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Thesis advisor: Michael G. Pratt / This work focuses on an Occupational Identity Existential Threat (OIET): the experience of a possible permanent loss of an individual’s ability to claim, enact, or draw meaning from a valued occupational identity. OIETs occur among members when their occupation is in such decline that it may not survive. Identity threats from occupational demise can affect entire collectives and impact not only individuals’ identities but their relationships at and with their work; and consequently, can have important consequences on occupational members’ lives. Yet, our current theories are ill-equipped to understand how individuals experience these threats as they tend to focus on non-existential threats coming from clear losses. To address how occupational members experience an OIET, I followed a grounded theory approach and conducted an inductive qualitative study of Les Clefs d’Or concierges in the USA. I have completed about 130hrs of observations and I collected a total of 101 interviews (with 85 informants) over a period of two and a half years, plus longitudinal interviews with key occupational actors. At the occupational level, I find that the leadership of the occupation entered a ‘survival’ mode by providing support to their members, as well as narratives generating hopefulness for the maintenance of their occupation. At the individual level, I uncover several paths that Les Clefs d’Or members followed when faced with OIET: withdrawing, waiting, searching and defending. Each path had distinct outcomes on how individuals related to the occupation, as well as their mental health and relationships with other members. Finally, I describe the theoretical and practical implications of this work. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Management and Organization.

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This paper investigates the literature on stereotype threat theory. Looking for an explanation for achievement gaps in standardized testing and mathematics, Claude Steele and Elliot Aronson conducted a study in 1995 which introduced the term “stereotype threat” to the psychological community. It was hypothesized by Steele and Aronson that stereotype threat is cause by the anxiety that results from a fear of conforming to a negative stereotype that directly affects an individual in a domain with which they identify. Stereotype threat can have extremely detrimental effects on individuals. Since the original study in 1995, numerous studies have been conducted to further address gender and racial achievement gaps. Some of the studies have yielded results in support of Steele’s theory, and some have called into questions certain aspects of Steele’s theory. This paper specifically analyses Steele’s theory and its ability to stand up against specific criticisms.

This experiment investigated the effect of successive threats to the same attitudinal freedom on reactance arousal. Although the effect of repeated or successive threats to freedom was not considered in the original statement of reactance theory, later research suggests there will be special effects. A series of threats in close succession may arouse greater reactance than an additive model would predict. One possible explanation for such an increase in reactance is that the initial threat makes later threats more salient. Another possibility is that the later threat helps to clarify the individual's perception of the threatener's intention; that is, repeated threats imply that the behavior is directed toward the individual with a goal in mind. A second factor in the situation is whether the threatened individual has an opportunity to restore freedom between threats. Experiments on the prior exercise of freedom imply that an intervening reassertion of freedom will weaken the effect of subsequent threats by undermining their credibility. An experimental situation was created in which subjects were introduced to a (fictional) candidate for appointive office. After reading an initial description of the candidate and completing an initial preference rating, subjects received a pair of communications advocating his selection. Then a final rating of preference was made. The first communication always contained a threat to the freedom to reject the candidate. The first variable was the presence or absence of a threat in the second communication (Two vs. One Threat). The second variable was the presence or absence of an opportunity to restore freedom between the first and second communications (Forced Restoration vs. No Restoration), in the form of an essay pointing up reasons against the selection of the candidate. It was predicted that subjects' would exhibit greater negative change (in the direction of greater opposition to the candidate) after repeated threats than after a single threat when no intervening opportunity to restore freedom was permitted. No increase in negative change after successive threats v/as expected when an intervening restoration was allowed. A third variable, whether the second communication was attributed to the original communicator or a different one (Same vs. Different Source), was added to the design to gather support for either the salience or the perceived intent explanation for repeated threat effects. If the initial threat makes later ones more salient, the source of the later threat should make no difference. If the later threat clarifies the intent behind the first, then only repeated threats from the same source should produce an increase in negative change. The results of the experiment were not arrayed as expected. The only significant increase in negative change after repeated threats did occur when no restoration came between them. However, the increase appeared when the threats had different sources rather than the same source. This pattern of results supports neither the salience nor the perceived intent explanations. In addition, the intervening restoration had an unanticipated negative effect on change. These effects were considered as partial confirmation of the hypothesis, and it was proposed that threats from different sources aroused more reactance because they were perceived as different threats, while threats from the same source were viewed as a single, extended threat. Alternative explanations were discussed and issues for future research were raised. / This thesis was digitized as part of a project begun in 2014 to increase the number of Duke psychology theses available online. The digitization project was spearheaded by Ciara Healy.

