Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2010, Psychology

Children as young as preschoolers have been found to hold anti-fat, pro-thin biases. These anti-fat attitudes persist through adolescence and into adulthood. Anti-fat attitudes can have serious social and psychological implications for people of all ages. Not only are anti-fat attitudes widespread and potentially harmful, these attitudes may have unique characteristics that differentiate them from other prejudicial attitudes. Unlike some other forms of prejudice, anti-fat attitudes have become more prevalent over time, people are willing to admit to holding anti-fat attitudes, and even individuals who are fat also hold anti-fat attitudes. The current study investigated children's, adolescents' and young adults' anti-fat attitudes in comparison to other attitudes such as racial prejudice, and prejudice against smokers and individuals with physical disabilities. Attitudes were measured both explicitly and implicitly. Furthermore, participants' level of social desirability and their beliefs about the controllability of being a member of the target groups (being fat, African American, physically disabled, or a smoker) was assessed and compared to their explicit and implicit attitudes. Results indicated that explicit anti-fat attitudes remained stable across age groups and implicit anti-fat attitudes became more negative with age. In addition to displaying implicit negative biases against fat people, participants in this study also held explicit and implicit biases toward smokers. However, contrary to past research, these attitudes were not related to participants' beliefs about the controllability of being fat or being a smoker. Further research is needed to clarify the origins and basis of people's negative attitudes toward these groups.

Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, 2010, Linguistics (Arts and Sciences)

This mixed-methods study of 221 Moroccan university student looks at the attitudes of the L2, French, and the L3, English. It specifically attempts to find out how L3 learning and attitudes are affected by the attitude of the L2 experience. The population consisted of French Studies students and English Studies students. The data of this study were collected through a questionnaire and a focus group interview. Results showed that there was no relationship found between the attitudes of L2 and L3 of the English Studies group. However, a weak relationship was found in the attitudes of the French Studies group. Further tests proved that the relationship was coincidental. Thus, the attitudes of the L2 and the L3 are independent from each other.

Specialist in Education, Miami University, 2022, School Psychology

This study examined the relationship between preservice special education teachers' attitudes toward inclusion and their level of perceived self-efficacy in teaching inclusive practices. The data collected was analyzed with Rasch to determine which aspects of attitudes toward inclusion and self-efficacy of inclusive practice components are easier or harder to agree with. This hierarchy highlighted that the preservice special education teachers surveyed are well versed in collaboration with other professionals, new teaching models, and setting expectations for students. However, it is harder for preservice teachers to endorse having training or knowledge of specific special education laws to effectively support students with disabilities. Preservice teachers also indicated lacking prevention and management strategies for students with interfering behaviors in the classroom. The comparison outcomes suggest that there is a weak positive correlation between how preservice teachers responded on the TATIS and TEIP scales. The current professional role of the preservice teachers had no significant impact on their responses for both the TATIS and TEIP scales. However, the study highlighted some implications for teacher training having a focus on special education laws, interfering behavior prevention and classroom management, and individualized instruction models for students with specific needs.

Master of Environmental Science, Miami University, 2019, Environmental Sciences

Cohabitation between humans and carnivores is vital to the continued existence and integrity of ecosystems. Management policies that concern these carnivores and their environment can best be informed by understanding human environmental and relational values, as well as attitudes towards their cohabitants. Using both established survey metrics and interviews, we aim to understand the values and attitudes towards large carnivores for residents of the Great Bear Rainforest, Canada. We found that respondents generally had pro-ecological attitudes, strong relational values to the rainforest and wildlife, and positive attitudes towards carnivores. Factors found to influence these attitudes were found to include level of education, age, distance to the forest edge, and knowledge of habitation within the Great Bear Rainforest. Unexpectedly, we found that residents exhibited a strong sense of place. This included frequent mention of spiritual and cultural significance of carnivores for First Nations (by non-first nation respondents), recognizing the land as that of the carnivores, and environmental stewardship as a reflection of oneself. Ultimately, these results can help inform future carnivore and environmental management policies by taking into consideration the environmental and relational values of the populations that may be affected, as well as their attitudes towards carnivores and associated influences.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2013, Experimental Psychology (Arts and Sciences)

