Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

He Mauka Teitei, Ko Aoraki, The Loftiest Of Mountains: The Names Of Aotearoa’S Highest Peak And Beyond, Joseph B. Lancia

Honors Projects

My thesis discusses the cultural, political, and social dynamics of mountains with separate Indigenous and Western names and identities. Centering on Aoraki/Mount Cook—the highest peak in Aotearoa New Zealand—I integrate personal experiences as ethnographic data through narratives, mainly of my time hiking while studying abroad in New Zealand and during the two recent summers I spent exploring Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. Through its name, Aoraki/Mt. Cook maintains Indigenous Māori and Western perspectives: Aoraki being a Māori atua (god) and Captain James Cook being a significant colonial figure in the Pacific. The slash upholds both identities while ensuring that …

The Bourgeoisie Black Church: An Analysis Of The American Black Church's Aspirations And Imagination, Alexander Robert Booker

Seattle Pacific Seminary Theses

I am a product of the Black church. It is my home, my heart, and it has helped me spiritually, financially, and emotionally in many ways throughout my life. However, the church that I love dearly and has provided me with many opportunities has also provided spaces of harm, exclusion, and the promotion of an imperialistic Christ. This tension is not a unique tension for many institutions born in America, but what I see so clearly is the tension between the Black church’s countercultural and resistant roots that started in the brush harbors of the antebellum south and into what …

Green Bonds, Green Returns: The Impact Of Green Bond Issuances On Financial Performance In The U.S. Energy Sector, Adora Lei

Honors Theses

This paper investigates the impact of green bond issuances on the financial performance of U.S. energy firms, the largest greenhouse gas-emitting sector. To explore the incentives for adopting green projects among firms with the most significant margin for improvement, I focus on Gross Profit Margin (GPM) and the Tobin’s Q Ratio as key indicators of profitability and valuation. Using a dataset of 462 companies, I analyze green and conventional corporate bond issuances from 2010 onwards in the context of their financial reports. The findings reveal that green bonds positively influence long-term valuation, with Tobin’s Q showing significant increases from the …

From Arrival To Citizenship: Assessing Refugee Resettlement In Canada, Ethan S. Kanef

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I examine the role of private sponsorship mechanisms in the resettlement of refugees in Canada. Private sponsorship allows citizens and organizations to do more to help those who need assistance, though there are positives and negatives to this program and concerns about its long-term stability. My thesis discusses the impacts of these resettlement mechanisms as a whole, based on a review of prior scholarship and interviews conducted in Montreal and Toronto. I focus on the refugee experience before arrival and the role of different application processes and culture in Quebec. After arrival, the paper examines economic and …

Black Rhino Conservation And Ranger Wellness In Namibia, Terra Gallo

Honors Theses

Wildlife rangers play an essential role in conserving biodiversity worldwide. Until recently, little was known about ranger working conditions and welfare. In 2019 the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) released a report that summarized survey results about ranger wellness from 7,110 rangers across multiple continents. However, the WWF study had geographic gaps and did not survey rangers from southern Africa, including the Republic of Namibia. In Namibia, rangers in the Kunene region are central to the conservation of the desert-adapted black rhino. Save the Rhino Trust (SRT) is a Namibian organization that supports rhino rangers and black rhino conservation. The aim …

Book Review: Rethinking Participation In Global Governance: Voice And Influence After Stakeholder Reforms In Global Finance And Health, Melinda (M.J.) Durkee

Scholarship@WashULaw

Who is entitled to contribute to rulemaking at the international or transnational levels? "Rethinking Participation in Global Governance takes an empirical tack," confronting the important and understudied—but methodologically confounding—question of how effectively to improve the representativeness of global governance. The volume’s carefully constructed qualitative studies offer a wealth of insights but few systematic or easily generalizable answers. Nevertheless, the book has much to offer, describing models and techniques to expand participation, offering examples of how various actors in the Global South were able to make use of them, then embedding this description in the push and pull of a scholarly …

The Behavioral Origins Of Phylogenic Responses And Ontogenic Habits, W. David Stahlman, Kenneth J. Leising

Psychological Science

An examination of innate behavior and its possible origins suggests parallels with the formation of habitual behavior. Inflexible but adaptive responses-innate reflexive behavior, Pavlovian conditioned responses, and operant habits-may have evolved from variable behavior in phylogeny and ontogeny. This form of "plasticity-first" scientific narrative was unpopular post-Darwin but has recently gained credibility in evolutionary biology. The present article seeks to identify originating events and contingencies contributing to such inflexible but adaptive behavior at both phylogenic and ontogenic levels of selection. In ontogeny, the development of inflexible performance (i.e., habit) from variable operant behavior is reminiscent of the genetic accommodation of …