Acute stress has numerous potential consequences for individuals, from their behaviour to their performance on a task. Psychological models like the biopsychosocial model (BPSM) of challenge and threat, the theory of challenge and threat states in athletes (TCTSA) and the integrative framework of stress, attention, and visuomotor performance (IFSAVP) have attempted to explain the variability in individual responses to stress in motivated performance situations. The BPSM proposes that individuals engaged in a task make conscious and unconscious evaluations of the situational demands, such as the required effort, and their personal resources, such as their abilities. These demand-resource evaluations result in relatively different psychological outcomes namely, challenge and threat responses which represent two ends of a continuum. Both the BPSM and the TCTSA suggest that these psychological consequences have corresponding physiological responses allowing for objective measurements of challenge and threat responses. Performance differences have been observed between challenged and threatened individuals across a range of tasks, although motor tasks have been relatively under-examined within this context. Furthermore, as put forward in the IFSAVP, challenge responses are associated with better attentional control compared with threat responses though this has also been under-examined. As challenge responses are characterised by better physiological, performance and attentional outcomes, it is important to understand what determines challenge and threat responses. Therefore, the aim of this thesis was to examine key determinants of challenge and threat responses and to replicate and extend findings regarding performance and attentional outcomes. Four experimental studies were conducted to test proposed determinants and the aforementioned outcomes. Arousal reappraisal and self-efficacy were found to be determinants of challenge and threat responses across both subjective (self-report) and objective (cardiovascular reactivity) measures. Self-control was shown not to influence challenge and threat responses via either measure while situational motivation regulations predicted only subjective but not objective measures of challenge and threat. Importantly, situational motivation regulations also predicted task engagement, a prerequisite of challenge and threat responses. Across all four studies, there were no performance effects and of the three studies which examined attention, there were no attention effects. Descriptive data trends however, indicated a more complex and nuanced relationship between challenge and threat responses and performance and attention. The findings of this thesis develop the BPSM, the TCTSA and the IFSAVP. They also have several other theoretical and practical implications.

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In vitro selection of functional RNA molecules has formed the basis for a new class of molecules termed “aptamers.” Aptamers have been selected against a wide range of molecules, ranging from simple chemical compounds to multi-cellular living organisms. The majority of selections are carried out against targets, such as proteins, that are typically composed of one type of molecule. Targets composed of multiple types of molecules (lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, etc.) are termed “complex,” and examples of successful selections against them include parasites, virions, and red blood cell ghosts. Through various properties inherent in their composition, aptamers have the potential to play a role in everything from therapeutics to broad based detection platforms. Bacterial toxins are a means by which pathogenic bacteria are able to exert an effect on a host organism. Although there are a few aptamer selections that have been carried out against toxins, there have not been any successful selections against whole bacterial cells. As some bacteria are easily grown in laboratory conditions, the possibility of their use as a biological threat agent is relatively high. Therefore, there is a need develop rapid and reliable technologies for the detection of such threats. This work details two aptamer selections carried out against both a bacterial toxin, Bacillus. anthracis protective antigen (PA), and a Bacillus subtilis vegetative cell. The selection against PA resulted in a high affinity aptamer that is capable of inhibiting the cleavage of PA. This cleavage step is the first in the pathway whereby anthrax toxin is able to exert its effect. The selection against B. subtilis vegetative cells is a proof of principle selection. B. subtilis is meant to be a surrogate for B. anthracis, which has long been regarded as a potential bio-weapon. Aptamers selected against these vegetative cells are shown to discriminate between bacterial vegetative cells of the same genus, bacteria of a different genus, and also spores produced by B. subtilis. With these selections as examples, it is hoped that the role of aptamers can continue to be expanded into viable detection systems for biological threat agents. / text

Stereotype threat is defined as a sociopsychological threat evoked by an evaluative situation in which a negative stereotype about one's group could be confirmed (Steele, 1997). While the deleterious effects of stereotype threat have been demonstrated numerous times in laboratory settings (McKay, Doverspike, Bowen-Hilton, & Martin, 2002; Ngyuen & Ryan, 2008; Spencer, Steele & Quinn, 1999; Steele & Aronson, 1995), generalization to actual testing situations has been limited (Stricker & Ward, 2004). The current study sought to increase ecological validity by examining stereotype threat among racial/ethnic minority students undergoing assessment using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV (WAIS-IV) without explicit priming. Another aim was to reduce stereotype threat by emphasizing the malleability of intelligence, as recommended by previous researchers (Aronson, Fried, & Good, 2002; Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003). Additionally, the relationship of ethnic identity to stereotype threat and test performance and the role of anxiety, a proposed mechanism of stereotype threat, were examined. Participants were also interviewed about their experiences of stereotype threat using a phenomenological approach. A 2(condition) x 3(race/ethnicity) experimental design was used, and 138 college students were randomized to the control or malleability conditions. Due to manipulation failure, the hypothesis that African and Latino American students would experience less stereotype threat and perform better on the WAIS-IV in the malleability condition could not be tested. Qualitative findings suggested that while participants endorsed perceptions of stereotype threat in general societal settings, they did not report stereotype threat while undergoing the WAIS-IV. The hypothesis that ethnic identity moderates the relationship between stereotype threat and performance received mixed support: ethnic identity-affirmation interacted with perceived stereotype threat on Digit Span, but all other interactions were nonsignificant. Lastly, the hypothesis that anxiety mediates the relationship between perceived stereotype threat and WAIS-IV performance was not supported. However, post-hoc analyses suggested that perceived stereotype threat mediates the relationship of anxiety and WAIS-IV performance. Correlational results revealed that perceived stereotype threat and stereotype vulnerability were related to WAIS-IV scores. In addition, students of color reported greater test and state anxiety than their European American counterparts. Implications for researchers, test administrators, and admissions officers are discussed. / text

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