Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Code Choice And Stance Taking By Two Mahragānāt Performers: A Case Of Social Identity Construction In Egyptian Public Discourse, Yasmine Abusamra

Theses and Dissertations

Mahragānāt [festivals] is a relatively new genre of Egyptian street music that broadly represents working-class values and culture. Performers are aware of their unprivileged origins and feature the concerns and interests of Egyptian slums in their songs. Their vocals are linguistically fixated on local urban realities of the working class and often express loyalty to singers’ neighborhoods. This qualitative study explores code choice in selected songs of two artists, Muhammad Ramadan and Ahmad Ali, and its relation to social class. Both performers overtly promulgate their unprivileged urban origin and employ their lyrics to reframe and negotiate their position in society …

The Role Of Village Savings And Loan Associations In Poverty Graduation Programs: A Process Analysis, Noha Abdel Hamid

Theses and Dissertations

Ten percent of the global population live in extreme poverty under $1.90 a day. To combat chronic multidimensional poverty, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)created the Graduation Approach, which consists of a Big Push effect implemented through a series of interventions including asset transfer, mentoring, saving groups and a series of service provisions, to push ultra-poor households to exit poverty sustainably. Implemented so far in over 50 countries, the model has shown positive results even after ten years of the first interventions. Sawiris Foundation for Social Development partnered with BRAC and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Laboratory (J-PAL) to …

Applying The Seven Principles Of Learning To Development Communication, Lina Abd El Ghaffar

Theses and Dissertations

Development communication originated as a post-war term meaning “the application of communication strategies and principles in the developing world.”. As time went by, various definitions of development communication emerged, each reflecting its political agenda and interests. A more recent definition states that development communication aims to remove constraints for an increasingly participatory and equal society.

Sustainability and inclusivity are at the heart of effective development. The current development communication paradigms are the top down Dominant paradigm which is criticized for not being inclusive and the bottom up Participatory paradigm which is criticized for not being sustainable.

Based on the Seven …

Neuroticism And Relationship Quality: A Meta-Analytic Review, Charlotte R. Esplin

Theses and Dissertations

Of each of the Big-Five personality traits, neuroticism is most strongly associated with poor relationship outcomes. Prior research has established a robust negative association between neuroticism and relationship quality, regardless of participant age, length of relationship, and country of origin. As so much has already been studied on the topic of neuroticism and relationship quality, the current study explores the association between neuroticism and relationship using meta-analytic methodology, and details whether Hill's seven criteria for causation have been met in the current literature thus far. After searching through databases and the references of included studies, I used 151 published studies …

Disrupting Inequitable Practices In Special Education: Privileging Student And Family Voices, Armineh E. Hallaran

Theses and Dissertations

Black, Latinx, and other minoritized students have long been overrepresented in the high-incidence, subjective, disability classifications including Learning Disability, Speech and Language Impairment, Emotional Disturbance, and Intellectual Impairment. Special education places these students on trajectories that deny them access to quality education and the same postschool outcomes and opportunities as their nondisabled peers. Using Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit), and grounded theory analysis this study foregrounds the voices of minoritized middle school students receiving special education under high-incidence classifications. DisCrit allowed for an investigation of how student’s intersecting marginalized identities impacted their experiences as special education students. Further, Education Journey …

Improving Country Conflict And Peace Modeling: Datasets, Imputations, And Hierarchical Clustering, Benjamin D. Leiby

Theses and Dissertations

Many disparate datasets exist that provide country attributes covering political, economic, and social aspects. Unfortunately, this data often does not include all countries nor is the data complete for those countries included, as measured by the dataset’s missingness. This research addresses these dataset shortfalls in predicting country instability by considering country attributes in all aspects as well as in greater thresholds of missingness. First, a structured summary of past research is presented framed by a developed casual taxonomy and functional ontology. Additionally, a novel imputation technique for very large datasets is presented to account for moderate missingness in the expanded …

