Immigration of Latinx people into the United States has grown in recent decades, with immigrants from Mexico making up about a quarter of the immigrant population. Similar trends are observed in Texas higher education institutions. This expansion of racial-ethnic diversity calls attention to the importance of understanding how social dynamics and personal beliefs may play a salient role in intercultural encounters within academia. Guided by contact theory and anxiety/uncertainty management theory, the current study adopted a multidimensional approach to understand pre-existing attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs that may influence an individual's willingness to interact with an outgroup member. Undergraduate participants (N = 302) from an Hispanic serving institution (HSI) completed a survey that included measures of culture and interaction that may precede intercultural contact. Findings suggest that (a) willingness to interact interculturally was inversely associated with ethnocentrism and negative attitudes toward immigrants, (b) negative attitudes were positively impacted by ethnocentrism, and (c) intergroup anxiety was an important predictor in the study of willingness to interact interculturally. Discussion includes applied and future research implications.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century a burgeoning global private military sector is increasingly involved in areas of defence and security that, up until recently, were popularly thought of as being within the monopolistic preserve of the nation state. Finding itself at the vanguard of profound political and economic change, today’s Royal Navy is increasingly reliant on relationships with the private sector that only thirty years ago would have seemed unimaginable to many commentators. As naval shipbuilding, dockyard refitting, logistics, training, and even warship ownership and manning, move from a unitary state to an increasingly self-organising private sector bounded by a differentiated and decentered polity, this thesis is concerned with boundaries of elite discourse on legitimacy in the political economy of Royal Navy and British naval sea power and their implications for New Public Management theory. At its core, the study presents original research into the attitudes of fifty elite opinion formers directly concerned with the discourse of Royal Navy modernisation and profiles their ideational boundaries concerning the political economy of force and violence. The thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by presenting empirically and framing theoretically the ways in which elite naval attitudes to the political economy of legitimated force have changed and are evolving. The research is important because it challenges what many commentators have come to believe to be an a priori function of the nation state, namely, the monopoly use of force, with the actual views of those opinion formers who currently hold positions of power and influence in and around one of its core ‘ideal type’ institutions: the Royal Navy. The research is also significant because in attempting to clarify the conceptual boundaries of this elite discourse, it also presents a powerful critique of New Public Management with reference to the problematic dimensions of time, economic complexity and socio-political power.

The nature of capital punishment cases makes mortality a highly salient factor during trial proceedings. Previous research has explored the effect of mortality salience on human’s decision making in a legal context. This study extends this vein of research by examining the role death plays in jurors’ psychological processes when sentencing a defendant who is severely mentally ill in a capital trial. The current experiment measured mock jurors’ (n=169) and college students’, n=116) Mental Illness Worldview (MIWV), and then experimentally manipulated type of mortality salience (dual-focused: mock jurors who were specifically asked to contemplate their own mortality and were exposed to trial-related death references vs. trial focused: only exposed to death references) and the type of defendant (severely mentally ill vs. neutral) accused of a capital offense. We found that mock jurors perceived mental illness to be a mitigating factor when dual (i.e., self) focused mortality salience was induced, whereas participants only exposed to trial-related death references considered mental illness to be an important aggravating factor in sentencing.

<p>The current study empirically tested a model of sibling caregiving topic avoidance, including privacy rule criteria as predictors of topic avoidance and both relationship satisfaction and depression as outcomes of topic avoidance. Associations between topic avoidance and its predictors and outcomes were compared for primary and non-primary caregivers. Additionally, the study tested privacy expectations, including information ownership and caregiving talk preference, as moderators of the associations between topic avoidance and both relationship satisfaction and depression. The current study is grounded in communication privacy management theory, conceptualizing topic avoidance as a strategy for maintaining privacy (CPM; Petronio, 2002). Findings validate CPM propositions related to privacy rule development and privacy turbulence. Findings also further understanding of informal caregiving, sibling communication, and topic avoidance.</p> <p>Over 75% of all eldercare in the United States is provided by unpaid, non-professionals (Family Caregiver Alliance, n.d.). Providing unpaid care has been linked to diminished well-being, including negative physical and mental health effects (Cooper, Balamurali, & Livingston, 2007). However, some scholars argue that caregiving is only detrimental in particular circumstances with some caregivers experiencing more benefits than burdens (Roth, Fredman, & Haley, 2015). The current study proposes that sibling communication is a key factor in determining when caregiving is harmful. </p> <p>Specifically, the current study examines topic avoidance about parent well-being and sibling’s contributions to parental care, including predictors of topic avoidance and the association of topic avoidance with sibling relationship satisfaction and depression. The current study includes a pilot study of 207 participants to develop CPM measures of caregiving topic avoidance, benefit-risk analysis, and information ownership as well as a measure of caregiving involvement (including personal care, routine tasks, and emotional support). The resulting measures are utilizing in a main study of 415 participants, testing models of middle-aged siblings’ topic avoidance.</p> <p>Findings contribute to understanding of informal care, sibling communication, and CPM. Privacy rule criteria, including context, motivation, and risk-benefit analysis, were associated with topic avoidance. Surprisingly, gender and family culture were not strongly associated with topic avoidance. Topic avoidance resulted in relationship dissatisfaction and greater depression when topic avoidance did not align with privacy expectations, resulting in privacy turbulence. Differences emerged for primary caregivers compared with non-primary caregivers, including predictors of topic avoidance and direct effects of caregiving involvement on relationship satisfaction and depression. For primary caregivers, involvement in personal care was associated with greater depression, and involvement in emotional support was associated with less depression. Overall, findings further understanding of privacy management, caregiving, and sibling communication and provide interesting avenues for future research.</p>

