Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Social Media Use And Its Impact On Relationships And Emotions, Spencer Palmer Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

A large majority of the people throughout the world own a smartphone and access social media on a daily basis. Because of this digital attachment, the author sought to understand to what extent this use has impacted the users' emotional well-being and offline interpersonal relationships. A sample size of 627 participants completed a mixed-methods survey consisting of Likert scale and short answer questions regarding social media use, emotional well-being and interpersonal relationships. Results revealed that the more time an individual spent on social media the more likely they were to experience a negative impact on their overall emotional well-being and …

In Situ Analysis Of Void Formation At The Flow Front In Rtm, Perry August Burton

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to empirically investigate flow front void formation rates and post-formation bubble mobility behavior for composites produced via resin transfer molding (RTM).For this study, in situ observation of bubble formation and migration was accomplished by photographing resin flow progression during infusion tests of carbon reinforcements. An analysis strategy for use in batch processing sequential image sets is presented. The use of MATLAB to process and analyze binary images of infusions for void content has garnered satisfactory results and has shown that analysis of progressive image sequences can greatly enrich the volume of in situ measurements …

Training Security Professionals In Social Engineering With Osint And Sieve, Jared James Meyers

Theses and Dissertations

This research attempts to create a novel process, Social Engineering Vulnerability Evaluation, SiEVE, to use open source data and open source intelligence (OSINT) to perform efficient and effectiveness spear phishing attacks. It is designed for use by "œred teams" and students learning to conduct a penetration test of an organization, using the vector of their workforce. The SiEVE process includes the stages of identifying targets, profiling the targets, and creating spear phishing attacks for the targets. The contributions of this research include the following: (1) The SiEVE process itself was developed using an iterative process to identify and fix initial …

Isolation Of Temporary Storage In High Performance Computing Via Linux Namespacing, Steven Tanner Satchwell

Theses and Dissertations

Per job isolation of temporary file storage in High Performance Computing (HPC) environments provide benefits in security, efficiency, and administration. HPC system administrators can use the mount_isolation Slurm task plugin to improve security by isolating temporary files where no isolation previously existed. The mount_isolation plugin also increases efficiency by removing obsolete temporary files immediately after each job terminates. This frees valuable disk space in the HPC environment to be used by other jobs. These two improvements reduce the amount of work system administrators must expend to ensure temporary files are removed in a timely manner.Previous temporary file removal solutions were …

Doing And Interpreting Lyrical Sociology: Living In Detroit, Gregory Joseph Wurm

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines, experiments with, and theorizes the value of lyrical sociology as an approach to social scientific research. A lyrical sociology, as proposed by Andrew Abbott, seeks to describe an author's emotional response to a phenomenon rather than explain it. This allows for a researcher's own experience to play a role in the research process in a way that helps the reader to connect emotionally and ethically to both the world they read about and the world they themselves are a part of. It has valuable implications for the way researchers relate to their research, their research subjects, their …

Variable Modulation Of Inputs To Gaba Cells In The Ventral Tegmental Area And Hippocampus, Teresa Marie Nufer

Theses and Dissertations

The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is an important component of the mesolimbic dopamine circuit and processes reward and motivational behaviors. In response to drug exposure, synaptic connections of this circuit can be rewired via synaptic plasticity—a phenomenon thought be responsible for the pathology of addiction. While much is known about dopamine neuron plasticity, less is known regarding plasticity exhibited by VTA GABA cells, specifically inhibitory inputs from outside the VTA. Expanding on the work of Bocklisch et al. (2013), we investigated the plasticity of inhibitory inputs to VTA GABA neurons. Using whole cell electrophysiology in GAD67 GFP mice, we observed …

Shame As A Moderator In Grace And Forgiveness Correlation Renamed “Grace, Forgiveness, And Shame In Latter-Day Saint Young Adults”, Taylor Mefford, Dr. Scott Richards

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The subject of grace in psychological research has been relatively untouched, with only a few studies having been conducted in this area, mostly with a focus on creating measures for attitudes on grace. However, despite the existence of these validated measures, almost no published studies utilize them. Allen, Wang, & Stokes (2015) present one of those few cases where such measures are used, in which they address mental health outcomes related to grace and perfectionism. They also utilize the term legalism, which was used by Bufford, Sisemore, and Blackburn (2014) in their development of a holistic measure of grace. …

Nabataean Course Ware Pottery Chronological Dating System, Jake Hubbert, Dr. Cynthia Finlayson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The course ware pottery created by the ancient Nabataeans of Petra, Jordan is unique and one of the most understudied pottery types from the Hellenistic and Roman eras in the Near East. My research project involved developing an updated seriation organization of these pottery types based on comparative shapes, sizes and other physical attributes, as well as stratigraphic find sites in order to organize these wares into a chronological dating system. The first step of this research project was carried out during the 2017 Petra, Jordan Archaeology Field School with subsequent lab work completed on BYU at the archaeology lab …

