Matching Items (14)
Description
The current study examines the role that context plays in hackers' perceptions of the risks and payoffs characterizing a hacktivist attack. Hacktivism (i.e., hacking to convey a moral, ethical, or social justice message) is examined through a general game theoretic framework as a product of costs and benefits, as well as the contextual cues that may sway hackers' estimations of each. In two pilot studies, a bottom-up approach is utilized to identify the key motives underlying (1) past attacks affiliated with a major hacktivist group, Anonymous, and (2) popular slogans utilized by Anonymous in its communication with members, targets, and broader society. Three themes emerge from these analyses, namely: (1) the prevalence of first-person plural pronouns (i.e., we, our) in Anonymous slogans; (2) the prevalence of language inducing status or power; and (3) the importance of social injustice in triggering Anonymous activity. The present research therefore examines whether these three contextual factors activate participants' (1) sense of deindividuation, or the loss of an individual's personal self in the context of a group or collective; and (2) motive for self-serving power or society-serving social justice. Results suggest that participants' estimations of attack likelihood stemmed solely from expected payoffs, rather than their interplay with subjective risks. As expected, the use of we language led to a decrease in subjective risks, possibly due to primed effects of deindividuation. In line with game theory, the joint appearance of both power and justice motives resulted in (1) lower subjective risks, (2) higher payoffs, and (3) higher attack likelihood overall. Implications for policymakers and the understanding and prevention of hacktivism are discussed, as are the possible ramifications of deindividuation and power for the broader population of Internet users around the world.
ContributorsBodford, Jessica (Author) / Kwan, Virginia S. Y. (Thesis advisor) / Shakarian, Paulo (Committee member) / Adame, Bradley J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Beliefs about change reflect how we understand phenomena and what kind of predictions we make for the future. Cyclical beliefs about change state that events are in a constant flux, and change is inevitable. Linear beliefs about change state that events happen in a non-fluctuating pattern and change is not commonplace. Cultural differences in beliefs about change have been documented across various domains, but research has yet to investigate how these differences may affect health status predictions. The present study addresses this gap by inducing different beliefs about change in a European-American college sample. Health status predictions were measured in terms of predicted likelihood of exposure to the flu virus, of contraction of the flu, and of receiving a flu vaccine. Most differences were observed among those who have a recent history of suffering from the flu. Among them, cyclical thinkers tended to rate their likelihood for exposure and contraction to be higher than linear thinkers. However, linear thinkers indicated that they were more likely to receive a flu vaccine. The different patterns suggest the possibility that cyclical beliefs may activate concepts related to cautionary behaviors or pessimistic biases, while linear beliefs may activate concepts related to taking action and exercising control over the environment. Future studies should examine the interplay between beliefs about change and the nature of the predicted outcome.
ContributorsKim, Summer Hyo Yeon (Author) / Kwan, Virginia S. Y. (Thesis advisor) / Neuberg, Steven L. (Committee member) / Cohen, Adam B. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Individuals differ in the extent to which they feel connected to their future selves, which predicts time preference (i.e., preference for immediate versus delayed utility), financial decision-making, delinquency, and academic performance. Future self-connectedness may also predict how individuals compare themselves with their past selves, future selves, and other people. Greater connectedness may lead to more self-affirming types of temporal self-comparison, less self-deflating types of temporal self-comparison, and less social comparison. Two studies examined the relation between future self-connectedness and comparison processes, as well as effects on emotion, psychological adjustment, and motivation. In the first study, as expected, future self-connectedness positively predicted self-affirming temporal self-comparison and negatively predicted self-deflating temporal self-comparison and social comparison. In addition, future self-connectedness had beneficial direct and indirect effects on adjustment, emotion regulation, and motivation. Unlike previous research, this study examined all three components of future self-connectedness, as opposed to only one. Exploratory analyses examined the items comprising the similarity-connectedness component and found that the relation of these items to the other variables in the model did not differ, though some of the relations in the model were moderated by college generation status. The second study tested whether increasing future self-connectedness would have similar effects on comparison, adjustment, emotion, and motivation. It implemented a pilot future self-connectedness manipulation, an established identity-stability manipulation, and a control condition. The pilot manipulation and identity-stability manipulation failed to affect future self-connectedness relative to control, and did not affect comparison, motivation, adjustment, or emotion. Future research should ascertain whether there is a causal link between connectedness and social comparison or temporal self-comparison processes. Overall, this research links future self-connectedness to social comparison and temporal self-comparison processes, as well as well-being, emotion, and motivation, which demonstrates the importance of connectedness in new, important areas.