Policy Evaluation Of The Role Of Extracurricular Activities On Students' Character Building And Academic Excellence: A Case Study Of Cairo's Schools, Nanis Yousry

Theses and Dissertations

The Education policies have usually been given the highest priority globally. This research reflects that the Egyptian educational system currently faces a bottleneck in applying its policies due to significant budgetary constraints. This is seen in public schools, unlike international ones. The research compares and contrasts three educational systems (public, community and international) with the purpose of examining the impact of policy processes on education. This thesis aims to explore how far the existence of extracurricular activities, as a component that complements academic education, is capable of supporting students to acquire the 21st century life skills and fulfill some of …

Socioeconomic Status And Physical Attractiveness In Partner Selection 32 Years Later: An Empirical Replication And Extension Of Townsend And Levy (1990), Elena Kelsey Henderson

Theses and Dissertations

Partnership is a universal part of human existence. Human partner selection has been long studied within evolutionary and sociocultural frameworks. One study by Townsend and Levy (1990) found that physical attractiveness and socioeconomic status influence male and female partner selection in distinct ways. The present study replicated and extended the work of Townsend and Levy, investigating how physical attractiveness, socioeconomic status, and race and ethnicity influence relationship willingness at various levels of involvement. A repeated measures ANOVA was conducted, and planned post hoc pairwise comparisons and parameter estimates were analyzed. We analyzed responses from 503 single American adults of four …

Parent And Child Acculturation Differences: Sleep And Weight Outcomes In Latinx Pre-Adolescents, Kelsey K. Zaugg

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: The present study aimed to evaluate associations between parent-child acculturation differences and sleep and weight outcomes in Latinx pre-adolescents aged 10-12 years. Parent and child stress were considered as possible mediators through which parent-child discordance in acculturation may negatively impact sleep quality and body fatness. Pre-adolescent resilience and ethnic pride were explored as possible personal strengths that may ameliorate the impact of this association. Method: Data from mothers, fathers, and pre-adolescents were collected on two occasions separated by one year. In our sample, only language-specific acculturation was significantly different between parents and children. Thus, parent-child language difference was a …

Surveillance Culture And Potential Resistance Of Social Media In Egypt, Dina Refaei

Theses and Dissertations

Social media companies have become dominant over their users. With digital capabilities that enable them to monitor, analyze and process users’ data, they are able to restrict users’ activities in accordance with their own policies. The present study examines the potential for users to encounter social media policies – specifically, privacy and content moderation policies imposed over activities on these platforms. The surveillance culture model is proposed to highlight surveillance perceptions among users and determine the factors that might affect users' intention to resist social media policies. A sample of 547 Egyptian social media users were surveyed. The findings showed …

Examining The Feasibility Of Implementing A Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery Bibliotherapy For The Treatment Of Psychosocial Distress In Women With Breast Cancer, Juliana A. D'Onofrio

Theses and Dissertations

Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis and the second leading cause of cancer-related death for women in the United States. Clinical depression and anxiety occur frequently within this population. Subclinical symptoms are also common and include increased sense of vulnerability, agitation, and grief as well as fears related to pain, creating a burden for one's family, and death. Due to the variety of negative implications women experience from psychosocial distress, improving quality of life and reducing symptomatology becomes imperative. A plethora of research supports the use of Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery (MBCR). Considering the challenges present within traditional psycho-oncological …

Archaic Sites, Ecological Zones, And Wetlands Resources In The Eastern Great Basin, Lindsey R. Lyle

Theses and Dissertations

Archaeological data has increased significantly with Cultural Resource Management agencies finding and recording archaeological sites all across Utah. With the site data from the Utah State Historical Preservation Office, I examine the expansion of Archaic sites in the Eastern Great Basin from the Early Archaic through the Late Archaic, through the lens of elevation and ecological zones and proximity to wetland resources. I argue that the aridness of the Middle Holocene caused the people to expand into the mountains of Utah, and that the expansion continued into the Late Archaic period, even though the environment became more moist again. I …

