Parasites often have profound effects on the survival and evolution of their hosts, and hence on the structure and health of entire ecosystems. Yet basic questions, such as the degree of virulence of a given parasite on its host, and factors influencing which hosts in a population are at the greatest risk of infection, are vexingly difficult to resolve. The western blacklegged tick-western fence lizard (Ixodes pacificus-Sceloporus occidentalis) system is important, primarily because I. pacificus, a vector of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, is dependent on S. occidentalis for blood meals in its subadult stages, and this lizard possesses an innate immune response that removes the Lyme disease pathogen from attached ticks. My study focused on two aspects of the I. pacificus-S. occidentalis interaction. In Chapter 1, I investigated factors correlating with the intensity of I. pacificus infestations on S. occidentalis. Infection intensity (parasites per host) is often highly variable within a host population, though certain individuals, such as males, tend to be more heavily infected. Previous work in the I. pacificus-S. occidentalis system suggests that differences in behavior, such as the frequency of territorial patrols, may contribute to variation in tick intensity among lizards. I therefore hypothesized that lizard traits that correlate with dominance would also correlate with infestation intensity. Specifically, I predicted that larger and more colorful males would have higher infestation intensities than less impressive animals. In this chapter, I also focused on site selection by ticks infesting S. occidentalis. Skin folds on the necks of these lizards (nuchal pockets) may function to divert ectoparasites away from eyes, ears, and other potentially vulnerable structures. I therefore also looked for factors correlating with tick attachment in these pockets. I sampled ticks on adult male S. occidentalis in the spring and summer, which is the seasonal peak for both S. occidentalis territorial behavior and subadult I. pacificus abundance. After determining the site of infestation and intensity of ticks on these lizards, I re-infested lizards with laboratory-reared I. pacificus larvae, and again quantified tick intensity and attachment location. Contrary to expectation, no host traits correlated with tick intensity among ticks naturally infesting lizards, and lab-reared larval intensity was negatively correlated with lizard body size. As expected, ticks acquired by lizards naturally concentrated inside nuchal pockets, and I also observed this site preference among ticks in lab-based experimental infestations. Although the general pattern, lab-reared ticks were more varied in the sites on which they fed. There was a negative correlation between infestation intensity and the proportion of ticks attached in nuchal pockets. Unsurprisingly, the most reliable predictor of tick intensity and site selection was the season. In Chapter 2, I explored how tick attachment affects male S. occidentalis contest behavior. I. pacificus infestation has been shown to have negative physiological impacts on S. occidentalis, but mechanisms linking physiological changes to ultimate fitness consequences have been largely underexplored. I hypothesized that tick infestation reduces male S. occidentalis fighting ability by reducing O2 carrying ­­capacity­, or by obstructing or damaging vulnerable structures on their hosts. I held fifty half-hour trials between pairs of size- and ventral badge-matched male S. occidentalis, with one male in each pair infested with lab-reared I. pacificus larvae. I found that tick infestation negatively correlated with aggressive behavior in these staged contests. In support of reduced O2 capacity as the mechanism of reduced aggression, my ecologically relevant infestation intensities seemed to cause significant declines in hematocrit among experimentally infested lizards relative to controls. However, the site at which ticks attached did not significantly correlate with the aggressiveness of their lizard hosts. This is one of only a handful of studies to address the direct effect of I. pacificus on S. occidentalis. My study demonstrates that tick infestation can be detrimental to the fitness of their lizard hosts even without the transmission of pathogens. This insight may prove informative in future work on the ecology of I. pacificus-borne diseases in the western United States. This study is also one of only a few to use parasite infection to induce an asymmetry in fighting ability in intrasexual contests.