Terminological (In)Justice: Terminology And Reality In A Coordinated Community Response To Intimate Partner Violence, Julio Montanez Ma, Amy Donley Phd

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

Definitions and terminologies are paramount for operationalizing the community-wide effort against intimate partner violence (IPV). However, definitions and terms that do not reflect reality are of little use. This is particularly true in IPV coordinated community responses that attempt to harmonize data collection and legal apparatuses at the federal, state, and local levels. Using qualitative (e.g., focus group and interview data from survivors, interviews with system actors) and quantitative data (e.g., Uniform Crime Reports) from a year-long study in a large southeastern county, the current study aims to answer the following research question: Do IPV-related terms (in data collection and …

Analyzing The Impact Of United Against Poverty Food Centers On Individuals Affected By Food Insecurity Throughout Florida, Aidan Cadiz, Amy Donley Phd

Institute for Social and Behavioral Science (ISBS)

Food Insecurity is often overlooked by those who are fortunate enough to afford and sustain an abundance of products for themselves and their family. Despite lack of awareness, there are programs such as the "Membership Share Grocery Program" by United Against Poverty that seek to alleviate this problem. The program utilizes donated goods and sells the products based only on their shipping costs. Program Membership requires a family income that is below the Area Median Income to gain access to the discounted prices. The current study utilized both quantitative and qualitative techniques to identify the impact this program has on …

Neurodevelopmental Trajectories As An Explanatory Mechanism For Adverse Mental Health Outcomes Following Child Maltreatment, Casey Burton Corso

Theses and Dissertations

Affecting one in every seven children in the United States, child maltreatment (CM) is a major public health issue associated with a myriad of adverse outcomes (e.g., alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, interpersonal violence, sexual risk taking, etc.). While any subtype of CM (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect) increases the likelihood of subsequent psychopathology, heterogeneity in psychiatric sequelae of CM is associated with different CM subtypes. Elucidating the underlying mechanisms of this heterogeneity is vital for improving intervention and treatment of CM, and research aimed at accomplishing this is a critical need. One possible explanatory …

Animal Personality And Sentience As Distinct Concepts, Mark Briffa

Animal Sentience

Owens et al (2024) discuss how knowledge of both animal personality and sentience in target populations can be leveraged to enhance wildlife conservation programmes. In this commentary I expand on the distinction between these two concepts. Behavioural differences should be considered broadly across conservation programmes, not just those involving species deemed sentient.

Does Friendship Quality Moderate The Association Between Social Anxiety And Loneliness In College Students?, Gavriel Boniuk

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

There is a strong positive association between social anxiety and loneliness (Maes et al., 2019). This relationship appears to be weaker the higher the quality of children’s friendships (Erath et al., 2010). While the moderational relationship has been demonstrated among middle school children, it is not known whether it extends into the college population. There are important developmental differences between adolescents and college students. For example, the increased reliance on friendships that is typical during college may result in an increase in the protective nature of friendship quality in the relationship between social anxiety and loneliness (Danneel et al., 2019; …

Exploring The Neurological Features Of Individuals With Germline Pten Variants: A Multicenter Study, Andrew Dhawan, Sarah Baitamouni, Daren Liu, Robyn Busch, Patricia Klaas, Thomas Frazier, Siddharth Srivastava, Sumit Parikh, Gary E. Hsich, Neil R. Friedman, David M. Ritter, Antonio Y. Hardan, Julian A. Martinez-Agosto, Mustafa Sahin, Charis Eng

2024 Faculty Bibliography

Objective: PTEN, a known tumor suppressor gene, is a mediator of neurodeve- lopment. Individuals with germline pathogenic variants in the PTEN gene, molecularly defined as PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome (PHTS), experience a variety of neurological and neuropsychiatric challenges during childhood, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the frequency and nature of seizures and the utilization of allied health services have not been described. Methods: Young patients with PHTS and sibling controls were recruited across five centers in the United States and followed every 6–12 months for a mean of 2.1 years. In addition to the history obtained from caregivers, neurodevelop- …

An Exploratory Study Of Ombuds As Agents Of Change: From Observation To Action, Michael A. Wahlgren

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on identifying successful approaches used by university ombuds offices to enact change regarding dispute resolution options within their academic institute. The field of Ombuds has grown steadily in North America since the 1970s and is widely used by private industry, academia, and government organizations to deploy alternative dispute resolution techniques, an often cheaper and more successful means of conflict resolution compared to the traditional litigious approach. Identifying how ombuds approach promoting change requires understanding the dispute resolution system and the conditions that produce conflict. Based on interviews with 10 current university ombuds officers from a variety of …

Forgiveness As A Critical And Transformative Factor In Sustainable Peace: Peacebuilding Women In Rumuruti, Kenya, Genevieve Mwella Sabala