Effectiveness Of Group Interventions For Weight Loss For Youth: A Meta-Analytic Review, Monica Carolina Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Nearly 19.3% of children in the United States have obesity. There are several behavioral weight loss (BWL) programs available for children and adolescents that have proven effective in managing weight. Many of these treatments are delivered to groups of children rather than to individual youth. However, previous reviews of the literature have not explored the unique effects of group treatment modalities. Research has shown that social ties, particularly with peers, have an impact on adolescents' physical activity engagement and dietary habits. Therefore, it is important to explore how the interaction component of group delivered BWL treatments contributes to their …

Facing The Matter: An Eye-Tracking Assessment Of Social Media Beauty Filter's Impact On Cosmetic Surgery Normative Beliefs, Camilla Marie Owens

Theses and Dissertations

Communication research has begun to assess the unique relationship between social comparison, social media, and body image (Lewallen & Behm-Morawitz, 2016), yet little research has been done to assess the unique connection between body dissatisfaction, social media filters, and cosmetic surgery (Beos et al., 2021). Studies have found that viewing edited body images on Instagram positively correlates with decreased body satisfaction and behaviors of body objectification (Tiggemann, & Barbato, 2018). This study used a series of scales to measure individuals' media exposure (MTUAS: Rosen et al., 2013) body area satisfaction (BASS; Brown et al., 1990), facial region satisfaction (FRSS; Guthrie …

Associations Between Glycemic Control And Executive Functioning In Type 1 Diabetes: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Hannah Margot Mcdaniel

Theses and Dissertations

Research conducted with youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) has shown that glycemic extremes and poorer T1D management are associated with poorer performance on measures of executive functioning (EF) compared to non-T1D counterparts. Deficits in EF may negatively impact the development of healthy T1D management skills. Our primary aim was to conduct a meta-analytic review of previous studies investigating the associations between glycemic control and EF in children with T1D across the developmental span. Comprehensive literature searches were conducted using PubMed, MedLine, PsycInfo, Google Scholar, and EBSCO for articles that met eligibility criteria. Eligibility criteria included correlational, randomized, and non-randomized …

Defining Cheating Using Multiple Models, Krista Joy Dowdle

Theses and Dissertations

Extradyadic romantic behavior in committed relationships, referred to here as "cheating," is a common occurrence. For the purposes of this study, we define cheating as romantic or sexual behaviors that occur outside of a committed romantic relationship and that violate the expectations of the relationship. This definition can be broken down into two parts: the behavior that occurred and the judgment of whether that behavior constitutes cheating. Using a large sample (N = 1,020), we tested a measure that conceptualized cheating as composing explicit behaviors, categorical judgment of behaviors, and dimensional judgment of behaviors. Fit statistics were mixed and we …

Daily Survey Of Negative Affect And Social Interactions In Young Adults With High Levels Of Social Stress, Danica L. Limon

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Few studies have focused on the contextual influences that impact negative affect (NA) and risk for mood disorders in young adults. Research using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods has shown that neurotypical adults with elevated social anxiety may be more sensitive to their social environment. To date, little is known about how types of social interactions impact autistic adults, who may show varying levels of social anxiety and social motivation. Aim: Our goal was to examine the heterogeneity in daily social experiences for autistic and socially anxious adults. Method: Using EMA surveys, we tracked daily self-reported face-to-face interactions and …

Lost In Translation: Implications For Translating Psychometric Tests As Seen With The Nunchi Scale, Jacob A. Larson

Theses and Dissertations

Psychometric tests are often translated from one language into another for use in cultural and cross-cultural psychological research. This tradition has long been a primary method for studying psychological concepts across cultures. A body of literature has been emerging that raises concerns with this process of translation and suggests that psychological concepts may not always translate smoothly across cultures. In what follows, I examine these issues surrounding the translation of psychometric tests. To do this, I gathered survey data for an English translation of the Nunchi Scale, to examine the process of translation and various analytic techniques devised to demonstrate …

