Black Majority Churches (BMC) play a central role in the lives of Black people, informing culture and community. Within the BMC the issues of sexuality and in particular homosexuality are rarely spoken of. However, doctrines in regards to homosexuality have been conveyed in a seemingly homophobic manner, hence individuals experiencing same-sex attraction (SSA) in BMCs have remained silent and unsupported. This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of five Black Men struggling with SSA and adhering to the teachings of the BMC. The study posed the question, ‘How do Black men struggling with SSA and the teachings of BMCs perceive and describe their lived experiences?’ Data for the study was collected primarily through individual interviews conducted with each participant. The transcripts were analysed using Colazzi’s method for analysing data and two major themes emerged: unfairness and needing support. Discussions of the participants lives indicated that they felt compelled to keep their SSA hidden to avoid stigmatisation, discrimination, isolation and rejection. Moreover, they were also discomforted by the ongoing conflict between their homoerotic feelings and their religious beliefs. Additional data resulting from the questionnaires completed by seventeen Black ministers and leaders of BMCS, provided understanding of the context in which the participants were struggling. The findings suggest that there is a lack of a pastoral care approach for persons experiencing SSA in BMCS and recommends that such an approach is developed. Importantly, this study gives voice to Black men with SSA hurting and hiding in BMCs and has the potential to contribute to the resources required by anyone wanting to find out more about this experience and initiate further research.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis examines the use of ballot initiatives at the state level to determine whether the presence of certain types of ballot initiatives cause an increase in voter turnout at the state level. This study is unique in that rather than focusing on individual level voting behavior to explain why an individual may or may not be more likely to vote with the inclusion of ballot initiatives, I focus on aggregate level data to answer the following questions: do certain types of ballot initiatives have an effect on voter turnout? If so, how large is the effect? Collecting data from all ballot initiatives that appeared in the United States from 1998-2014, my research disputes the conventional wisdom that ballot initiatives have any effect on voter turnout during a presidential election. However, my research shows a four percent increase in turnout when any initiative appears on the ballot and a nearly five percent increase in voter turnout when an initiative concerning same-sex marriage appeared on the ballot during a non-presidential year election.

Based on a sample of 814 university students, pro- and anti-same-sex marriage and polygamous marriage groups were established based on students scoring >1 SD above (n = 145; n = 132, respectively) and > 1 SD below the group mean (n = 127; n = 126) on the Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Marriage Scale (ATSSM: Pearl & Paz-Galupo, 2007) and Attitudes Toward Polygamy Scale, which was generated by modifying the ATSSM (ATPM). Compared to pro-same-sex marriage students, anti-same-sex marriage students were significantly more prejudiced against gays and lesbians, authoritarian, religious, and politically conservative. Anti-same-sex marriage students also had less contact with and appreciation for diverse cultural groups, more desire to dominate out-groups, were less autonomous in their thinking, and were more likely to be men. Anti-polygamous students were more strongly opposed same-sex marriage, idealized the traditional family, authoritarian, religious, less autonomous in their thinking, desire to dominate minority groups, and were more likely to be female compared to those who were propolygamous marriage. Results further indicated that, polygamy and same-sex marriage are predicted by different variables, with same-sex marriage being more strongly tied to prejudice against gays and lesbians and polygamous marriage being more strongly tied to beliefs about the inherent morality of conventions surrounding the traditional family. A regression analysis using data from all 814 students yielded almost identical results with regards to identifying variables most predictive of ATSSM. Followup analyses revealed that prejudice against gays and lesbians was the single best predictor of opposition to same-sex marriage and even accounted for the associations between opposition to same-sex marriage and religiosity, political conservatism, and support of traditional marriage and family. With respect to polygamy, data from regression analyses revealed that ATSSM was the best predictor of ATPM. Despite the cultural focus on this variable, however, controlling for ATSSM did not reduce the predictive power of critical variables to a non-significant level. Recommendations for challenging opposition to marriage equality are discussed.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität, Regensburg, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

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Thesis (M.A.I.S.)--Oregon State University, 2011. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-135). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.)--Baylor University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 28-32).

The Same-Different task has a long and controversial history in cognitive psychology. For over five decades, researchers have had many difficulties modelling the simple task, in which participants must respond as quickly and as accurately as possible whether two stimuli are the “Same” or “Different”. The main difficulty in doing so stems from the fact that “Same” decisions are much faster than can be modelled using a single process model without resorting to post-hoc processes, a finding since coined the fast-same phenomenon. In this thesis, I evaluate the strengths and shortcomings of past modelling endeavours, deconstruct the fast-same phenomenon while exploring the role of priming as its possible mechanism, investigate coactivity as a possible architecture underlying both decision modalities, and present an accumulator model whose assumptions and parameters stem from these results that predicts Same-Different performance (both response times and accuracies) using a single-process, a finding deemed near impossible by Sternberg (1998).

No description available.

Thesis (MA (Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / This study explores the discourses in the literature regarding same-sex marriage and their underlying assumptions. Emphasis is placed on highlighting how researchers assume particular socio-political positions in their constructions of lesbian identity and same-sex marriage. The historical evolution of the concept and institution of marriage is traced so as to throw light on the socially constructed nature of a concept we might otherwise assume is fixed. Social constructionism provides the theoretical point of departure for the literature review and is applied through the tool of discourse analysis. The review attempts to explore in what ways the literature itself solves the tension between marriage as traditionally heterosexist and lesbians’ construction of their own identity in the context of intimate relationships, namely lesbian marriage.