<p> Confirmation bias occurs when a person believes in or searches for evidence to support his or her favored theory while ignoring or excusing disconfirmatory evidence and is disinclined to change his or her belief once he or she arrives at a conclusion. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether emotionally charged evidence and evidence presentation order could influence an investigator's belief in a suspect's guilt. The study included 166 sworn police officers (basic training recruits, patrol officers, and criminal investigators) who completed online surveys in response to criminal vignettes across different scenarios to record their measure of guilt belief. Analysis of variance was used to assess the relationship between the 3 independent variables: duty assignment (recruit, patrol, investigator), scenario condition (child and adult sexual assault), and evidence presentation order (sequential, simultaneous, reverse sequential). The dependent variable was confirmation bias (Likert-scaled 0&ndash;10 guilt judgment). According to the study results, confirmation bias was least evident in criminal investigators with more experience and training, and both emotion and evidence presentation order can influence guilt judgment. The findings generalize to criminal investigators and attest to the importance of working to include and exclude suspects and to withhold judgment until all available evidence is analyzed. Investigators benefit from this study and through their improved decision making, society benefits as well. This study will contribute to the need for professional dialogue concerning objective fact finding by criminal investigators and avoiding incidents of wrongful conviction.</p>

<p> In order to remain effective in an increasingly digital workplace, many organizations have shifted towards the automatic and electronic collection of employee performance data. For example, employees completing computer-based training may be monitored to collect objective performance information for either developmental or administrative purposes. Though this allows for more objective employee feedback and evaluation, little remains known about the effect of pervasive electronic monitoring on key self-regulatory processes which underlie learning. This study was designed with this gap in mind and explores the relationship between electronic monitoring type (developmental or administrative), goals, and feedback perceptions, feedback usage, and learning. In order to understand this relationship, the current study extends classical theories of performance management and self-regulation to supplement emerging research on electronic monitoring. Results of this experiment suggest that monitoring purpose does not have a strong impact on state goals. Monitoring purpose, however, may affect feedback perceptions. Using the results of this study, evidence-based recommendations can be made for the theoretical understanding and practical of monitored training.</p>

<p> This dissertation focused on how the affiliation and engagement practices that contribute to social cohesiveness result in changes to conversation for three individuals with aphasia that were part of group therapy that targeted improved communication through conversation. It revealed how those changes were made manifest by employing a qualitative research design which allowed the researcher to discover how social cohesiveness is demonstrated in conversation. This design included the administration of aphasia batteries that are widely used in the area of aphasiology and were administered prior to and subsequent to the period of conversation treatment. The design further included medical and clinic records that informed the researcher of the participant's physical and communicative abilities. The primary research tool was Conversation Analysis which by virtue of its dual characteristics of being context-sensitive yet context-free allowed the researcher to examine behaviors in an authentic context and observe patterns within and across participants. Additionally, post-semester interviews served as a lamination tool that, along with the primary and other secondary data sources, would verify or refute the patterns of conversation changes. </p><p> The resulting data were then analyzed for patterns of conversation change and formed three areas of interest; patterns of conversation changes that revealed the member's growing orientation toward group cohesiveness, patterns of changing compensatory strategy use, and changing patterns of turn-taking. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of social cohesiveness as an integral part of group conversation treatment and its effect, as a catalyst, upon improving conversation ability. Additionally, it illustrates group cohesiveness as a multi-dimensional construct that involves an orientation to task and interpersonal cohesiveness. Further, it explicates the relationship between an individual's functioning, personal factors, and context as influencers of the aphasic's demonstration of social cohesiveness. This study proffers important implications concerning the value of a qualitative research design for studying communication changes in aphasia and the essential employment of constructivist approaches to communication therapy for individuals with aphasia. These clinical implications shape the assessment and intervention practices of clinicians who recognize the transformative power of a constructivist approach that requires the situation of treatment in an authentic context. </p>

