Browsing by Subject "Spirituality"
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Item A model of trauma with spirituality and religiosity: the mediating and moderating effects of personal growth initiative and openness to experience(Texas Tech University, 2000-08) Caldwell, Jodi KSpirituality and religiosity remain two diversity variables that are little studied in relation to mental health. Researchers and theorists in the area of trauma have proposed conflicting effects of trauma on spirituality and religiosity Although some studies show that spirituality and/or religiosity increase following the experience of a traumatic event, other studies show a decrease. Therefore this study proposed that there are two intervening variables in these relationships: Personal Growth Initiative (PGI) and Openness to Experience (OTE). Personal Growth Initiative is the active seeking out of self-growth experiences Openness to Experience refers to the individual's receptiveness and valuing of diversity of ideas and experiences This study tested whether these intervening variables mediated or moderated the relationship between trauma and spirituality or trauma and religiosity. The following measures were used: The Traumatic Experience Questionnaire (Vrana & Lauterbach, 1994), The Spiritual Experience Index (Genia, 1997), Religious Commitment Inventory (McCullogh. Worthington, Maxey. & Rechal. 1997), the Personal Growth Initiate e Scale (Robitschek, 1998), and the Openness to Experience Scale of the NEO-PI (Costa & McCrae, 1992) Participants were 249 undergraduate students in psychology courses. Results indicated that only two models of moderation were partially supported. For men, when trauma was viewed as a dichotomous variable, the interaction between the presence of trauma and Openness to Experience did appear to explain significant additional variance in Spirituality However, further examination revealed that this was likely an artifact of the low number of men who reported having experienced no traumatic events. For women, the interaction between Total Perceived Trauma and Openness to Experience appeared to explain significant additional variance in Spirituality A median split analysis suggested that the interaction is happening in such a way that in order to obtain a high score on Spirituality, both Openness to Experience as well as Total Perceived Trauma must also be high. Significant gender differences were found in the relationships between some of the variablesItem Application of Faith Development Theory for Understanding Students' Transformational Learning as a Result of Bonfire at Texas A&M University(2012-07-16) Petersen, Brent RussellConsiderable attention by scholars for the last two decades has focused on issues of spirituality and higher education. Literature in the field of college student affairs suggest that, in order promote the development of the whole student, practitioners in the field should consider adopting theories of faith and spiritual development. This study considered the application of faith development theory, as developed by James W. Fowler, for contextualizing students' response to the 1999 Bonfire tragedy at Texas A&M University. The primary intent of this study was to (1) understand how a student's level of faith development relates to the transformational learning resulting from the Bonfire tragedy, (2) whether such a tragedy was a trigger for transformational learning, and (3) how student affairs professionals can utilize faith development theory for understanding students' narrative account of the tragedy and their commitment to the university. This study utilized a comparative case study approach. Nine respondents were recruited and participated in a semi-structured and the classic Faith Development interviews. The accounts provided by three respondents were selected for in-depth analysis. The investigative tools used for this analysis were hermeneutical and included constant comparative methodology and narrative analysis. Results from the study indicate that transformation of meaning schemes and meaning perspectives are key components of young-adult faith development. Evidence indicates that Bonfire was a student activity that was unique to Texas A&M University and had the potential to become a center of value and power for many students. Findings suggest that faith development theory can be an effective tool for exploring the structure of students' faith relationships and their commitment thereto. Based on an analysis of the narrative accounts, the Bonfire tragedy was a source of cognitive dissonance but not necessarily a disorienting dilemma. For some students the 1999 tragedy was part of a longer cumulative process that advanced the faith development process. Implications from the research findings and recommendations for future research are explored at length.Item Chasing the Trace of the Sacred: Postmodern Spiritualities in Contemporary American Fiction(2011-10-21) Sallah, AsmahanThis dissertation examines the treatment, forms, and representations of spirituality in contemporary American fiction. Drawing on recent theories in cultural and critical theory, sociology, and rhetoric, I argue that postmodern fiction finds sacredness in creative memory and information systems. I analyze E.L. Doctorow?s (2000) City of God, Leslie Marmon Silko?s (1991) Almanac of the Dead, Richard Powers?