The Relationship Between Thalamic Morphology And Behavioral Features In Amnestic And Aphasic Variants Of Alzheimer's Disease, Holly Rochelle Winiarski

Theses and Dissertations

Background: The presence of AD pathology can result in diverse behavioral phenotypes, including the typical amnestic variant characterized by memory deficits, and an atypical aphasic variant characterized by language deficits. Previous research has identified unique cortical atrophy patterns in each phenotype, though less focus has been drawn to subcortical involvement. The current study sought to dissociate these behavioral phenotypes by characterizing their thalamic volume and shape features using high-dimensional brain mapping procedures. Relationships between brain metrics and specific language and memory deficits were also investigated in aphasic AD and amnestic AD, respectively. Method: Thalamic integrity was examined in aphasic AD …

Does Anxiety Sensitivity Mediate Age-Related Differences In Anxiety In Middle-Aged And Older Adults?, Katherine F. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety is a mental illness that can have significant deleterious impacts on an individual’s functioning. Although anxiety has been studied in older adults, there is conflicting evidence on differences in anxiety as a function of age. Anxiety sensitivity is a construct that is positively related to anxiety but has limited research in older adults. Extant literature suggests that older adults experience less anxiety sensitivity than do younger adults. According to Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, this may be due to older adults letting go of the things that make them anxious. The current study proposed that age impacts self-rated anxiety such that …

Beyond The Pta: Mothering Work And Women's Education Activism In The Deep South, Emily L. Tingle

Theses and Dissertations

It has long been established that women play unique roles within schools, volunteerism, and school-based community work (Griffith and Smith 2005; Calarco 2020; Lewis and Diamond 2015; Posey-Maddox 2014). Additionally, research suggests that the work done surrounding the institution of education primarily falls on mothers (Griffith and Smith 2005; Haley-Lock and Posey-Maddox 2016; Lareau 2000; Lareau 2011). However, little research has been done that explores how gender dynamics play out in education activism that lies outside of schools. This study seeks to understand how women view gendered expectations of mothering work in regard to education and if/how they perceive that …

Assessment Of Postural, Locomotor, And Physical Fitness Status In Individuals With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Alana J. Turner

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Postural control and locomotion deficits can be observed during the early years of childhood development and throughout life. For those with disabilities, these deficits can advance past the development years and into adolescence and adulthood while affecting the quality of life and daily activity. Finding interactive rehabilitative activities to delay or limit these deficits is essential for people with disabilities to improve their quality of life, inclusion, and overall movement. Adapted physical activity/sports like badminton and virtual reality could promote improvements in postural and locomotor status for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities like cerebral palsy (CP), intellectual …

Examining The Barriers To Building Multicultural Competence Of School Psychology Graduate Students, Jasmine C. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, school aged students from diverse backgrounds have experienced detrimental effects as a result of school psychologists who fail to consider cultural differences when providing services. The demographics of students in K- 12 schools have increasingly become more diverse which only exacerbates the need for multiculturally competent school psychologists. Research has identified graduate programs as an area to intervene and ensure future school psychologists are receiving training necessary for developing multicultural competence. Within the literature, graduate student attitude towards multiculturalism and program climate have been identified as barriers to developing multicultural competence in graduate students. Therefore, the purpose of the …

How And With Whom You Spend Your Time Matters: An Examination Of Familial Relationships, Leisure Activities, And Dementia Development, Erika Cooksey Mcdaniel

Theses and Dissertations

Dementia is an interminable disorder characterized by a decrease in cognitive functioning behavioral and emotional changes, and an overall diminishment in quality of life that usually affects the older population. In the coming decades, scientists estimate that the number of sufferers will reach over 100 million worldwide. Though there is currently no cure for any form of dementia, the theory of cognitive reserve posits certain lifestyle characteristics (i.e., educational attainment, SES, and/or career path) can mitigate the risk of dementia by improving cognitive resilience over an individual’s lifetime. The current study sought to discover what, if any, effects familial relationships, …

