Matching Items (29)
Description
ABSTRACT Students who drop out of high school experience lower incomes and greater unemployment and are at higher risk of becoming part of the adult corrections system and of needing public assistance. Historically, Latino/a youth, particularly Mexican American youth, have been at particularly high risk for underachievement and dropping out of high school. Because Latino/as are the fastest growing ethnic group in the United States, their struggle in education means a larger, undereducated work force. In spite of demographic factors such as poverty, language barriers, and discrimination that potentially can adversely impact the success of the children of Mexican immigrant parents, some of these parents are taking steps to help their children succeed in high school and to enter college. While parental involvement has been generally linked to improving students' outcomes and attitudes toward school, few studies have focused on minority parents, particularly Latino/as. Even fewer have conducted qualitative studies to develop a deeper understanding of parents' beliefs, values, and actions taken to help their children. Through semi-structured interviews and grounded theory analysis, this qualitative study investigated how and why Mexican immigrant parents help their children succeed in school. Six themes emerged from the data: 1) parents' motivations stem from childhood adversity, the belief that there are opportunities in the U.S. for people who succeed academically, and unrealized dreams to pursue their own education; 2) parents' actions primarily included behaviors at home; 3) the influence of "La Familia" (the protective force of the family); 4) the influence of discipline; 5) the influence of teachers and principals who recognized and supported their children's academic success; and 6) the influence of the children themselves. Despite variations in educational attainment and income levels, the parents' values, beliefs, and actions were similar to each other and reflect their Mexican cultural upbringing. By developing a deeper understanding of the parents' beliefs, values, and actions, more culturally informed and strength-based, parent-involvement approaches can be developed for similar Mexican immigrant parents. Implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are explored.
ContributorsGoldsmith, Jill S (Author) / Robinson Kurpius, Sharon (Thesis advisor) / Randall, Ashley K. (Committee member) / Arciniega, G. Miguel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
ABSTRACT
This study examines the ways in which employees experience moral emotions that violate employee treatment and how employees co-construct moral emotions and subsequent expressions of dissent. This qualitative study consisted of 123 full-time employees and utilized open-coding, content analysis, constant comparison analysis, and concept mapping. The analysis revealed that employees expressed dissent laterally as a series of sensemaking processes, such as validation of feelings, moral assessments, and assessing the fear of moral transgressions. Employees also expressed dissent as a series of risk assessments that overlapped with the ways in which employees made sense of the perceived infraction. Employees' lateral dissent expression manifested as a form of social support which occasionally led to co-rumination. Employees expressed dissent upwardly when seeking a desired action or change. Circumvention was utilized as a direct reflection to the type and degree of moral transgression related to the person responsible for the mistreatment. Results indicated that experiencing moral emotions that led to expressing dissent with a designated audience was determined by where employees were situated in the cyclical model of communicating moral emotions and in relation to the co-construction of both the infraction related to employee mistreatment and the experience of moral emotions. Results contribute to the existing body of literature on dissent and emotions. A discussion synthesizing the findings and analysis is presented, in addition to the implications for future research.
KEYWORDS: Emotion, Dissent, Moral Emotions, Sensemaking, Risk-Assessment, Social Support, Co-Rumination
This study examines the ways in which employees experience moral emotions that violate employee treatment and how employees co-construct moral emotions and subsequent expressions of dissent. This qualitative study consisted of 123 full-time employees and utilized open-coding, content analysis, constant comparison analysis, and concept mapping. The analysis revealed that employees expressed dissent laterally as a series of sensemaking processes, such as validation of feelings, moral assessments, and assessing the fear of moral transgressions. Employees also expressed dissent as a series of risk assessments that overlapped with the ways in which employees made sense of the perceived infraction. Employees' lateral dissent expression manifested as a form of social support which occasionally led to co-rumination. Employees expressed dissent upwardly when seeking a desired action or change. Circumvention was utilized as a direct reflection to the type and degree of moral transgression related to the person responsible for the mistreatment. Results indicated that experiencing moral emotions that led to expressing dissent with a designated audience was determined by where employees were situated in the cyclical model of communicating moral emotions and in relation to the co-construction of both the infraction related to employee mistreatment and the experience of moral emotions. Results contribute to the existing body of literature on dissent and emotions. A discussion synthesizing the findings and analysis is presented, in addition to the implications for future research.