ContributorsAdelman, Robert Mark (Author) / Kwan, Virginia S. Y. (Thesis advisor) / Grimm, Kevin (Committee member) / Aktipis, Athena (Committee member) / Neuberg, Steven (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This purpose of this thesis study was to examine variables of the "War on Cancer" frame, loss-gain prime, and patient gender on treatment decision for advanced cancer patients. A total of 291 participants (141 females) participated in an online survey experiment and were randomly assigned to one of eight possible conditions, each of which were comprised of a combination of one of two levels for three total independent variables: war frame ("War on Cancer" frame or neutral frame), loss-gain prime (loss prime or gain prime), and patient gender (female or male). Each of the three variables were operationalized to determine whether or not the exposure to the war on cancer paradigm, loss-frame language, or male patient gender would increase the likelihood of a participant choosing a more aggressive cancer treatment. Participants read a patient scenario and were asked to respond to questions related to motivating factors. Participants were then asked to report preference for one of two treatment decisions. Participants were then asked to provide brief demographic information in addition to responding to questions about military history, war attitudes, and cancer history. The aforementioned manipulations sought to determine whether exposure to various factors would make a substantive difference in final treatment decision. Contrary to the predicted results, participants in the war frame condition (M = 3.85, SD = 1.48) were more likely to choose the pursuit of palliative care (as opposed to aggressive treatment) than participants in the neutral frame condition (M = 3.54, SD = 1.23). Ultimately, these significant findings suggest that there is practical information to be gained from treatment presentation manipulations. By arming healthcare providers with a more pointed understanding of the nuances of treatment presentation, we can hope to empower patients, their loved ones, and healthcare providers entrenched in the world of cancer treatment.
ContributorsKnowles, Madelyn Ann (Author) / Kwan, Virginia S. Y. (Thesis director) / Presson, Clark (Committee member) / Salamone, Damien (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Diabetes is prevalent among the Latino population in the United States. Engagement in healthy dietary behaviors, especially as a young adult, is an effective means of reducing risk for diabetes. Previous psychological theories have demonstrated that health beliefs and perceived barriers influence engagement in such behaviors. This research investigated beliefs regarding risk for diabetes among the young, educated Latino population. Study 1 of this research sought to compare health beliefs and perceived barriers to barrier change in the young, educated Latino and European American populations. Latinos reported to have a higher perceived vulnerability to diabetes, but shared the belief in diet as the most important determinant of diabetes risk with European Americans. However, Latinos saw their diet as less malleable in their lives than did European Americans. Study 2 sought to replicate these findings and verify the existence of these beliefs. Young, educated Latinos' beliefs in the importance of diet yet a perceived lack of dietary changeability were confirmed. Furthermore, Study 2 evaluated the efficacy of health messages based in the principle of social proof in motivating health behavior change. Social proof, or social validation, describes the phenomenon in which people who see others similar to them engaging in a particular behavior are more likely to engage in that behavior. Latinos who were randomly assigned to receive a health message utilizing the principle of social proof to motivate healthy dietary changes were more likely to express a willingness to change their diet than those who did not receive such a message. These findings can inform the development of health campaigns seeking to promote healthy behaviors among young, educated Latinos.
