Master of Arts in Professional Communication, Youngstown State University, 2021, Department of Communicaton

This qualitative study examined political communication between marital partners through the perspectives of both male and female heterosexual spouses and whether political discussion and political persuasion was impacted by respondent gender roles. The study collected data from 21 adult participants who identified as heterosexual, married, and cisgender female or male. The study's research questions explored the respective roles of both spouses in political discussion and political persuasion, in addition to exploring factors that prompt political communication between spouses. I collected data to analyze and respond to the study's research questions through online questionnaires shared on social media. Theory-driven qualitative content analysis was used to create a coding system of concepts from three theories: social judgement theory, relational framing theory, and dyadic power theory. Study findings indicate that male and female participants identified similarities and differences regarding how they perceived their own roles and roles of their spouses in both political discussions and political persuasion, and that the primary factor that prompts political communication between spouses is “news.” This study contributes to a gap in communication literature regarding the role of persuasive political communication in heterosexual spousal relationships and provides opportunities for researchers to better understand each heterosexual spouse's perspective regarding political communication.

Committee: Adam Earnheardt PhD (Advisor); Thomas Flynn PhD (Committee Member); Bruce Keillor PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Gender; Personal Relationships; Political Science

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2011, Leadership and Change

This theoretical dissertation examines the concept of growth and its core assumption—that the continual accumulation of wealth is both socially wise and ecologically sustainable. The study challenges and offers alternatives to the myth of endless accumulation, suggesting new directions for leadership and social change. The central question posed in this inquiry: Can we craft a more ethical form of capitalism? To answer this question, the study examines conventional and critical globalization studies; feminist scholarship on standpoint, political economy, and power; and the Enlightenment notions of progress and modernism, drawing on a number of works, including Aristotle on the three intelligences, Thomas Aquinas on human need and value, and Karl Marx on capitalism. From this broad disciplinary and historical perspective, a compelling narrative emerges, one that describes how the idea of growth has intersected with power and privilege to create an overarching global imperative that threatens the viability of our species and planet. The closing sections explore potential responses to that threat, introducing consciousness, wisdom, and caring to our understanding of growth, and emphasizing the importance of relational practice to effect real social and institutional change. The electronic version of this dissertation is at OhioLINK ETD Center (www.ohiolink.edu/etd).

Committee: Carolyn Kenny PhD (Committee Chair); Philomena Essed PhD (Committee Member); Amanda Sinclair PhD (Committee Member); Valentine Moghadam PhD (Other) Subjects: Climate Change; Economic History; Environmental Economics; Environmental Philosophy; Finance; Gender; Gender Studies; History; Management; Medieval History; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Modern History; Organization Theory; Science History; Sustainability; Womens Studies

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Media and Communication

Generations of women in the Evangelical Church have embodied narratives passed from mother to daughter, from church leadership, and through their religious communities. These narratives, including those of women's subservience and deserving of suffering endured from spouses, church leaders, and others, have origins in the earliest days of church history. In this thesis I examine how such narratives are embedded in books on pubertal guidance targeted to mothers and daughters in Evangelical Christian communities. Building on Fish's work on interpretive communities, Gramsci's conceptualization of hegemony, Foucault theorizing on power, and an interdisciplinary literature on the interaction between religion, culture, and politics, I interrogate themes of puberty, sexual function, gender roles, consent, and gender-based violence addressed in books on pubertal guidance, and how these books contribute to or reinforce evangelical Christian doctrinal narratives on gender and sexuality. Through a methodological approach using grounded theory, narrative inquiry, autoethnography, and textual analysis, findings indicate Evangelical Christian culture creates an interpretive community which drives only acceptable interpretation of religious texts (primarily the Bible), gender norms, and patriarchal power dynamics. Themes emerging from the texts analyzed, including Complementarianism, submission, purity, modesty, inadequacy, and silencing, have deep consequences not only for women and girls in Evangelical Christian communities, but for society at large as the legislative push for adherence to Evangelical Christian doctrinal ideologies work to remove access to basic human rights for people who do not adhere them. Misinformation, incomplete information, and hegemonic narratives serve to perpetuate gender inequality and have broad effects on women's and girls' mental, emotional, and physical health. In light of the most recent intrusions by Christian Nationalists into the legislative (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lara Martin Lengel Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Clayton` Rosati Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lisa Hanasono Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: American History; American Studies; Behavioral Psychology; Bible; Biblical Studies; Biographies; Communication; Divinity; Education; Ethics; Families and Family Life; Gender; Gender Studies; Health; Health Care; Health Education; History; Individual and Family Studies; Mass Communications; Mass Media; Pastoral Counseling; Personal Relationships; Philosophy; Public Health; Public Health Education; Public Policy; Religion; Religious Congregations; Religious Education; Religious History; Rhetoric; Social Research; Social Structure; Sociology; Spirituality; Theology; Womens Studies