KEYWORDS: Emotion, Dissent, Moral Emotions, Sensemaking, Risk-Assessment, Social Support, Co-Rumination
ContributorsKamrath, Jessica K (Author) / Kassing, Jeffrey W. (Thesis advisor) / Waldron, Vincent R. (Committee member) / Meân, Lindsey J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
ABSTRACT
Colorism is the intra-racial system of inequality based on skin color, hair texture, and facial features. In the African American culture, colorism has deeply rooted origins that continue to affect the lives of African Americans today. This study examined how colorism effects perceptions of personal characteristics, personal attributes, work ability, and hiring decisions of African American women 18 and older.
Participants for this study consisted of 188 African American women who self-identified as African American/Black and who were over 18 years of age living in the United States. All participants completed a demographic sheet and three instruments: Occupational Work Ethic Inventory (OWEI; Petty, 1995), Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ; Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1974) and Personal Efficacy Beliefs Scale (PEBS; Riggs et al., 1994). They were randomly assigned to one of six vignettes describing a young African American/Black woman applying for a job. She was described as having one of three skin-tones (light, brown, or dark) and having kinky or straight hair.
A multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) failed to reveal differences in personal characteristics, personal attributes, and work ability due to skin tone or to hair texture. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that hair texture predicted hiring decision, after controlling for relevant demographic variables. Participant education and vignette hair texture influenced hiring decisions, accounting for 8.2% of the variance. The woman in the vignette with straight hair was more likely to be recommended for hire and more educated participants were more likely to recommend hiring. These findings suggest that education may be an important factor in changing the influence of colorism in African American culture and that hair texture may be a factor of colorism that influences hiring of applicants.
Colorism is the intra-racial system of inequality based on skin color, hair texture, and facial features. In the African American culture, colorism has deeply rooted origins that continue to affect the lives of African Americans today. This study examined how colorism effects perceptions of personal characteristics, personal attributes, work ability, and hiring decisions of African American women 18 and older.
Participants for this study consisted of 188 African American women who self-identified as African American/Black and who were over 18 years of age living in the United States. All participants completed a demographic sheet and three instruments: Occupational Work Ethic Inventory (OWEI; Petty, 1995), Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ; Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1974) and Personal Efficacy Beliefs Scale (PEBS; Riggs et al., 1994). They were randomly assigned to one of six vignettes describing a young African American/Black woman applying for a job. She was described as having one of three skin-tones (light, brown, or dark) and having kinky or straight hair.
A multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) failed to reveal differences in personal characteristics, personal attributes, and work ability due to skin tone or to hair texture. Multiple linear regression analyses revealed that hair texture predicted hiring decision, after controlling for relevant demographic variables. Participant education and vignette hair texture influenced hiring decisions, accounting for 8.2% of the variance. The woman in the vignette with straight hair was more likely to be recommended for hire and more educated participants were more likely to recommend hiring. These findings suggest that education may be an important factor in changing the influence of colorism in African American culture and that hair texture may be a factor of colorism that influences hiring of applicants.
ContributorsHowell, Morgan Saraya (Author) / Robinson-Kurpius, Sharon (Thesis advisor) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Randall, Ashley K. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The current study is the first qualitative investigation aimed solely at understanding what it means to communicate conditional forgiveness in serious romantic relationships. Conditional forgiveness is forgiveness that has been offered with the stipulation that the errant behavior cease. It is a provocative topic because some argue genuine forgiveness is not conditional, but recent discoveries that have associated its use with severe transgressions and relational deterioration suggest it is a critical site for investigation. This inductive analysis of open-ended data from 201 anonymous surveys identified both distinctions between and intersections of conditional forgiveness, forgiveness, and reconciliation. A relational dialectics analysis also revealed that reconcilable-irreconcilable was the overarching tension for conditional forgivers and six additional tensions also were also discovered: individual identity-couple identity, safety-risk, certainty-uncertainty, mercy-justice, heart-mind, and expression-suppression. Of particular intrigue, the current analysis supports the previous discovery of implicit conditional forgiveness--suppressing conditions, sometimes in response to physical and substance abuse. Ultimately, the current analysis contributes to the enduring conversation aimed at understanding the communication and pursuit of forgiveness and reconciliation. It addresses one of the basic instincts and paradoxes of existing with others--the balance between vulnerability and protection.