How Does The Legality Of Polygamy Affect Domestic Violence?: A Case Study Of Nigeria, Jenah House, Dr. Darren Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Do the presence and legalization of polygamous relationships affect domestic violence in developing countries? While there is some evidence that polygamous relationships influence domestic violence rates, present research on the subject is sparse. Even less discussed in the field is how the legalization of polygamy affects domestic violence. My research suggests that not only does polygamy influence domestic violence levels in the home, but that domestic violence rates vary based on the legality of polygamy. If the legalization and practice of polygamy together affect domestic violence, this will open up discussion on the viability and legality of polygamy within states—and …

Better Together: Proposing Participatory Evaluation To Ngo’S, James Hodgson, Dr. Daniel Nielson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Rigorous evaluation has become the gold standard in international development. However, evaluations are limited to NGO’s that are willing to potentially be proven wrong and advised to adjust their strategy. Do characteristics of a proposed evaluation make it more or less appealing to an organization? This research focuses on the willingness of NGO’s to participate in different types of evaluations and specifically isolates the effect of proposing participatory evaluations in comparison to more traditional approaches to evaluation proposals.

To Vote Or Not To Vote: The Effect Of Using All-Mail Election On Probability Of Voting, Rehtaeh Beers, Dr. Jay Goodliffe

Journal of Undergraduate Research

All-mail elections are rare within the United States of America. Currently, only Oregon, Washington, and Colorado use mail-in ballots. Alaska will join that list during the 2018 midterm election as they adopt an all-mail ballot mode of voting¹. All-mail election ballots require no more effort than original registration; the ballot comes automatically and all one must do is complete it. Due to the increased convenience, increased turnout is expected among those voters who are already willing to register. Mail-in ballots are proven to be more cost-effective than traditional voting², allowing for the replacement of millions of …

Modern Morality: Understanding Secular Purity In Moral Foundations Theory, Sarah Curry, Dr. Christopher Karpowitz

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Political psychologists Jonathan Haidt, Jesse Graham, and Brian Nosek argue in their influential study that morality is not a “one-dimensional spectrum” with individuals being moral or amoral.¹ Rather, moral foundations theory allows people to be explained across five dimensions: harm/care, fairness/reciprocity, ingroup/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity. Individuals place varying emphasis across the five dimensions, which they use in making judgements about a situation’s morality. Graham et al. find compelling evidence that conservatives and liberals have different approaches to life and politics due to varying moral foundations. Conservatives usually place equal emphasis across the five dimensions., while liberals tend to value …

Exploring Ideocentrism: Ideology-Conflict And Out-Group Discrimination, Ryan Hemsley, Dr. Robert Ridge

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Conflict has long been a topic of interest in the social sciences. There is considerable research that has examined conflict through bias, prejudice, out-group discrimination, and in-group preferential treatment. (see Burne et al, 1975; Hewstone et al, 2002; Kilduff et al 2016) However, the literature focuses disproportionately on conflict between cultural or biological groups. Relatively little research focuses on ideological groups. Such a balance may be counterproductive, as there is evidence that ideological conflict may be superordinate to racial conflict. Chambers et al. (2013) found that prejudice towards an ideological out-group was greater than prejudice towards a racial out-group. The …

Ketamine As A Predictor Of Excessive Alcohol Intake: A Rhesus Monkey Nonhuman Primate Model, Ryno Kruger, Dr. J. Dee Higley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In 2014, 8.7 million teenagers in the United States reported drinking alcohol, with the vast majority engaging in binge drinking¹. Due to the rise of underage drinking and alcohol abuse, it is of increasing importance to study variables that influence risk for alcohol abuse and alcoholism. To study these factors, I spent 10 weeks at the California National Primate Research facility (CNPRC).

