Over the past three decades, the workforce has become more age-diverse, leading organizations to recognize the importance of supporting the well-being, motivation, health, and productivity of older workers. Previous research has highlighted the challenges faced by older workers, including ageism, health declines, financial constraints on retirement, and caregiving responsibilities. However, the literature often treats older workers as a homogeneous group, neglecting the significant heterogeneity within this population. This study addressed this gap by adopting a person-centered approach to investigate the diverse experiences of older workers. By leveraging the Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) as a conceptual framework, this study examined how different combinations of working conditions (i.e., job insecurity, income inadequacy, lack of work protections, and vulnerability to mistreatment) relate to psychological constructs and work-related outcomes among older workers. Data were collected from 549 workers over the age of 50 (M=59.24, SD=5.85) within the United States and analyzed using latent profile analysis. The results identified four distinct profiles of older workers: Unprecarious, Bridge Workers, Detached, and Precarious. The profiles were qualitatively and quantitatively different, with the Unprecarious profile characterized by low levels of all indicator variables, and the Precarious profile characterized by high levels of all indicator variables. Detached participants reported feeling stuck in their jobs, and Bridge Workers reported high income inadequacy and feeling unprotected at work, but low job insecurity and vulnerability to mistreatment. Unprecarious participants reported the highest levels of need satisfaction, well- being, and life satisfaction, and the Precarious participants reported the lowest levels on all outcomes, with the Bridge Workers and Detached participants in between. Overall, this study sheds light on the heterogeneity within the older worker population and highlights the importance of considering various combinations of working conditions in understanding their experiences, thus advancing our understanding of this diverse segment of the workforce. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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Regardless of industry or job type, most organizations aim to recruit large qualified applicant pools via job advertisements or postings. With little control over those individuals that choose to apply and those that do not, organizations and their recruiters are likely to do what they can to increase their applicant pool. This allows for more options in potential hires during the selection process. In order to control the applicant pool as much as possible, recruiters can try and influence potential applicants through the posted job advertisement. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that many recruiters will write a slightly inflated or overly positive view of the job in order to appeal to more applicants. However, individuals job searching may perceive this attempt as misleading or deceptive. In order to understand perceived deception in job advertisements and what features of their text elicits an overall negative attitude towards the advertisement, this study proposes a mainly exploratory approach to discover if there is a homogenous higher-level construct of perceived deceptiveness or if there is a more person-centered approach via latent profile analysis (LPA) to explain what applicants perceived as deceptive. After the nature of perceived deceptiveness is better understood, this study aims to utilize natural language processing (NLP) topic modeling to find common deceptive topics within different dimensions of the job posting such as, pay, benefits, qualifications, etc. With the limited empirical guidance provided to practitioners, the proposed study can help facilitate research on best practices in job advertisement writing to gain qualified and quality candidates. In turn, those candidates will tend to maintain positive attitudes towards the job and organization, which can persist even after being hired. / Doctor of Philosophy / In today's job market, organizations aim to attract qualified applicants through appealing job advertisements. However, some applicants may perceive these attempts as misleading or deceptive. This study explores whether there is a common view of what is deceptive within the text of a job advertisement or if it varies based on individualized perceptions. This study aims to classify different types of applicants and their associated perception of deception in job ads. This study also employs natural language processing techniques to analyze the language used in job advertisements, pinpointing common deceptive themes in various sections of the job posting, such as pay, benefits, and qualifications. By uncovering how people perceive deception in job ads, this study hopes to provide valuable insights to organizations for crafting more honest and transparent job postings. This can attract high-quality candidates who maintain positive attitudes towards the job and organization, ultimately contributing to improved hiring practices and fostering a more positive work environment.

As the bottled water trend continues to rise across the nation, drinking water utilities have become more concerned with ensuring consumer satisfaction of their product. Although public water supplies are safeguarded by regulations, aesthetically unappealing taste-and-odor problems have led consumers to search for alternative water sources, such as bottled water or tap water processed by point-of-use filters. Consequently, taste-and-odor monitoring has become important to the drinking water industry. Because many utilities use chlorine to disinfect the water, chlorine odor often masks other more subtle odors that may eventually cause consumer complaints. As treated water travels from the water treatment plant to the consumer, chlorine residual diminishes and may reveal a water's naturally less-pleasing odors. Consequently, odor monitoring at the water treatment plant, where chlorine concentrations are at a peak, may not identify potential displeasing smells. Proper evaluation of these odor-causing substances requires that the chlorine odor first be eliminated before evaluating any remaining odors. Dechlorinating agents can remove chlorine, but some will produce other unwanted odors or even remove certain odorous compounds. This research describes the efficiency of several of these agents (ascorbic acid, hydrogen peroxide, oxalic acid, sodium nitrite, and sodium thiosulfate) in dechlorinating chlorinated solutions of the earthy-smelling compound geosmin and musty-smelling MIB. Interfering odors in reusable containers pose another problem in drinking water odor analysis. The most common odor-analysis methods (TON and FPA) involve the use of glass flasks, which often either develop chalky odors or have persistent lingering odors from previous evaluations. Furthermore the glass flasks break easily and are difficult to clean. This research also evaluates the suitability of four types of disposable plastic containers for odor analyses. / Master of Science

