Social Psychology and Interaction Commons^™

Citizen-Consumers Wanted: Revitalizing The American Dream In The Face Of Economic Recessions, 1981-2012, Gokcen Coskuner-Balli

Business Faculty Articles and Research

This article brings sociological theory of governmentality to bear on a longitudinal analysis of American presidential speeches to theorize the formation of the citizen-consumer subject. The 40-year historical analysis which expands through four economic recessions and the presidential terms of Ronald Reagan, William J. Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Hussein Obama, illustrates the ways in which the national mythology of American Dream myth has been linked to the political ideology of the state to create the citizen-consumer subject in the United States. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data demonstrates first, the consistent emphasis on responsibility as a …

Informal Science Experiences Among Urban And Rural Youth: Exploring Differences At The Intersections Of Socioeconomic Status, Gender And Ethnicity, Patricia Wonch Hill, Julia Mcquillan, Eileen A. Hebets, Amy N. Spiegel, Judy Diamond

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The current study explores patterns of informal science experiences among youth in urban and rural middle schools by gender and socioeconomic status. Data come from surveys in two Midwestern middle schools, one in a mid-sized city, and the other in a rural-remote town. We asked about participation in informal science activities (e.g. visiting zoos or museums, or watching shows about science) and if youth had participated in science-focused clubs in the last 12 months (e.g. after-school science clubs, 4-H, scouts). Rural youth reported lower rates of participation in after-school science clubs and a greater desire to participate in after-school science …

The Adaptive Functions Of Morality, Michael R. Apostol

Copley Library Undergraduate Research Awards

Morality is the principles that distinguish right from wrong. Humans maintain a moral self-image: the views, judgements, and actions that reflect a sense of right or wrong (Jordan, Leliveld, & Tenbrunsel, 2015). In order to study the impact of moral attitudes on behavior we must understand why certain moral beliefs persist, the function of morality, and why errors in moral judgement occur. With an evolutionary framework, studying the adaptive significance of morality may provide answers to these questions. Researchers have studied morality in nonhuman animals, the development of moral principles, cultural factors that influence ethical frameworks, how morality functions, and …

Understanding Prisoner Reentry: Public Perceptions Of Reentry Barriers Among College Students, Theresa D. Lee

2020 Symposium Posters

The United States has experienced an enormous rise and fall in crime rates, while incarceration rates have continued to soar. One of the many pressing concerns about the era of mass incarceration, especially in times where decriminalization of drug offenses occurs, communities are faced with increases in returning inmates and resources needed for successful reentry. This study is focused on community perceptions of college students toward barriers faced regarding incarceration, prisoner reentry, and improving recidivism rates in communities. Qualitative data are collected from interviews and focus groups conducted in an Inland Northwest community, to shed light on the community's perception …

Identity Reconstruction Of Chinese Migrant Women In Ireland, Jun Ni

Books/Book chapters

This chapter presents an original qualitative study on the cross-cultural adaptation process and identity reconstruction of Chinese migrant women in Ireland. Based on an analysis of Chinese women’s cross-cultural adaptation experience, this study identifies facilitators of and barriers to the cross-cultural adaptation. It finds that the women who adopted an integrated strategy have developed an intercultural identity. On the one hand, they want to maintain their Chinese cultural identity and heritage; at the same time, they are committed to developing relationships with mainstream Irish society. Most Chinese women take pride in their Chinese culture and values. They aim to bring …

Young Adult Drinking And Depression: The Long-Term Consequences Of Poverty, Maternal Depression, And Childhood Behavioral Problems, Rachel Mckane, Molly K. Richard

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The objective of this research is to investigate the relationships among childhood poverty, maternal depressive symptoms, internalizing and externalizing childhood behavioral problems, and depressive symptoms and alcohol use in young adulthood. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample and path analysis, a special case of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), the results indicate that both childhood poverty and maternal depressive symptoms are associated with negative behavioral outcomes in childhood and young adulthood. This study also examines mediating effects of maternal depressive symptoms, and both externalizing and internalizing childhood behavioral problems. The findings indicate that the relationship between childhood poverty and …

