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Description
This research scrutinizes theatre teaching practice through a teacher perspective to find mechanisms that enable health promotion and quality theatre-making skills for students. The critical investigations conducted are twofold. First, I examine the intersection of my 18 years of experience teaching high school drama for connections to theatre and health

This research scrutinizes theatre teaching practice through a teacher perspective to find mechanisms that enable health promotion and quality theatre-making skills for students. The critical investigations conducted are twofold. First, I examine the intersection of my 18 years of experience teaching high school drama for connections to theatre and health research. I employ a narrative inquiry method to analyze lived experience to create an initial health promotion framework. And second, I interrogate that framework investigating the experience of a focus group of other high school drama teachers, a high school counselor, and a psychologist. This study reveals that drama teachers perceive their drama programs as psychologically, socially, and emotionally health-promoting for involved students. Furthermore, this study identifies the complex processes, relationships, and components of the theatre-making that the teachers pinpoint as preconditions and mechanisms that enhance and enable student flourishing. The teachers describe themselves as key to health promotion by modeling the artistry of theatre and the art form's social and emotional skills. Their narratives demonstrate that flexible time, their students, and the relationships they build with them as preconditions to maximize health promotion. Specifically, they identify the creation of a safe, supportive environment as foundational to the process.
ContributorsOlsen, Nicola (Author) / Etheridge-Woodson, Stephani (Thesis advisor) / Underiner, Tamara (Committee member) / McAvoy, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
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Description
Sexual minorities use social media platforms at higher rates than heterosexual individuals, often to find and connect with other sexual minorities and the broader online LGBTQ+ community. These online connections may help normalize feelings and experiences as a sexual minority in a heterosexual-normed society by increasing exposure to more meaningful

Sexual minorities use social media platforms at higher rates than heterosexual individuals, often to find and connect with other sexual minorities and the broader online LGBTQ+ community. These online connections may help normalize feelings and experiences as a sexual minority in a heterosexual-normed society by increasing exposure to more meaningful reference groups and helping to mitigate the negative impact of heterosexist norms. There has been relatively little research investigating online social connectedness (OSC) among sexual minority adults, the relation between OSC and positive psychological outcomes, and the role of OSC in lessening the impact of heterosexist norms. The goal of the present thesis was to examine the relation between OSC and positive psychological outcomes, and whether such a relation is mediated by compulsory heterosexuality (CH; i.e., heterosexist norms) and internalized heterosexism (IH; i.e., internalizing and accepting heterosexist norms). A sample of 298 sexual minority adults in the U.S. completed an online survey that included measures of OSC, CH, IH, and positive psychological outcomes including resilience, well-being, self-acceptance, and self-esteem. The hypothesized model, with CH and IH as serial mediators of the relation between OSC and positive psychological outcomes, along with a series of alternative models, were tested using structural equation modeling. Support was found for the hypothesized model, such that greater OSC predicted lower CH, which then predicted lower IH, which in turn predicted greater positive psychological outcomes. While several alternative models had adequate fit, the hypothesized model was best supported statistically and by previous literature. These findings provide insights into the psychological benefits of social media connections for sexual minorities and the potential for OSC to lessen the impact of heterosexist norms. This study also adds to the existing literature regarding OSC and sexual minority adults, expanding the literature from primarily focusing on sexual minority youth. Future studies should be more socio-demographically diverse and longitudinal in nature in order to help better understand the directionality of the relationship between CH and IH. The present findings may also inform the development of interventions aimed at decreasing CH and IH, which future studies should investigate more fully.
ContributorsBaumel, Katie (Author) / Hall, Deborah (Thesis advisor) / Mickelson, Kristin (Committee member) / Salerno, Jessica (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
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Description
Background: Cancer impacts the lives of millions of patients, families and caregivers annually
leading to chronic stress, a sense of powerlessness, and decreased autonomy. Social support may improve health empowerment and lead to increased perception of well-being.

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of social support provided

Background: Cancer impacts the lives of millions of patients, families and caregivers annually
leading to chronic stress, a sense of powerlessness, and decreased autonomy. Social support may improve health empowerment and lead to increased perception of well-being.

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of social support provided by a cancer support agency on health empowerment and perceived well-being in adults impacted by cancer.

Conceptual Framework: The Health Empowerment Theory maintains that perceived wellbeing is the desired outcome; mediated by health empowerment through social support, personal growth, and purposeful participation in active goal attainment.

Methods: Twelve adults impacted by cancer agreed to complete online questionnaires at
baseline and at 12 weeks after beginning participation in social support programs provided by a cancer support agency.
Instruments included: Patient Empowerment Scale, The Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (SWEMWBS), and The Office of National Statistics (ONS) Subjective Well-Being Questions.

