18431 research outputs found
Sort by
The Effect of Impersonal Language Structures in Portuguese and English on Bilinguals’ Ability to Endure Hunger
Get PDFDo differences in linguistic structures affect the way speakers of those languages experience hunger? This experiment hypothesizes that they do, under the premise that our experience of the world (colors, emotions, and physiological sensations alike) is shaped by highly variable language-based conceptual knowledge. This study investigates how differing structures of impersonality in Portuguese and English affect bilingual speakers’ ability to endure hunger. In total, 162 Portuguese-English bilinguals would be randomly assigned to a fasting and language condition and asked to answer questions regarding their perceived ability to fast until the next day. Their answers, as well as the time between the completion of the study and their next meal, would be encoded as a hunger endurance score indicative of how capable they feel of fasting until the following morning. The results are expected to show a significant main effect of language on hunger endurance, with participants exposed to Portuguese reporting higher hunger endurance scores than those exposed to English. A main effect of hunger on hunger endurance is also expected to be observed, with satiated participants earning higher endurance scores than their fasted counterparts. Lastly, a significant interaction between language and hunger is expected, whereby only fasted participants exposed to Portuguese would demonstrate more hunger endurance based on the questions they answer. Language is not expected to have an effect on participants in the satiated condition
Hooked by Design: How Social Media Makes and Breaks Us
Get PDFThis thesis examines the evolving influence of social media platforms on user behavior, corporate engagement, and digital communication norms. Tracing the historical emergence of major platforms, it analyzes how psychological principles underlying attraction, engagement, and retention have been embedded within digital environments to shape user experiences. Drawing on case studies and international examples, the research highlights how cultural and economic factors — particularly in the United States — have influenced the adoption and monetization of social media. The study also explores broader shifts, including the rising commercialization of digital spaces and the evolving role of social media as both an information gateway and a tool for corporate reputation management. By connecting behavioral psychology with the strategic evolution of platform design and user interaction, the thesis offers new insights into how digital ecosystems mold consumer behavior and reshape global communication patterns
The Paradox of Pleasure: How Sex-Positive Feminism Constrains Female Freedom
Get PDFThis thesis critiques popular sex-positive narratives that espouse sex as the path to female liberation and empowerment despite ideological and material constraints that tailor female sexual expression to male desires. It interrogates sex-positive feminism\u27s evolution and impact on female freedom. Despite its progressive intentions, mainstream sex-positive discourse has paradoxically constrained female freedom. This thesis analyzes how sex positivity inhibited female freedom, developing a nuanced framework of negative, positive, and republican freedom. This framework elucidates new constraints introduced by pro-sex thinking, such as compulsory female sexuality, the commodification of women under capitalism, and intersectional oversights in sex-positive thinking that particularly affect marginalized women. With a detailed intersectional and material critique of sex-positive thinking, this work contends that pro-sex feminism has unintentionally reinforced female sexualization and commodification, limiting female freedom, and perpetuating their domination. Ultimately, this work proposes a refined pro-erotic framework that defines empowering sexual encounters and provides safeguards against the malaise of pro-sex thinking. With the pro-erotic framework, it is possible to critically address the shortcomings of sex positivity while promoting a more authentic, reflective, and intersectionally inclusive feminist praxis that enhances female freedom
The Counter-Cyclicality of Earnings Management: Evidence Through 2024
Get PDFThis thesis examines the relationship between macroeconomic conditions and earnings management, extending the analysis of Hillegeist and Lin (2019) using updated data through 2024. Based on 16,635 firm-quarter observations, my study affirms the results found in prior literature and confirms that there is a negative association between the change in GDP and the direction of firms’ earnings management behavior, indicating that earnings management is counter-cyclical. My study also finds that firms manage earnings asymmetrically based on the current macroeconomic state, with firms managing earnings more in economic downturns and less in expansions. My findings suggest that despite major macroeconomic and institutional changes in recent years, the relationship between economic conditions and earnings management behavior persists. My results have important implications for investors, regulators, and external monitors concerned with the reliability and accuracy of reported earnings across the business cycle
The Sectoral Impact of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act: An Event Study of Finance and Energy Firms
No full textThe Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) was passed in response to multiple widespread accounting scandals in the United States. Although SOX applied to all publicly traded firms, its impact was not felt proportionately across different industries. This thesis examines how finance and energy firms responded to legislative developments leading up to the passage of SOX. In order to do this, I used an event study framework and analyzed abnormal stock returns around five prominent SOX-related events to test my hypotheses: SOX had a negative impact on stock returns for firms in the finance and energy sectors, and the finance sector experienced a greater negative impact than the energy sector. Data on stock returns were collected from Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS), and expected returns were estimated using the Fama-French Three Factor Model. After conducting this analysis, my findings suggest that SOX-related events hurt firm valuations, but only at certain times. However, reactions did vary across sectors. Financial firms were hit harder than energy firms, which supports the idea that industries that are more closely tied to financial reporting and regulatory oversight were more vulnerable to regulatory shocks. This shows how different industries respond to regulatory reforms
Assessing the Impact of Return-to-Office Mandates on Company Performance in the Tech and Financial Services Sectors
