Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2024, Agricultural Communication, Education and Leadership

The COVID-19 pandemic thoroughly disrupted the U.S. food supply chain, ushered in a new set of social norms, and reoriented how individuals interacted with each other. A need to find how severely these phenomena changed during and since the pandemic continues to exist. Existing literature suggests significant shifts in social norms and social exchange occurred because of the pandemic. But a gap in research exists in understanding the nuances of these shifts and their continued alterations. This study sought to understand food purchasing behavior changes during the pandemic and how social exchange and adherence to pandemic-time social norms were valued. This study also created a comprehensive chart creating a timeline through the pandemic of how social exchange and social norms shifted through the pandemic. Through this study, an investigation of food purchasing trends and experiences from before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted. To examine social exchange and social norms, a non-experimental quantitative study was conducted using Social Exchange Theory and Social Norms as guides. A convenience sample of 419 primary U.S. household food purchasers was taken via online survey offered on Amazon's Mechanical Turk service. The results of this study indicate a significant relationship between time during the pandemic and adherence to social norms and willingness and desire of social exchange. Findings of this study suggest the pandemic caused temporary higher adherence to social norms and an eventual drop in social exchange. This study supported SN and SET through its findings of social norms adherence and social exchange changes in relation to social norms. Further research of the relationship between SET and SN during the pandemic and other crises should be conducted.

Committee: Joy Rumble (Advisor); Kareem Usher (Committee Member); Emily Buck (Committee Member) Subjects: Agriculture; Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Communication; Economic Theory; Economics; Food Science; Sociology; Urban Planning

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2024, Business Administration

This research study explores how employee resource groups (ERGs) impact individual employee voice behaviors. The study is grounded in the spiral of silence theoretical framework (Codington-Lacerte, 2020; Noelle-Neumann, 1974), with the concepts of psychological safety, social identity, social exchange, and self-efficacy explored as mediating factors. The study consists of a qualitative, single case study at an organization that recently established ERGs. Seventeen employees were interviewed, representing eleven of the organization's twelve ERGs. Results from the study support the application of the spiral of silence theoretical framework at the individual employee level. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes in the data, which demonstrate that ERGs impact individual voice behaviors through building relationships, creating cultural change, and empowering individuals.

Committee: Michelle Geiman (Committee Chair); Susan Campbell (Committee Member); David McCurry (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Business Education; Communication; Labor Relations; Management; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Organization Theory; Organizational Behavior

Doctor of Business Administration (D.B.A.), Franklin University, 2022, Business Administration

Social media had a tremendous impact during the pandemic as a means of disseminating information about COVID-19. Local state government organizations utilize various social media platforms to share information with the public about their adjusted services, positive COVID-19 numbers and more, which is essential. There is little research analyzing organizations' overall social media communications with stakeholders and how organizations are using social media to serve the public during the pandemic. The non-experimental, quantitative study analyzed the public perception of local government social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) activeness during the pandemic and if they perceived the organizations' content as credible and transparent. The literature reviewed for this study reiterated the importance of social media use by the public and organizations, theoretical frameworks, and measurement tools and scales for the survey questionnaire. Literature reviewed found no measurement tool for measuring activeness on social media platforms. Simple linear regression provided insight into the variance of the independent variable (activeness) and the dependent variables (transparency and credibility). Simple linear regression led to the findings of a statistically significant relationship. However, the independent variable alone was insufficient in predicting the perceived dependent variables of local state government organizations given the derived R-squared value. The study results indicated that participants perceived an organization as active if they post 2-5 times per week on their social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter). Although this study was limited to state government organizations, the findings have potential implications for all organizations on knowledge of how active they are on social media sites and how it may impact the perception of their credibility and transparency. This study determined if understudied local government agencies took ad (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brenda Jones (Committee Chair); Lewis Chongwony (Committee Member); Kenneth Knox (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Communication

PHD, Kent State University, 2021, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Sociology and Criminology

This dissertation explores structural variation in the relationship between empathic concern and well-being by drawing from social psychological theories. The stress process model provides theoretical context as to why empathic concern may have costs on well-being. Nonetheless, social exchange principles help to expand the stress process paradigm by providing an explanation for how the benefits of empathic concern may weigh with the costs through pro-social behavior as a form of generalized social exchange that may be linked with rewarding emotions. I find that empathic concern was associated with greater perceived health and some aspects of emotional well-being, especially through pro-social behavior as a coping strategy. Regarding social status, I found that women reported greater empathic concern, and the middle/upper class reported greater pro-social behavior. The results of this dissertation provide some support for the stress process paradigm in the sense that there was evidence that coping may be more effective for men and the middle/upper class for certain aspects of emotional well-being.