Results: Four participants completed pre and post surveys. An increase was seen in
empowerment scores (pre M = 1.78, SD = 0.35 and post M = 3.05, SD = 0.42). There was no
increase in perceived well-being: SWEMWBS pre (M= 3.71, SD= 0.76), post (M= 3.57, SD=
0.65); ONS pre (M= 7.69, SD= 1.36), post (M= 6.59, SD= 1.52).

Implications: The data showed an increase in health empowerment scores after utilizing social support programs, lending support to the agency’s support strategies. It is recommended that the measures be included in surveys routinely conducted by the agency to continue to assess the impact of programming on health empowerment, and perceived well-being.
ContributorsO'Rourke, Suzanne (Author) / Velasquez, Donna (Thesis advisor)
Created2017-05-03
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Description
Individuals regularly share information about the leisure activities in which they participate, and often do so in a public manner (e.g., personal biographies, social media). Little research has examined the potential consequences of sharing such information. Across five lab experiments and one quasi-experiment utilizing Twitter data, I demonstrate that when

Individuals regularly share information about the leisure activities in which they participate, and often do so in a public manner (e.g., personal biographies, social media). Little research has examined the potential consequences of sharing such information. Across five lab experiments and one quasi-experiment utilizing Twitter data, I demonstrate that when people share information about participating in multiple leisure activities, others perceive them as having greater eudaimonic (e.g., meaning, fulfillment) and hedonic (e.g., happiness, satisfaction) well-being. These perceptions of well-being, and particularly eudaimonic well-being, have important positive implications, even in domains where leisure activities might be expected to serve as a negative signal. Specifically, individuals perceived as having higher eudaimonic well-being are viewed as more appealing in professional contexts. This effect is attenuated if the activities themselves are associated with lower well-being. The present research reveals the ironic effect that highlighting how one spends time outside work can increase one’s professional standing. I further demonstrate that well-being is not simply a positive outcome for individuals but can be a diagnostic tool utilized in interpersonal relationships, including professional relationships.
ContributorsDaniels, Michelle Elizabeth (Author) / Morales, Andrea C (Thesis advisor) / Samper, Adriana (Thesis advisor) / Mandel, Naomi (Committee member) / Luce, Mary Frances (Committee member) / Kristofferson, Kirk (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
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Description
Grounded in the relational view of leadership, this dissertation explores the dynamics of the leader/follower relationship in the context of a collective using a social networks approach. Specifically, I build on DeRue and Ashford’s (2010) work that focuses on dynamic, socially constructed leadership relationships within a dyad to focus on

Grounded in the relational view of leadership, this dissertation explores the dynamics of the leader/follower relationship in the context of a collective using a social networks approach. Specifically, I build on DeRue and Ashford’s (2010) work that focuses on dynamic, socially constructed leadership relationships within a dyad to focus on such relationships within a collective. In doing so, I conceptualize collective leader endorsement – receiving a grant of leader identity from a collective of followers – and examine the implications of collective leader endorsement. As a dynamic relationship, collective leader endorsement can change as individuals give and receive grants of leader identity. I draw on relational models of leadership theory and appraisal theory to examine how contextual situations (i.e., identity jolts) prompt change in collective leader endorsement at the network level and how such change can influence individual functioning at the individual level. As a socially constructed relationship, collective leader endorsement creates the potential for disagreement among members of the collective regarding grants of leader identity. I draw on social comparison theory and appraisal theory to suggest that agreement (or lack thereof) can influence the individual’s perceived demands and overall functioning within the collective. Using data from 106 individuals on a collegiate football team in the United States over 12 consecutive weeks, I find significant changes in collective leader endorsement and the associated leadership network over the course of the season. Specifically, I find that challenging situations prompted a reevaluation of leader identities and shifted the patterns within the leadership network. In addition, change in an individual’s level of collective leader endorsement prompted additional perceived demands and lowered well-being. This relationship was attenuated if the individual had a supportive coach to help him cope with additional leadership demands. Finally, (lack of) agreement regarding the individual’s leader identity also influenced the individual’s well-being. Specifically, the individual experienced enhanced perceived demands (and associated lower well-being) if the individual’s perception of who should receive grants of leader identity was incongruent with the collective’s perception of collective leader endorsement.
ContributorsBartels, Amy L (Author) / Lepine, Jeffery (Thesis advisor) / Peterson, Suzanne (Thesis advisor) / Luciano, Margaret (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018