<p> This thesis utilizes hermeneutic methodology and a depth perspective to explore how women&rsquo;s connection with their bodies impacts their growth during the individuation process. Western culture is discussed in terms of its emphasis on rational thought and progress&mdash;the realm of Yang and Logos. Although the phenomenon of the dominating masculine principle has enabled rapid technological and scientific development, repercussions may exist as a result of the suppressed Yin and Eros energies. Such ramifications are examined in relevance to Jung&rsquo;s theory of individuation and the body. Separation from the body is researched through studies on objectification theory, dissociation, disordered eating, and cosmetic surgery. Alternatively, practices including yoga, Vipassana meditation, Watsu, Authentic Movement, and image-based bodywork are reviewed to illuminate the benefit of somatic connection. Results indicate that integrating the body, mind, and soul through conscious awareness can facilitate Weetern women&rsquo;s journey toward wholeness.</p>

<p> The purpose of this organic inquiry and alchemical hermeneutic study was to explore the nature, essence, and archetype of <i>the other woman </i> with the goal of understanding how and why women become involved in triadic relationships. The study seeks to comprehend the lived experience of the other woman, including her history, character, behavior, ideologies, and desires. This study explored how and why other women are <i>othered </i> (i.e., cast out or rejected) in society, and the resultant effects upon them. A further goal of the work was to understand the dynamics of the triadic relationship from the other woman's point of view and to find ways to ease the pain experienced by all parties involved in and affected by these often complex and problematic relationships, which can lead to severe suffering, alienation, heartbreak, and in extreme cases, even murder or suicide. </p><p> Although she has been with us for eons, the other woman's true identity has been all but erased from existence. She has been buried in the shadows of society's taboos, relegated to the role of the scapegoat, and burdened with carrying negative projections of an ill-begotten stereotype. Using Carl Jung's theories of the archetypes and complexes and James Hillman and Pat Berry's archetypal psychology, the researcher explored and contrasted the lived experiences of the other woman stereotype and the other woman archetype portrayed in film over the last hundred years, as well as women in history, including pioneering feminist, Ana&iuml;s Nin, and the mother of depth psychology, Sabina Spielrein. The other woman archetype proved to be elusive because her identity has been mostly usurped by negative stereotypes. Further, the problems resulting from othering the other woman do not rest in the dyad or in the triadic relationship, but originate with the problem of the imbalance of masculine and feminine energy on the planet. </p><p> The researcher concludes with the hope that the other woman can be re-visioned as just "another woman," on an individuation journey towards the Whole Woman archetype. Keywords: Affairs, Betrayal, Feminism, Film, Individuation, Infidelity, Othering, <i>Whole Woman</i> Archetype </p>

<p> Several demographers and scholars have dubbed the baby boomers&rsquo; transition to retirement as the <i>graying society</i>. Therefore, and recognizing its importance, the main objectives of this study were to learn about the transition to retirement process and its related meanings for baby boomers in the public sector. Using a mixed methodology, 382 retirees shared their perceptions on the subjects via questionnaire and 6 via interviews. This study concluded with a validation of previous authors on the importance of being prepared prior to retirement especially in the case of those with disability retirement.</p>