(2006) Echo Maker, and William Gibson?s (1948) Neuromancer. In their quest for the sacred, these works acknowledge the mystic along with the rational as a legitimate vehicle of knowledge; accordingly, the mysterious and the incomprehensible are accounted for within the epistemological structure of such spirituality. Contrary to the disparaging views of postmodern discourse as depoliticized, the fiction examined in this dissertation redefines the relationship between the sacred and the secular to engender social change and transformation. The dissertation stresses the significance of reconsidering the role of literary spiritualities as a vehicle of transformation. By advancing such reconsideration, the dissertation achieves two goals. First, it argues for the impurity of the secular as a construct and sees in this impurity a chance for theory to transcend diagnosis and deconstruction and move toward transformation. Second, by revealing a redemptive sensibility within postmodern discourse, the dissertation challenges Hutcheon's characterization of postmodern culture and discourse as "complicitous critique," showing how culture weaves narratives of restoration to counteract the pressure of fragmentation brought about by global capitalism.Item Constructing spirit-level interventions for African American women living with HIV(2012-05) Runnels, Ratonia Cheryl; Pomeroy, Elizabeth Cheney, 1955-African Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV comprising only 12% of the U.S. population but accounting for nearly 50% of all HIV cases (CDC, 2009). HIV surveillance data estimate that one in 30 Black women will be diagnosed with HIV during their lifetime. For many HIV positive African American women, treatment of HIV infection and the subsequent psychological stress is complicated by lack of resources and competing life priorities. These women also face additional challenges such as fear of disclosure and lack of adequate social support. The complexity of challenges faced by African American women who are HIV positive highlight the need to explore their preferred ways of coping. Studies show that minority women tend to utilize alternative coping strategies when faced with dual mental and physical health challenges. Spirituality has been found to have a direct relationship with cognitive and social functioning and inversely related to HIV symptoms among African American women. Psychosocial interventions are a key component to improved quality of life for women living with HIV and spirit-level interventions are shown to buffer psychosocial distress experienced by HIV positive persons. This dissertation will consist of three publishable quality articles that examine issues associated with the function of spirituality in HIV positive women. This first article will review published spiritually oriented interventions and compare, contrast, and critique the various components, sample, and intervention methods to determine the applicability and replicability of these interventions as a basis for increasing treatment options for co-morbid African American women. The second article will offer a conceptual framework incorporating the health belief model and a discussion of Lazarus & Folkman's stress and coping model to examine theoretical frameworks for integrating spirituality into social work practice interventions for HIV positive women. The third article for this dissertation seeks to contribute new information to the literature on the spirituality in the lives of HIV positive women. This article will present data that identifies, defines, and describes various uses of spirituality as a coping mechanism. The article will also discuss historical factors that influence the use of religion and spirituality among African Americans.Item Culture shock : tales from the 21st century intentional community movement(2012-05) Bathurst, Stephanie Marie; Minutaglio, Bill; Darling, Dennis CarlyleIn the wake of the Great Recession of 2008, the ‘new normal’ left many Americans deflated after losing their financial savings and general confidence in the political system. There is a growing movement saying the traditional path to the American Dream is no longer satisfying. From coast to coast families are moving from sleepy towns to so-called ‘intentional communities’ in search of alternatives. They are building new lives in spiritual enclaves, nudist havens, eco-wonderlands and other unorthodox societies while seeking like-minded souls and a better way of making a living. Although they don’t often reflect the traditional lifestyle of most citizens, they do represent the widespread frustration with the status quo. The United States has long been a safe haven for these nonconformists and continues to attract those seeking escape from the mainstream each year. Intentional communities throughout Texas and the U.S. are flourishing despite harsh economic times elsewhere. This report documents daily life in three intentional communities during 2011 and 2012, all focused on achieving their individual goals of environmental protection, building community bonds, and achieving spiritual enlightenment.Item Delicious ambiguity? Organizational, interpersonal, and personal communication about spirituality at Hospice(2009-06-02) Considine, Jennifer RobinWhile a great deal of theoretical work affirms the importance of spirituality in hospice care, the manner in which organizational members communicate about spirituality in hospice organizations, and most other health care organizations, remains under-explored and under-theorized. The purpose of this dissertation is twofold. First, this dissertation seeks to understand how hospice members talk about spirituality with one another and with care recipients. Second, this dissertation explores the antecedents and