Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2006, Psychology

Although some lies can damage relationships, we hypothesized that altruistic white lies (i.e., lies of minimal importance told to protect another) may benefit romantic relationships by buffering individuals against the potentially damaging effects of hurtful, albeit relatively minor, information. Positive relationship illusions (e.g., believing your relationship is more immune than others' relationships to conflict and divorce) have been shown to be positively associated with relationship satisfaction. We hypothesized that altruistic white lies may help create positive illusions within relationships. In order to evaluate the potential links between altruistic white lies, positive relationship illusions, and relationship satisfaction, we created and validated a new scale called the Lying In Amorous Relationships Scale (LIARS). This scale assesses individual differences in attitudes toward telling altruistically motivated white lies to a romantic relationship partner. In a series of three studies we assessed the factor structure, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity of the LIARS, as well as whether favorable attitudes toward altruistic white lies are positively correlated with positive illusions and relationship satisfaction. The results of Study 1 indicated that the LIARS is a reliable, unidimensional scale that is best conceptualized as a single factor. In Study 2 the LIARS demonstrated good discriminant validity with measures of academic achievement and locus of control, as well as good predictive validity with behavioral intentions to tell one's partner an altruistic white lie in response to a variety of scenarios. As predicted, LIARS scores also differed as a function of participants' marital status and affiliation with the university. Contrary to predictions, the LIARS scores of men and women did not differ. Additionally, the LIARS did not demonstrate convergent validity with measures of empathic concern and perspective taking. S (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Anne Gordon (Advisor) Subjects:

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Leadership and Change

This study provides a vital contribution to the discourse on women's career trajectories by amplifying the often-overlooked experiences of women middle-level leaders. Positioned at the intersection of strategic and operational functions, these leaders play a vital role in organizations—developing and motivating employees, driving change, and serving as relationship managers and key connectors to senior leadership. Employing an interpretative phenomenological approach, this study explores the lived experiences of 15 accomplished women middle-level leaders, each with over 15 years of service across private, public, and nonprofit sectors in the United States. Grounded in relational-cultural theory (RCT), career theory, positive work relationships, and workplace learning, the findings enrich our understanding of women's leadership journeys and challenge conventional notions of career success. The study identified one overarching theme, Evolving as a Person, and three group experiential themes: A Journey of Experiences, Support is Energy, and Purpose Over Position. Participants emphasized purpose, values, and spirituality over traditional career advancement, highlighting the importance of connection and mattering, which align with RCT's growth-fostering relationships and the "five good things." This study reframes career success as a holistic concept, demonstrating that thriving in middle management can align ambition with influence and personal fulfillment. Practical insights are offered for leaders, practitioners, coaches, and organizations to support emerging and experienced leaders seeking meaningful growth, even within middle-level roles. By challenging societal narratives around career and success, this study advocates for a more inclusive and equitable workforce that values thriving at all organizational levels. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: J. Beth Mabry PhD (Committee Chair); Amy Rutstein-Riley PhD, MPA (Committee Member); Lisa Frey PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Management; Womens Studies

Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, 2024, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies

What do teachers perceive to be the impact of positive behavior management systems on supporting teachers, students, and families? This research investigated the implementation and impact of school-wide positive behavior support systems as a crucial approach to addressing behavior challenges and supporting both teachers and students. Recognizing the significant challenges teachers face in managing student behavior alongside their essential duties, this study delves into the potential benefits of positive behavior support systems as an alternative to punitive discipline methods. Building upon previous research, the results of this investigation underscored the positive outcomes associated with school-wide positive behavior support systems. The research employed a qualitative phenomenological case study involving 12 diverse educators, providing valuable insights from those directly responsible for classroom management. The findings revealed that these systems effectively reduced situations involving exclusionary practices, enhanced student-teacher relationships, and contributed to the establishment of a positive classroom culture and climate. Supported by observations, interviews, and artifact collection, the participants identified key factors influencing the success of positive behavior support systems, including administrative and parental support, access to professional development opportunities, and collaborative experiences among teachers and school administration. The study further highlighted the importance of consistent school-wide expectations, procedures, and guidelines in managing student behavior and advocates for tailored support for students with diverse backgrounds. Notably, positive restorative practices and training for teachers contribute to meeting the needs of all students and result in increased overall student achievement. Despite the evident benefits, the need for ongoing refinement of school-wide positive behavior support systems, (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jane Beese Ed.D. (Advisor); Christopher Basich Ed.D. (Committee Member); Victoria Kress Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Psychology; Behavioral Sciences; Behaviorial Sciences; Early Childhood Education; Education; Education Philosophy; Educational Evaluation; Educational Leadership; Educational Psychology; Educational Sociology; Elementary Education; Teacher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Education (EdD), Wright State University, 2022, Leadership Studies