To expand our prior research and address the limitation of full reliance on self-report measures within the blood donation literature, the present study examined the ability of three novel blood donation implicit measures to predict reported intention to donate blood, immediate decision to sign-up to donate blood, and confirmation of actual behavior among a sample of nondonors. A total of 225 undergraduate Psychology students with no history of blood donation agreed to participate in a 60-minute testing session, in which they sat at a computer to complete three implicit measures (image and word versions of implicit attitudes and implicit social-identity) followed by a series of explicit measures (donation attitudes, donation anxiety, self-efficacy, anticipated regret, subjective norm, descriptive norm, personal moral norm, and donation intention). After completing the computerized portion of the experiment, participants were given an opportunity to sign-up for a local blood drive that took place one to three weeks after the testing session. Finally, participants were contacted 30 days post session to confirm whether or not they donated blood. Results revealed that the image and word implicit measures demonstrated stronger internal consistency and construct validity than the social-identity implicit measure. Further, only the image implicit measure significantly predicted donation intention, explaining 1.7% of the variability. None of the implicit measures was shown to contribute variance over and above their explicit counterparts. Likewise, level of decisiveness and consideration did not moderate the relationship between implicit measures and donation intention, sign-up behavior, or 30-day behavior. These findings suggest that, while the implicit attitude measures may be valid in this context, they appear to be weak predictors of nondonor intentions and behavior, especially when tested alongside their explicit counterparts.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2010, Family Resource Management

The housing boom that peaked in 2005 and began its decline in early 2006 continues to have far reaching effects four years later in the credit card industry, on unemployment rates, and on many other aspects of the economy. The current economic recession has changed the way people spend, save, and look at money. The teenagers that experienced these rocky economic times are now 18 and older and are starting their own independent financial lives. So what influences the spending and savings behaviors of college students today? The present study was a small exploratory experiment that investigated (1) whether college students' attitudes had an influence on their financial behaviors and (2) alternative measures of financial attitudes. Attitudes were assessed using self-reported measures and implicit measures (the personalized Implicit Association Test and subliminal priming). Credit card behaviors and savings behaviors were assessed, and financial knowledge was measured. The results for savings revealed that the self-report measure provided a stronger association with savings behaviors than the implicit measures. For debt, the results were less clear. Financial knowledge correlated more strongly with debt behaviors than any attitudinal measure. Higher financial knowledge was associated with having a savings account for a longer period of time. The empirical results from this study suggest that attitudes and financial knowledge are associated with financial behaviors.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2008, Counselor Education (Education)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between just-world beliefs, attitudes toward women, blame attribution, the personal abuse history of the participants, demographic variables, and counselor attitudes toward battered women. The independent variables in this study were just-world beliefs, attitudes toward women, blame attribution, and the personal abuse history, age, and gender of the participants. The dependent variable in this study was counselor attitudes toward battered women.A sample of 478 professional members of the American Counseling Association completed the survey instrument. A non-hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to answer the following research question: “To what extent are just-world beliefs, attitudes toward women, blame attribution, personal abuse history, and demographic variables related to counselor attitudes toward battered women?” Results revealed blame attribution, attitudes toward women, age, personal abuse history, gender, and just-world beliefs combined to significantly predict counselor attitudes toward battered women. The independent variables combined explained 11.4% of the variance in the dependent variable. Blame attribution alone explained 9.9% of the variance and the other variables alone each explained less than 1% of the variance. Participants in this study who held more traditional attitudes toward women tended to be more accepting of domestic violence. In addition, participants in this study who placed more blame on battered women tended to be more accepting of domestic violence. Findings support the importance of domestic violence training in counselor education programs and in continuing education programs. In addition, the findings highlight the importance of an increased level of personal insight among counselors regarding their attitudes toward battered women and, in particular, their blame attribution. The research provides a discussion of demographic characteristics of the s (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2005, Psychology

There is considerable controversy in the social psychological literature as to whether people can simultaneously hold different implicit and explicit attitudes about the same attitude object (e.g., Strack & Deutsch, 2004; Wilson, Lindsey, & Schooler, 2000) or if people only have one attitude toward an object (e.g., Fazio, 1995). This research examined the process by which new attitudes are formed and are affected by counterattitudinal information. Four experiments found that different processes, consistent with different systems of reasoning (Sloman, 1996), underlie how implicit attitudes and explicit attitudes form and change in response to counterattitudinal information. Specifically, explicit attitudes were changed using rule-based reasoning and implicit attitudes were changed by repeated pairing of the attitude object with counterattitudinal information.