ContributorsTowers, Michelle (Author) / Kwan, Virginia S. Y. (Thesis director) / Aiken, Leona S. (Committee member) / Williams, Deborah L. (Committee member) / Basilio, Camille D. (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This study examines the nature of emotion work in a nonprofit organization through qualitative inquiry. The mission of the organization is to provide houses of hospitality and ongoing support to help pregnant and parenting women in need reach their goals, and welcomes them into a community filled with love and dignity. Field observations and participant interviews were analyzed alongside organizational documents to determine if participants were experiencing emotional labor and the ways in which they are compensated for this labor. By extending the concepts of emotional labor to jobs and volunteer positions that do not receive significant financial compensation, the findings suggest that emotional labor is not always performed for a wage. Further, volunteers of nonprofit organizations may find compensation through the fulfillment of personal motivations, unrelated to financial gain.
ContributorsJohnson, Allyse Marie (Author) / Adame, Bradley (Thesis director) / Ramella, Kelly (Committee member) / Bisel, Ryan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
As the United States' military presences in Afghanistan and Iraq are being minimized, an increasing number of veterans are transitioning from the military to pursue higher education opportunities. Due to the military's organizational characteristics, socialization procedures, and performance requirements, this population of students likely faces unique barriers to success in traditional models of higher education. The increase of this unique population necessitates research to evaluate their educationally related social and relational needs so that institutions of higher education will be better able to assist in achieving their academic goals. The student-teacher relationship is a key predictor in students' academic success (Yoon, J. S., 2002). Using survey research, this project examines veteran students' perceptions of their relationships with instructors, characteristics of the organization, communication apprehension with professors and peers, and perceived self-esteem. With the assistance of the Pat Tillman Veterans Center at Arizona State University, approximately 3800 veteran students, in both undergraduate and graduate programs, were invited to participate in the research. The study identified significant relationships between a veteran-student's length of time since separating from military service, their feelings of success as a student, self-esteem, and apprehension of communication with professors. There was also a significant relationships on length of military service, self-esteem, and apprehension of communication with professors.
ContributorsMcconnaughy, Ryan Michael (Author) / Adame, Bradley (Thesis director) / Franks, Tara (Committee member) / Bernard, Daniel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This study examined differences in personal definitions of virginity among college students who had received either abstinence-stressing sex education or comprehensive sex education. It was hypothesized that participants who received abstinence-education would be more likely to perceive virginity as a gift, to be unsure about what specific sexual activities result in virginity loss, to have taken formal or personal virginity promises, to define their own non-vaginal sexual activity as abstinent, and to have pretended to be a virgin when they were not. Two surveys were distributed online to students at a large Southwestern university, and responses from 352 quantitative surveys and 75 qualitative surveys were analyzed. Participants in the abstinence group were more likely to be unsure about what sexual activities count as virginity loss and were more likely to have pretended they were a virgin when they were not. Women in the abstinence group were more likely to perceive virginity as a gift than those in the comprehensive group, though men were not. No differences were discerned between the abstinence group and the comprehensive group in rates of formal virginity promises or in tendency to define their own sexual activity as abstinent.
ContributorsMandile, Olivia Josephine (Author) / Mongeau, Paul (Thesis director) / Adame, Bradley (Committee member) / Alberts, Janet (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Decades of research in cyberpsychology and human-computer interaction has pointed to a strong distinction between the online and offline worlds, suggesting that attitudes and behaviors in one domain do not necessarily generalize to the other. However, as humans spend increasing amounts of time in the digital world, psychological understandings of safety may begin to influence human perceptions of threat while online. This dissertation therefore examines whether perceived threat generalizes between domains across archival, correlational, and experimental research methods. Four studies offer insight into the relationship between objective indicators of physical and online safety on the levels of nation and state; the relationship between perceptions of these forms of safety on the individual level; and whether experimental manipulations of one form of threat influence perceptions of threat in the opposite domain. In addition, this work explores the impact of threat perception-related personal and situational factors, as well as the impact of threat type (i.e., self-protection, resource), on this hypothesized relationship.