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The concept of ‘forgiveness’ in relation to sustainable peace has been extensively writtenabout. However, research shows that many organizations involved in peacebuilding have not actively adopted ‘forgiveness’ as they have done with restorative justice, healing, and reconciliation. Therefore it opens up an opportunity for further inquiry to identify the meaning and role of forgiveness in sustainable peacebuilding. Forgiveness is still being debated and the various meanings accorded by a variety of disciplines from religion, political, sociological, and conflict resolution practitioners, make it more complex. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate women’s lived experiences with ethnic violence post …

The Marketable Me: A Personal Branding Exploration, Amanda Prichard

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The concept of personal branding was introduced in 1997 by Tom Peters in an essay entitled “The Brand Called You”. Since that term was introduced, there has been an explosion of media written about it and many different perspectives formed. In this social media driven age, much of the public understands personal branding as something for influencers and celebrities, when in reality it can, and should, be used by everyone. This project was created to be an intrinsic case study of my own personal branding experience as a college student looking to create a smooth transition into the post-graduation world. …

Food Accessibility Struggles For College Students With Dietary Restrictions, Ella Schleuning

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

College is a time when many students experience independence for the first time in their lives. This is the first time they have had to do their laundry on their own, keep their room clean, and maybe most importantly, they are responsible for figuring out where they are going to eat every day, for every meal. The focus of this study is on food accessibility struggles for college students, specifically looking at Western Kentucky University’s (WKU) food on-campus, as well as students with dietary restrictions.

Since college is the first-time students are responsible for their own meals, it can often …

I Am Gay And Catholic: An Analysis Of Identity Integration In Lgbtq+ Members Converting To Catholicism, Maria Julian

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This article examines the negotiation of sexual and religious identities among Catholic members of the LGBTQ+ community. I explore context-specific identity negotiation to determine how and why, in a time of “cultural warfare” within the Catholic Church surrounding the acceptance of LGBTQ+ participants, LGBTQ+ members choose to convert to Catholicism. Through semi-structured interviews conducted with members of the LGBTQ+ community, I identify and discuss several themes based on the identity integration process of these individuals: (1) Experiencing “The Call” (the initial interest in Catholicism), (2) Encountering the Religious “Other” (association with a welcoming and enduring Catholic LGBTQ+ Community), (3) Immersion …

Mental Health Portrayals In Video Games And Their Impacts: Horror Games And Their Reliance On The Mentally Ill, Jordan Hightower

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This thesis seeks to address the representation of mental illnesses within the video game genre, specifically within horror video games. Horror video games have a history of relying on the mentally ill to increase the “fear factor” of games, though often do not seem to do proper research, as the portrayals often rely on stigmas and misconstruals on the mental illness being portrayed. This can lead to those who play aforementioned video games to develop subconscious stigmas and biases towards those who are mentally ill. Through a literary analysis of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Omori, examples of negative and …

The Influence Of School Policies On Black Students' Mental Health, Ama Ogyaa Boateng

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

When educators target Black students’ hair through school policies, they inadvertently target their racial identity, causing harm to their mental health (Joseph- Salisbury & Connelly, 2018). While previous research has looked at the relationship between a school’s racial climate and Black students’ mental health (Mattison & Aber, 2007), this research study explored the mental health of Black adults who have experienced racial discrimination or racial microaggressions, in relation to hair and dress codes, as Black students in the K-12 school system.

A retrospective survey was used to explore the experiences that Black young adults had in the K-12 school system …

The Midwest Feminist Papers: A Facsimile Edition 1980–1997. Part I (1980–1983), Mary Jo Deegan, Michael R. Hill

Zea E-Books Collection

Mary Jo Deegan and Michael R. Hill, compilers. The Midwest Feminist Papers: A Facsimile Edition 1980–1997, with prefaces and author indices by Mary Jo Deegan and Michael R. Hill. 3 volumes: Part I (1980–1983)

The Midwest Feminist Papers was a creative, group-generated initiative that gave voice to the scholarly questions, research interests, and social concerns of a growing cohort of Midwestern feminist sociology graduate students and their feminist faculty mentors during the last quarter of the Twentieth Century. They were active members of Midwest Sociologists for Women in Society, a regional expression of the larger national Sociologists for Women …

Same Book, New Tricks: How An Academic-Public Library Partnership Revitalized A Rural Library, Faith L. Bradham, Ariel Dyer

Humboldt Journal of Social Relations

In 2020, many small communities in California’s Central Valley lost their public libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, the public library in rural Shafter is thriving today as a result of a unique partnership between the local community college and Shafter: the college provides ongoing library staffing for the city’s library, while the city provides facilities, collections, and oversight for the library. This partnership, though not without its challenges, has provided both Shafter Library and Bakersfield College Library with a singular opportunity to engage multiple communities and expand library access beyond traditional conceptions of an academic or a public library. …