Unh Students’ Attitudes Toward University Of New Hampshire Police, Angela R. Hurley

Honors Theses and Capstones

This study examines undergraduate students from the University of New Hampshire attitudes towards campus police, specifically how student experience with campus police affects their attitudes toward them. There were a total of 113 respondents from the University of New Hampshire that answered an online survey. The survey looked specifically at the relationship between students' experience and attitudes towards UNH police, hypothesizing that students who had perceived fair encounters with campus police would be more likely to contact them in an emergency and have more positive attitudes toward them . Multivariate analysis shows perceptions of witnessing an interaction and being approached …

Do Racial Stereotypes Contribute To Medical Misdiagnosis Of Child Abuse? Investigating Tunnel Vision In The Emergency Room, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Kimberly M. Bernstein, Katherine S. Wahrer

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Despite growing recognition that misdiagnoses of child abuse can lead to wrongful convictions, little empirical work has examined how the medical community may contribute to these errors. Previous research has documented the existence and content of stereotypes that associate race with child abuse. The current study examines whether emergency medical professionals rely on this stereotype to fill in gaps in ambiguous cases involving Black children, thereby increasing the potential for misdiagnoses of child abuse. Specifically, we tested whether the race-abuse stereotype led participants to attend to more abuse-related details than infection-related details when an infant patient was Black versus White. …

Beyond The Neighborhood: Defining Membership In Diverse Community Contexts, Brad Forenza, Brian Dashew, Diana Cedeño, David T. Lardier

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this research is to form an overarching definition of community membership that encompasses all community contexts. Utilizing qualitative interviews with 102 members of five known community contexts (communities of action, circumstance, interest, place, and practice), the authors use cross-case analysis to explore common, transcendent themes of membership. Three takeaways emerge: first, that individuals identify with communities to address personal needs but come to see social benefits; second, that individuals join communities to deepen existing relationships, but develop new ones; and third, that through engagement, individuals strengthen a sense of self that is unique to community context. Through …

The Weaponization Of Poverty: An Investigation Into United States Military Recruitment Practices In High Schools Of Low-Income Communities In The Inland Empire, Michael Springer-Gould

Pitzer Senior Theses

Military recruitment in the United States is a highly contentious subject that has yielded a multitude of prior research across a variety of academic concentrations. To further the conversation, I narrow my focus to Southern California’s Inland Empire (IE) to explore practices of military recruitment in high schools that serve students in low-income communities. I begin with a general overview of life and labor in the Inland Empire before moving into prior research on military recruitment. My empirical research consists of five in-depth interviews documenting the lived experiences of individuals hailing from and attending high school in low-income communities of …

Race-Related Stress, Resiliency, And Relationship Quality In Black Couples, Melinda Murdock

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

Scholars have historically explained Black marriage patterns of instability and dissolution based on White middle-class models that ignore cultural factors and maintain a narrative of dysfunction. The current study examines resilience in Black couples by exploring mediation effects of attribution and dyadic coping processes on race-related stress and relationship quality. The present study used individual data from 131 middle-income Black couples residing in the South, who self-reported on stress, coping, and relationship quality via online survey. Dyadic Coping was predicted to mediate the relationship between Race-related Stress, Attribution, and Relationship quality. Results indicated that individuals who experienced greater stress from …

Cultural Humility And Grace In Explicitly Christian Programs, Tricha L. Weeks

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Cultural Humility is a vital component of healthy attitudes characterized by lack of superiority towards other’s cultural experiences (Hook, Davis, Owen, Worthington, & Utsey, 2013). To date, no published research has examined the impact of cultural competency training on the development of Cultural Humility and Grace among doctoral psychology students. Utilizing Hook et al.’s definition of Cultural Humility, this study examined how participation in an American Psychological Association accredited clinical psychology program affected the Cultural Humility and Grace of enrolled students.

