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Honors Theses

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

An Argument For The Moral Obligation Of Physicians To Practice Healthy Behaviors, Kathryn A. Skimming Jan 2010

An Argument For The Moral Obligation Of Physicians To Practice Healthy Behaviors, Kathryn A. Skimming

Honors Theses

Obligations of physicians to practice healthy behaviors are analyzed through three ethical frameworks. Physicians can be considered public benefactors and are able to influence patients to adopt healthier habits and increase total utility. Society creates a moral obligation for physicians to follow the norms regarding a physician's appearance. Kant's categorical imperative also shows physicians have a moral obligation to practice healthy behaviors. Finally, a healthy lifestyle can be considered a mean between extreme behaviors. The medical community should try to promote an environment in which physicians are better able to practice healthy behaviors, because a situation can influence our behaviors.


Person Perception Of Leaders With Adult Adhd, Maxwell P. Teschke Jan 2010

Person Perception Of Leaders With Adult Adhd, Maxwell P. Teschke

Honors Theses

Following this review of the literature this thesis describes three empirical investigations into people's beliefs about individuals who are diagnosed with the Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and the relationship between those beliefs and leadership perceptions and judgments. In addition to documenting the content of the ADHD beliefs, the work will also test the hypothesis that the qualities stereotypically associated with ADHD are incongruent with those qualities individuals spontaneously and intuitively associate with leadership. A third study then considers the experience of individuals who are diagnosed as experiencing ADHD but also hold positions of leadership. By the end of …


Hurricane Katrina : An Act Of God?, Juliette M. Jeanfreau Jan 2010

Hurricane Katrina : An Act Of God?, Juliette M. Jeanfreau

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I plan to present a framework of four theodicies which organizes various responses to and attempted explanations of the suffering experienced during Hurricane Katrina; to examine several post-Katrina sermons in which pastors and priests address suffering within each theological framework; and to discuss the important leadership implications that the ideas expressed on the pulpit carry for how citizens understand the rebuilding of New Orleans. Although the city is home to citizens from a diversity of faith traditions including Judaism and Islam, this thesis will focus on responses expressed within Christian contexts. In the following pages, I will …


The Emerging Civil Society In China And Its Impact On Democratization, Haolu Wang Jan 2010

The Emerging Civil Society In China And Its Impact On Democratization, Haolu Wang

Honors Theses

Recent years have seen an emerging civil society in an authoritarian China. The authoritarian embrace of civil society challenges the conventional wisdom that civil society is closely linked to democracy. In Beijing, the rhetoric of civil society linked less to democracy than to modernization. However, does civil society development have any impact on democratization in authoritarian regimes? The thesis tries to provide a tentative answer by studying civil society and democratization in post-Mao China. As a result of economic development and political reforms, gradual political liberalization has marked a shift of state-society relations that gives rise to a certain degree …


Family Ties: Mainstream Environmentalists' Understanding Of Radical Environmentalism In America, Zachary W. Ezor Jan 2010

Family Ties: Mainstream Environmentalists' Understanding Of Radical Environmentalism In America, Zachary W. Ezor

Honors Theses

Environmentalism in the United States manifests itself in numerous ways. While American environmentalists have been grouped into broad camps over the years, observers have struggled to accurately classify the different components of the movement. Lately, environmentalists have been characterized based on their chosen modus operandi. Environmentalists who employ typical interest group tactics of policy advocacy and accept the notion of political compromise can generally be called 'mainstream.' Alternatively, those environmentalists who employ non-conventional strategies like direct action and take a no-compromise stance on environmental issues are typically described as 'radical.' Despite these distinctions, both radical and mainstream environmentalists are parts …


No, I’M Really, Really Bad At Math: Competition For Self-Verification, Alexandra E. Wesnousky Jan 2010

No, I’M Really, Really Bad At Math: Competition For Self-Verification, Alexandra E. Wesnousky

Honors Theses

In their theory of self-verification, Swann and Read’s (1981) postulate that people like feedback that is consistent with their self-concept. Researchers have yet to examine what happens when two individuals are both seeking feedback from each other to verify their self-concept on the same domain. When individuals are competing against someone to verify a similarly held self-concept, they should try to seek more polarized feedback, especially when the domain is highly important. In two experiments, participants expected to receive computer feedback on their responses to identity-related questions, either based on their own responses or on how they compared to the …


L’Immigration Aux Etats-Unis Et En France: Discours Politiques Et Realités Sociales, Katelyn Wannage Jan 2010