This study explored how formally assigned, organizational leaders perceive their employees using an explanatory sequential mixed-method approach. Applying the tropes associated with labeling theory (i.e., the perceptual frame within the labeling process) and positive organizational elements (i.e., positive deviance and positive leadership), the research determined what potential labels leaders assign to employees they supervise, examined the degree to which self-assessed positive leaders assign more positive descriptors, and identified contextual factors that influence the leaders' labeling process. As part of an eligibility process for the study, leaders completed a positive leader self-assessment (n = 62), of which a sample (n = 46) participated in a diary study throughout one workweek. As a group, the leaders assigned positive descriptors to their employees 78% of the time during the study. Leaders who assessed themselves as effective positive leaders (M = 20.42, SD = 4.010) used more positive descriptors than those who did not (M = 15.24, SD = 5.533). Of the descriptors that were considered potential labels, 34% were positive and only 4% were negative. Leader labeling of person-related deviances (rather than job-related) was more likely used to describe extreme traits, behaviors, and emotions that the leader did or did not value. A more meaningful understanding of what labels leaders apply to employees, why they apply them, and whether they relate to self-assessed positivity can improve leadership within organizations. Empowered with this understanding, leaders can improve self-awareness and more positively influence employees.

Committee: Mindy S. McNutt Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Rachel E. Sturm Ph.D. (Committee Member); David S. Bright Ph.D. (Committee Member); Corey Seemiller Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences; Management; Organizational Behavior

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2017, Leadership and Change

Conventional forms of leadership that are prominent in organizational life today are seemingly antithetical to the landscape of our dynamic, global society. The continued focus on traditional hierarchies with leadership that functions in a “chain of command” manner begs the question of how organizations can reshape routines and relationships to reflect processes of inclusion and collaboration that have the capability of provoking progressive change in organizations. Diversity and Inclusion scholars have identified the newer construct of inclusive leadership as apt to advance climates and cultures of inclusion through social processes that encourage inclusive practices and behaviors. These fluid aspects of inclusive leadership strengthen how organizations foster the engagement of organizational members across groups, functions, and/or levels to stimulate change within work settings. While scholars have ascertained the necessity of expanding our knowledge of the inclusion construct by examining inclusion in more depth, inclusive leadership remains an anomaly as it positions leadership as a collective, social process. The complexities associated with research in this area were instrumental in my choice to pursue an exploratory critical (single) case study with grounded theory for this dissertation research to better understand the social processes associated with inclusive leadership within a contained work environment. This multiple method qualitative study utilized intensive interviewing, field observations, and document reviews to explore inclusive leadership in a K-12 school district. Thematic, content, and dimensional analyses elicited findings associated with human connection, change, and evolving contexts associated with inclusive systems. The overlapping case study and grounded theory findings served as the basis for the development of an inclusive leadership model. The research provided empirical evidence of inclusive leadership's effect on organizational clim (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lize Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway Ph.D. (Committee Member); Harriet Schwartz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Placida Gallegos Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Business Administration; Cognitive Psychology; Communication; Education; Educational Leadership; Ethics; Multilingual Education; Organizational Behavior; Psychology; School Administration

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2012, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Urban Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study is to investigate the context in which positive work relationships evolve and are sustained between urban elementary school principals. Informed by Fletcher (2007), Miller and Stiver (1997), and Roberts (2007), a positive work relationship is defined as one between two colleagues that mutually experience growth-in-connection as characterized by cognitive, affective, and behavioral outcomes. Using the lens of relational cultural theory to analyze interview data from six urban elementary school principals in self-identified dyads the research questions addressed were: 1. When growth-in-connection occurs between urban elementary school principals does it spiral and affect others in the organization? 2. What are the characteristics of the contexts in which the relationships exist? Implications for district leadership and individual principals are presented. When growth-in-connection occurs between urban elementary school principals, the contexts of their relationship can be studied. Findings include that district support, affiliation, and competition affect these relationships. Implications for further study are suggested.