Committee: Kristen Marcussen Dr. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Sociology

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2017, Sociology

With colleges and universities functioning more as businesses, students have been conceptualized as consumers and customers of the “products” and services “sold” by higher education institutions. Anecdotally, a considerable amount of college students have consumer-orientations. This rise in student consumerism has not only transformed student ideologies regarding the purpose of higher education, but its negatively impacting student behavior and learning processes inside the classroom. However, empirical studies have yet to support the suggested prevalence of student consumerism. Additionally, no study has attempted to understand student consumerism at the social psychological level. Using an electronic survey administered to undergraduate students at a public university, this pilot study shows that student-consumer orientations are moderate at best, and many students do not agree with certain beliefs or behaviors that are attributed to consumer-orientations. At the social psychological level, multiple regression results indicated student consumer attitudes are significantly associated with social exchanges or activities involving academic costs. Furthermore, the results suggested that males find academic activities or exchanges more costly than females, and males also find putting off academic work for non-academic social exchanges or activities more rewarding than females. In using a social psychological perspective on student consumerism, this pilot study will contribute to future research that explores students educational decision-making processes.

Committee: Patricia Case Dr. (Committee Chair); Karie Peralta Dr. (Committee Member); Barbara Coventry Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Psychology; Educational Sociology; Higher Education; Social Psychology; Sociology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2014, History

This dissertation explores the formation of social capital and middle-class culture on the revolutionary frontier. As a lens, I use Methodism, an evangelical movement rooted in the British colonial period that flourished in the American Revolutionary Era and by the Civil War accounted for one in three American church members. Methodism was more than the fastest growing major religious movement in early American history. Combining social theory with manuscript, print, and demographic sources, I argue that Methodism, by circulating itinerants and founding religious societies, was a powerful force for creating social and political capital. My study is the first to appraise Methodism's role in the development of settler colonialism in the Old Southwest and the southerly regions of the Old Northwest. My research uncovers practices of social exchange and epistolary culture among Methodist men and women (who were the majority of members) to explain how Protestant Christianity transitioned from a discursive role—as a justification for indigenous dispossession—to a technique for possession. Methodism engendered social networks, disseminated knowledge, and aided pursuits of land development and commerce among middling settlers. These benefits of religious association were valuable social and economic resources, and they preceded the formal evangelical politics of the late antebellum era. They were the soil from which grassroots evangelical political power grew. My research makes three main contributions. It intercedes in the debate on social capital in American society from a historical perspective. Addressing a dearth of historical analyses of social capital formation, it also provides a major assessment of social networks within the most dynamic popular movement of the first half of the nineteenth century. Whereas popular supporters and critics of the social capital thesis often align according to their philosophical embrace of communitarianism or individualism, I show t (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Alan Gallay (Advisor); John Brooke (Committee Member); Randolph Roth (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; Clergy; History; Religion; Religious History

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2013, Leadership and Change

As a performance artist and arts activist I present my research project to the audience in performative writing, a postmodern research style that advocates the integration of the artist/researcher identity. In the summer of 2010, I left for Egypt to teach a performance and installation art workshop at Artist Residency Egypt, the first step of the Firefly Tunnels Project, a virtual and tangible exchange between artists in the United States and Egypt. This venture began with the awareness that the 10th anniversary of 9/11 was approaching. What I could not have foreseen were the other world events that would have a direct impact on the project: Arab Spring and the Egyptian revolution, the Occupy Wall Street Movement in the United States, the execution of Osama Bin Laden, and presidential elections in both the United States and Egypt. Sites of Passage, the final exhibition, ran from September 9, 2011-February 14, 2012 (extended) at the Mattress Factory Museum, one of the only installation art museums of its kind. The exhibit included site-specific works, curatorial tours, discussion panels, workshops, community outreach, and a performance series. I curated all of the artists into the three workshops held in Egypt and the United States, which were compulsory to the exchange process. This document is a performance ethnography that includes an auto-ethnography providing thick description of the experiences and events of this bicultural journey. There are eight videos in mv4 format, plus images to help give dimension to the work. Theoretical dispositions will also be performed throughout the document. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd.