<p> In American juvenile law, the judicial transfer decision, or waiver of jurisdiction, is a legal maneuver by which young offenders are diverted away from the juvenile justice system and subsequently processed and adjudicated within adult systems of law. Although transfer decisions have a long history in modern American jurisprudence, social science has largely neglected to perform a comprehensive inquiry of the social psychological underpinnings of judicial waivers. The extant social psycholegal research hints to potential links between transfer decision-making and three categories of variables: (a) terror management and social information-processing, (b) uncertainty management and attributional reasoning, and (c) statutory and nonstatutory sources of influence. Two social theories (i.e., the dual-process theory of proximal/distal defenses and uncertainty avoidance/causal attribution theory), as well as the literature on judicial waivers, provided three alternative predictions about the nature of the transfer decision-making process. The first theory predicts that implicit mortality salience (MS) cues activate the experiential system, including terror-reducing distal defenses. The processing of vulnerability cues by legal decision-makers could undermine their inferences about a given case and encourage biased decision-making via extralegal analysis. The second theory presumes that the social context of legal decision-making is inherently inexact or uncertain. To the extent that cases are perceived as ambiguous, legal decision-makers could be prompted to apply attributional reasoning styles designed to manage uncertainty, manage crime and improve the likelihood of identifying satisfactory decision-making outcomes. Finally, in contrast to both social theories, research purports that transfer decisions emerge from a reconciliatory-type process which differentially weighs a wide array of statutory and nonstatutory sources of influence. In order to examine the three variable-categories within the context of an ambiguous waiver of jurisdiction hearing, a two-part experimental approach was adopted. Most legal decision-making studies that have applied terror management theory have relied on traditional mortality salience (MS) induction methodologies (e.g., death essays) without consideration of natural "social ecologies" wherein MS processes occur. Study 1, a simple four-group experiment with 192 college student participants, compared the impact of traditional MS cues (i.e., death essays) versus ecological MS cues (i.e., death-laden prosecutorial statements) on mock-juror behavior. In Study 2, a mock-waiver hearing vignette was embedded in an experimental-based survey. Sixty-four juvenile court judges provided data regarding the relations between ecological MS induction, social information-processing mode, uncertainty management, attributional reasoning orientation, legal considerations (e.g., the <i>Kent</i> Guidelines), extralegal factors (e.g., punishment attitudes) and judicial transfers. In Studies 1 and 2, the Smith-Cribbie-Bonferroni adjusted partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) estimator was applied for all central statistical analyses. Findings from both studies indicate that legal decision-making is not affected by vulnerability concerns. Study 1 also failed to uncover evidence that the traditional and ecological MS cues were similar (compared to control conditions) in their effects on mock-juror decision making, calling into question certain assumptions about the methods commonly used in legal-related terror management studies. Finally, data from Study 2 do not support the contention that uncertainty-managing attributional processes were active during the transfer decision-making process. Instead, waiver decisions appear to emerge out of complex interactions involving particular legal and extralegal sources of influence. These sources of influence include global and specified retributive and deterrent-based attitudes, the degree of legal experience, the perceived utility of specific Kent Guidelines and perceptions toward both the prosecution and juvenile offender. The closing chapter reviews the limitations and implications of the entire investigation. </p>

<p> This hermeneutic study starts with a critical review of three formal approaches to group visioning: future search, appreciative inquiry (AI), and scenario planning. It then establishes a foundation for an archetypal psychological approach to such visioning. The research reviews future search, AI, and scenario planning from a depth psychological perspective and against two sets of vital considerations. The first set considers the participants' psychological relationship to the future and the second their psychological relationship to their groups. </p><p> Future search and AI arose in the field of organizational development; scenario planning first as a military strategy. All three currently appear as interventions for both organizations and communities. However, only future search and scenario planning explicitly recognize the unconscious, and none account for the participants' temporal biases. Zimbardo and Boyd (2008) would describe these approaches as made by futures for futures. They work best when participants already have a future orientation. Furthermore, the approaches vary in the ways they account for Bion's (1961) observation that humans are group animals who are not only in conflict with the group, but also with themselves for being group animals. </p><p> The second part of this study establishes a foundation for an approach to group visioning based on archetypal psychology. The approach begins by identifying the group's dominant archetypes, the archetypes' goals, and the archetypal field present in the external environment. It then links the group's vision to the aims of the group's dominant archetypes. </p><p> This study contributes to the fields of depth psychology, liberation psychology, and organizational and community development. Despite Freud's (1922/1955) and Jung's (1935/1966) negative opinions of groups and organizations, individuals are always involved with a group. This research addresses this fact and its relationship to liberation psychology, which aims to empower the excluded voices on the social margins (Watkins &amp; Shulman, 2008). Some organizational researchers already view organizations from a depth psychological perspective (Corlett &amp; Pearson, 2003). However, none ties the archetypes to the vision of the organization. This work clearly identifies and examines this vital link.</p>