This dissertation aims to advance our understanding of workplace aggression by developing and testing two models based on the stereotype content model (SCM) and adopting the social network analysis approach. Specifically, two studies of the dissertation focus on (a) unfavorable social evaluations stemming from competence stereotypes, (b) stereotype-driven negative emotions as a mechanism to explain the relationship between competence and workplace aggression, and (c) the role of informal workplace relationships in predicting workplace aggression. Study one investigates the nonlinear relationship between job performance and exposure to workplace aggression and two distinct mediating mechanisms at high and low levels of job performance. High performers provoke jealousy, and low performers provoke contempt from coworkers, both of which are positively associated with exposure to workplace psychological aggression. The study tested these relations using data from a sample of 187 teachers from educational institutions in India and found support for the curvilinear relationship between performance and workplace psychological aggression and the mediating mechanisms of jealousy and contempt for high and low performers, respectively. Study two examines the role of workplace social ties (advice and friendship ties) in predicting workplace aggression. Results from data collected at 2-time points from 248 individuals in 21 workgroups largely supported the proposition that highly competent employees become victims of covert aggression and low competence employees become victims of overt aggression. Interestingly, the findings suggest that advice-giving and friendship ties mitigate the experience of aggression by reducing coworkers’ envy. However, advice-seeking aggravates overt aggression by increasing coworkers’ contempt. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Language serves as a mechanism through which children are able to interact and communicate with their others. Thus, when children do not produce language at a typical pace, there may be cause for concern. The primary purpose of the current study was to examine the language abilities of children displaying various forms of social withdrawal and children engaging in subtypes of aggression. Participants came from the Brigham Young University Child Laboratory (N = 141; Mage = 4.57; 53% female) and were observed and teachers and parents completed reports on children's behaviors and demographics. Results revealed reticent and solitary-passive children to produce less language compared to their non-withdrawn peers and comorbid aggressive children to produce more language compared to their non-aggressive, physically aggressive and relationally aggressive peers. I then discuss contextual and conceptual factors that may play a role in understanding the relation between language production, social withdrawal and aggression.

Language serves as a mechanism through which children are able to interact and communicate with their others. Thus, when children do not produce language at a typical pace, there may be cause for concern. The primary purpose of the current study was to examine the language abilities of children displaying various forms of social withdrawal and children engaging in subtypes of aggression. Participants came from the Brigham Young University Child Laboratory (N = 141; Mage = 4.57; 53% female) and were observed and teachers and parents completed reports on children's behaviors and demographics. Results revealed reticent and solitary-passive children to produce less language compared to their non-withdrawn peers and comorbid aggressive children to produce more language compared to their non-aggressive, physically aggressive and relationally aggressive peers. I then discuss contextual and conceptual factors that may play a role in understanding the relation between language production, social withdrawal and aggression.

Previous research shows that playing violent video games leads to increases in aggressive feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. However, recent research has questioned the reliability of these findings. Two important variables associated with aggressive outcomes that have yet to be fully explored in the violent video game literature are the competitive aspects of the games and the outcomes of that competition (e.g., winning or losing). The present study was a two (gameplay: violent vs. nonviolent) by two (difficulty: easy vs. hard) by three (competition: no competition vs. competition win vs. competition lose) between-subjects factorial design, with aggressive/prosocial behavior measured as the dependent variable. Results revealed only a significant main effect for competition, such that participants became more aggressive after playing a competitive, as opposed to a noncompetitive game (i.e., regardless as to whether the participant won or lost). Although, there were some violations of the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) assumptions, additional data examining the reasons why respondents behaved the way they did confirmed the initial finding. The present study supports the assertion that competition in video games has an independent and significant effect on subsequent aggression regardless of the level of violence in a video game.

Objectification and sexual aggression are common themes in pornography. However, there are only a handful of quantitative studies that examine the role of race in pornography that included Asian women, a population that has been fetishized extensively and historically portrayed as hypersexual in mainstream media. There were also no studies on the self-reported attitudes of viewers around this topic. 96 male university students took a survey measuring the frequency and perception of their pornography use, their acceptance of sexual aggression myths, their objectification of Asian women, and their propensity to agree with microaggressions about Asian women. Results indicated that while problematic pornography use had a moderate positive association with the objectification of Asian women and acceptance of microaggressions against Asian women, there was only a slight positive association between problematic pornography use and acceptance of sexual aggression myths. Results also indicated that the strength of one's acceptance of racial microaggressions against Asian women and their level of problematic pornography use positively predicted the likelihood of one's acceptance of sexual aggression myths.

