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This dissertation examines the contribution of user-generated digital content to political candidates' media personas, specifically those of the two major-party contenders in the Texas 2018 Senate midterm election: the incumbent Senator Rafael "Ted" Cruz, and his challenger, Robert "Beto" O'Rourke. Data from online spaces dedicated to each of the candidates on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, and Tumblr platforms from September 1, 2018 through November 14, 2018 were collected and analyzed using Critical Discourse Analysis. Overall, both pro-Cruz and pro-O'Rourke content spaces emphasized the importance of the authentic performance of ethnic identity. In addition, hegemonic masculinity was upheld as an important marker of a candidate's suitability for public office, while stereotypically feminine behaviors were positioned negatively. Heterosexuality was also characterized as masculine (and therefore more desirable in a political candidate), while homosexuality was associated with femininity. Finally, both Cruz and O'Rourke content made arguments based on the personal characteristics of the candidates. While Cruz supporters tended to use traditional symbols associated with the United States and Christianity, O'Rourke supporters used references to popular culture in their characterizations of the candidates. There was also an elision in both communities between American values, Christian values, whiteness, and capitalism. These findings offer several conclusions about digital political participation in candidate image management. First, users generally extend narratives begun by official campaign materials and popular press coverage. Second, traditionally "American" values were upheld across the political spectrum as important for candidates to embody. Finally, the demographics of different platforms can determine what type of content is predominantly shared, as well as whether and how different affordances are incorporated, such as hashtags. As digital content increasingly plays a role in electoral politics, this study contributes to an understanding of the significance of users' digital political participation in forming candidates' images and garnering support.

Each year, companies will spend millions of dollars developing or migrating to new software systems in their business processes. Much of the focus of development and implementation has been based upon customer need (i.e., requirements), and rightly so. Equally important to requirements, however, are the users' perceptions of the software. Does a user actually think a piece of software would help them meet the need identified? Does the user think it would be easy for them to implement this software as a solution? What do the people around the user think and how does that opinion affect theirs? It is important to understand what factors determine whether a potential user will adopt a software application and how much they will use it? A commonly used model for explaining this is the Technology Acceptance Model. Davis (1989) found that subjective belief about a software system is most closely related to the actual intention to use it. Specifically, Davis uses Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use in the Technology Acceptance Model to model intention to use a software system statistically. Neither of these subjective views are formed by a potential user in isolation. The opinions and behavior of others can potentially exert a great deal of influence on an individual's perception of these factors. Davis himself points out the omission of social influence in the original Technology Acceptance Model was due to measurement difficulties rather than to its potential value in the model. Difficulty in measuring social influence is evidenced by the lack of a definitive scale of social influence. By its common use in many studies, Subjective Norm has become the "defacto standard" for measuring social influence but this has not resulted in a consistently significant measure of social influence. The goal of this current study is two-fold. The primary goal is to incorporate a validated scale of social influence into the original Technology Acceptance Model which preserves the model's parsimony while significantly increasing its explained variance. Secondarily, in doing so, a modified scale based upon Subjective Norms will be verified and tested. In response to a recognized shortcoming of Subjective Norm, a cognitive element will be included into the modified scale. In this current study the modification of Subjective Norm was developed based upon existing research on the topic. The Technology Acceptance Model is augmented by the proposed scale and tested over four surveys. Two systems are chosen for study because of the nature of their use; use of one (Filebox) is voluntary, and use of the other (Blackboard) is compulsory. The results of the survey were consistent across all four surveys, with the model predicting over 40% of the variation in behavior every time. Including the modified scale of Subjective Norm significantly increased the explained variance of the model (i.e., R2) in every survey. The results verify the reliability and validity of the modified scale of Subjective Norm. These four studies make a strong case for including this scale of social influence as a regular scale in the Technology Acceptance Model for future research. Future directions for studying the scale and the resulting model are also discussed. The resulting behavioral model is a valuable tool that will give software developers and managers more forethought and insight into the development of and migration to specific software systems. / Ph. D.