L’Immigration Aux Etats-Unis Et En France: Discours Politiques Et Realités Sociales, Katelyn Wannage

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Understanding Rejection Across Ingroups And Outgroups, Prasant Dubey Jan 2010

Understanding Rejection Across Ingroups And Outgroups, Prasant Dubey

Honors Theses

Black and White male undergraduates from the University of Richmond participated in a study addressing rejection. The purpose was to discover how responses to rejection vary amongst individuals who are rejected by their in-group versus their out-group. In other words, is a white male more likely to be impacted by rejection from another white male (a member of the in- group) or a black male (a member of the out-group)? Likewise, it was interesting to note how black individuals respond differently to rejection by the in-group and out-group. Responses to rejection feedback, regarding self-esteem, attributions to rejection, cognitive capacity, and …


Sustainability In Practice: A Study Of The Sustainable Behaviors Of Students At The Univeristy Of Tennessee At Chattanooga, Audrey Glor Dec 2009

Sustainability In Practice: A Study Of The Sustainable Behaviors Of Students At The Univeristy Of Tennessee At Chattanooga, Audrey Glor

Honors Theses

Sustainable behaviors, such as recycling, are increasingly important as the world's population continues to rise. While many attempts have been made at various institutions, recycling on a grand scale has yet to become a social reality. This study was designed to look at the three broad factors influencing an individual's recycling behavior: social pressure, knowledge base, and convenience. It was hypothesized that social pressure would have the greatest influence on an individual's recycling behavior, while not overlooking the importance of the other two factors. A questionnaire was employed to collect data from a sample population at the University of Tennessee …


A Holistic Study Of Equatorial Guinea’S President And The Factors That Have Influenced His Policies And Actions, Carly Jade Burt Dec 2009

A Holistic Study Of Equatorial Guinea’S President And The Factors That Have Influenced His Policies And Actions, Carly Jade Burt

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Volunteerism And The Fight Against Hiv/Aids In Post-Katrina Louisiana, Lindsay Elizabeth Jarrell Jul 2009

Volunteerism And The Fight Against Hiv/Aids In Post-Katrina Louisiana, Lindsay Elizabeth Jarrell

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Growing Cricket In Tasmania: A Cross-Cultural Comparison, Elizabeth Ann Stanford Jun 2009

Growing Cricket In Tasmania: A Cross-Cultural Comparison, Elizabeth Ann Stanford

Honors Theses

Sports are an integral part of life in societies throughout the world. Cricket is one of Australia’s two major sports and is a significant aspect of its culture, in a fashion similar to baseball being America’s “national pastime.” Despite its isolation, Tasmania, the small island state of Australia, shares the same mania for cricket as mainland Australia. While in Tasmania for ten weeks interning with the Tasmanian Cricket Association (TCA), I studied the role of cricket in the day-to-day lives of Tasmanians, from the pervasive television, newspaper, and the radio coverage, to pick-up cricket games as a popular leisure time …


The Bush Administration’S Torture Policy: Outright Disregard For The Rule Of Law And Human Rights, Lyndsay Wehrum Jun 2009

The Bush Administration’S Torture Policy: Outright Disregard For The Rule Of Law And Human Rights, Lyndsay Wehrum

Honors Theses

September 11, 2001 was an infamous day in American history that shocked not only the U.S. but also the World; it generated turmoil and distress for the economy, security, citizen’s lives, and U.S. power. The Bush administration’s response was a “war on terror” which involved a complete manipulation and disregard for national and international laws and the essential authorization of torture at U.S. controlled foreign detention centers. These policies spread by moving down the “chain of command” and into the hands of guards and interrogators that abused, humiliated, and in some cases killed detainees in U.S. control. If anything, the …


The Effects Of Fire And Deer Herbivory On Oak Regeneration In An Eastern Deciduous Forest, Julie La Spina Jun 2009

The Effects Of Fire And Deer Herbivory On Oak Regeneration In An Eastern Deciduous Forest, Julie La Spina

Honors Theses

In the past, oak was one of the most dominant species groups in the deciduous forests of the northeastern United States. More recently, a variety of factors, including interspecific competition, fire suppression and deer herbivory, have led to the decline of oaks. We studied how oaks regenerate and grow following a major disturbance, and how their growth interacts with deer herbivory. We measured the growth of seedlings of three tree species following the 1,200 hectare Overlook Fire that occurred in Minnewaska State Park, NY in April 2008. At each of three sites, we measured the growth of twenty Quercus prinus, …