Data were collected from students, faculty, and clinical supervisors across three training settings during the 2017-2018 academic year. Students …

On The Permissibility Of Homicidal Violence: Perspectives From Former U.S. White Supremacists, Steven Windisch, Peter Simi, Kathleen M. Blee, Matthew Demichele

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

Drawing upon in-depth life-history interviews with 91 North American-based former white supremacists, we examine how participants perceive homicidal violence as either an appropriate or inappropriate political strategy. Based on the current findings, participants considered homicidal violence as largely inappropriate due to moral concerns and its politically ineffective nature but also discussed how homicidal violence could be an appropriate defensive measure in RAHOWA (Racial Holy War) or through divine mandate. Capturing how white supremacists frame the permissibility of homicidal violence is a step toward better understanding the “upper limit” or thresholds for violence among members who are trying to construct and …

Comments On “How Errors Cumulate: Two Examples” By Roger Tourangeau, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This paper provides a discussion of the Tourangeau (2019) Morris Hansen Lecture paper. I address issues related to compounding errors in web surveys and the relationship between nonresponse and measurement errors. I provide a potential model for understanding when error sources in nonprobability web surveys may compound or counteract one other. I also provide three conceptual models that help explicate the joint relationship between nonresponse and measurement errors.

Tourangeau’s paper provides two interesting case studies about the role of multiple error sources in survey data. The first case study is one in which errors occur at different stages of the …

How Well Do Interviewers Record Responses To Numeric, Interviewer Field-Code, And Open-Ended Narrative Questions In Telephone Surveys?, Jolene Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Telephone survey interviewers need to be able to accurately record answers to questions. While straightforward for closed questions, this task can be complicated for open questions. We examine interviewer recording accuracy rates from a national landline random digit dial telephone survey. We find that accuracy rates are over 90% for numeric response and interviewer-code, single-response items but are astonishingly low (49%) for a multiple-answer, nominal, interviewer-code item. Accuracy rates for narrative open questions were around 90% for themes but only about 70% for themes and elaborations. Interviewer behaviors (e.g., probing, feedback) are generally associated with lower accuracy rates. Implications for …

Soldiers To Scientists: Military Service, Gender, And Stem Degree Earning, Christina Steidl, Regina E. Werum, Sela R. Harcey, Jacob Absalon, Alice Millermacphee

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The authors use 2014–2018 data from the American Community Survey to answer two questions: To what extent is military service associated with higher rates of earning a bachelor’s degree in a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field (vs. a non-STEM field)? To what extent is this relationship gendered? The findings suggest that military service is associated with higher odds of completing a STEM degree and that this association is particularly strong for female veterans. Comparison across multiple STEM definitions suggests that military service does not simply channel women into traditionally female-dominated STEM fields. Instead, the findings show the biggest …

Transitions From Telephone Surveys To Self-Administered And Mixed-Mode Surveys: Aapor Task Force Report, Kristen M. Olson, Jolene Smyth, Rachel Horwitz, Scott Keeter, Virginia Lesser, Stephanie Marken, Nancy A. Mathiowetz, Jaki S. Mccarthy, Eileen O'Brien, Jean D. Opsomer, Darby Steiger, David Sterrett, Jennifer Su, Z. Tuba Suzer-Gurtekin, Chintan Turakhia, James Wagner

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Telephone surveys have been a ubiquitous method of collecting survey data, but the environment for telephone surveys is changing. Many surveys are transitioning from telephone to self-administration or combinations of modes for both recruitment and survey administration. Survey organizations are conducting these transitions from telephone to mixed modes with only limited guidance from existing empirical literature and best practices. This article summarizes findings by an AAPOR Task Force on how these transitions have occurred for surveys and research organizations in general. We find that transitions from a telephone to a selfadministered or mixed-mode survey are motivated by a desire to …

A Comparison Of Fully Labeled And Top-Labeled Grid Question Formats, Jolene Smyth, Kristen M. Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The grid question format is common in mail and web surveys. In this format, a single question stem introduces a set of items, which are listed in rows of a table underneath the question stem. The table’s columns contain the response options, usually only listed at the top, with answer spaces arrayed below and aligned with the items (Dillman et al. 2014).This format is efficient for respondents; they do not have to read the full question stem and full set of response options for every item in the grid. Likewise, it is space efficient for the survey researcher, which reduces …

Competing Forces Of Withdrawal And Disease Avoidance In The Risk Networks Of People Who Inject Drugs, Elspeth Ready, Patrick Habecker, Roberto Abadie, Bilal Khan, K. Dombrowski