Committee: Carolyn Kenny PhD (Committee Chair); Lynne Conner PhD (Committee Member); Annie E. Booysen DBL (Committee Member); Celeste Snober PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Aesthetics; Communication; Cultural Anthropology; Design; Ecology; Education Philosophy; Educational Theory; Epistemology; Experiments; Fine Arts; International Relations; Language; Linguistics; Metaphysics; Middle Eastern Studies; Multicultural Education; Multimedia Communications; Museums; Peace Studies; Pedagogy; Performing Arts; Spirituality; Teaching; Technical Communication; Theater; Theater Studies

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2013, Management

Social networking platforms, systems designed to provide digital content services specifically for social network sites (SNS), continue to develop through a rapid combination of components forming a service ecology that is much more than a single tool or service. These SNS have experienced tremendously rapid growth rates and traditional economic factors put forward to explain growth such as pricing are inadequate. Explanations offered by platform scholars for the exponential growth of SNS such as Facebook do not go far enough in explaining why some platforms such as Facebook grow while others such as Friendster do not, despite following somewhat similar growth strategies advocated in the literature. In this thesis I develop a theoretical model that offers greater power and detail than previous models – that focus on single user-tool technology adoption – in explaining the growth of SNS. It builds upon the work on two-sided economic models but seeks to expand them using social exchange theory to situations where the exchanged value is not monetary. The dissertation covers the motivation, prior research, theoretical foundations, research methodology, findings, and contributions. Following mixed methodology utilized a grounded theory approach by first conducting semi-structured interviews with technology executives and users of two SNS that have experienced dramatically different growth patterns to identify and explain user related behaviors that drive growth. Informed by this study, I next hypothesize a research model that draws upon platform processes of co-creation and co-production as well as user features of voyeurism and exhibitionism to explain SNS growth – measured by fan out and retention. The model posits that the growth of SNS is mediated through the participation in the co-creation and co-production processes. In a second study, I analyzed to what extent the ratios of user propensity towards either voyeuristic or exhibitionistic behaviors affect the fan (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kalle Lyytinen Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Dick Boland Ph.D. (Committee Member); Jerry Kane Ph.D. (Committee Member); Rakesh Niraj Ph.D. (Committee Member); Toni Somers Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Information Systems; Information Technology; Management; Marketing; Social Research

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Organizational Leadership , Franklin University, 2022, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

The purpose of this correlational study was to explore if there was a relationship between the amount of tuition reimbursement, partnership benefits, and turnover intention at the partner organizations of a mid-size, private, non-profit university in the Midwest United States. It also examined if other factors, like tenure within an organization, industry, or position type, impacted turnover intention when employees utilized education benefits. The study applied social exchange theory and human capital theory to explain why benefits may influence an employee's turnover intentions. Using a non-experimental, correlational design, the researcher used surveys responses from 152 partnership students. Their responses were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics, and a correlation analysis was run to determine if there was a relationship between the variables. A statistically significant relationship was found between turnover intention and both tenure and an employee's commitment to their organization due to additional partnership benefits. Both of these relationships aligned with the ideas of social exchange theory. The study emphasizes the need for H.R. professionals at organizations to evaluate their education benefits and policies to help reduce turnover intention.

Committee: Patrick Bennett (Committee Chair); Yuerong Sweetland (Committee Member); Kevin Daberkow (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Management; Organization Theory

Doctor of Management, Case Western Reserve University, 2020, Weatherhead School of Management

While mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are attractive strategic choices for many organizations seeking to expand or to increase their value and market power, the rate of failure of these efforts is significant. The human side of M&A remains the most important but often overlooked factor with a significant impact on M&A outcomes. This study employs an exploratory sequential mixed methods design to explore how managers address the factors that influence M&A outcomes and the factors that shape between employer and employee outcomes. The study was conducted using two inquiries (qualitative and quantitative). The greater purpose of this study was to integrate the previous qualitative and quantitative phases to derive more in-depth insight into the human side of M&A outcomes. Ultimately, we found that most managers leverage communication, employee engagement, encouragement, autonomy, empowerment, workplace relationships, and employee wellbeing to address human capital challenges influencing M&A outcomes in the qualitative study. Perceived organizational support (POS) and reciprocity emerged as the primary mediators between employer and employee M&A outcomes.