The Role And Growth Of Celebritization In Presidential Campaign Coverage, Johnathan Bradford Long Jun 2009

The Role And Growth Of Celebritization In Presidential Campaign Coverage, Johnathan Bradford Long

Honors Theses

The thesis covers the growing role of entertainment and celebrity-style news in the domain of hard presidential campaign television news coverage. Having done prior research on such entertainment news outlets as E! News, Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, among others, I found that I was seeing the same treatment of celebrities as hard news programs were giving to presidential candidates. In light of this thought, the study covers what has been written about the evolution of presidential campaigns and the integration of celebrity news elements into campaigns. This study also performs a media analysis on the network news …


The N-Word : Comprehending The Complexity Of Stratification In American Community Settings, Anne V. Benfield Jun 2009

The N-Word : Comprehending The Complexity Of Stratification In American Community Settings, Anne V. Benfield

Honors Theses

The N-word’s remarkable durability, combined with American’s willingness to find uses for this epithet, illustrate the extent to which racial unease continues to permeate our culture. Its various definitions and spellings are continuously debated by academia, creating a dynamic topic for sociological evaluation. Overall, the N-word is alive and mobile, fluid and engraved in the American psyche, as a symbol. Some propose to condemn the word, while others attempt to rehabilitate and convert its meaning from a negative slur to a gesture of solidarity. The controversial debate of the N-word can be examined from multitudinous sociological theories, encompassing elements of …


El Feminismo Antes De Su Tiempo : Escritoras Estadounidenses En La Guerra Civil Española, Julie La Spina Jun 2009

El Feminismo Antes De Su Tiempo : Escritoras Estadounidenses En La Guerra Civil Española, Julie La Spina

Honors Theses

Cuando la Guerra Civil española estalló en 1936, muchos americanos fueron a España para ayudar en la lucha contra del fascismo. Además de los 2800 hombres estadounidenses que lucharon en la guerra, aproximadamente 80 mujeres trabajaron como conductoras, enfermeras y técnicas de laboratorio. Muchas escritoras decidieron ir a España como periodistas y reporteras también. Entre las escritoras que estuvieron en España durante la guerra se encuentran Martha Gellhorn, Frances Davis, Josephine Herbst y Lillian Hellman. Es aparente que estas cuatro escritoras eran progresistas y ayudaron a iniciar el movimiento feminista a través de sus obras y sus acciones en la …


Students' Perceived Parenting Styles And Their Later Romantic Attachment Styles And Preferred Coping Tendencies, Shannon L. Bogart May 2009

Students' Perceived Parenting Styles And Their Later Romantic Attachment Styles And Preferred Coping Tendencies, Shannon L. Bogart

Honors Theses

In the first of two studies, the use of data compiled from questionnaires concerning perceived parenting style and romantic attachment style of Coastal Carolina University students were used to test the hypothesis that the authoritative parenting style would be related to the secure attachment style. The researcher used the terms attachment style and romantic attachment style interchangeably throughout the study. These variables were then statistically analyzed by a chi-square test of independence and showed statistical significance to support the hypothesis. The frequency of students who answered to have both authoritative parenting and secure attachments was significantly higher than the other …


Modern Sophistry: On The "Economization" Of Higher Education, Michael Mcshane May 2009

Modern Sophistry: On The "Economization" Of Higher Education, Michael Mcshane

Honors Theses

The best way for one to begin approaching political philosophy is to do just that, not as a theorist or philosopher, but as a student who examines the various works of theorists in general and sees what is gainful in each of them. It is a thing said to be pleasant – to gain from those who possess knowledge that exceeds one's own. The theorists themselves are taxed with a kind of work that would not appear to the student pleasurable in the slightest, and he might be better off conceding the great labors and accolades that come with this …


The Apology Of Sidney: Explaining Martyrdom, Michael Marinaccio May 2009

The Apology Of Sidney: Explaining Martyrdom, Michael Marinaccio

Honors Theses

The treatment of important figures throughout history has always played favor to the victor by nature and consequently only been offered thorough significance given the eventual passage of time and publicity. If queried of philosophy and its basic influence on the modern world, laymen would probably have the ability to conjure up the name of Socrates, one of the more prominent, noteworthy philosophers in history.