ContributorsKloeber, Dayna Noel (Author) / Waldron, Vincent R. (Thesis advisor) / Kelley, Douglas L. (Committee member) / Kassing, Jeffrey W. (Committee member) / Fisher, Carla L. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
As women enter STEM fields they are often presented with chilly climates. The chilly climate refers to incidents of sexism, isolation, and pressure to prove themselves to peers and higher level academics (Callister, 2006; Hall & Sandler, 1982). For women of color, the status of being a double minority can intensify the psychological distress experienced by students (Joseph, 2012; Ong, 2011; Malcom, Hall, & Brown, 1976). For minority populations in STEM, loneliness is experienced due to lack of belonging and social isolation (Morris & Daniel, 2008; Walton & Cohen, 2007). This study sought to investigate whether social support could serve as a protective factor in the negative relationship between loneliness and psychological well-being (Cohen, 2004; Lawson, 2001; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) for those who hold a minority status. In addition, this study explored differences in the associations between loneliness, social support, and psychological well being and whether or not the moderation relationships were different for sub-groups based on gender or ethnic minority status. Cross-sectional data from 205 STEM graduate students was collected through an online study. A hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the buffering effects (Barron & Kenny, 1986) of global social support (total support from friends, family, and significant others) and family social support specifically. Model results suggested that global social support buffers the negative associations between loneliness and psychological well-being for less lonely minority participants in the study. Family social support buffered the associations of loneliness on psychological well-being for men with less loneliness. An unexpected finding in the present study revealed that for men and non –minority participants with high loneliness, psychological well-being decreased as family support increased. These results highlight the need for further research exploring through which mechanisms social support works as a buffer against loneliness in the sub-groups within STEM graduate student populations. The findings of this study could inform practices focused on the recruitment and retention of underrepresented STEM graduate students.
ContributorsAnderson, Mercedes (Author) / Bernstein, Bianca L. (Thesis advisor) / Randall, Ashley K. (Committee member) / Tracey, Terence (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Blended families including half siblings (brothers/sisters who share only one biological parent, most likely a product of divorce and remarriage) are becoming increasingly prevalent in Western societies. Studies have determined the negative outcomes of sharing only one biological parent on familial relationships, but less so on how half siblings may be resilient in the wake of restructuration and cultivate positive relationships overtime and into adulthood. This study applied a systems and resilience perspective to understand how blended family structure influences this unique sibling dyad. This research includes two studies. First, seventeen older half siblings who define their current sibling relationship as positive participated in a retrospective turning points interview. The second study required sixteen additional participants to keep a two-week daily diary on their communication with immediate family members, including half siblings. These two studies combined shed light on the typical communication practices between positive half siblings, including which behaviors contribute to prosocial relational sibling maintenance. Results detailed 23 prosocial relational maintenance behaviors. The maintenance behaviors positivity, joint activities, openness, and parental intervention were most significant in contributing to a positive half sibling relationship. Three novel maintenance behaviors (parental intervention, awareness of maturity, and mentoring behavior) were also identified to contribute to existing maintenance literature. Theoretical and practical implications for scholars and practitioners alike are discussed.
ContributorsOliver, Bailey M (Author) / Alberts, Jess K. (Thesis advisor) / Waldron, Vincent R. (Committee member) / Randall, Ashley K. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Emotional support messages can benefit recipients; however, verbal and nonverbal aspects of these messages can vary in effectiveness, and the process of communicating support can be stressful to some supporters. One potential behavior that may yield more effective support messages for recipients while reducing anxiety and stress for supporters is message planning. Thus, planning theory is used to test whether planning influences message effectiveness, nonverbal delivery of messages, self-reported anxiety, and physiological stress markers. Additionally, an individual’s trait-level reticence and prior support experiences are predicted to moderate the effects of message planning. One hundred laboratory participants were assigned to either a planning condition or writing distraction task and completed a series of self-report and physiological measures before, during, and after recording an emotional support message to a friend who had hypothetically been diagnosed with a serious form of cancer. Subsequently, a sample of one hundred cancer patients viewed the laboratory participants’ videos to provide message effectiveness ratings and four trained coders provided data on nonverbal behaviors from these recorded messages. Findings showed planning leads to more effective messages; however, it also leads to supporters engaging in success bias and inflation bias. Planning also increased vocal fluency, but not other nonverbal behaviors. Likewise, planning attenuated heart rate reactivity, but not other physiological markers. In general, experience and reticence did not moderate these main effects. Theoretical, practical, clinical, pedagogical, and methodological implications are discussed.