<p dir="ltr"><a href="" target="_blank">Improving student motivation and changing students from a negative motivational mindset to a positive one can be a viable way to ensure that students stay in their programs and obtain academic success. While educators and administrators are interested in improving motivation, they may not have the full body of knowledge about motivational theories and make uninformed classroom interventions and departmental policies. Using theory to understand student motivations grounds the research in specific constructs that allow educators and policymakers to easily interpret the results and make better-informed decisions regarding classroom activities and academic policies. Tying motivational mindsets to effective classroom behaviors and learning outcomes can help educators determine what motivational orientations are effective within the classroom, and which may need to be altered.</a></p><p dir="ltr">The work that I have done as part of this dissertation helps to advance the use of motivational theory within the field of engineering education and provides useful insight into the motivational mindsets of first-year engineering students. I conducted a latent profile analysis using data from engineering undergraduate students, combining constructs from two established motivational theories to develop motivational profiles. Using two theories, achievement goal theory and expectancy-value theory, allows me to look at the students’ motivational mindsets based on their expectations for success (Expectancy Beliefs), the perceived value of doing well in the course (Task Value Beliefs), their desire to develop their skills (Mastery Orientation), their desire to look well in front of their peers (Performance Approach Orientation), and their desire to not look bad in relation to others (Performance Avoidance Orientation). These five constructs were used to develop profiles, which were then correlated with classroom behaviors and academic performance to determine which motivational profiles were more effective. Correlational analysis was conducted using either ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis tests, depending on the normality of the data.</p><p dir="ltr">The results of the latent profile analysis yielded five distinct profiles of motivation: <i>Moderate-Low All</i>, <i>Moderate-Low Performance/Moderate-High Intrinsic</i>, <i>Moderate All</i>, <i>High Performance/Moderate Intrinsic</i>, <i>and High All</i>. The <i>Moderate-Low All </i>profile consisted of students who reported lower measures of all motivation constructs than their peers. The <i>Moderate-Low Performance/Moderate-High Intrinsic</i> profile consisted of students who reported average responses related to Expectancy, Task-Value, and Mastery beliefs but scored lower in the Performance Approach and Performance Avoidance beliefs. The <i>Moderate All</i> profile was comprised of students who scored on average along all motivational constructs. The <i>High Performance/Moderate Intrinsic</i> profile contained students who reported average responses to Expectancy, Task-Value, and Mastery beliefs but scored higher in the Performance Approach and Performance Avoidance beliefs. The <i>High All</i> profile was comprised of students who scored higher than the average for all motivational constructs.</p><p dir="ltr">Students were asked to reflect on their use of specific classroom behaviors that were categorized based on the Interactive-Constructive-Active-Passive framework of educational activities. Correlational analysis showed that <i>Moderate-Low All</i> students reported using Passive, Constructive, and Interactive behaviors at a lower rate than their peers, especially <i>High All </i>students. Correlational analysis of academic performance measures also found that there were non-significant differences between profiles related to exam scores, but there were significant differences found in the final grades. <i>Moderate-Low All</i> students had lower final grades than the <i>Moderate-Low Performance/Moderate-High Intrinsic</i>, <i>Moderate All</i>, and <i>High All</i> groups.</p><p dir="ltr">These findings suggest that students in the <i>Moderate-Low All </i>profile are not doing worse in the class because of their exams, but due to not performing the other activities in the class. These activities include large group projects (Interactive tasks) and homework assignments (Constructive tasks). Considering the context of the study and the course that these students are taking, educational recommendations would be finding ways to incorporate more Constructive behaviors (i.e., reflection on their learning or making meaning from the material) into the course, as the class already has multiple Interactive tasks. Further research can also be done to investigate why students hold the views that they do, and whether this is an issue of perception or some other phenomenon.</p>

Psychopathy is a personality disorder that has long been associated with significant behavioral, interpersonal, and affective problems. However, its core components and overall construct continue to be a point of heated debate amongst researchers, despite a robust pool of literature supporting its status as a distinct diagnosis from other personality pathologies. Recently, a subset of scholars have suggested that personality disorders are, in fact, extreme manifestations of normative personality traits and can be adequately identified and modeled utilizing extant measures of general personality. Using a large offender sample, the current study investigated the relationships between psychopathic traits and various domains and facets of general personality, as conceptualized by the Five Factor Model (FFM). The structures of the PCL-R and NEO-FFI-3 were analyzed by comparing a range of structural equation models. The correlations between these measures' domains and facets were also compared to those of extant findings. Furthermore, as previous research has suggested the existence of psychopathic subtypes within this construct, the current study also utilized a person-centered approach to investigate whether these subtypes could be identified within this study's sample and, if so, whether they displayed different profiles on the FFM domains and facets. Results supported arguments that these constructs are related but different from each other, challenging exertions that psychopathy and other personality pathologies can be successfully subsumed within the FFM structure.

This study explored foundation giving in the field of higher education philanthropy in Texas. Utilizing Fligstein and McAdam's conceptual framework, I found that a field-level analysis at the state level uncovered distinct profiles or groups of foundations hidden in the observed data over time. Texas was an interesting case because of its legal history preserving the state's wealth within its borders and its continuous economic growth sustaining philanthropic giving. Using latent profile analysis (LPA), I analyzed philanthropic giving data to reveal three distinct profiles of private foundations. In the four periods, generous visionaries was the smallest profile, lean supporters was the second largest, and balanced benefactors was the largest. Most foundations maintained their profile over time; only a few migrated through other profiles. Despite occasional shifts, the strategic action field of higher education philanthropy in Texas remained relatively stable, indicating persistence and endurance within the field. This study highlighted the importance of understanding foundation profiles for higher education administrators and foundation leaders by offering insights for strategic relationship-building and informed fundraising strategies. Furthermore, the study provided information for Texas policymakers to align state funding with philanthropic trends. Recommendations for future research included exploring foundation giving across different geographies, causes, and periods and conducting mixed-methods studies to delve deeper into foundation behaviors and impacts.