consequences of hospice members' communication strategies. To explore these issues, an ethnographic study was conducted in two branches of a mid-sized hospice. Over 200 hours of participant observation and 42 interviews were completed. Results showed that organizational discourse about spirituality was strategically ambiguous in response to multiple internal and external demands. Strategically ambiguous communication was successful in allowing for a wide range of actions and interpretations; however, it was also problematic in that it served as a source of discomfort and disconnection for some organizational members. Further, results demonstrated that communication about spirituality in interactions between care providers and care recipients was influenced by both organizational discourse and personal understandings of spirituality. Organizational and professional discourse and personal understandings created dialectical tensions between leading and following in care provider-care recipient interactions. Further analysis demonstrated five different strategies for managing the leading-following dialectic. Finally, results suggested that organizational discourses affected the personal identity and outcomes experienced by hospice workers. The preferred organizational identity of the "Gracious Servant" required hospice workers to perform spiritual labor which increased the care providers' propensity to experience stress and burnout. In total, these results demonstrate the importance of examining spirituality from an ecological perspective that considers community, organizational, and interpersonal discourse about spirituality.Item Designing for lived experience : a suite of tools for people with Type 1 diabetes(2014-05) Kinbarovsky, Jesse Israel; Catterall, Kate; Gorman, Carma; Stuckey, HeatherDiabetes is a chronic, patient-managed illness. Type 1 diabetics must maintain near-constant awareness of their blood sugar levels and perform frequent medical interventions in order to remain alive and healthy. Research has shown that symptoms of poor treatment adherence manifest both physically and emotionally. While a great deal has been written about, and many products designed for, treatment of physiological symptoms and outcomes, far less has been written about, and even fewer products designed to address, the emotional experience of the type 1 diabetic. Yet the emotional effects of chronic illness have been well documented, including the effects of blood glucose variation on mood (Penckofer, 2012) and increased comorbid depression among diabetics (Anderson, 2001). For my thesis project, I have created a connected system of physical and digital tools called the t1D Suite that addresses the unique emotional needs of people with diabetes, thereby bridging the gap between life-giving treatment and life-enriching experience.Item Determining the relationships between resilience, spirituality, life events, disruptions, demographic characteristics, personal history, and mental health symptoms in active duty soldiers with a recent deployment history(2012-12) Simmons, Angela Marie; Yoder, Linda H.; Carter, Patricia A; Jones, Terry L; Kenny, Deborah J; Nayback-Beebe, Ann MOf the approximately 1 million Army Soldiers who deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan at least one time between 2001 and 2007, 18.5% screened positive for posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms post-deployment (Tanielian et al., 2008). Deployed Soldiers are at a high risk for unsuccessful reintegration as evidenced by the presence of mental health symptoms. Because of the lack of evidence demonstrating the relationships between resilience and other factors that may contribute to mental health outcomes in active duty Soldiers, the purpose of this study was to determine if relationships existed among these variables in Soldiers with a recent deployment history. An adaptation of Richardson’s Metatheory of resilience guided this study. A convenience sample of 350 active duty army junior enlisted and Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) who were within 6 - 12 months from returning from deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan and stationed at Fort Campbell were recruited to participate in this cross-sectional, descriptive, correlational study. Seven self-report instruments were used to collect data: (1) Demographic Survey, (2) Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, (3) Deployment Risk and Resiliency Inventory (DRRI), (4) Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale, (5) Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, (6) Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and (7) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Military Version. Data were entered into SPSS 18 and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlations, and hierarchical linear regression. Results revealed many statistically significant correlations. Ten predictors resulted from this analysis and were placed into separate regression analyses with the three mental health outcomes. Each of the mental health outcome variables (anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms) accounted for a significant amount of variance in the other. In addition to PTSD and depression, post-deployment life events, deployment environment, and resilience accounted for the most significant amount of variance in anxiety symptoms. In addition to anxiety and PTSD symptoms, post-deployment life events accounted for the most significant amount of variance in depression symptoms. Deployment