Thesis (M.S.), Kinesiology and Health Studies--University of Central Oklahoma, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 44-48).

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological inquiry was to explore college-aged women's experiences of body positivity and self-acceptance. I applied a conceptual framework that blended feminist identity development model (FIDM) and relational cultural theory (RCT) to answer the following questions: (a) what are the lived experiences of college-aged women who identify as having a positive and accepting body image? and (b) how do college-aged women's intersecting identities contribute to the development of positive and accepting body image? Ten college-age women participated in the current study. The participants provided detailed accounts of their experiences of body image throughout their life. Five overarching themes were identified through data analysis of the interview transcripts: (a) advocating for self and others, (b) beauty expectations and societal definitions, (c) intersecting identities, (d) journey of acceptance, and (e) relationships and community. Participants offered insight into the development of their current position of body positivity and self-acceptance that serve as implications for other relevant contexts. Implications and recommendations drawn from the participants' experiences can inform preventative and treatment care in educational settings, family environments, clinical practice, and integrated care.

In this qualitative, phenomenological study I employed oral history methodology, grounded in a life-span developmental and feminist approach, to explore the developmental importance of menarche in twenty older women's "bodily histories." Menarche is an important developmental event in the female life course because it represents a major point of confluence where the various streams of what it means to be female coalesce. Menarche is not only a biophysical phenomenon originating from inside a girl's body, but is a psychosocial transition as well. Further, menarche is a biopsycho-social event which is shaped by sociocultural and historical discourses and may have life-span developmental implications. Qualitative analyses of the bodily histories revealed that the older women remembered their first menstrual periods very clearly. The women spoke of menarche as an abrupt and disruptive event symbolic of adult fertility and sexuality and surrounded by silence. They associated menarche with the imposition of menstrual taboos and rules of adult femininity which restricted their behaviors. Many of the themes that emerged from the women's memories of menarche were also present in their narratives about subsequent menstrual and menopausal experiences. There was a continuation throughout their menstrual careers of the restrictions on their behaviors as a result of menstrual bleeding; the silence and confusion associated with processes of the female body; and the sexualization of their fertile bodies. Further, there was evidence of a continuity well into later-life of the medicalization of their bodies, as well as their use of language suggestive of a separation between their bodies and their selves. The generalizability of these findings is limited; the study sample was small, homogenous, and self-selected, and the bodily histories were collected retrospectively. Implications of these findings and directions for research, theorizing, and action are discussed. / Graduation date: 1996

Financial management planning styles were investigated with original data collected from 180 unmarried, elderly women with a home economics college background and living alone. Deacon and Firebaugh's (1975, 1988) household management systems theory, continuity theory from gerontology, and the construct of anticipatory socialization from sociology framed the study. Three planning styles named by Buehler and Hogan (1986) as Resource-centered (morphogenic), Goal-centered (morphostatic), and Constrained (random) were identified in the pre- and post-age 60 households. Measures of planning styles were adapted from an original instrument developed by Beard and Firebaugh (1978). Resource-centered planning was characterized as creating, increasing, or substituting resources while maintaining goals; Goal-centered as deleting, modifying, or prioritizing goals while accepting current resources; and Constrained planning as getting by day-by-day. Goal-centered measures were the most descriptive and Constrained measures the least descriptive. Planning style adopted in middle age was significantly related to style in retirement. Resource-centered planning was subject to collapse into Constrained planning. Resource-centered planning was correlated with age (inversely) and pension income; Goal-centered planning with handling finances pre-age 60 and satisfaction with financial management in retirement. Constrained planning was related to lower pre- and post-age 60 income, low level or no participation in planning retirement income and greater likelihood of dissatisfaction with financial practices in retirement. A rehearsal was related to financial management tasks rather than simulation of living alone. Among Constrained planners, the formerly-married were negatively affected by financial experience before age 60 and positively by preparedness and participation in planning retirement income compared to never-married. Many (43 percent) lived alone less than a year before retirement. More had money left over after expenses in retirement (61 percent) than pre-retirement (30 percent). Retirement income had been planned alone or with advice (43 percent), with husband (41 percent), by husband alone (4.5 percent) or not at all (8.5 percent). Eighty percent had anticipated living alone in their later years. Financial planning styles in retirement appear to reflect a pre-retirement rehearsal of family paradigms, financial practices, and planning style. / Graduation date: 1995

There is increasing recognition of the importance of older adults in providing support to and maintaining relationships with their nonkin peers. Social trends, such as smaller family size, may reduce the role of family members and increase the importance of nonkin peers in providing help to the elderly. Relationships with peers have a greater influence on the well-being of the elderly than do interactions with family members. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of perceived reciprocity of aid exchange and relationship quality among elderly female nonkin peers from a social exchange perspective. A review of the literature led to the hypotheses that perceived reciprocity of instrumental, social, and total aid exchange would have a curvilinear association with relationship quality. The volunteer sample of 62 women over 60 years of age participated in interviews tapping help given and received, demographic data, and relationship quality. Respondents were more likely to be widowed and to have lower incomes than the general population; the average respondent's health was fair to good. A series of three polynomial regression analyses were used to determine if perceptions of reciprocity in aid exchange had a linear or curvilinear association with relationship quality. Data suggest that respondents perceived a greater exchange of socioemotional than instrumental help and reported giving more help than they received. The perceived amount of help exchanged was low compared to other studies while perceived relationship quality was relatively high. Regardless of the operationalization of reciprocity as a linear or a curvilinear term, perceived reciprocity among older female nonkin peers was not helpful in explaining variance in relationship quality. This lack of association held for perceived reciprocity in instrumental, socioemotional, and total help exchanged. Limitations in the study and possible reasons for the nonsignificant outcomes are addressed. / Graduation date: 1993

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Oregon State University, 2003. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 183-192). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Westminster Theological Seminary, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 257-261).

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund Universitet, 1988. / Extra t.p. with thesis statement inserted. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: Shirley Laffrey. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.