Committee: James Koschoreck PhD (Committee Chair); Nancy Evers PhD (Committee Member); Barbara J Hammel EdD (Committee Member); Ann Millacci EdD (Committee Member); Robert Tracy EdD (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

MA, Kent State University, 2009, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

The deleterious effects of negative emotions on relationships are well documented. However, while researchers have shown that positive emotions can buffer negative emotions, the process by which positive emotions influence negative emotions in marital exchanges is less clear. Researchers have examined positive sentiment override (PSO) in marital exchanges and found that PSO effectively buffered against low intensities of negative affect, but with high-intensities of negative affect, PSO was ineffective and marital dissolution was predicted. The current thesis uses two studies to examine the role positive emotions play in marital exchanges: 1) a nationally representative sample of 2,286 married/cohabiting individuals, and 2) a more in-depth examination of 104 married/cohabiting couples expecting their first child. Results from multiple linear regression analyses for the first study suggested that for destructive marital exchanges, positive emotions moderated negative emotions, such that positive emotions buffered low and moderate levels of negative emotion while losing its impact at high levels of negative emotion. Results from multiple linear regression analyses for the second study only found main effects and no interactions. The lack of an interaction between positive and negative emotions and marital exchanges may be due to a limited sample size or it may be indicative of a different relationship between positive and negative emotions in marital exchanges during the transition to parenthood. Overall, results support the importance of positive emotions in marital exchanges. Future research using a longitudinal study should examine the role of positive emotions in marital exchanges beyond pregnancy and childbirth, and also identify the directional nature of the relationship between emotions and marital exchanges.

Committee: Kristin Mickelson PhD (Advisor); John Updegraff PhD (Committee Member); Dan Neal PhD (Committee Member); John Dunlosky PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2011, Organizational Behavior

Case Western Reserve University and the Department of Organizational Behavior have housed the Master of Science in Organization Development (MOD) & now the Master of Science in Positive Organization Development and Change (MPOD) programs for over 40 years. During the program's history, many alumni have shared anecdotal accounts of cognitive, affective and behavioral changes that positively transformed their lives toward becoming more self-aware, more self-confident and effective change agents. Given such accounts, this study explores the question: How do MOD and MPOD graduates experience positive transformation and sustain it over time? Positive transformation, within this study, refers to the long-lasting, strength-based changes in behavior, affect and cognition used to help oneself and others to flourish. Through the use of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and Appreciative Inquiry (AI), 32 graduates spanning MOD classes 1 – 15 and MPOD classes 1 – 4 were interviewed to answer the research question. The MOD/MPOD program shaped the interviewees' lives and changed their futures. The program's design in conjunction with the cohort's composition supported the interviewees' positive transformative experiences. The study concluded: (1) positive relationships with high-quality connections (HQCs) serve to facilitate strength-based behavioral, emotional and cognitive changes that lead to positive transformation; (2) validation and confirmation support individual transformation contrary to the disconfirmation and discrepancy theories of change; (3) positive relationships with HQCs increased interviewees' capacity to withstand conflict and experience it as a learning opportunity; (4) multi-dimensional diversity heightened and deepened self-awareness by engaging with diverse others, having exposure to diverse learning modalities, and experiencing oneself in diverse contexts; and, (5) creating generativity via positive relationships and doing work that brings val (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Ron F. Fry PhD (Committee Chair); David Cooperrider PhD (Committee Member); Harlow Cohen PhD (Committee Member); Peter Whitehouse MD (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Organizational Behavior; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2010, Organizational Behavior

This research is a qualitative and quantitative study based on an archival examination of the relationships between the demonstration of behavioral affect as represented by positive and negative emotional attractors (PEA and NEA) and medical student effectiveness in a clinical diagnostic intervention, namely, the Clinical Skills Exam (CSE). The research question is “Does a medical student's overall positive versus negative emotional tone influence his or her effectiveness in a clinical diagnostic encounter with a standardized patient (SP)?” The study analyzed 116 videotaped CSE encounters between medical students from the Class of 2009 at a medical school in a major mid-western university and SPs. A codebook of themes was developed from a sample of encounters between the Class of 2008 medical students and SPs which was used to code the behavior of the Class of 2009 medical students during the encounters. The associations among PEA and NEA themes and medical student effectiveness as measured by SP scores of the encounters, Faculty scores of notes written by medical students immediately after the encounters, and differential diagnosis scores were determined using moderated multiple regression (MMR) analysis. Medical student MCAT scores were examined as a possible moderator of the associations. MMR analyses found a significant positive association (p<.05) between PEA and the SP scores; near significant positive association (p<.10) between PEA and the Faculty scores of student notes; significant positive association (p<.05) between NEA and the Faculty scores of student notes; and a significant negative association (p<.05) between MCAT scores and the SP scores. A near significant positive moderating effect (p<.10) of MCAT scores on the association between PEA and the Faculty scores of student notes was also found.