environment, post-deployment life events, and post-deployment support accounted for the most significant amount of variance in PTSD symptoms, in addition to anxiety and depression. The implications of the findings and recommendations for future nursing practice, education, and research opportunities are abundant.Item Enchanting modernity : religion and the supernatural in contemporary Japanese popular culture(2011-08) Feldman, Ross Christopher; Cather, Kirsten; Traphagan, John W.This thesis examines the ways in which popular culture reveals, and shapes, religious thinking in contemporary Japan. Through an investigation of popular culture including animated films (anime) and graphic novels (manga), and the cultural processes related to their production and consumption, it explores how and why popular culture in Japan is acting as a repository for ideas and images relating to religion, the supernatural, and the human and non-human agents who mediate them. Popular culture is important not only for the ways it discloses contemporaneous cultural trends, but because it acts in dialogic tension with them. In Japan, where society has grown increasingly secularized since at least the middle of the twentieth century, an overwhelming majority of citizens consider themselves non-religious. Surveys have consistently indicated that only a small percentage of respondents identify as actively Shintō, Buddhist, Christian or some other religious affiliation. At the same time, depictions of religious images and themes have grown exponentially in popular culture such that a recent internet search on “anime” plus “kami” (a Shintō deity) produced an astounding 20,100,000 hits. Clearly, religion continues to play a crucial role in the popular imagination. This juncture of popular culture and personal religious identity in contemporary Japan raises a number of questions discussed in the following chapters. What benefits do consumers derive from the treatment of religious themes in anime and manga? What do depictions of religion in popular media indicate about the construction of religious identity in Japan? Why the disparity between religious identification survey results and cultural consumption of religious themes and images? In short, what are the ways in which popular culture in Japan reveals ideas about religion and the supernatural, and in what ways does popular culture actively shape those conceptions?Item An evaluation of spirituality and substance use : definitions, measures, and research(2010-12) Abadia, Vanessa Bianca; Schallert, Diane L.; Shorkey, Clayton T.The focus of this report is on exploring and clarifying research in the areas of spirituality and substance abuse. In terms of their definitions, these constructs, spirituality and religiosity, have been the subject of debate among researchers. The measurement of spirituality/religiosity and substance abuse has been inconsistent from study to study. Conflicting results are reported in the research evaluating the relationship between spirituality/religiosity and substance abuse, and in intervention studies that have employed treatment methods such as meditation and prayer. However, studies comparing spiritual interventions have yet to be conducted. In this report I review and critique the literature and provide guidelines for future research.Item How to Bridge the Culture Gap: How John Dewey?s Aesthetics May Benefit the Local Church(2012-02-14) Shockley, Paul RussellIn my personal experience, I have discovered notable aesthetic problems that face many contemporary evangelical churches. In spite of these churches? best efforts, they fail to bridge the culture gap and foster a meaningful worship service. But John Dewey?s aesthetic philosophy understands the shifting nature of our environment and the value of aesthetic experience, providing beneficial insights to assist unhealthy churches. To better understand the applicability of his philosophy, Chapter II is an exposition of John Dewey?s aesthetics that revolves around four central questions: What is Dewey?s starting point for aesthetics? What distinguishes aesthetic experiences from others? What is his criticism of the ?museum conception of art?? What is the significance for Dewey of our activities having or not having aesthetic quality? Chapter III is a Deweyan investigation of four real churches: the elite church, which promotes an aesthetic that is reserved for its members; the broken church, which is divorced from community; the humdrum church, which is preoccupied with the routine; and the sensational church, which is characterized by indulgence. Chapter IV is a description of two recent attempts to bridge the culture gap and offer meaningful worship activities: the seeker-sensitive movement which contends that the church must be ?culturally inviting? to the community, and the emerging movement(s), which seeks to dismantle traditional churches using deconstructionism and reconstructing worship services that are experiential, pluralistic, and sensory. My Deweyan argument in Chapter V is that both the ?seeker-sensitive? and the ?emerging? movements fail to adequately understand the shifting character of our environment and our relation to it. If problem churches acknowledge that discontinuity with environment is inevitable, seek to meet the needs of others, embrace adjustment as a core component, and value aesthetic experience, they will be in a better position to bridge the culture gap and offer an enriching worship experience in their services. Three Deweyan lessons are gleaned from this inquiry: value aesthetic experience and its