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2022, Sociology

Midlife is a stage where individuals' sense of control may be challenged by inevitable physical changes, cognitive declines, and shifts in social roles. To maintain feelings of control, midlife adults may desire to have a final say over household decisions. The power dynamics under which these decisions are made may set the stage for life satisfaction in late life. Thus, it is imperative to uncover the correlates of perceived power among midlife women and men. Using the 2014 and 2016 Health and Retirement Study, I employed two prevailing frameworks, resource theory and the gender-deviance neutralization hypothesis, to investigate how women's relative income contribution links to whether she, or her partner, perceives whether they have the final say on four distinct decision-making domains in the household. Resource theory was supported in three of the four domains. When women contributed 0-39% of the household income (vs. 40-59% of the household income), men were more likely to say they had the final say on family issues and women were more likely to say men had the final say on financial decisions. When women outearned men (60-100% vs. 40-59% of the household income), men were more likely to say women had the final say on family issues, financial decisions, and vacation destination decisions, but women were more likely to say they had the final say on financial decisions only. No evidence in support of the gender-deviance neutralization hypothesis emerged. These findings suggest that resources influence men's power perceptions more than women's, and that women's greater income contribution appears to be a factor that can advance egalitarian decision-making patterns in midlife, but mostly from men's perspectives.

Committee: I-Fen Lin Ph.D (Committee Chair); Susan Brown Ph.D (Committee Member); Kei Nomaguchi Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Aging; Families and Family Life; Gender; Sociology

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

Routine HIV testing for adults 65 years and older is imperative for prevention and treatment efforts among the vulnerable population. To date, limited research exists that examines associations between sex in HIV testing, HIV risk perception, and HIV risk among adults who are 65 years and older. Certain risk behaviors can lead to missed testing opportunities for some Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older, increasing the likelihood of new HIV transmissions and late-stage diagnoses. A federal mandate requires that Medicare Part B (outpatient insurance) cover annual wellness visits, which allow providers and beneficiaries to develop personalized prevention plans of care. However, Medicare does not offer routine HIV testing to beneficiaries 65 years and older, unless they specifically ask for a test (risk perception) or considered at risk (actual risk). This quantitative, cross-sectional, causal-comparative research design was guided by the health belief model (HBM) and theory of gender and power (TGP). Chi-square tests analyzed secondary data from the 2018 National Health Interview Survey, Adult Sample file regarding HIV testing, HIV risk perception and HIV risk among non-institutionalized adults, 65 years and older. The significance of statistical tests was determined at the .05 alpha level. Study findings revealed a significant association between sex and HIV testing prevalence, with men (24.3%) testing more frequently than do women (20.1%). Findings also revealed a significant association between sex and HIV risk. Men (41%), when compared to women (22%), were almost twice as likely to have at least one factor increasing HIV risk. There was no significant association between sex and HIV risk perception. Findings revealed that both men (99.6%) and women (99.6%) equally lacked HIV risk perception.

Committee: Mary Bynum DHA (Committee Chair); Cynthia Smoak DHA (Committee Member); Chenelle Jones PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Aging; Gender Studies; Gerontology; Health; Health Care; Health Care Management; Health Education; Public Administration; Public Health; Public Health Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2014, Leadership and Change

A group of diverse women from various ethnic, religious, socio-economic and generations were brought together over the course of four months to determine if the Immunity to Change (ITC) process (Kegan & Lahey, 2009) would create bridging social capital as well as individual change. The group sessions included a process of assigned readings, discussions, and completion of ITC maps allowing women to reveal their identities and journeys through the sharing of their personal narratives. As a result, many experienced perception transformation regarding issues of gender, leadership, race, and class. The dissertation explores topics of power and privilege, relational leadership, and relational cultural theory in women. The electronic version of this Dissertation is at OhioLink ETD Center, www.ohiolink.edu/etd

Committee: Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Chair); Laurien Alexandre PhD (Committee Member); Richard McGuigan PhD (Committee Member); Judith Jordan PhD (Other) Subjects: Gender Studies; Organization Theory; Psychology; Sociology

Master of Science (MS), Ohio University, 2010, Journalism (Communication)

Despite gains made by Title IX in the past 38 years, including increased female participation in high school and collegiate sport, there is evidence that gender equity in sport is not fully achieved. Gender and racial discrimination in sport remains rampant, and sports media continue as a leading arena for the reproduction of dominant, traditional images of gender and race and of inequality between the sexes and races (Sage, 1990; Smith, 2007). This study conducted a content analysis of photographs in the editorial (N=2,403) and advertising (N=1,490) content and of sources in feature articles (N=315) in Sports Illustrated Kids to determine whether these visual images and feature articles reflect actual participation rates in athletic competition based on gender and race and whether the number of images of women in the magazine have increased during the magazine's second decade of publication, 2000 to 2009. This study found that women continue to be vastly underrepresented within the magazine's pages. Photographs featuring men were found to vastly outnumber those featuring women in SIK editorial and advertising photographs by a ratio of more than 7 to 1 (87.6% to 12.4%) and by a ratio of nearly 4 to 1 (79.7% to 20.3%), respectively. As far as a racial difference, African and European athletes have equivalent coverage in editorial photographs, but racial minority athletes (African, Asian, and Hispanic) are still fighting for representation in advertising photographs and as sources in feature articles. Of editorial and advertising photographs, 52.1% and 27.8% depicted racial minority athletes, respectively. Similarly, only 21.1% of articles were stories for which the dominant subject(s) were female athletes or female-specific sports teams, whereas 30.9% of articles featured racial minority athletes as the dominant subject.

Committee: Joseph Bernt (Committee Chair); Michael Sweeney (Committee Member); Aimee Edmondson (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Gender; Journalism; Mass Media; Social Psychology