Staff auditors often rely on team members as a source of information to determine the behaviors that are normal and acceptable. This may be one cause of the prevalence of audit quality reducing dysfunctional audit behaviors (DAB) within the profession. Social influence theory, applied in an auditing context, posits that staff auditors are influenced not only by the preferences of their superiors (i.e., compliance pressure) but also by their peers' DAB (i.e., conformity pressure). Given the importance of the work performed by staff auditors, I conduct an experiment to identify the role that a peer team member's behavior and a superior's preference plays in influencing staff auditors' behavior. I predict, and find, that staff auditors with a peer team member who engages in a DAB are more likely to engage in a DAB. I also predict, and find, that staff auditors with a superior who has a preference toward efficiency are more likely to engage in a DAB. Finally, I predict that a superior's preference toward efficiency will amplify the influence of a peer team member's involvement in a DAB. Interestingly, I find that a superior's preference amplifies the effect of a peer team member's behavior when it is toward efficiency only, not effectiveness, for a face-to-face request from the client, but not for an email request. These results suggest that peer behavior influences the effect of a superior's preference of staff auditors in the intimidating situation of having a face-to-face interaction with the client. This could be because of the cognitive dissonance staff auditors experience when their general understanding of the standards does not align with their peer's behavior. The results of this study provide insights into a potential risk introduced to the audit engagement through audit team dynamics. / Doctor of Philosophy / Financial statement audits conducted by public accounting firms are frequently performed in a team setting. Most of the audit team consists of younger, inexperienced staff auditors who perform much of the testwork that informs the final audit opinion. Staff auditors’ lack of knowledge requires them to seek information to complete their testwork, from both their peer team members and their superiors. Peer team members may engage in behaviors that reduce the quality of the audit, which shows staff auditors that these dysfunctional behaviors are acceptable. At the same time, superiors often display a preference toward effectiveness (i.e., improving audit quality) or efficiency (i.e., saving time). I perform an experiment to determine if staff auditors mimic the audit quality reducing behaviors of their peer team members, while also considering the preference of their superior. I find that staff auditors are more likely to engage in audit quality decreasing behaviors when their peer team members have done so previously. I also find that staff auditors are more likely to engage in audit quality decreasing behaviors when their superior has a preference toward efficiency. I find that a superior’s preference toward efficiency, but not effectiveness, amplifies the effect that a peer team member’s behavior has on the likelihood that a staff auditor engages in an audit quality increasing behavior of requesting information from the client in a face-to-face interaction, but not for an email request. These results suggest that peer behavior influences the effect of a superior’s preference of staff auditors in the intimidating situation of having a face-to-face interaction with the client. In general, I find that peer behavior and superior preference influence staff auditors’ chosen behaviors.

Yes / Objective: Past research has suggested that social influences on drinking can be manipulated with subsequent reductions in alcohol intake. However, the experimental evidence for this and the best strategies to positively change these social influences have not been meta-analyzed. This research addressed these gaps. Method: Randomized controlled trials testing social influence-based interventions on adults’ drinking were systematically reviewed and meta-analyzed. The behavior change techniques used in each study were coded and the effect sizes showing the impact of each intervention on (a) social influence and (b) alcohol intake were calculated. Meta-regressions identified the association between these effect sizes, as well as the effect of specific behavior change techniques on social influences. Results: Forty-one studies comprising 17445 participants were included. Changes in social influences were significantly associated with changes in alcohol intake. However, even moderate-to-large changes in social influences corresponded with only a small change in drinking behavior and changing social influences did not reduce alcohol-related problems. Providing normative information about others’ behavior and experiences was the most effective technique to change social influences. Conclusions: Social influences and normative beliefs can be changed in drinkers, particularly by providing normative information about how much others’ drink. However, even generating large changes in these constructs are likely to engender only small changes in alcohol intake. / NHS Leeds, UK.