Committee: Dr. Richard Boyatzis PhD (Committee Chair); Dr. Melvin Smith PhD (Committee Member); Dr. Jamie Stoller MD (Committee Member); Dr. Klara Papp PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Care; Health Education; Organizational Behavior; Psychology

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2010, Leadership and Change

The context of leadership has evolved to incorporate greater social identity differences. Therefore, learning ways to navigate differences in social identity becomes important work leaders must now do. Because these differences surface in relationship with others, examining a relational framework helps us understand the nature of what happens between people (Ely & Roberts, 2008). This study explored the processes by which Black African American and White European American women enact leadership by creating and sustaining cross-race relationships as they work to change unjust systems around them. Using grounded theory methodology (Charmaz, 2006; Strauss & Corbin, 1990), a model was developed using the metaphors of "insular bubble," "protective shell," and "ecosystem" that illuminates the processes and strategies Black African American and White European American women use to create and sustain effective cross-race working relationships. The findings also generated a typology of tools, described as "nurturing the ecosystem" that each person in the relationship can use to create space in which to demonstrate positive ways of expressing social identity. These tools can be used in intrapsychic, interpersonal, and extra-relationship arenas. Focusing on race and gender as primary social identity differences, this question also took into account the systems that create patterns of domination and marginalization around those identities. Therefore, this study contributed to the leadership and change literature by illustrating the processes by which leaders can effectively incorporate a focus on social justice into their work, specifically in cross-race working relationships. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd.

Committee: Lize Booysen DBL (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Holloway PhD (Committee Member); Stella M. Nkomo PhD (Committee Member); Laura Morgan Roberts PhD (Other) Subjects: African Americans; Gender; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Social Psychology; Social Research; Womens Studies

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2009, Leadership and Change

There are many ways to lead others, all of which involve a relationship among parties.However, the heartbeat of leadership may be a leader's relational sensibility. This research explored the leader's experience of relational leadership and the extent to which the metaphor of leadership as friendship described its qualities. It also explored whether actual friendship between leaders and followers was possible with this form of leadership. The topic of relational leadership was approached through a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology to explore the lived experiences of six women leaders. Their experience of relational leadership and the degree to which the metaphor of leadership as friendship represented their experience was the vantage point for this study. Using an inverted pyramid structure, in-depth interviews were conducted in three rounds consisting of six, three, and two participants for a total of 11 interviews. This research augments the leadership literature by describing the leader's experience of relational leadership and the degree to which the metaphor of leadership as friendship captures its qualities. This research concluded that leaders can, and do, find ways to lead with friends, to lead with characteristics one finds in friendship, or both. It demonstrated that leaders can have actual friendships (with each other and with their followers or subordinates), provided boundaries are maintained. The electronic version of this dissertation is available in the open-access OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd

Committee: Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Chair); Carolyn Kenny PhD (Committee Member); Sherwin Davidson PhD (Committee Member); Gerri Perrault PhD (Other) Subjects: Management; Organizational Behavior; Personal Relationships; Womens Studies

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2009, Leadership and Change

Master's education in the social sciences provides a unique opportunity for students and teachers. Students often bring extensive professional and life experience to the classroom, as well as clarity regarding their academic goals. Professors who teach on the master's level are distinctly committed to the teaching mission and see their students' experience as valuable to their own growth as teachers and to the ongoing development and vitality of their academic programs. The purpose of this study is to explore what goes on in relational practice between master's students and professors. Ten matched pairs of recent alumni and professors (from six different schools) were interviewed. Participants reflected on their relationships while the student was enrolled in the master's program, and the evolution of their relationships in the alumni context. Grounded theory dimensional analysis was employed to analyze the interview data. Six dimensions each emerged from the professor and student data respectively. The professor dimensions are: Orienting, Self-organizing, Valuing, Advancing, Bounding, and Regenerating. The student dimensions are: Engaging, Navigating, Developing, Connecting, Reconstructing, and Collaborating. The professors' Regenerating and the students' Reconstructing are the core dimensions. A combined exploration of the professor and student dimensional analyses surfaced six theoretical propositions: energizing the relationship, teaching and learning are bidirectional, difference is potential, asymmetrical primacy, working close to the boundaries, and the connection paradox. This study draws from literature in the following domains: relational cultural theory, positive psychology, positive work relationships, mentoring, adult development, and adult learning. The wisdom of these literatures combined with the findings of this study, provide a deep consideration of the relational space and experience of master's students and professors, exploring elements such as (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Holloway PhD (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Elaine Gale PhD (Committee Member); Joyce Fletcher PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Education; Educational Psychology; Higher Education; Psychology; Teacher Education; Teaching