Committee: Richard Boland PhD (Advisor); Kalle Lyytinen PhD (Advisor); James Gaskin PhD (Advisor) Subjects: Business Costs; Social Research

Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.), Franklin University, 2021, Health Programs

Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic placed a greater strain on hospital systems to keep their nursing teams at optimal levels to meet the increased demand. A loss of nursing staff can have a detrimental effect on patient care and safety, productivity, psychological well-being of the nursing staff, and overall organizational performance. The purpose of this quantitative study focused on examining the relationship between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions among urban frontline nurses working in acute-care facilities. Social exchange theory and Jobs Demands Resource Model represented the theoretical framework in the research study. Six research questions ascertained if a statistically significant relationship existed between job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention. The hypothesis for the study was that there is no statistically significant relationship between the variables. Data were analyzed using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation and multiple regression analysis from a random sample of 135 frontline registered nurses working in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Variables job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention were measured using the Job Satisfaction Survey, Three-Component Model of Employee Commitment, and Turnover Intention scale-6. The study demonstrated a statistically significant correlations between job satisfaction and turnover intention r (135) = .62, p <.01 and organizational commitment and turnover intention r (135) = .42, p < .01. The predictor variables explained 40.2% of the variance in turnover intention among frontline nurses. Future research should examine nurses' perceptions of their work environment, contributing factors nurses face post-COVID-19, and job satisfaction factors driving turnover among nursing teams.

Committee: Gail Frankle RN, DHA (Committee Chair); Michelle Geiman Ph.D (Committee Member); Alyncia Bowen Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Care; Health Care Management; Management; Nursing; Organizational Behavior

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2020, Popular Culture

This research addresses a gap in the research of youth culture by examining the ways middle school students use informal economics, the exchange of goods or services not controlled or endorsed by an institution, and how it affects their social hierarchy. Specifically looking at food exchange in the lunchroom of the middle school, this study is an ethnographic look into this highly complex piece of youth culture, while attempting to create a framework to understand this understudied area. This framework hypothesizes four categories of factors of food exchange in middle school that will potentially impact the social hierarchy of the students: food, exchange, student identity, and technical. This framework is then tested using ethnographic at an area middle school, using a combination of observation during the lunch period and interviews with staff and students. Applying the data to this framework reveals a number of hypothesizes that are not relevant to the case study, that may be inaccurate, as well as a number of correctly estimated factors. Using this case study, the framework is critiqued and suggestions are given to future researchers and schools hoping to use this framework to better understand this aspect of youth culture, and to better promote positive learning environments for students in their middle-grade years.

Committee: Kristen Rudisill Ph.D. (Advisor); Esther Clinton Ph.D. (Committee Member); Patrick Vrooman Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Folklore; Middle School Education

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2017, History

This thesis looks at the effects of the Spanish conquest on the diet and social structure of the Tarascan people of Michoacan in the 16th century. Looking at the period from conquest to the early days of the 17th century, this work charts how the Tarascans identified with their food and how the introduction of new foods changed these markers. This change in diet accompanied changes in social structure and disruptions in the lifestyles of both noble and common indigenous peoples. This work identifies the relationships between these disruptions and the development of diets throughout the era of conquest and colonization.

Committee: Charles Beatty-Medina (Committee Chair); Ami Pflugrad-Jackisch (Committee Member); Bruce Way (Committee Member) Subjects: History; Latin American History

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2015, Business: Business Administration

Knowledge exchange behavior is often portrayed as a key determinant of the competitive position of a firm operating in a knowledge intensive environment. Of interest to researchers and managers alike are the conditions that promote, attenuate or even retard knowledge sharing between firms. This research employs a supply channel context to study knowledge exchange behavior (KEB). Whether knowledge exchange occurs, and if so, to what extent, may be contingent on various factors. While inter-organizational trust has widely been posited to be a key antecedent of knowledge exchange behavior, a review of the literature reveals that the evidence is conflicting. Sometimes a high level of inter-organizational trust may not be necessary for a decision to exchange valuable knowledge. Likewise, despite high inter-organizational trust KEB may not be present. A recent empirical study by Kim, Umanath, Kim, Ahrens & Kim, (2012) found that increasing levels of inter-organizational trust actually resulted in inhibition of knowledge exchange behavior in supply channel dyads even with a high level of knowledge complementarity. This specific finding has served as the springboard for this project; that is, this inquiry is focused on identifying conditions that render inter-organizational trust unimportant. In short, this research seeks to examine the contingent effect of knowledge interdependence (joint dependence + dependence asymmetry) on KEB – speculated to be a missing contingency by Kim, et al (2012).