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We analyze a network of needle-sharing ties among 117 people who inject drugs (PWID) in rural Puerto Rico, using exponential random graph modeling to examine whether network members engage in partner restriction to lower their risk of contracting HIV or hepatitis C (HCV), or in informed altruism to prevent others from contracting these infections. Although sharing of used syringes is a significant risk factor for transmission of these diseases among PWID, we find limited evidence for partner restriction or informed altruism in the network of reported needle-sharing ties. We find however that sharing of needles is strongly reciprocal, and individuals …

Contextualizing The Covid-19 Era In Puerto Rico: Compounding Disasters And Parallel Pandemics, Catherine Garcia, Fernando I. Rivera, Marc A. Garcia, Giovani Burgos, María P. Aranda

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: The COVID-19 outbreak has worsened the ongoing economic crisis in Puerto Rico by creating "parallel pandemics" that exacerbate socioeconomic and health inequalities experienced by its most vulnerable residents. Unfortunately, conditions on the island have been largely overlooked by national media outlets and the mainland U.S. population. Thus, this research report aims to draw attention to the disparate burden multiple and compounding disasters have on older island-dwelling Puerto Rican adults’ health and well-being.

Methods: We characterize the lived experiences of the older population in Puerto Rico by incorporating data from numerous sources and contextualizing the effects of compounding disasters, the …

Prospects And Challenges Of Population Health With Online And Other Big Data In Africa; Understanding The Link To Improving Healthcare Service Delivery, Rowland Edet, Bolarinwa Afolabi

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Big data analytics offers promises to many health care service challenges and can provide answers to many population health issues. Big data is having a positive impact in almost every sphere of life in more advanced world while developing countries are striving to meet up. Even though healthcare systems in the developed world are recording some breakthroughs due to the application of big data, it is important to research the impact of big data in developing regions of the world, such as Africa and identify its peculiar needs. The purpose of this review was to summarize the challenges faced by …

Why Does The Importance Of Education For Health Differ Across The United States?, Blakelee R. Kemp, Jennifer Karas Montez

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The positive association between educational attainment and adult health (“the gradient”) is stronger in some areas of the United States than in others. Explanations for the geographic pattern have not been rigorously investigated. Grounded in a contextual and life-course perspective, the aim of this study is to assess childhood circumstances (e.g., childhood health, compulsory schooling laws) and adult circumstances (e.g., wealth, lifestyles, economic policies) as potential explanations. Using data on U.S.-born adults aged 50 to 59 years at baseline (n = 13,095) and followed for up to 16 years across the 1998 to 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement …

Are Biological Consequences Of Childhood Exposures Detectable In Telomere Length Decades Later?, Blakelee R. Kemp, Kenneth F. Ferraro

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Negative early-life exposures have been linked to a host of poor adult health outcomes, but are such early exposures associated with cellular senescence decades later? This study uses data from the Health and Retirement Study to examine the association between six childhood exposure domains (e.g., socioeconomic disadvantage, risky parental behavior) and a biomarker of aging, telomere length, among 4,935 respondents. Telomere length is obtained from DNA of cells found in saliva and is measured as the telomere repeat copy number to single gene copy number ratio (T/S). Men who as children were exposed to risky parental …

A New Spin On Gender: How Parents Of Male Baton Twirlers (Un)Do Gender Essentialism, Trenton M. Haltom

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Families and sports are spaces for “doing” and “undoing” gender. The author presents qualitative interviews with 30 American men who recall their parents’ involvement in the gender atypical sport of baton twirling. The author analyzes the data using “doing” and “undoing” gender as well as “hard” and “soft” essentialism frameworks. Mothers are often supportive of their sons’ twirling, contributing to “undoing” gender and relaxing “soft essentialism.” Fathers do not see baton twirling as a normative pathway to manhood or masculinity, thus reinforcing “hard essentialism.” Fathers often take on an absentee role in their sons’ twirling. In rare cases, fathers “do” …

Introduction To Special Issue “Geographies Of Sexualities” [Journal Of Lesbian Studies], Emily Kazyak