“To Bring The Old And To Lead The Young:” Hmong Identity Formation In Transferring Cultural Knowledge Between Generations, Venice Jardine, Dr. Gregory Thompson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

While many theorists in Psychology have proposed various universalistic models for development, specifically ethnic identity development, and while these theories clearly have much to offer in the way scholarship on the topic of identity development, they are severely limited in their scope for the same reason that they are seemingly easy to grasp—they are problematically over-simplified. Human beings seldom fit nicely into stage theories or models, particularly when universally applied to across contexts. Especially when concerned with bi-cultural contexts and identity development, it is not plausible to attempt to reduce these complex human experiences to any one particular paradigm. In …

Prenatal Androgens And The Stability Of Temperament And Anxiety: A Study Of Testosterone-Mediated Digit Ratios In Rhesus Macaques, Alexander Baxter, Dr. J. Dee Higley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Prenatal androgen exposure (PAE) is the organizational force that masculinizes the brain. It has impact on other parts of the body as well. For example, PAE induces growth in the ring finger. Consequently, the pointer-to-ring-finger digit ratio (2D:4D ratio) is frequently used to assess PAE.¹ Though this phenotype is sexually dimorphic, research indicates that PAE’s effect on digit ratio may be in the opposite direction when comparing humans and nonhuman primates.²² Very few studies have investigated 2D:4D ratio in rhesus macaques (Macacca mulatta), and to our knowledge, none have reported a sex difference in digit ratio. The purpose …

Does Ideology Trump Party Loyalty? Utah, Mcmullin, And The 2016 Election, Soren Schmidt, Dr. Michael Barber

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Do voters prioritize party loyalty or personal ideology when casting a ballot? In the contemporary political climate, it is nearly impossible to tell because the two go hand in hand: almost all Democratic candidates are liberal, and almost all Republican candidates are conservative. Consequently, it is difficult to discern, for example, whether a voter supports a Democrat because the candidate is a Democrat, or because the candidate is a liberal. However, Utah’s 2016 presidential election presented a highly unusual opportunity to separate the two factors. In a state consistently dominated by the Republican Party, the collision of a highly unpopular …

It’S No Accident: Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Vehicle Safety Inspections, Alex Hoagland, Trevor Woolley, Dr. Lars Lefgren

Journal of Undergraduate Research

As technology improves, vehicle manufacturers have taken it upon themselves to make and distribute vehicles that are far safer and more reliable than in previous years. In fact, traffic fatalities are on a steep decline in the U.S., with a total of only 32,850 deaths related to motor-vehicle accidents last year as compared to 43,510 recorded in 2005¹. As the pool of vehicles on the road gradually shifts to newer models, this decline will become more pronounced—according to Consumer Reports, drivers of vehicles made before 2000 are 71% more likely to die in a motorvehicle related accident than …

Parental And Relational Aggression, David A. Nelson, Craig H. Hart

Faculty Publications

Where do children get their basic tendencies to act aggressively? One possibility is that it varies by the type of parenting received, particularly for young children, who tend to spend more time with their parents than do older children and adolescents. This chapter considers the expanse of research focusing on parenting as it corresponds with relationally aggressive tendencies in children, adolescents, or emerging adults (including similar constructs labeled as indirect or social aggression). Relational aggression subsumes indirect, covert, hostile behaviors where target children are not directly confronted (e.g., gossiping, talking behind one's back; see Chapter 2). It can also be …

Complimentary Medical Frameworks: Hmong Shamanism In France And Thailand, Madison Harmer, Dr. Jacob Hickman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Current social science literature outside of anthropology has attributed Hmong difficulties adapting to Western health care to their traditional healing practices, claiming that successful integration only occurs as the younger generation discards traditional beliefs (Franzen-Castle & Smith 2013). Ethnographic research conducted in France and Thailand refutes these claims; Hmong of younger and older generations utilize both the state medical system and traditional healing, integrating these systems instead of treating them as ontologically distinct (and thus in competition with each other). Many researchers and medical personnel studying or working with Hmong populations have ignored models of ontological holism because of the …

De Facto Redlining As A Challenge To Integration: A Case Study Of Refugees In The Salt Lake Valley, Clare Willardson, Dr. Gregory Thompson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Approximately 1,200 refugees are resettled in Utah each year, adding to the 50-60,000 refugees (speaking more than 40 languages) accepted here since 1970. Ninety-nine percent of resettled refugees still live in Salt Lake Valley, the majority of whom are initially placed in West Valley and South Salt Lake due to its affordable housing (see Figure 1 and Figure 2 for reference). Upon resettlement, each family is assigned a case worker through their non-profit resettlement agency that enrolls children in a local public school, and mediates for medical, employment, financial, and other concerns that adult refugees experience post-resettlement.

Hpv Vaccinations In College Students: Assessing Knowledge, Attitude, And Intention With Religious Attitudes And Behavior, Christian Kindt, Dr. Wendy Birmingham

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Most religions promote abstinence of sexual intimacy prior to marriage. This ideology may discount the use of vaccinations that religious individuals consider only applicable to those who are sexually active. These individuals may not take the time to investigate the benefits of such vaccinations and indeed may not even be aware of the risks associated with the infections these vaccinations protect against. Specifically, this study examined how religious beliefs impact knowledge about, and attitudes and intention towards human papillomavirus (HPV) and HPV vaccination adherence. HPV vaccination is recommended for youth between ages 9 and 13 but not to be administered …

The Implementation Of A Basic Income Guarantee, Parker Rogers, Dr. Kerk Phillips

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to model the implementation of a basic income guarantee, by repealing all existing government benefit programs and implementing a monthly lump sum transfer to all working individuals in the US economy; we repealed and implemented these policies using our model in order to observe the labor supply effects.