Master of Education (MEd), Bowling Green State University, 2010, Curriculum and Teaching

The study investigated undergraduate student attitudes toward science as a result of teacher feedback. Classroom observations were conducted to answer how students react to teacher feedback, attitudinal surveys were administered to collect current attitudes toward science, and individual interviews were completed to gather information about how teacher feedback affects student attitudes toward science. The observations and interviews were analyzed using a coding scheme to find similar patterns and themes. Assertions categorized the themes and warrants were included to support the claims. The survey data were analyzed by calculating the average number of responses and graphed in a bar chart. The three methods of data collection revealed that positive oral feedback increased student participation in the classroom, current attitudes of students toward science is developed as a result of their previous science experiences and the attitude of their science teachers, and student attitudes were increased as a result of teacher feedback.

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Cross-Cultural, International Education

This research study focuses on exploring the parental struggles that parents of children with disabilities go through when trying to access special education for their children in the educational system of Kenya. The study documents the perspectives of parents through analysis of data anchored within their struggles and experiences as they navigate the system of education to access quality education for their children with disabilities. Based on a phenomenological approach, the study focuses on a sample of eight parents of children with disabilities. Hogan's (2019) Social Model of Disability and Medical Model of Disability help frame the study within the discussion of the experiences of parents of children with disabilities. The findings of this study are presented through specific themes, describing the personal challenges and experiences of these parents followed by an analysis of the same themes. These findings underscore systemic challenges in special education, cultural and societal attitudes and educational outcome and well-being issues faced by parents and their children with disabilities.

Bachelor of Science, Walsh University, 2021, Honors

Electronic cigarettes are smoking devices that primarily deliver nicotine and possibly tetrahydrocannabinol to users through an inhaled aerosol. Despite the lack of data on the short- term and long-term effects of inhaling e-cigarette aerosols, these devices continue to grow in popularity. Negative attitudes towards conventional cigarette use has been researched within medical professionals, but no research has been done regarding negative attitudes towards e- cigarette use from medical professionals. Negative attitudes towards patients who use conventional cigarette can affect patient care outcomes. This research will examine the correlation between knowledge of e-cigarettes and negative attitudes towards them held by Nurse Anesthetists through a survey in a private Facebook group of Ohio Nurse Anesthetists. Negative attitudes in this study has been divided into two variables, health risk and health promotion. The hypothesized result of this study was a positive correlation between knowledge of e-cigarettes and negative attitudes towards e-cigarette users. This study showed a positive correlation between e-cigarette knowledge and negative attitudes towards e-cigarette users held by Nurse Anesthetists, meaning that when a participant scored higher in e-cigarette knowledge, they were likely to have stronger negative attitudes towards e-cigarette users.

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), Wright State University, 2020, School of Professional Psychology

Jurors, representatives of the communities from which they are selected, are tasked with the responsibility of reaching a verdict in an impartial, unbiased manner. Previous research has found that bias and negative attitudes impact juror decision-making, despite practices that are in place to dismiss potentially biased jurors, such as voir dire. Studies have found a correlation between racial biases and juror verdicts. Additionally, a correlation has also been found between insanity defense attitudes and a juror's propensity to favor (or not favor) a Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) acquittal. However, there has been limited examination of the impact of racial bias on juror decision-making in cases of NGRI, as evidenced by a lack of available research in this area. The Insanity Defense Attitudes – Revised (IDA-R) scale is a validated measure of venirepersons (potential jurors) attitudes surrounding NGRI. The IDA-R and a demographic survey were issued to jury-eligible participants from a Midwestern state, following a NGRI case vignette featuring either a White or African American male defendant. All participants met minimum criteria to be an Ohio juror. Findings include the overestimation of NGRI pleas in criminal court, the underestimation of NGRI acquittals, and a correlation between higher IDA-R scale scores and Guilty verdicts among participants. Additionally, race of the participant appeared to predict final verdict for some groups.

Master of Arts in Psychology, Cleveland State University, 2018, College of Sciences and Health Professions

The current study aims at examining the effects of sex, race, and socioeconomic status on young Malaysians; attitudes toward women as managers and the perceived barriers to their own careers. This paper also examined a moderated mediation, with the moderator being the working status of an individual's mother and the mediator being gender role attitudes. A great wealth of research in this area has been conducted in the Western culture, but much less is known about Malaysia and its young adults. This study provides a historical and sociocultural overview of Malaysia, and how its unique sociopolitical and societal structure impacts the relationships among the variables. Results indicated that women have more favorable and positive attitudes toward women as managers than their male counterparts; individuals who have higher socioeconomic status have more favorable and positive attitudes toward women as managers, and individuals with higher socioeconomic status also seem to perceive fewer barriers to employment than those with lower socioeconomic status. Results also indicated that contrary to what previous literature have demonstrated, the working status of an individual's mother did not play a significant role in the relationship of the examined variables. This paper also discusses some practical implications for policy makers and organizations.