Collectively, these studies evince a positive relationship between physical and online safety in macro-level actuality and individual-level perception. Among individuals, objective indicators of community safety—as measured by zip code crime data—were a positive reflection of perceptions of physical safety; these perceptions, in turn, mapped onto perceived online safety. The generalization between perceived physical threat and online threat was stronger after being exposed to self-protection threat manipulations, possibly underscoring the more dire nature of threats to bodily safety than those to valuable resources. Most notably, experimental findings suggest that it is not the physical that informs the digital, but rather the opposite: Online threats blur more readily into physical domains, possibly speaking to the concern that dangers specific to the digital world will bleed into the physical one. This generalization of threat may function as a strategy to prepare oneself for future dangers wherever they might appear; and indeed, perceived threat in either world positively influenced desires to act on recommended safety practices. Taken together, this research suggests that in the realm of threat perception, the boundaries between physical and digital are less rigid than may have been previously believed.
Collectively, these studies evince a positive relationship between physical and online safety in macro-level actuality and individual-level perception. Among individuals, objective indicators of community safety—as measured by zip code crime data—were a positive reflection of perceptions of physical safety; these perceptions, in turn, mapped onto perceived online safety. The generalization between perceived physical threat and online threat was stronger after being exposed to self-protection threat manipulations, possibly underscoring the more dire nature of threats to bodily safety than those to valuable resources. Most notably, experimental findings suggest that it is not the physical that informs the digital, but rather the opposite: Online threats blur more readily into physical domains, possibly speaking to the concern that dangers specific to the digital world will bleed into the physical one. This generalization of threat may function as a strategy to prepare oneself for future dangers wherever they might appear; and indeed, perceived threat in either world positively influenced desires to act on recommended safety practices. Taken together, this research suggests that in the realm of threat perception, the boundaries between physical and digital are less rigid than may have been previously believed.
ContributorsBodford, Jessica E (Author) / Kwan, Virginia S. Y. (Thesis advisor) / Adame, Bradley (Committee member) / Kenrick, Douglas T. (Committee member) / Shakarian, Paulo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Speculation regarding interstate conflict is of great concern to many, if not, all people. As such, forecasting interstate conflict has been an interest to experts, scholars, government officials, and concerned citizens. Presently, there are two approaches to the problem of conflict forecasting with divergent results. The first tends to use a bird’s eye view with big data to forecast actions while missing the intimate details of the groups it is studying. The other opts for more grounded details of cultural meaning and interpretation, yet struggles in the realm of practical application for forecasting. While outlining issues with both approaches, an important question surfaced: are actions causing interpretations and/or are the interpretations driving actions? In response, the Theory of Narrative Conflict (TNC) is proposed to begin answering these questions. To properly address the complexity of forecasting and of culture, TNC draws from a number of different sources, including narrative theory, systems theory, nationalism, and the expression of these in strategic communication.
As a case study, this dissertation examines positions of both the U.S. and China in the South and East China Seas over five years. Methodologically, this dissertation demonstrates the benefit of content analysis to identify local narratives and both stabilizing and destabilizing events contained in thousands of news articles over a five-year period. Additionally, the use of time series and a Markov analysis both demonstrate usefulness in forecasting. Theoretically, TNC displays the usefulness of narrative theory to forecast both actions driven by narrative and common interpretations after events.
Practically, this dissertation demonstrates that current efforts in the U.S. and China have not resulted in an increased understanding of the other country. Neither media giant demonstrates the capacity to be critical of their own national identity and preferred interpretation of world affairs. In short, the battle for the hearts and minds of foreign persons should be challenged.
As a case study, this dissertation examines positions of both the U.S. and China in the South and East China Seas over five years. Methodologically, this dissertation demonstrates the benefit of content analysis to identify local narratives and both stabilizing and destabilizing events contained in thousands of news articles over a five-year period. Additionally, the use of time series and a Markov analysis both demonstrate usefulness in forecasting. Theoretically, TNC displays the usefulness of narrative theory to forecast both actions driven by narrative and common interpretations after events.
Practically, this dissertation demonstrates that current efforts in the U.S. and China have not resulted in an increased understanding of the other country. Neither media giant demonstrates the capacity to be critical of their own national identity and preferred interpretation of world affairs. In short, the battle for the hearts and minds of foreign persons should be challenged.
ContributorsNolen, Matthew Scott (Author) / Corman, Steven R. (Thesis advisor) / Adame, Bradley (Committee member) / Simon, Denis (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017