Committee: Amitabh Raturi Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Vivek Choudhury Ph.D. (Committee Member); Suzanne Masterson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Narayan Umanath Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration

Master of Arts (M.A.), Xavier University, 2012, Psychology

Previous research has suggested that effort level - in the form of willingness to help - can be affected by the presence of a reward and type of reward being offered (Heyman & Ariely, 2004). Reward types generally fall into two primary categories: social exchanges, which are friendly and non-contractual, and economic exchanges, which are typically defined by monetary exchanges and are contractual in nature. Interpersonal citizenship behaviors (ICBs) are a proxy for effort in the current study, as they are defined by employees helping one another with work - or personal-related matters in the workplace (Williams & Anderson, 1991). The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the effect of type of reward (social vs. monetary vs. mixed vs. no reward) on willingness to engage in ICBs within in-group supervisor-supervisee relationships. Results showed that there was an overall significant effect of reward type on willingness to engage in ICBs. Post-hoc tests revealed that the monetary condition was significantly higher than the control condition. Furthermore, the control condition yielded the lowest ICB score, and the three reward conditions had very similar means, suggesting that the presence of any type of reward may have been slightly more influential in eliciting effort than the absence of a reward. Moreover, in contrast to previous research that suggested that mixed rewards are perceived as monetary and not social (Heyman & Ariely, 2004), results showed that participants viewed social and mixed rewards similarly, but viewed monetary and mixed rewards significantly differently. Overall, the findings suggest that exchange marketplaces seem to be more complex when they occur in the workplace.

Committee: Dalia L. Diab Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Mark S. Nagy Ph.D. (Committee Member); Morell E. Mullins Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Occupational Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2013, Gerontology

Existing retirement research has two notable limitations. First, there is a focus on actual retirement or the post-retirement transition, and far less research on retirement planning. Second, there is particularly a lack of research on how being married may influence retirement planning. Therefore, this study focused on one main research question: How do pre-retirement married individuals ages 42 or over describe their retirement planning experiences? Data were collected from 14 married individuals via demographic questionnaires and qualitative in-depth interviews. Results point to three important factors in understanding married individuals' retirement planning: current perceptions of retirement, the pre-retirement planning trajectory, and the context of planning while married. Participants generally associated retirement with control and freedom and/or meaning and purpose. Also, respondents noted particular life events that were triggers for retirement planning. As a result, this study provides a new general timeline that begins the process of mapping out when retirement planning begins in relation to life course events. Further, it is important to recognize the role of the spouse in retirement planning for married individuals. As explored through a spectrum of spousal inclusion, examples range from very exclusive (in which individuals are generally planning separately from their spouse) to very inclusive (in which individuals are incorporating their spouse in most or all planning actions). The level of inclusion of one's spouse in retirement planning is related to the overall communication and decision-making history of the couple. Overall, retirement planning experiences and expectations are influenced by not only married individuals' background and significant life events, but also directly or indirectly by their spouses' circumstances.

Committee: Jennifer R. Bulanda PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Kate de Medeiros PhD (Committee Co-Chair); C. Lee Harrington PhD (Committee Member); Stephen Lippmann PhD (Committee Member); M. Elise Radina PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Gerontology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Business: Business Administration

A “psychological contract” exists when an individual perceives that another party hasobligated itself to a reciprocal exchange relationship with him/herself. Most researchers exploring this concept tend to focus solely on the exchange relationship existing between the individual and a unitary “employer” (e.g., Coyle-Shapiro & Conway, 2005; King & Bu, 2005; Raja, Johns, & Ntalianis, 2004; Rousseau, 2000; Rousseau, 2004; Sels, Janssens, & Van den Brande, 2004). However, it is important to note that psychological contract theory is not limited in scope to this specific exchange relationship. Rather, the concept can also be applied to the individual…#8482;s relationships with “…a client, customer, supplier, or any other interdependent party” (Italics added: Rousseau, 1995: 34). Unfortunately, the implications of this theoretical flexibility are largely unexplored in academic research. The central premise of this dissertation is that individuals have simultaneous distinct but related psychological contracts with various individuals and groups operating within an organizational context, and the purpose is to examine the psychological contract concept from this multi-foci perspective. I accomplish this purpose through a three-stage survey-based research study. The sample population for the study was the entire incoming class of freshman at the business college of a large mid-western university. In Stage One, I investigated the nature of psychological contracts in my sample. This exploratory stage: 1) theoretically justified my research sample through an examination of archival data, 2) determined the foci of student psychological contracts through open-ended qualitative survey questions, and 3) determined the content of student psychological contracts through open-ended qualitative survey questions. In Stage Two, I used a quantitative survey methodology. Exploratory factor analyses were done to develop new measures of psychological contract content, and structural equat (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Suzanne Masterson PhD (Committee Chair); Elaine Hollensbe PhD (Committee Member); Karen Machleit PhD (Committee Member); David Lundgren PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Management; Social Psychology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Business Administration : Business Administration