On The Development Of Democracy In Japan: From Samurai To Civil Society, Hamilton Tyler D’Aquilla May 2009

On The Development Of Democracy In Japan: From Samurai To Civil Society, Hamilton Tyler D’Aquilla

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


A Longitudinal Study Of Lmx And Stress: Is The In-Group Burning Out?, Brett Bloemer May 2009

A Longitudinal Study Of Lmx And Stress: Is The In-Group Burning Out?, Brett Bloemer

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


A Political Construct Of Empathy: From Evolutionary Origins To Political Manifestations, John Westly Risher May 2009

A Political Construct Of Empathy: From Evolutionary Origins To Political Manifestations, John Westly Risher

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Lines Of Nation, Lines Of Flight : Retroping Immigration Policy, Jessica Thaller May 2009

Lines Of Nation, Lines Of Flight : Retroping Immigration Policy, Jessica Thaller

Honors Theses

This thesis studies the rhetoric of U.S. immigration policy, specifically as related to Mexican immigration to the United States. Using Kent Ono and John Sloop’s theory of discourse, it examines the rhetoric employed in the Secure Fence Act (SFA) of 2006 and its turns towards wartime rhetoric, immigrant dehumanization, and immigrant deviance. It then contradicts these turns to those seen in the rhetoric of Hometown Associations (HTAs), “outlaw” discourses that operate by systems of logic different from the dominant logic of the SFA. HTAs emphasize family/cultural connections, unique financial considerations, and the liminal existence of the immigrant. More importantly, they …


Communicative Violence In Romantic Relationships, Christina L. Moore May 2009

Communicative Violence In Romantic Relationships, Christina L. Moore

Honors Theses

Verbal abuse occurs in college relationships, but this form of abuse lacks a clear definition and definitive characteristics. I studied the dialogue that surrounds verbal abuse. I was interested in how verbal abuse was discussed instead of the specific details of the experiences. Verbal abuse was purposely studied separately from physical abuse. Prior research and legal statutes were reviewed before conducting this study. Through the use of focus groups, one-on-one interviews and key informant interviews a broader perspective of verbal abuse was gained. The six salient themes to emerge were (1) how to protect one’s identity, (2) characteristics of the …


Get On The Solar Track To Accelerate Your Wmu Experience, Amanda Jandahl, Andrea Sell Apr 2009

Get On The Solar Track To Accelerate Your Wmu Experience, Amanda Jandahl, Andrea Sell

Honors Theses

The Western Michigan University Sunseeker solar car team is faced with the challenge to raise awareness and educate the WMU community about the excellent opportunities that the team provides to WMU students. The team, as a whole, seeks to increase public education about renewable energy, especially solar energy, through the races in which the solar car competes. In order to recruit new participants, raise funds for construction and competition, and keep the solar car as a point of pride at Western Michigan University, the team needs to increase promotional activity. The promotional campaign titled Get on the Solar Track to …


Recent Kremlin Aggression: The Bear Is Back; But Is Russia Ready To Be A Superpower Again?, Blythe Erin Adams Apr 2009

Recent Kremlin Aggression: The Bear Is Back; But Is Russia Ready To Be A Superpower Again?, Blythe Erin Adams

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


On Shaky Ground: The Political Impact Of Natural Disasters In Central America, Davis B. Courtney Apr 2009

On Shaky Ground: The Political Impact Of Natural Disasters In Central America, Davis B. Courtney

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Can Scouts And Nfl General Managers Predict Future Quarterback Performance At The Time Of The Nfl Draft?, Cain Montgomery Apr 2009

Can Scouts And Nfl General Managers Predict Future Quarterback Performance At The Time Of The Nfl Draft?, Cain Montgomery

Honors Theses

Every year the National Football League has a draft selection process to recruit new talent. Despite the overwhelming amount of analysis performed on players, bad draft picks happen every year. Little research has previously been done to determine whether player performance is predictable at the time of the NFL Draft. Rafferty and Johnson chartered new territory in 2008 with their study entitled Is the NFL Draft a Crap Shoot? The Case of Wide Receivers. The purpose of this paper is to help fill the void of literature on performance prediction by extending the study by Rafferty and Johnson to …


Measuring The Effect Of Family Income On Undergraduate Behavior, Lindsey Brewer Apr 2009

Measuring The Effect Of Family Income On Undergraduate Behavior, Lindsey Brewer

Honors Theses

Educational equality has been an important and relevant issue in recent years, especially as tuition increases at colleges and universities make it increasingly difficult for low and middle-income families to afford education for their children. There are even more issues of educational equality that come into play once a student matriculates at a chosen school. This paper focuses on this area, expanding on existing literature that details family income’s impact on undergraduate behavior. Academic pursuits have been a topic for prior research in this area, but this paper also models extracurricular behavior as a function of family income. Results show …