Effects Of Dehumanization And Disgust-Eliciting Language On Attitudes Toward Immigration: A Sentiment Analysis Of Twitter Data, Katherine S. Wahrer, Cynthia J. Najdowski, John V. Passarelli

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Attitudes towards immigration have been shown to be driven by dehumanization and disgust. The more people dehumanize immigrants and the more disgusted they feel, the more negative attitudes they tend to have toward immigrants. However, little is known about how exposure to social media content that links dehumanization, disgust, and immigration influences users’ attitudes on this issue. This is important to consider because the majority of adults in the United States are on social media. We used Twitter data, machine learning, and sentiment analysis to investigate whether exposure to dehumanizing or disgust-eliciting tweets about immigration impacts users’ own sentiment toward …

Law, Society, And Religion: Islam And The West, Paolo Davide Farah

Book Chapters

Law and religion are present in almost every society, where the predominance of one over the other can greatly vary, and, in some cases, they both contend for authority over the citizenry. From a historical standpoint, this resulted in a constant change in the relationship between law and religion. Globalization also had a role in this regard. In some instances, globalization exacerbates differences between religions instead of encouraging mediation; it seeks to fill the gap left by the diminishing role of religion in the West. Globalization also competes with religion; both are looking for ways to regulate conduct and push …

Exploring Spatial Operations Of Distractor Suppression In The Sense Of Touch, Nicole A. Serino

Dissertations and Theses

The ability to select sensory information in our environment is key to facilitating goal-directed actions. Sensory selection mechanisms are prevalent in all sensory modalities, and can be implemented by enhancing information at the relevant location and/or suppressing neural information outside the focus of attention (a mechanism known as distractor suppression). Although we have a decent understanding of how the brain enhances information within the focus of attention, less is known about the mechanisms that mediate suppression of distractors, especially in sensory modalities outside vision. In this study, we conducted a series of behavioral experiments to investigate the spatial flexibility of …

Brics Currency And Dollar Hegemony: Passing Of The Torch?, Sami Tomaihi

Dissertations and Theses

The dawn of the 21st century has brought with it tremendous uncertainty with regard to the nature of global dominance. As doubts concerning the United States’ viability as a hegemon emerge, questions about how new powers may come to prominence circle (Rapayane, 2020). The BRICS bloc -- consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, respectively -- is a collection of regional powers in the developing world that have engaged in a series of high-profile collaborations together in the ostensible interest of increasing global advocacy within the developing world (Kubayi, 2022). One radical means that has been proposed within …

Factors That Inhibit And Support The Work Of School-Based Mental Health Providers, David B. Naff, Jennifer Murphy, Alexandra Javna, Wyatt Aldrich, Erin Standish, Jeen Joy, Ciana Cross, Sandra Saji

MERC Publications

This research brief comes from the MERC Supporting Mental Health in Schools study. Launched in 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study explores research-based strategies for supporting mental health in PK-12 school settings, as well as the emotional and professional capacity of PK-12 faculty and staff in the MERC region to support the social and emotional wellness of their students. This brief shares takeaways from a systematic literature review that highlight the factors that inhibit and support the work of school-based mental health providers, including school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists. It outlines the roles …

City Of Bellingham Planning And Devel Tech Aide, Julian Medina-Schroeder

College of the Environment Internship Reports

My first responsibility of data input and processing spans largely across the entire duration of the internship up until now. One of my primary responsible tasks was to manually scan close to 2,000 mail-back survey responses from the community and use computer software to collect the answers from them. Additionally, I was also the main party responsible for reviewing and correcting answers that the software was unsure of or got mistaken. My workflow was to scan several hundred surveys in batches of 50-60 physical copies and run them through the software. Next, I reviewed the software’s mistakes and manually cross-referenced …

Technical Supplement For The 2021 Article “How Do People Think About Understanding Personality—And What Do Such Thoughts Reflect?” By J.D. Mayer, D. R. Caruso, And A.T. Panter In Personality And Individual Differences, John D. Mayer, David R. Caruso, A. T. Panter

UNH Personality Lab

This technical supplement provides additional, supplementary information in relation to the article “When people estimate their personal intelligence who is overconfident? Who is accurate”, an article to appear in 2021 in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. The Table of Contents indicates what is included. The Technical Supplement contains a general description of the data sets employed, along with analyses that in some places duplicate those of the article, and in other places go beyond them.

Principal Investigator: John D. Mayer, Psychology Department, University of New Hampshire

Co-Investigator: David R. Caruso, Office of Dean of Yale College, Yale University

Co-Investigator: …

An Open-Source Template For Introducing A Technical Supplement, John D. Mayer, David R. Caruso

UNH Personality Lab

An open-source template on the relationship between an article and its accompanying technical supplement.