Bakgrund: Tidigare forskning visade att det fanns flera bakomliggande orsaker till patienters negativa upplevelser av ett besök på en akutmottagning. Dessa orsaker kunde leda till patienters verbal och fysisk aggression. Syfte: Att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter i samband med att möta patienter som uppvisar aggressivt beteende på en akutmottagning. Metod: En litteraturöversikt av elva peer-reviewed vetenskapliga artiklar. Artiklarna kvalitetsgranskades och analyserades enligt Friberg (2017). Resultat: Det framkom tre teman: 1) sjuksköterskors upplevelser i samband med en våldsincident; 2) vikten av stöd av organisationen såväl som kollegor; 3) professionell utveckling. Våldsincidenter påverkade sjuksköterskor både psykiskt och fysiskt. För att mildra konsekvenser efter våldsincidenter behövde sjuksköterskor stöd såväl av organisationen som av arbetskamrater. Genom att reflektera utvecklade sjuksköterskor coping-strategier och växte professionellt. Slutsats: Kommunikation mellan sjuksköterskor och patienter var en viktig del av sjuksköterskors arbete. Att veta vad som kan utlösa patienters aggression och hur aggression kan förebyggas var en användbar kunskap, som kunde bidra till en god och säker personcentrerad vård. Sjuksköterskor behövde utbildning om de-eskalering teknik för att kunna mildra aggression och på så sätt bygga en förtroendefull relation med patienter och anhöriga. Våldsincidenter kunde påverka sjuksköterskors psykiska och fysiska hälsa, av detta skäl behövde sjuksköterskor kunskap om coping-strategier.

Bakgrund: Sjuksköterskor riskerade att erfara patienters aggressiva uttryck på flera olika platser där hälso- och sjukvård bedrivs. Vissa patienter ifrågasatte sjuksköterskors kompetens, likväl som kvalitén på den vård de fick. Patienter uppgav att en potentiell orsak till detta kunde vara hur hälso- och sjukvården är organiserad. Vissa patienter såg även bristande kommunikation från sjuksköterskor som en potentiell orsak till patienters aggressiva uttryck. Syfte: Att beskriva sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att vårda patienter som uttrycker aggressivitet. Metod: En allmän litteraturöversikt med tio artiklar, varav sju med kvalitativ ansats och tre med kvantitativ ansats. Resultat: Patienters aggressiva uttryck kunde kopplas till olika orsaker, samt vara av fysisk, verbal eller sexuell karaktär. Att erfara patienters aggressiva uttryck kunde få både fysiska och psykiska följder för sjuksköterskor. Sjuksköterskor uppgav även att de hade svårt att hitta hanteringsstrategier för patienters aggressiva uttryck. Slutsats: För att hälso- och sjukvård ska uppnå kravet på en god vård, i möten mellan patienter och sjuksköterskor, finns ett behov av stöd i hantering av aggressiva uttryck för sjuksköterskor. Det är viktigt att sjuksköterskor visar respekt, samt att ömsesidighet finns i relationen mellan sjuksköterskor och patienter för att vården ska vara vårdande.

Sexual aggression is a pervasive issue on college campuses, and many risk factors have been studied in an attempt to understand and reduce perpetration. In the current study, I focus on men's history of child abuse, romantic rejection, and sources of self-worth as potential predictors of sexual aggression perpetration. As part of an ongoing online cross-sectional study (target N = 600), data were analyzed for 72 college men. Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations were used to characterize the current sample describe patterns of relationships between study variables. Results indicate that all forms of child abuse were significantly positively associated with each other, but only child neglect was associated with romantic rejection experiences in adulthood. Child abuse was also negatively correlated with family, virtue, and competition of sources of self-worth. Although too few participants reported sexual aggression perpetration to conduct inferential statistical tests in the current sample, patterns of means indicate that child abuse was higher among men who reported perpetration.

No description available.