No full textThe COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent lockdowns and social distancing mandates, accelerated the shift to remote work. Now, as companies transition back to in-person operations, the discourse surrounding Return-to-Office (RTO) mandates have become a contentious component of corporate strategy. This thesis examines the effects of RTO mandates by analyzing changes in key financial metrics—such as revenue, expenses, net income margin, stock price—using these indicators as proxies to assess firm performance more broadly. The analysis focuses on technology and finance firms listed under the S&P 500 index; I combine self-collected data on RTO mandates with firm-level quarterly financial data from CapitalIQ from 2020 to 2025. A difference-in-differences framework with firm and quarter-year fixed effects is used to isolate the effect of RTO adoption on firm performance. This thesis finds that RTO mandates led to significant revenue and expense increases among tech firms. That suggests those companies were busier—and more active operationally—after they returned to the office. Finance firms, on the other hand, didn’t see any statistically significant changes in their financial performance after adopting RTO. That runs counter to expectations, given how strongly the finance sector pushed for in-person work early on. The findings on sectoral differences in RTO outcomes contribute to the growing literature on the evolving nature of work; it offers some timely insights for companies evaluating the future of the workplace strategy that is best aligned with their unique needs
Two Paths, One Paris Agreement: Global South Development and Diplomacy in a Changing Climate
No full textClimate action, development, and technology have grown intertwined in the international struggle against climate change. When the Paris Agreement was developed in 2015, it bridged these commitments together and encouraged the international community to collaborate in reducing global temperatures. Historically, international agreements have excluded Global South countries from benefits when it was implemented. Is the Paris Agreement the same? How effective has the Paris Agreement been in fostering the international community to support Global South countries in their economic, technological, and sustainable development? By assessing the cases of Bhutan and Kenya, the answer to this question appears to be complex. Economic factors like GDP and GNI, show promising results that these countries are experiencing growth. The Human Capital Index shows that human development is also steadily rising. Climate progress measures of carbon emissions also show promising progress where Bhutan remains near zero and Kenya has significantly decreased their emissions. However, qualitative data assessing public sentiment, historical context, and bilateral contracts convey a less optimistic reality. Bhutan’s hydroelectric power and Kenya’s direct air capture technology show that the Paris Agreement currently lacks the right measures of success, incentives, regulations, and safeguards to completely protect Global South countries from exploitative relationships disguised as profitable deals. My findings indicate that the international community, including Global South countries, is better off with the Paris Agreement. But, the agreement has to make improvements to ensure Global South countries are not excluded nor taken advantage of by more powerful countries while they strive to sustainably develop
The Meditative Mind in Sync: The Effects of Meditative Interpersonal Synchrony on Self-Other Merging, Self-Representation, and Social Connection.
Get PDFThis study investigates the effects of meditative interpersonal synchrony, operationalized through OM group chanting meditation (OM-GCM), on self-other merging, self-referential thinking, and the quality of social interactions between strangers. Interpersonal synchrony and meditation have been widely studied as distinct phenomena; however, this thesis is the first to examine the potential amplifying effects of their combination. This thesis hypothesized that OM-GCM would lead to higher conversation quality, increased self-other merging, and reduced self-referential thinking compared to a non-meditative synchronous control: humming. To test this, twenty-eight college students, paired into dyads of strangers, engaged in either the OM-GCM or humming condition, followed by a 45-minute structured conversation and a post-interaction survey. Results revealed no significant differences between the experimental and control groups across all outcomes, including mindfulness levels. Critically, this suggests that the control condition was not a true non-meditative control, as participants reported comparable levels of mindfulness relative to the OM-GCM group. Despite this, higher mindfulness scores (PQ-M) significantly predicted low self-referential thinking and heightened self-other merging, suggesting that the more meditative the synchronous experience, the less participants thought of themselves and the closer they felt to their partner. Counter to expectations, higher mindfulness scores were associated with lower perceived quality of social interactions. These findings are preliminary, with conclusions constrained by limited statistical power and methodological limitations. Nevertheless, they highlight a potentially meaningful dynamic worthy of continued exploration
Of Myth, Memory, and Concrete: The History and Legacy of the Haight-Ashbury\u27s Counterculture
No full textThis thesis explores the social and economic factors that contributed to the rise and decline of Haight-Ashbury\u27s counterculture between 1950 and 1970, arguing that its collapse stemmed from a failure to define and control the meaning of its own rebellion. As mass media redefined Haight-Ashbury into a spectacle, affluent youth who increasingly sought entertainment and performance flooded the neighborhood. These newcomers overwhelmed Haight’s fragile infrastructure and accelerated its decline. The transformation of the Haight from a haven of grassroots experimentation into a commodified entertainment zone mirrors its earlier history as the site for entertainment—suggesting that a culture unable to innovate will inevitably repeat its own collapse. In the aftermath, San Francisco adopted restrictive zoning policies to stabilize property values. These policies helped lift Haight-Ashbury out of its economic slump by making it newly investable—but in doing so, the city discovered it could also control the culture of neighborhoods. Although the Haight had already brought itself to its knees, rising property values signified a definitive end to the conditions that had once allowed the counterculture to flourish. Ultimately, the Haight-Ashbury taught San Francisco that restricting new development could uplift declining areas while also serving as a powerful tool for shaping community identity
Selling Capitalism: The United States\u27 Campaign to Rebuild Germany and Reeducate Germans
No full textWorld War II left Europe in a state of devastation, with Germany’s society deeply permeated by the legacy of Nazism. In the aftermath, the United States assumed an unprecedented role, positioning itself as the new ideological guide for Europe. Recognizing the political and cultural vacuum left by National Socialism, the US acted swiftly to promote democratic capitalism through the Marshall Plan. This thesis examines how the United States used economic and cultural soft power to reorient Germans toward a capitalist system and foster Western European recovery. Focusing on key German-American interactions, this study explores how the Marshall Plan’s media campaigns — through films, re-education initiatives, public speeches, and spectacles — helped transform former Nazis and war criminals into allies during postwar reconstruction. Analyzing the promises of freedom and prosperity communicated through American propaganda materials, this study argues that the Marshall Plan’s soft power efforts were central to reshaping German identity and securing European alignment with American values