Examining The Impact Of Financial Stress On Affect And Eating Behaviors, Ellen Hunt Steele

Theses and Dissertations

Economic pressure and concomitant financial stress have been associated with mental and physical health problems, conflict, and poorer education and employment outcomes. Moreover, financial stress can be seen in specific hardships (e.g., food insecurity) and lead to maladaptive attempts to regulate emotions stemming from financial stressors. Women may be more vulnerable to consequences of food insecurity and attempts to regulate emotions with eating than men. Thus, the current study examined the impact of a randomized financial stress induction on affect and snack food choice while accounting for the influence of food insecurity and gender. Participants included 269 validly responding individuals. …

A Test Of The Interpersonal Theory Of Suicide In Black College Students Using Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Anisha L. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (ITS) has garnered much attention in the literature. Studies that have examined ITS among Black and other racially/ethnically diverse populations continue to be met with inconsistent results. This suggests the need to confirm measurement equivalence across populations to improve accuracy in identifying individuals who are at increased risk for suicide. This study examined measurement invariance of the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire (INQ) and Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale (ACSS) across White and Black racial groups using two college student samples. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses were conducted from Sample 1, a group of 1,019 (86.8% White) students …

The Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Food Security Of Mississippians, Hannah Noel Irwin

Theses and Dissertations

Mississippi leads the United States in food insecurity, with 15.3% of Mississippians experiencing food insecurity in a given year. To determine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food insecurity of Mississippians, a survey containing the USDA Household Food Security Questionnaire was distributed to adult Mississippi residents. By employing the USDA Household Food Security Scale and the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke Methodology, this study finds that the food insecurity rate, food insecurity gap, and squared food insecurity gap have worsened in Mississippi since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, this study finds that households which were food insecure prior to March …

Natural Capital Value Of Fisheries Under Environmental Stressor: A Case Of Blue Crab Under Hypoxia In The Gulf Of Mexico, Shelby Leigh Brewer

Theses and Dissertations

Environmental threats to fisheries are a rising concern for fishery managers. Gulf of Mexico hypoxia is particularly concerning. In order to properly manage Gulf fisheries, the sustainability of species stock and its natural capital values should be analyzed. As an empirical effort, I use blue crab in Louisiana waters as a case study to build a bioeconomic model of blue crab under hypoxia. I apply the natural capital valuation approach to estimate the blue crab value function under hypoxia in order to assess blue crab sustainability. I find that blue crab management in Louisiana under hypoxia is not sustainable, being …

U.S. Financial Literacy: Does Urban-Rural Residency Matter?, Mckenzie Leanne Carvalho

Theses and Dissertations

Financial illiteracy broadly affects people’s financial and economic well-being. The purpose of this thesis is to identify how the magnitudes of financial literacy determinants change under different residency settings. A county-level calculation of financial literacy is created, and logit and negative binomial regressions are employed to compare the relationship between demographic variables and financial literacy in metro/non-metro and urban/rural counties. Data on individual’s financial knowledge and personal characteristics is obtained from the FINRA National Financial Capability Study. Urban and rural residency is determined using USDA ERS Rural-Urban Continuum Codes and the Index of Relative Rurality. These results provide an improved …

Towards A Model Of Support: Redefining The Focus Of Early Parenting, Keancelar E. Birge

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examines the meanings and perceptions of social support and analyzes support received during and after pregnancy among Black women early parents in Mississippi. Ten online and ten in person, in-depth interviews were conducted with Black early parents in Mississippi who either had support from outside organizations like Baby University or who had not. These interviews questioned the participants' understanding and ideas about support and how they perceived their own support to evaluate how having support impacts the livelihood of Black early mothers in Mississippi and their children. Findings demonstrated that there are not real differences in outcomes …