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In this foreword to the special issue “Geographies of Sexualities,” I provide a review of the scholarly discussions about place and sexuality that have occurred in the past 20 years. I highlight five major themes in my synthesis of this scholarship: (1) how narratives about geography and sexuality are co-constitutive; (2) a critical interrogation of these narratives to demonstrate how more nuances exist than these narratives suggest; (3) assessments of the spatial distribution of women in same-sex relationships, comparisons to the spatial distribution of men in same-sex relationships, and analyses of the experiences of women in areas with high concentrations …

Biography And Sociology: Berger On Religion As Choice Rather Than Fate, Samuel Heilman

Publications and Research

Is there a connection between biography and sociology for Peter Berger? The short answer, as demonstrated by his own memoir, Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist, is “yes.” But in his book, he traces this connection to his own arrival and training at the Graduate Faculty of the New School. I would like to suggest that the process begins earlier in his life. Known for his work on the sociology of knowledge, the examination of how “society influences thought,” I suggest an examination of how one’s biography influences thought, the environment in which Berger grew played a major role in his …

Methodological Appendix A For: Mcquillan, J., A. L. Greil, A. Rybinsk, S. Tiemeyer, K. M. Shreffler, And C. Warner Colaner. 2020. Is A Dyadic Stressor Experienced As Equally Distressing By Both Partners? The Case Of Perceived Fertility Problems. Journal Of Social And Personal Relationships. Doi: 10.1177/0265407520953903, Julia Mcquillan, Arthur L. Greil, A. Rybinsk, Stacy Tiemeyer, Karina M. Shreffler, Colleen Warner Colaner

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Barnett, Marshall, Raudenbush, and Brennan (1993) provide an approach to crosssectional couple data that increases the power and precision of the estimates and allows the simultaneous analysis of both partners. Following Barnett et al (1993), we constructed two parallel versions of the distress scale for each partner by matching standard deviations of individual items. We randomly assigned each of the 10 items to an A or B group (each group had five items). This procedure resulted in two parallel subscales of distress for each partner. Overall, the subscales had equal amounts of error variance. The level 1 data were “stacked” …

Diverse Sources Of Social Support And Cognitive Functioning By Race, Ethnicity, And Nativity, G. Robin Gauthier, Marc A. Garcia, Catherine García

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study examines the relationship between social support profiles and cognitive functioning by race, ethnicity and nativity in older adults using cross-sectional data drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (2010 and 2012). We employed a hierarchical clustering routine to generate nine support profiles that differentiated three sources of support: children, wider family relationships and friendships. Cognitive functioning was measured as the score on the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m), a 27 point scale of cognitive function. Our approach explicitly acknowledges the ambivalence and multidimensionality of close relationships and the resources embedded within them. Descriptive analyses revealed significant differences …

The Stress Mechanisms Of Adolescent Physical, Mental, And Behavioral Health, Lisa Kort-Butler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although the mechanisms are complex, stress is a risk factor for compromised physical, mental, and behavioral health in adolescence. The stress paradigm posits a system of relationships among social structures, stressors, personal and social resources, and health outcomes, offering a framework for understanding how adolescents’ life problems and the means to cope with them affect well-being. This chapter reviews the theoretical underpinnings of the stress paradigm, drawing on the stress process model and general strain theory. The chapter briefly reviews the biological underpinnings of stress and the role of brain development. Then, the chapter focuses on the social aspects of …

Often Overlooked, But Not Forgotten: The Influence Of Demographic Measure Constraints On Participant Affect, Attitudes, Behavior, And Response Codability, Joy S. Pawirosetiko

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Despite a growing number of recommendations varying in wording and response options, researchers have yet to agree on how to best request participant gender identity. Evidence suggests that gender binary and gender minority participants perceive gender identity measures differently, with gender binary participants potentially perceiving more gender inclusive measures as laborious and gender minority participants perceiving less gender inclusive measures as misgendering or invalidating. We sought to test whether seven versions of an online questionnaire (six experimental conditions with gender identity questions listed at the beginning of the questionnaire varying in gender inclusivity, and one control condition) significantly impacted participant …