In today's business environment, creativity has become essential for gaining and sustaining competitive advantage for organizations. As such, researchers and practitioners alike have been interested in understanding ways to enhance creativity. In today's highly interactive work environment social relationships have become an important feature of organizational life. Yet there has been little empirical research that focuses on the relational environment and its impact on creativity. To fill this gap in the literature, this study develops and empirically tests a social exchange model of creativity, proposing that employees' perceptions of the relational environment (i.e., fairness and trust) will influence their social exchange relationships, which in turn will affect creativity-relevant behaviors, and ultimately, creativity. The model simultaneously proposes and tests these linkages for both organizational and supervisory levels. To test the model, the data were collected from 205 employees and their supervisors at a large chemical engineering plant, where creativity is an explicitly stated goal. Employees reported on their perceptions of organizational fairness and trust, supervisory fairness and trust, perceived organizational support, and leader member exchange. Supervisors provided information on employees' creativity-relevant behaviors (information sharing, risk taking, social loafing, and political tactics), and creativity. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data and test the social exchange model of creativity. The results revealed support for several hypotheses. At the organizational level, employees' perceptions of procedural and informational justice were significantly related to organizational trust, which in turn was significantly related to perceived organizational support. Furthermore, perceived organizational support was marginally related to two types of political tactics, exchange and upward appeal, which were not found to be relate (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Suzanne Masterson (Advisor) Subjects: Business Administration, Management

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2012, EDU Physical Activity and Educational Services

This study examined the application of the Social Exchange Theory (SET) in intercollegiate athletics. Using Blau (1964) and Homans's (1961) definitional scheme of social exchange, the theory was first deconstructed and individual elements were explored. As a result, the constructs of trust, justice, commitment, obligation and performance were identified and defined. Furthermore, relationships between these constructs where hypothesized in relation to intercollegiate coach-student-athlete dyads. The amalgamation of these hypotheses led to a fully and partially mediated model of student-athlete performance being proposed. To test the individual hypotheses, as well as the proposed models, a convenient population of student-athletes at a large Midwestern university was asked to partake in a study. A sample of 132 student-athletes completed usable questionnaires and analysis of their responses was conducted through use of structural equation modeling (SEM). Results of the analysis showed: (1) Procedural, interpersonal, and information justice all had positive significant relationships with trust; (2) Trust had a positive, significant relationship with leader-member exchange (LMX); (3) LMX had a positive, significant relationship with commitment, as measured by feelings of obligation and emotional attachment; and (4) Commitment had a positive, significant relationship with performance, as measured by self-evaluations of individual performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Additionally, it was found that a fully mediated model most aptly explained the pathway of student-athlete production. In the model, procedural, interpersonal, and information justice were treated as independent variables and were found to positively relate to trust; that is, the greater the perceptions of each form of justice the greater the level of trust student-athletes had in the coach. Trust then served as a mediating variable that positively influenced the quality of the exchange (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brian Turner PhD (Advisor); Packianathan Chelladurai PhD (Committee Member); Donna Pastore PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Sports Management

Bachelor of Arts, Miami University, 2006, College of Arts and Sciences - English

To what can we attribute the social plight of black men? This thesis explores a cultural misuse of language as one possible answer to this question. Specifically, it considers the ways in which language functions to devalue black male identities. It examines the language of binary opposition through which these identities are frequently inscribed, considering the ways in which it can be re-conceptualized to complicate one-dimensional and/or fetishistic perceptions of black men perpetuated by the media. This thesis interrogates the ways in which the language of the media frames black men. It argues that experiencing a more nuanced black masculinity starts with changing the ways in which we read and discuss black men. Thus, by examining three languages that reconstruct black men in works by Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, and Ernest J. Gaines, it argues that a re-contextualization of language deconstructs binary oppositions and expands perceptions of black masculinity.

Committee: Cheryl Johnson (Advisor) Subjects: Literature, American