Diversity has entered the leadership arena, as it has all other aspects of life. As we prepare leaders to lead in a more diverse world and train managers in the skills needed to succeed in a competitive society, we must understand what managers’ activities consist of and how leadership styles differ. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the activities of Chief Executive Officers in businesses from a variety of sectors, document differences in male and female leadership styles, and compare these findings with previous studies. Data were collected through observation and creative interviews with three female and three male CEOs, one of which was a minority. The CEOs had been employed in his or her position for at least two years, and the organizations were diverse, successful, and well-known. Observation notes, dialogue and creative interviews were analyzed using Glaser and Strauss’s (1967) constant comparative method. Variety, brevity, and fragmentation were found in the activities of a contemporary manager, and attitudes toward scheduled breaks, interruptions, outside activities, outside businesses, reflection, communication, technology, and identity were found to be similar between male and female leaders. The CEOs tended to value the importance of breaks, have tolerance for interruptions, participate in outside activities, and establish outside business relationships. Also, they tended to value reflection, have informal and formal ways of sharing information with employees, have been impacted for the better by technology, and have a multi-faceted identity. Additional qualitative and quantitative research was recommended to further explore how studies can help prepare leaders by understanding the activities and leadership styles of contemporary managers.

Virtually every mental health problem carries stigma, but suicide appears to run so counter to our accumulative, achievement-oriented society, that it poses even greater threat of stigma. While suicide is inherently troubling in that it opposes the fundamental human instinct for self-preservation, the tendency to stigmatize and reject individuals affected by suicide appears to be counterproductive and excessive. Hence, the purpose of this three-manuscript dissertation is to gain a more nuanced understanding of suicide attitudes from an exploratory and terror management theory perspective. More specifically, this dissertation attempts to answer three general questions: (1) how do suicide attitudes differ from other stigmatized deaths – namely, unintentional opioid overdose, (2) does death anxiety and baseline self-esteem impact attitudes toward suicide, and (3) can the effects of death anxiety on suicide attitudes be reversed by temporarily boosting self-esteem? To address the first question, Study 1 compares suicide attitudes to attitudes toward opioid overdose death – another type of stigmatized death that has emerged as a major public health issue in the U.S. in recent years. Study 2 addresses the second question by examining the effect of mortality salience on attitudes toward suicide and by investigating whether participants’ baseline self-esteem will moderate this effect, in keeping with the theory’s claim that self-esteem buffers against death anxiety. Building on the theoretical assumptions of the second study, Study 3 tests whether the effects of death anxiety on suicide attitudes can be reversed by temporarily bolstering the participant’s self-esteem using experimental manipulation. In other words, can cultural worldview validation and self-esteem enhancement inhibit the awareness of personal death and promote prosocial attitudes and behavior? All three proposed studies used quantitative research strategies to examine the research questions detailed above. Study 1 used a traditional questionnaire method to explore and compare attitudes toward suicide and drug overdose death; whereas Study 2 and 3 employed an experimental design to test the MS hypothesis on suicide attitudes. Participants were recruited online using an inexpensive crowdsourcing service called Amazon MTurk. Findings from these studies could have important implications for how we understand the psychological underpinnings of suicide stigma and contribute to the growing body of evidence of the role of existential mortality concerns in hostile attitudes and discriminatory behavior. Not only are we confronted with death reminders in our everyday lives, the topic of suicide is inherently a reminder of death – making the problem of death anxiety even more relevant and unavoidable. These findings could expand our understanding of how cultural worldview and self-esteem are relevant to mitigating death anxiety, and the relationship between death anxiety and suicide.