<p> Leader capacity is threatened by a projected gap in corporate leadership as a result of retirements of the baby-boomer cohort necessitating a need to develop effective leaders. Authentic leadership, underpinned by people's sense of self-awareness, has been found to increase employee performance. The purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to examine changes in self-awareness and authentic leadership among volunteers and controls over a 40-day period during which a national breast-cancer walk occurred. A Pearson's correlation was conducted as a control to determine whether self-awareness and authentic leadership are independent constructs. Forty-six volunteers were selected from publicly posted lists of volunteers matched by age and gender to 46 controls that were recruited from Survey Monkey&trade;. Self-awareness was measured using the Leader Self Awareness Scale and authentic leadership was measured using the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire. Both questionnaires were self-administered as a pretest 7 days prior to the event, as a posttest 7 days after the event, and as a follow-up 30 days after the event. Mixed ANOVAs were used to reveal a significant interaction effect of volunteerism by time on self-awareness, <i>F</i>(2, 180) = 59.43, <i> p</i> &lt; .001, and authentic leadership, <i>F</i>(2, 180) = 57.62, <i>p</i> &lt; .001, while no significant main effects for volunteerism were found for either self-awareness, <i>F</i>(1, 90) = .007, <i>p</i> = .93, or for authentic leadership, <i>F</i>(1, 90) = .04, <i>p</i> = .84. There was a significant positive correlation between self-awareness and authentic leadership among volunteers, <i> r</i>(44) = .70, <i>p</i> &lt; .001, 30 days after the event, which was not found in the controls, providing additional confidence in the interpretation of the study results in that self-awareness and authentic leadership were independent constructs. Overall, these findings suggest that volunteerism over time may have functioned as a trigger event leading to enhanced self-awareness and increased authentic leadership. To expand the value of this study beyond the specific venue of the 3-day cancer walk, investigations into other volunteer events are needed as well as investigations into the reflection process. Recommendations for organizations include cultivating employees, who volunteer, in order to develop self-awareness and authentic leadership potential.</p>

<p> In the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11, America was reeling on multiple fronts. While experiencing a collective wave of bereavement, Americans struggled to understand a phenomenon that they had been uniquely shielded from&mdash;that of holy war or the Islamic variant, <i>jihad.</i> Demonizing the enemy was a defensive reaction in the aftermath of 9/11, but cultural projections of "us versus them" fuel terrorist mindsets increasing the likelihood of further conflicts. </p><p> While it is typically assumed that holy war emerges in monotheism, the dissertation argues the custom arises in the polytheistic ancient Near East where indigenous ideologies view deities foremost as warriors. The Babylonian <i> Enuma Elish</i> is an exemplar of polytheistic <i>divine warrior </i> mythologies expressing cultural ideals about warfare as an existential struggle for order over chaos, equated to life over death. The earliest generation of deities fights to the death in epic battles that result in the creation of the cosmos and the human race. The work of humans is to toil for the gods, most particularly in warfare, as earthly conflicts have lethal cosmic consequences. </p><p> The human world of ancient warfare was saturated in the supernatural. Divination determined war strategies and warrior kings were viewed as divinely selected. Immanent deities lived in temple cultic statues carried to the battlefield where they actively adjudicated disputes through war. Warfare is ongoing because polarization between "good and evil" is perpetual. These indigenous customs migrated into monotheistic holy war. While single God religion influences ideas about holy war, polytheistic customs and rites remain surprisingly intact and can be detected in the 9/11 attacks. </p><p> This dissertation engages an interdisciplinary approach that includes mythological studies, depth psychology, religious studies, cultural-military history, archeology, political science, interviews with suicide killers, and field research in the Middle East. </p><p> The dissertation's findings alter concepts about modern <i>jihad, </i> positing that its central tenets are rooted in polytheistic customs and rituals. To the modern mind, the connection between religion and warfare is often viewed as pathological. From the perspective of human history, invoking deities to legitimize warfare is normative and typical.</p>