contribution in bridging the culture gap, implement Deweyan insights drawn from our examination of traditional churches, and contribute to society by generating artproducts that will benefit the community.Item Moroccan modern : race, aesthetics, and identity in a global culture market(2009-08) Rode Schaefer, John Philip; Kapchan, Deborah A. (Deborah Anne); Ali, Kamran Asdar, 1961-This dissertation asks how conceptions of race have informed popular cultural expressions in post-independence Morocco. Further, how have these expressions helped shape Moroccan modernity? What does an analysis of the history of the Gnawa in Morocco tell us about changes in Moroccan society, including the religious landscape, and the relation of these changes to globalization? This dissertation tracks the often contradictory paths that modernity has taken in Morocco through a focus on one racialized subculture, the Gnawa, ritual musicians originally from sub-Saharan Africa who have lived in Morocco for centuries without losing a certain African identity. The first part of the dissertation assesses Blackness in Morocco, considering Moroccan history in light of its relations across the Sahara desert. I examine cultural patterns of the Niger River region to which the Gnawa trace their origins, as well as crucial elements in the Moroccan past that involve racial formation. The second part of the dissertation considers how newcomers come to take on these new spiritual and musical identities, whether through a kind of musical transposition or an economic conversion. I argue that mass media have been central in Gnawa conversion narratives in the past, while more recent Gnawa identities have revolved around the consumption of commodities. The third section details my own conversion through a series of engagements with the Essaouira Festival of world music and Gnawa music in Morocco. I attended the festival as an informed tourist and also behind the scenes as an interested participant, and I found that the festival serves multiple purposes in Morocco's cultural economy. I conclude that Morocco's aesthetic history is deeply influenced by conceptions of race. These conceptions have in turn influenced commercial media expressions of post-independence Moroccan identities. Finally, since the opening of Moroccan society in the 1990s, the clearest expression of the future of Moroccan expressive and popular culture has been the rise of music festivals.Item My sense of spiritual self: a qualitative study of role-related adult spiritual identity(Texas Tech University, 2002-08) Kiesling, Chris AlanFrom the fountainhead of Erik Erikson's identification of identity as the most prominent issue across the life span, research has contributed significantly to the exploration of identity development. Despite advancements, little attention has been directed toward understanding an individual's sense of their spiritual self The absence of such research is notable considering the profound interest of Erikson in detailing the developmental psychohistories of key significant spiritual leaders. From the theoretical foundations of Erikson's psychosocial developmental perspective and George H. Mead's symbolic interactionism, one's sense of spiritual identity is regarded as a role in which the ultimate questions of life are mediated. This study utilizes an extensive, qualitative interview called the Role-Related Identity Interview (RRII) to explore the salience and flexibility of a respondent's sense of spiritual identity. Interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of fifteen males and fifteen females, ranging in age from 22 to 72 and differing in race, marital status, and religious orientation. Using multiple indicators, these interviews were utilized to explore respondent's sense of spiritual self. Characterizations of four spiritual identity patterns are described as an extension of James Marcia's depiction of identity statuses. The metaphor of space provides a helpful means to distinguish among these patterns and how they are constructed. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are noted.Item The role of spirituality in the school experiences of church-going African American female adolescents(2013-12) Blakes, Tifani Marie Jones; Foster, Kevin Michael, 1969-Over the last century, people have questioned the ability of African American cultural knowledge to facilitate academic achievement among African American students. The cultural understandings of this group are often positioned as incompatible with the beliefs, practices and values that produce mainstream and school success. The spirituality of African Americans is a significant, yet often overlooked, component of African American culture and life. Through group interviews, in-depth interviews, personal narratives and participant observations, this dissertation explores the role of spirituality in the school experiences of African American female adolescents. Spirituality is defined as the conglomeration of beliefs, practices and values that connect an individual to an unseen force(s) and/or a non-material realm. Cognitive, behavioral and affective school outcomes are products of spiritual and personal development. Thus, this study pays particular attention to the processes and factors that cultivate the spiritual identities of this group. Family and religious organizations commonly initiate the spiritual awareness of African Americans. Lived experiences in contexts shaped by intersections of racism, sexism, classism and heterosexism facilitate their development of individualized spiritual