with more mixed results in differences based on sexuality. This study expanded previous research by surveying 148 younger and older demographics, as well as men and women who are in opposite-sex and same-sex relationships. …

Lived Experiences Of Hmong Refugees In America, Rocky Lo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Hmong refugees immigrated to the United States and have since experienced cultural differences that challenged their traditional way of living. The research problem for this study was Hmong refugees'€™ lived experiences in America because their experience was unknown and unexplored. Addressing this research problem was significant because it provided insight into their experiences and its impact on acculturation as well as distinct cultural experiences not acknowledged or noticeable with monolithic studies. The purpose of this study was to explore Hmong refugees'€™ lived experiences in America using Grove and Torbion's theory of sojourners as the theoretical …

Multivariate Relationships Of Binge Watching-Drinking-Eating With Depression, Anxiety, And Stress In College Students, Katina Letrice Clarke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Binge eating and drinking have been studied with respect to stress, anxiety, and depression, but little is known about the emerging phenomenon of binge watching television programming. Guided by escape theory and the uses and gratification theory, this cross-sectional, correlational study addressed multivariate relations of binge drinking, binge eating, and binge watching with depression, anxiety, and stress among 102 college students ages 18 to 24. Multivariate canonical correlation results revealed that participants with low anxiety scores tended to have low scores on binge eating and drinking but high scores on binge watching. Participants with low stress scores and high anxiety …

Gaming, Workplace, Self-Esteem, Counterproductive Work Behaviors, Sarah Marie Dyson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although there is ample information on the negative aspects of video game playing, we know less about the benefits and how the benefits transfer to the gamers’ workplace. Further understanding of these relationships may offer employees and employers more insight on how they can reduce counterproductive workplace behaviors (CWB) while also improving workplace morale and productivity. The purpose of this quantitative nonexperimental study is to examine the relationships between time spent engaging in gameplay, workplace self-esteem, and positive and negative workplace behaviors among gamers. Participants anonymously completed an online questionnaire utilizing the Behind the Screen Measure, Counterproductive Workplace Behavior Checklist, …

Resilience Building In Biracial And Multiracial, Bisexual Adults: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Melissa Gale Swartz

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Until recently, society and science often ignored, erased, and avoided bisexual women and men and individuals with biracial and multiracial identities, and rarely considered these identities simultaneously. Prior research has shown that some lesbians and gay people of color exhibit resilience against sexual minority stress due in part to an inoculating effect of exposure to racism earlier in life. However, little is known about the lived experience of thriving, resilient bisexual multiracial individuals. In the tradition of positive psychology and context of intersectionality theory, this qualitative study explored how multiracial bisexual individuals develop and maintain flourishing well-€being despite sociocultural factors …

Race As A Predictor Of Recidivism Risk: An Epidemiological Analysis, Femi Folorunsho

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Prisoner recidivism is a problem of great social importance, as recidivism represents a failure of the rehabilitative goal of incarceration. The problem addressed in this study was the lack of accurate estimates of race as a predictor of recidivism risk in the United States, after taking demographics and criminal variables into account. Applying the life-course theory of recidivism, the purpose of this archival, epidemiological study was to calculate whether recidivism risk varied based on race, across different seriousness levels of commitment offense and number of prior arrests, among a sample of male federal prisoners released from custody. A Cox proportional …