ContributorsRay, Colter D (Author) / Floyd, Kory W (Thesis advisor) / Mongeau, Paul A. (Thesis advisor) / Randall, Ashley K. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
This research examines the communicative processes of resilience in the organizational context of public education. The research utilizes one-on-one interviews to elicit descriptions of resilience and well-being and collect stories of success and overcoming challenges. The study purpose is two-fold: (1) to understand the ways in which organizational members construct and enact resilience individually and collectively through their talk and stories, and (2) to extend the communication theory of resilience through an empirical investigation of resilience in an organizational context. An iterative, thematic analysis of interview data revealed that resilience, as lived, is a socially constructed, collective process. Findings show resilience in this context is (1) socially constructed through past and present experiences informing the ways organizational members perceive challenges and opportunities for action, (2) contextual in that most challenges are perceived positively as a way to contribute to individual and organizational goals and as part of a “bigger purpose” to students, (3) interactional in that it is constructed and enacted collaboratively through social processes, (4) reciprocal in that working through challenges leads to experience, confidence, and building a repertoire of opportunities for action that become a shared experience between educators and is further reciprocated with students, and (5) is enacted through positive and growth mindsets. This study offers theoretical contributions by extending the communication theory of resilience and illuminating intersections to sensemaking, flow, and implicit person theory. I offer five primary practical applications, discuss limitations, and present future directions highlighting community development and strengths-based approaches.
ContributorsKamrath, Jessica K (Author) / Tracy, Sarah J. (Thesis advisor) / Adame, Elissa A. (Committee member) / Cloutier, Scott (Committee member) / Waldron, Vincent R. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Sexual satisfaction has been positively linked to both individual and relational wellbeing (Christopher & Sprecher, 2000; Davison, Bell, LaChina, Holden, & Davis, 2009). Further, sexual communication has demonstrated positive impacts on sexual satisfaction (Byers, 2005); yet, research by MacNeil and Byers (2009) found that most people in romantic relationships do not share their sexual preferences with their partner. According to Tolman (2002), women seem to be especially reluctant to communicate sexually, due to the particular societal restrictions placed on expressions of female sexuality and desire. This study aims to understand how emerging adult women communicate with their sexual partners in order to increase pleasure, what barriers exist to sexual communication for these women, and how gendered social norms are expressed in the process. Based on interviews with 19 women between the ages of 20-29, the findings of this study suggest that emerging women often place more weight on social expectations of appropriate female sexual expression than relational context when choosing whether or not and/or how to sexually self-disclose. Further, the women in this study were at varying stages of renegotiating their internalization of the prioritization of male sexual pleasure over female pleasure.
ContributorsFarnworth, Megan Jacobs (Author) / Waldron, Vincent R. (Thesis advisor) / Feinstein, Brian A (Committee member) / Mean, Lindsey (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between characteristics of the symptomatology change curve (i.e., initial symptomatology, rate of change, curvature) and final treatment outcome. The sample consisted of community clients (N = 492) seen by 204 student therapists at a training clinic. A multilevel approach to account for therapist effects was followed. Linear, quadratic, and cubic trajectories of anxiety and depression symptomatology, as assessed by the Shorter Psychotherapy and Counseling Evaluation (sPaCE; Halstead, Leach, & Rust, 2007), were estimated. The multilevel quadratic trajectory best fit the data and depicted a descending curve (partial “U”-shaped). The quadratic growth parameters (intercept, slope, quadratic) were then used as predictors of both symptom change and reliable improvement in general symptomatology (pre- to post-treatment), as assessed by the Outcome Questionnaire-45.2 (OQ-45.2; Lambert, Hansen, Umpress, Lunen, Okiishi et al., 1996). The quadratic growth parameters of depression and anxiety showed predictive power for both symptom change and reliable improvement in general symptomatology. Patterns for two different successful outcomes (1-change in general symptomatology and 2-reliable improvement) were identified. For symptom change, successful outcomes followed a pattern of low initial levels of depression and anxiety, high initial rates of change (slope), and high (flattening after initial drop) curvature, and the pattern applied to both within- and between-therapist levels. For reliable improvement at within-therapist level, successful outcomes followed a pattern of high initial rate of change (slope) and high curvature. For reliable improvement at between-therapist level, successful outcomes were associated with a pattern of low initial levels of depression and anxiety. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.
ContributorsJimenez Arista, Laura E (Author) / Tracey, Terence (Thesis advisor) / Kinnier, Richard (Committee member) / Bernstein, Bianca (Committee member) / Randall, Ashley K. (Committee member) / Levy, Roy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018