Teacher Training Films: Helping Sunday School Teachers Better Teach Individuals With Disabilities, Mary Woodruff, Katie Steed

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Sunday schools are primarily taught by devoted lay volunteers. Often times these individuals are willing to help, but can have feelings of self-doubt and anxiety. These feelings can be felt at a greater magnitude when a volunteer has a class that includes a student with a disability. In order for the teacher and student to be edified during Sunday School, training videos on utilizing specific teaching skills and accommodations were created. Shade (2001) and Sampson (2004) have shown that even after 45 minutes of instruction on teaching individuals with disabilities, a teacher’s confidence in their ability to instruct is often …

Social Integration And Emotional Regulation, Kimberly Stevens, Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Midlife adults face a wide variety of physiological, emotional, and cognitive stressors that place them at risk for impaired physical health and longevity. Social integration—which includes high levels of social engagement as well as maintaining a diverse network of social roles—has been shown to protect against the negative effects of these stressors and decrease mortality rates (Holt-Lunstad, 2010). Research has suggested that “social buffering” provides protection from the physiological effects of stress (Cohen, 1985). In fact, Sheldon Cohen hypothesized a “social buffering” pathway, which suggests that social integration effects psychological and physiological exposure to and reaction to stress (Cohen & …

Is Loss Aversion Costing You Money?, Tanner Eastmond, Dr. Joseph Price

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Loss aversion is a well-documented behavioral phenomenon originally proposed by Kahneman and Tversky (2013). The idea is that people value losses more than they do commensurate gains. Many researchers have examined the effects of loss aversion on an individual level, but many economists think that these effects evaporate in highly competitive situations and when professionals are involved. This study seeks to examine whether individual loss aversion is reflected in aggregate stock prices.

Hot Type: Digitizing Utah’S Historical Newspapers, Jeremy Myntti, Tina Kirkham

Faculty Publications

1.History of Utah Digital Newspapers (UDN) Program

2.Tour of UDN

3.How can YOU help build UDN?

4.Future of UDN

5.UDN for Family History

Peer Mentored Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workshop For Adjusting College Students, Meredith Pescatello, Dr. Tyler Pedersen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Brigham Young University (BYU) has over 30,000 students, and many of them face difficult personal and psychological challenges. These may include adjusting to school life after returning from a mission, coping with academic demands, finding balance between work and school, or dealing with difficult roommates and families. Although BYU and other universities provide counseling services to assist students, these services are stretched thin and many cannot meet the needs and demands of students (http://www.standard.net/State/2016/09/08/USU-studentgovernment- declares-mental-health-crisis). This project explores whether or not a peer-led intervention teaching skills from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) could effectively meet some students’ needs. DBT training is …

Nationalism, Tribalism, And The Future Of Women’S Rights In Iraqi Kurdistan, Adena Moulton, Dr. Donna Lee Bowen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Iraqi Kurdistan refers to the mountainous region in northern Iraq, which is home to a majority of Iraq’s Kurdish minority. As a distinct ethnic group, Iraqi Kurds have consistently lobbied for greater autonomy and even independence. After the American invasion in 2003, Iraqi Kurdistan gained enough self-autonomy to develop into a “de-facto” state (Stansfield 2001; Voller 2014). In an effort to develop international legitimacy, the Kurdish government has enacted a series of legal reforms to improve women’s rights (KRG Addresses Women’s Rights 2008; Women’s Rights Campaign 2008). My research explored the extent to which these legal reforms improved the daily …

Child Malnutrition In The Philippines: Using Experimental Design To Understand Nutritional Supplement Adoption, Marissa Miller, Dr. Scott Sanders

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Liahona Children’s Foundation (LCF) is a faith-based community organization that seeks to “nurture the potential of children to lead healthy and productive lives by eliminating malnutrition and providing educational opportunities among LDS (Latter-day Saint) children and their friends”. They do this by providing health initiatives include growth monitoring and nutritional supplementation. They are piloting the use health education lessons. In this field study, I evaluated the LCF program and initiated a randomized control trial to test the effectiveness of the health education lessons. The purpose of the project is to assess the effects of nutritional supplementation and basic nutritional education …