self-understandings, expressions and practices. To privilege the perspectives of African American femaleix adolescents, Black feminist epistemology and critical youth studies guided this project’s design and methods of data collection and analysis. Additionally, this work builds upon the relational framework for the study of spirituality and religion in the lives of African Americans to explore this group’s spiritual development, understandings and school outcomes. This dissertation suggests that the theological perspectives of African American female adolescents directly impact their academic beliefs, behaviors, and school experiences. Understandings of God and employment of spiritual practices may act as protective factors that cultivate the educational resilience and academic self-confidence of this group. Additionally, African American female adolescents may employ spiritual beliefs to promote unity and build community on their school campus.Item Santa Muerte and the politics of malleability : the angel of Death in Mexico City(2016-05) McDonald, Kathryn Louis; Guidotti-Hernández, Nicole Marie; Gonzalez-Martin, RachelThis thesis explores and critiques mainstream narratives of Santa Muerte, a marginalized Mexican spiritual figure, through ethnographic data collected in spaces of Santa Muerte spiritual commerce and devotion in Mexico City during the summer of 2015, with an emphasis on Barrio Tepito, Colonia Morelos and Mercado de Sonora. This thesis will argue that Santa Muerte’s malleability, particularly with regards to gender; the embrace of physicality, and its followers’ attitude towards death, demonstrate Santa Muerte’s appeal as a spiritual tool, particularly for marginalized segments of Mexican society.Item Social violence, social healing : the merging of the political and the spiritual in Chicano/a literary production(2012-05) Lopez, Christina Garcia; Cordova, Cary, 1970-; Limón, José Eduardo; Lieu, Nhi; Perez, Domino; Cox, JamesThis dissertation argues that spiritual and religious worldviews (i.e. Mexican Catholicism, indigenous spiritualities, and popular religion) have historically intersected with social and political realities in the development of Mexican origin communities of the United States. More specifically, as creative writers from these communities have endeavored to express and represent Mexican American experience, they have consistently engaged these intersections of the spiritual and the material. While Chicano/a criticism has often overlooked, and in some ways dismissed, the significant role which spiritual and religious discourses have played in the political development of Mexican American communities, I examine how the works of creative writers pose important questions about the role of religious faith and spirituality in healing the wounds of social violence. By placing literary texts in conversation with scholarship from multiple disciplines, this project links literary narratives to their historical, social, and political frameworks, and ultimately endeavors to situate literary production as an expressive cultural product. Historical and regional in approach, the dissertation examines diverse literary narratives penned by writers of Mexican descent between the 1930s and the current decade. Selected textual pairings recall pivotal moments and relations in the history of Mexico, America, and their shared geographical borderlands. Through the lens of religion and spirituality, a broad array of social discourses emerges, including: gender and sexuality, landscape and memory, nation-formation, race and ethnicity, popular traditions, and material culture.Item Spiritual attachment and sexual satisfaction in marriage(Texas Tech University, 2002-12) Arterburn, Don R.There is much to learn about how a couple's sexual concerns and relational concerns are interrelated. We know relatively little about fulfilling sex and lasting intimacy within long-term committed relationships such as marriage (Schnarch, 1997). Recent changes in the expectations of committed relationships may help explain this lack of understanding. Schnarch (1997) states that for most of history, marriages were arranged for social, economic, and political reasons, yet at no time have people expected more gratification and fulfillment from a long-term, intimate, couple relationship than they do today. These exalted expectations and the inability of marriages to meet them may be reflected in the high divorce rate. This could leave couples hopeless about ever finding fulfillment in relationships when all their personal problems, including intimacy and sex, cannot be solved by finding the perfect partner. Marriages may be in trouble. According to Michael, Gagnon, Laumann, and Kolata (1994), the divorce rate is over 50% and climbing, and sex is a key part of marriage that is often less than fulfilling and satisfactory. Some couples look for answers from a therapist but often lose hope that the relationship will survive the process if sexual concerns are not addressed (Mason, 1991). However, as Gottman states, "The issue isn't how frequently you have sex, it's how well you handle the inevitable differences that arise whenever two people form a partnership" (1994. p.22). With such high expectations for sex and marriage, new insights about what makes relationships fulfilling and satisfying are needed.Item Spirituality in the Praxis of Educational Leadership: Four public school principals� perspectives on leading through spirituality(Texas Tech University, 2009-05) Ramirez, Lisa Ruiz; Mendez-Morse, Sylvia; Johnson, Margaret; Price, Margaret A.The purpose of this exploratory case study was to identify the role of spirituality in the work of four public school principals. The study investigated the evidence of spirituality in the principals� work as it related to eight key principles presented in Houston and Sokolow�s (2006), The Spiritual Dimension of Leadership. Research Questions 1. How do educators come to be public school principals leading through spirituality? 