Public speaking has been found to be one of the greatest fears people face in their lifetime. Students, in particular, may feel extremely nervous about public speaking or the anticipated event of speaking to an audience. The purpose of this research study is twofold: (1) investigate the contemplative practice of mindfulness meditation, and (2) to understand the experiences of students who practice mindfulness meditation while enrolled (or previously enrolled) in a Public Speaking course at a community college. Data was collected using a Transcendental Phenomenology methodological approach. Moreover, methods used included open-ended, semi-structured interviews as well as descriptive field notes. Qualitative data was transcribed, coded and categorized into salient thematic findings. The findings of this study detail students’ perceptions about the use of mindfulness meditation. This study informs Public Speaking practitioners about how to proactively manage anxiety and uncertainty by employing contemplative practices to increase successful communication outcomes.

Research on existential mortality fears has indicated that death reminders impact individuals at the cognitive and behavioral levels. One way people cope with this threat is through cherishing cultural values that provide life with meaning. However, little research has explored how death reminders impact cultural standards regarding gender. These cultural values often manifest through various means by male and female groups. Guided by terror management theory, which posits that people address threats to their existence by engaging in culturally-sanctioned behaviors to enhance their self-esteem, the purpose of this study was to examine the effect of mortality salience (MS) on male participants' propensity for sexism and attitudes towards those with atypical gender stereotypes. Participants (n = 136) were recruited from courses at a local university and were selected based on the assumption that they had been exposed to media depicting death-related events. A quantitative research design was used to examine differences between the experimental MS and control pain salience conditions, and to assess effect sizes. Results from a MANOVA indicated that MS was associated with significantly higher sexism scores (F = 15.322, p < .001) as measured by the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory, and with less favorable ratings of peers (as measured by a common opinion rating scale used in previous research in this area) who violated traditional gender stereotypes (F = 13.459, p < .001). The findings imply existential threats may contribute to negative stereotyping based on gender and enhance conservative views of gender stereotypes. Implications for social change are discussed involving the reduction of intolerance and prejudice directed at those who hold opposing worldviews.

As the U.S. population ages the number of family caregivers is expected to rise. Family caregivers are a valuable source of informal healthcare services for patients and the public, in terms of reducing healthcare costs. However, research suggests family caregiving is not only financially costly for individuals, but associated with a number of medical and mental health risks, with spouses at higher risk for negative outcomes compared to other family members. Traditional evidence-based therapies for stress in family caregivers have been shown to be minimally efficacious with spouses. No therapies take into account the existential nature of spouse caregiver stress, including the potential nonconscious role of loss of life meaning/purpose and death anxiety. This study of multiple baseline design preliminarily explored the effects of a novel 8-week Terror Management Theory integrated existential psychotherapy (TIE) on stress and nonconscious mechanisms believed to function as buffers for existential anxiety, in five women with spouses receiving cancer treatment. Methods included ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of anxiety and self-esteem states via text message sent three times daily – and intermittent assessment of death anxiety, self-compassion, meaning in life, and quality of life at baseline, intervention, immediate post, and 1-month follow-up. Visual and statistical analyses indicated significant between-phase trend changes in anxiety and self-esteem within participants, although direction of changes varied across participants. Additionally, changes in death anxiety, self-compassion, meaning in life, and quality of life between phases varied across participants in directions inconsistent with intervention aims and participants’ subjective impressions of intervention-related changes. Mixed findings point to the complexity of spouse caregiver psychology and highlight the need for more effective therapies with this population. Results may also guide future research and development of existentially-informed therapies.

This dissertation examines rhetorics of heroism and immortality as they are negotiated through a variety of (new) media contexts. The dissertation demonstrates that media technologies in general, and videogames in particular, serve an existential or “death denying” function, which insulates individuals from the terror of mortality. The dissertation also discusses the hero as a rhetorical trope, and suggests that its relationship with immortality makes it a particularly powerful persuasive device. Chapter one provides a historical overview of the hero figure and its relationship with immortality, particularly within the context of ancient Greece. Chapter two examines the material means by which media technologies serve a death denying function, via “symbolic immortality” (inscription), and the McLuhanian concept of extension. Chapter three examines the prevalence of the hero and villain figures in propaganda, with particular attention paid to the use of visual propaganda in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Chapter four situates the videogame as an inherently heroic, death denying medium; videogames can extend the player’s sense of self, provide quantifiable victory criteria, and allow players to participate in “heroic” events. Chapter five examines the soldier-as-hero motif as it appears in two popular genres, the First Person Shooter, and Role-Playing Game. Particular attention is paid to the Call of Duty series and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Chapter six outlines an “epistemological exercise,” which attempts to empirically test the claims made in the previous chapters via Terror Management Theory, an experimental paradigm which examines the relationship between mortality, self-esteem, and ideology. The conclusion discusses how videogames can contest prevailing views of the heroic, and calls for a departure from contemporary game design practices.