Doctor of Education (EdD), Ohio University, 2015, Educational Administration (Education)

This study used Yun and Weaver's (2010) Attitudes toward Poverty Short Form (ATP-SF) of twenty-one items on a Likert-type scale to determine the poverty attitudes of 309 principals in a rural Appalachian state in the United States. The study compared the poverty attitudes from the ATP-SF scaled score as a dependent variable to the following demographics which were used as independent variables: social class origin, political orientation, gender, age, ethnicity/race, religiosity, Appalachian identity, experience, poverty training, school socioeconomic status and locale. This study replicated the factor structure found by Yun & Weaver (2010) and achieved a Cronbach's Alpha of .81. Three factors established for the scale were personal deficiency, stigma and structural perspective. The overall score poverty attitudes by respondents was 77.60 points which produced positive attitudes results on the interpretive scale. The study used both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses, including a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) for significance testing of the independent variables. A stepwise regression was conducted to determine if any independent variables were predictive for poverty attitudes. Political orientation was identified as statistically significant at the p ≤ .001. Liberal views were found to have more positive attitudes of poverty (versus conservative). Age was found to be statistically significant on the overall scale at p ≤ .001 and achieved a p ≤ .001 on the factor of stigma. Older respondents had more positive poverty attitudes than younger. Educational researchers need a dependable scale to measure poverty attitudes. Findings from this study demonstrate the utility of using the ATP-SF scale as a tool for measuring poverty attitudes for a variety of research purposes. Results indicated characteristics of school administrator's impact poverty attitudes. The results of the study identify areas for further study and implications for teacher and (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2014, Psychology/Industrial-Organizational

Entrepreneurs' attitudes toward risk have been researched in the past with mixed and often contradictory results. Utilizing Blais and Weber's (2006) domain specific approach to understanding risk taking attitudes (DOSPERT), the present study investigated the relation of risk taking attitudes of entrepreneurs across risk-taking domains. In addition, we examined the relation of domain-specific risk attitudes to self-reported entrepreneurship. Results show that entrepreneurs show the greatest amount of risk taking in the social domain, and are generally more risk taking than non-entrepreneurs on most DOSPERT dimensions. Of the outcome variables examined (self-report success, firm creation, & business survival), financial risk taking and self-report success showed a significant relation. Contrary to what was hypothesized, there were no other significant relations between entrepreneurship, financial risk taking and any of the outcome variables, nor was there any interactional effect between financial risk taking and entrepreneurship. Additional analyses show that social risk taking is a significant predictor of self-reported entrepreneurship. Also, social risk taking provided significant incremental variance in the prediction of entrepreneurship above and beyond the Big Five.

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2011, Human Factors and Industrial/Organizational Psychology MS

This study used two implicit attitude measures (a Go/No-Go Association Task; GNAT and a personalized GNAT; PGNAT) and three explicit measures to assess attitude change in faculty attending a diversity training session on women in STEM. It was hypothesized that (1) pre- and post-training explicit scores would correlate more strongly with the PGNAT than with the GNAT, (2) training would result in more positive attitudes toward women in STEM, and (3) difference scores would be greatest in the explicit scales, followed by the GNAT and PGNAT. Partial support was found for a stronger correlation between the PGNAT and explicit scores, and the PGNAT revealed more positive implicit attitudes following training. However, explicit scores did not change significantly, and the GNAT and PGNAT change scores did not differ from one another. This study adds support for use of a personalized GNAT and provides evidence that diversity training can positively affect personal attitudes.