2. What are the lived work experiences of principals that provide evidence of spirituality as they relate to eight spiritual principles? 3. How do principals understand the meaning of spirituality in their work? Research Theoretical Framework The research questions explored the role of spirituality in the work of four public school principals through a qualitative methodology. Specifically, the research project employed an exploratory case study approach. The case study was not actually a data-gathering technique, but rather a methodological approach that incorporated a number of data-gathering measures (Hamsel, Dufour, & Fortin, 1993). The scientific benefit of the case study method lies in its ability to open the way for discoveries (Shaughnessy & Zechmeister, 1990). The use of the case study strategy allowed for exploration of multiple views of reality in a personal format (Merriam, 1998). The conceptual framework that guided this study included research from educational leadership and spirituality as it related to the eight key principles to leading more effectively presented in The Spiritual Dimension of Leadership (Houston, & Sokolow, S.L., 2006). Research Methods Purposive sampling was used to select the principals for this study. The participants studied were comprised of four public school principals nominated by colleagues. This qualitative case study utilized three different qualitative data collection methods: (1) three interviews, (2) one focus group, and (3) document gathering. Dolbeare and Shuman (1982) designed a series of three interviews that were used to frame the interviews used in this study. The first interview established the context of the participants� history with principalship and spirituality. The second interview allowed participants to reconstruct the details of their experience in leading through spirituality within the context in which those experiences occurred and as those experiences related to the eight spiritual principles. Finally, the third interview encouraged the participants to reflect on the meaning of spirituality in their work. Denzin and Lincoln (1994, p.365) state that Merton et al. coined the term "focus group" in 1956 to apply to a situation in which the interviewer asks group members very specific questions about a topic after considerable research has already been completed. Kreuger defined a focus group as a "carefully planned discussion designed to obtain perceptions in a defined area of interest in a permissive, non-threatening environment" (1988, p.18). The focus group for this study was conducted after all four participants had completed their three interviews. The focus group was tape recorded and transcribed verbatim. Other documents in the form of an electronic journal, written journal or artifacts were also obtained from each participant. The researcher provided several journal prompts that were explicitly based on spiritual principles from which the participants chose three to write on. The participants were not restricted by the prompts as they were able to submit their own. The participants were also encouraged to contribute additional entries to the journal if they felt so inclined. The document data consisted of excerpts from journal submissions, drawings, and letters that both recorded and preserved the participants� voice. Once the data were gathered, the researcher stored, managed, interpreted, abstracted, and discovered themes in the data by coding. Due to the large amount of data that was gathered, a variety of tools were used for the actual analysis. The researcher followed a standard set of analytic activities recommended by Berg (2001) arranged in a general order of sequence for the data analysis. The researcher used the N6 (NUD*IST 6) software to assist with the coding and analysis of all data. Data analysis for this study was conducted simultaneously with data collection, data interpretation, and narrative reporting writing. In analyzing and describing a case, the researcher constructed each case within its own setting. The setting for all cases was broadly conceptualized in public schools; however the researcher narrowed the description of the physical location and the demographics of each site to provide the context of each participants� work site. The case description contains the facts about the case through this narrative description. The final step in the analysis took place when the researcher attempted to make sense of the data and provided an interpretation of data. Generalizations were expressed in terms of theories and constructs that exist in the literature but were also framed by the researcher�s personal views. Findings The findings of this study of the role of spirituality in the work of four public school principals indicate that for these four principals the definition of spirituality was heavily impacted by the shaping elements of their early lives. The shaping elements that emerged were family dynamics, school experiences, personal dispositions, pivotal life events and primary influences. All four principals were able to provide vivid, pertinent lived work experiences as they related to the eight