The present study examined age cohort differences in older and younger adults as they relate to perceptions of helpful counselor characteristics. The present study also assessed whether previous help-seeking behavior influences perceptions of what counselor characteristics would be helpful. The social influence model is used as basis for predictions. The first research hypothesis for the present study was that there would be an age by cohort interaction in perceptions of helpful counselor characteristics at both Time 1 (1991) and Time 2 (2001). The second research hypothesis was that there would be a main effect for cohort, with more recently born cohorts preferring more interpersonal counselor characteristics. The third research hypothesis was that there would be a main effect for age in endorsement of the social influence model. The fourth research hypothesis was that there would be a significant difference between the perceptions of those individuals who had previously sought help from a mental health professional and those individuals who had not sought help, regardless of age and cohort. A revised Adjective Check List (Gough, 1965; Gough & Heilbrum, 1983) was used to assess perceptions of helpful counselor characteristics. Chi-square analyses, MANOVA/supplementary ANOVAs, and exploratory factor analyses were used to test the research hypotheses. The first and second research hypotheses were supported. The third research hypothesis was not supported. The fourth research hypothesis was supported for Time 1, but not for Time 2. Limitations of the present study and implications of this research are discussed.

The impact of social influence from others on choices made by subjects and how this influence accumulates was studied by secondary analysis of reported experimental data. To explain this impact a link is proposed between social influence network theory (SINT) and status characteristics theory (SCT). The link formula transforms stay probabilities for different status relationships of subject with one disagreeing other agent into horizontal axis coordinate values while stay probabilities of subject given two disagreeing others are transformed into vertical-axis coordinate values corresponding to the horizontal axis values for further analyses. The results support the utility of the proposed link between the two theories.

The Tripartite Integration Model of Social Influence (TIMSI), is a revision of the classic Herbert Kelman theory of social influence and seeks to provide a theoretical foundation to better understand why racial/ethnic disparities continue to exist within higher education (Estrada, Woodcock, Hernandez, & Schultz, 2011). Using Kelman's model of compliance, identification, and internalization, this revised model suggests that students integrate into academia through these three orientations, renamed rule, role, and value. The rule orientation suggests that students are socialized into the academic community through feedback provided when the student succeeds, thus guiding performance. Through this feedback loop, students comply with the expectations of a student. Later the student will identify with this role and at this point, the individual's personal and academic identity begins to strongly overlap. Finally, students begin to internalize their student identity. At this point, the individual's values are the same as the values of a student. This process can be seen as a process of integration through social influence. The current study had two main purposes. The first purpose of the study was to determine whether or not the Implicit Associations Test (IAT) could successfully differentiate between the rule and value orientations. The second purpose of this study was to further develop the TIMSI model and determine how it applied to the samples in this study, using this new theory. African American, Latino, and white college students were recruited from two universities to complete a survey and an implicit measure of student identity. The current study examined the relationship between the TIMSI and the student identity IAT, as well as Academic Self-concept, Study Strategies, Coping Strategies, Implicit Theories of Intelligence, and Multi-Ethnic Identity. Results indicated that, as predicted, only value orientation was related to the student identity IAT. This study also examined differences in predictive models for GPA and institutional commitment based on race/ethnicity. Results of this study suggest there are significant differences based on race/ethnic groups in predicting GPA. For all groups, GPA was significantly predicted by Academic Self-concept, however, for the African American sample, the IAT score was also a significant predictor and for the Latino population, the Surface Processing Study Strategy was also a significant predictor. Conversely, role orientation was the sole predictor of institutional commitment across all racial/ethnic groups. Differences were also detected between race/ethnic groups in their rule orientation. Implications of these results are discussed in relation to efforts to enhance student retention and success.

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This thesis examines factors, which influence responses on “paper and pencil” evaluations, commonly used with training programmes. A series of ten studies investigated evaluations of a wide range of courses, some taught by the researcher. It was emphasised, evaluations should take into account the educational variables of type of training, type of student and course content. Open ended evaluations were found to be influenced by a desire to react in a socially desirable manner. This interpretation was supported by student's responses on a questionnaire. The value of open ended evaluations as a probing mechanism was emphasised. Activity measure evaluations were found to relate more closely to the effort involved in the task than the to merits of a particular aspect of a course. Likert style structured rating scales were subject to a ‘halo effect'. Students also tended to answer using the favourable end of scales regardless of their real feelings. Combining two evaluation techniques was found to have a dramatic effect on response rate on open ended evaluations and thus validity. In addition response patterns produced conflicting findings between open ended and Likert style scales.. It is suggested the way people complete evaluation forms is partly a reflection of the impact of a range of influences, not formerly linked by research methods texts to evaluation form. It was stressed the educational aims of any evaluation should be established before methods of evaluation are decided.