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2008, Human Factors and Industrial/Organizational Psychology MS

This study investigated the effectiveness of diversity training on a diversity training outcome measure when considering participant levels of Openness to Experience, sexism, and racism. Because past literature has demonstrated a positive relationship between Openness to Experience and training outcomes and a negative relationship between prejudicial attitudes and diversity training outcomes, these variables were treated as main effects in Multiple Regression equations. This study demonstrated that diversity awareness training increases participant understanding of legal issues related to workplace diversity. However, diversity training outcomes were not greatly affected by implicit or explicit prejudicial attitudes or Openness to Experience.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Communication

Grandchildren and grandparents were the participants in this study of the ways grandparents socialize their grandchildren about love and marriage. One-hundred ninety young adult grandchildren and 107 grandparents completed separate questionnaires regarding their own attitudes and beliefs about love and marriage, and the frequency of ways the grandparents socialized and taught about love and marriage. A subset of the participants, 74 grandchildren and their own grandparents, were also studied as matched dyads. Five grandparent socialization practices were found including grandparents' advice-giving, grandparents' story-telling (and others' stories about the grandparents), grandparents' expression of affection, observation of grandparents' positive behaviors, and observation of grandparents' negative behaviors. The Love Attitude Scale was used to assess the participants' six attitudes about love including Eros, Ludus, Storge, Pragma, Mania, and Pragma. The Relational Dimensions Instrument was used to assess the participants' beliefs about marriage, and the Sharing and Assertiveness marital dimensions were analyzed. Results revealed that grandparents' socialization practices and teaching were interrelated and were associated with grandchildren's attitudes and beliefs about love and marriage. Grandchildren's and their grandparents' reports about the grandparents' socialization practices were all associated. Grandchildren generally noticed that their grandparents' taught more often about love and marriage than their grandparents reported teaching. Grandchildren's attitudes about positive love such as Eros, Storge, and Pragma was predicted by the grandchildren's own perception of their grandparents' advice-giving and teaching about Eros love. Sharing in marriage was related to all the socialization practices. Affectual solidarity between grandparents and their grandchildren interacted with socialization to enhance the effects for predicting grandchildren's Eros love and S (open full item for complete abstract)

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2004, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology

The current diversity in the rural population of America creates problems for the proper interpretation of attitudes towards agriculture and related environmental issues. Most previous sociological studies of perceptions or attitudes about agriculture and the environment have been largely descriptive and have attempted to distinguish varying perceptions based on rural and urban residence alone. No major studies have attempted to examine the place of vested interest and social distance in understanding these attitudes. This dissertation goes beyond mere descriptive analysis of empirical data, by evoking the middle-range conception of Robert K. Merton, which incorporates both a theoretical dialogue and empirical evidence to analyze varying attitudes about agriculture and related environmental issues. Based on a vested interest approach, this study draws from functionalist and conflict theories as well as rational choice and exchange theory. The data used in this study is derived from a 2002 statewide survey of 4031 Ohio households. The results of this study suggest that residence, social connections and social activities play an important role in the formation of perceptions and attitudes about agriculture and related environmental issues. In this study, age and social activities are the strongest predictors of vested interest. However, although the statistical results have not explained great proportions of variance, the study provides a framework for further studies based on a vested interest approach. There is a need for further exploration of the concepts involved in vested interest. Future studies might benefit from incorporating general values orientation such as agrarianism and consumerism, in order to restore the role of consumption in agricultural production.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2003, Physical Activity and Educational Services

The purpose of this study was to describe the relationships between: (1) the referent power of the work site manager, (2) student hours worked, (3) career objective match, (4) student/manager work value match and (5) changes in the co-op student work values. The dependent work value variables studied were: 1. satisfaction and accomplishment, 2. money and prestige, 3. contribution to society, 4. status with employer, 5. need for work, 6. avoidance, and 7. job advancement. A sample of 38 students volunteered for the study from a total population of 134 central Ohio, 12th grade, marketing education students. The Maryland Work Value Inventory (Mietus, 1977) and placement assessment instruments were administered to the subjects near the beginning and end of the academic year. Positive, statistically significant, correlations were found between the independent variable of manager's referent power and the work values of money and prestige, status with employer, need and job advancement. A positive, statistically significant, negative correlation was found between student/manager work value match and the work value of contribution to society. It was suggested that this negative relationship might be due to the materialistic nature of the business and marketing co-op experiences. Based on these findings, it is concluded that the referent power of the work site managers correlated to small modifications in some of the work values of the 12th grade business and marketing co-op students. It is recommended that when developing co-op experiences for 12th grade business and marketing students it is not necessary to: (1) extend the duration of the co-op experience over 180 hours, (2) match the student's initial work values to the work site manager's work values, or (3) match the co-op experience to the student's desired career objective. Recommendations for future research are included.