spiritual principles. Of the eight principles discussed, the principle of openness emerged as being the most critical: the key to each of their individual leadership styles was heavily contingent on in-depth self reflection, self- awareness and relationship-with-self in order to then build functional relationships with all members of their school community including students, parents, staff, and colleagues. True to the principle of holistic perspective, each principle was viewed as a part of the whole and was deemed necessary and crucial to the continued leadership of each principal. The meaning of leading through spirituality varied with each participant as each participant had connected their spirituality to different sources; however, many common themes did arise from the purpose of leading through spirituality. One key theme was the recognition, development and utilization of a spiritual filter. All participants used a spiritual filter as a basis for decision-making and as an informed framework for their leadership. The negative effects of leading through spirituality ranged from misunderstanding and stereotyping of leading through spirituality, attacks on leadership style, increased vulnerability, isolation, and overwhelming self-imposed pressure. The positive effects of leading through spirituality ranged from obtainment of strength, courage, wisdom, stability, and an increase in the communication skills of listening and speaking through relationship building. Additionally, the participants viewed as a positive effect, the overall implications leading through spirituality has had on the school community and on school curriculum. All participants expressed a strong desire to be connected to other principals leading through spirituality as they viewed it as necessary in order to continue working in schools and being able to survive their self.Item Spirituality in the salesperson: the impact of the golden rule and personal faith on workplace job attitudes(Texas A&M University, 2007-09-17) Smith, James GarryDo salespeople who follow the Golden Rule or let their faith influence their behavior serve their customers better or like their jobs and employers more than other salespeople? The Golden Rule is a quote from Christ found in Matthew 7:12 NIV and is considered a universal ethical principle taught by all major religions. It is also a behavioral standard for many in business. A review of the sales, marketing, and organizational literatures, however, failed to uncover studies which assess the relationships of following the Golden Rule or a person??????s faith or spirituality with key business outcomes. Salespeople impact the performance and perception of their firms, yet are regarded as highly unethical by the public. Therefore, an investigation of how these variables influence their behavior seems justified. A Golden Rule Disposition (GRD) is conceptualized as a higher-order personality disposition which influences the traits of agape love, forgiveness, gratitude, humility, and selflessness. Personal faith is defined as a higher order personality trait blending a desire for a personal relationship with God (the Divine or Supreme Being) with core personality influences on the behaviors of an individual. A comprehensive model was developed and tested using structural equation modeling to investigate a GRD??????s relationships with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, propensity to leave, life satisfaction, and customer orientation. Personal faith??????s influence on these relationships was tested using moderated multiple regression. Completed questionnaires were collected from 142 members of an automobile dealer??????s sales force to provide the data for this study. A GRD influenced all proposed lower order traits except for selflessness and humility. A GRD had a positive effect on all dependent variables except propensity to leave and life satisfaction. Faith was not a moderator of any relationships, but was found to be positively related to forgiveness and gratitude. A surprising result was the lack of a relationship between job satisfaction and life satisfaction. These findings should be important to organizations that practice the marketing concept. The combined effect of following the Golden Rule and personal faith leads to more satisfied customers and a more stable workforce to meet organizational goals.Item T0WARD CY83RGN0S1S(2016-05) Stuckey, Rachel Meredith; Williams, Jeff, M.F.A.; Henderson, LindaCan we experience enchantment with cyberspace as we can with outer space? Can late-night web browsing provide unexpected encounters equivalent to those had in the space between radio frequencies? These questions drive my art and research. What I am pursuing is cybergnosis, or intuitive experiences of mysterious spiritual realities on the cyberplane. My goal is to question traditionally held divisions between technology and the human, and to explore marginal views of technologies. My research involves embedding myself in outlier online communities, some composed of people who feel afflicted by computers, and others who are collaborating with them in unusually empowered ways, be they spiritual, psychological, political or otherwise. I use video based performance, net-based projects, and multimedia installations to evoke empathetic yet critical renderings of these experiences. In this report, I write about five of my artworks: Estrin Tide is Fresh, Everyone Else is Tired (2016), Hello Nebula? It’s me, Margaret. (2015), Innernet Addict (2015), T0WARD CY83RGN0S1S(2015), and Welcome to my Homepage! (2014).