Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item Income Inequality, Government Welfare Effort, and Subjective Well-Being: Three Essays(2017) Livani, Talajeh; Graham, Carol; Swagel, Phillip; Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation consists of three essays on the relations of income inequality and government welfare effort with subjective well-being. The first essay introduces the concepts, reviews the literature linking income inequality and government welfare effort to subjective well-being, and identifies the research gaps. The paper concludes that the relationship between income inequality and subjective well-being is determined by how inequality is defined and what it signals. Similarly, the relationship between government welfare effort and subjective well-being is determined by factors such as ideology, quality of governance, and the magnitude of social assistance “stigma” effects. The second essay examines whether the relationship between life satisfaction and income inequality or government welfare effort differs by country income group, that is, low-income, lower middle-income, upper middle-income, and high-income countries. It further provides insight into the role of governance in mediating the relationship between inequality and life satisfaction. The essay concludes that the relationship between inequality and life satisfaction is similar (significant and negative) across all country income groups when inequality is perceived as or signals inherent unfairness. Similarly, the association between government welfare effort and life satisfaction is similar (significant and positive) across all country income groups when the government is perceived to be doing enough for the poor. Finally, it appears that confidence in national institutions and leaders may reduce the adverse effects of inequality. The final essay examines whether social protection spending is predictive of life satisfaction in Iraq, a conflict-affected and resource-rich developing country. The main finding is that there is a negative association between life satisfaction and the receipt of most types of public transfers. This negative association is mitigated and, in some cases, becomes positive for individuals in the lowest income quintiles. These patterns are also observed for families considered to be vulnerable based on region of residence and the gender of the household head. A noteworthy finding is that income assistance from private sources is also associated negatively with life satisfaction while income from property ownership and assets is associated positively with life satisfaction. This supports the idea that the source of income matters to individuals, even in the context of a conflict-affected resource-rich developing country like Iraq. This research aims to contribute to the current base of knowledge and to policy questions of interest to academia, research institutions, developing country governments, donors, and the public at large. The findings shed light on how socio-economic contexts are predictive of life satisfaction as well as on how social policies can be designed or modified to improve welfare in developing countries.Item Essays on the Relationship Between Income and Life Satisfaction in the United States(2015) Swenson, Kendall; Graham, Carol; Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation presents three essays concerning the relationship between income and life satisfaction in the United States. The first essay examines whether the receipt of income assistance from public and private sources predicts life satisfaction. It identifies a negative association between the receipt of income assistance from government and private sources and life satisfaction, and finds that the association remains significant even after controlling for family income and other factors. The negative association between the receipt of income assistance and life satisfaction continues to exist across most of the income distribution, although the correlation is more uncertain for respondents in the very lowest income quartile. Another noteworthy finding from this essay is that income assistance from non-governmental sources is just as predictive of lower life satisfaction scores as is assistance from government means-tested welfare programs The second essay examines whether consumption is a better predictor of life satisfaction than is income. The essay finds that income and consumption are both predictors of life satisfaction, but that several other factors are even more predictive of well-being. In the full regression models health, marriage, and unemployment are much more predictive of life satisfaction than either income or consumption. The third essay examines the link between childhood family incomes and future life satisfaction. To analyze this topic, longitudinal data from the PSID is used to obtain mean family incomes when people were ages 13 to 17 between 1968 and 1994 and examines the life satisfaction of these individuals as adults in 2011. The primary finding from this essay is that the family incomes of youths are not strongly predictive of their future life satisfaction scores.Item Bullying, Family Resources and Mental Health: A Test of the ABC-X Theory(2013) Resnick, Elise M.; Leslie, Leigh A.; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Bullying has become a public health threat; it is associated with numerous highly publicized suicides over the past few years. While some research on the topic suggests that overall rates of bullying are low, the consequences are potentially severe. Although schools and policymakers are working to better define and eradicate instances of bullying, the role that family plays in the related mental health risks has not been well-considered. As guided by the ABC-X theory, it was hypothesized that children with bullying experiences - as a victim, bully, or hybrid bully/victim, who had high levels of parental support, and who interpreted this support as a strong resource - would not suffer the same degree of mental health problems or poor life satisfaction as that reported by children with bullying experiences and poorer family resources. Using a sample of over 6,900 children from the HBSC 2005/2006 U.S. dataset, hierarchical, stepwise regression was employed to determine if family factors did indeed moderate the linkage between bullying experiences and both mental health and life satisfaction. Specifically, it was predicted that the relationship between bullying and either mental health or life satisfaction will be weaker for those with high levels of family resources than for those with low levels. Four types of bullying were considered; physical, verbal, relational and cyber. Demographic variables were held constant to ensure that they did not influence results. Overall, this study found that, regardless of bullying status, children with higher levels of parental communication and involvement do have better mental health and life satisfaction. However, in general, these family factors did not moderate the relationship between bullying and mental health and life satisfaction as predicted. The few exceptions to this are detailed in this study, as are potential explanations for the findings, suggestions for future research, and the implications of this research.Item THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INCOME, WEALTH, AND LIFE SATISFACTION(2010) Hitaj, Ermal; Murrell, Peter; Prucha, Ingmar; Economics; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation inquires into the relationship between income, aspirations, and life satisfaction in post-transition Russia. It first explores the channels through which adaptation and social comparison contribute to higher income aspirations. The results show that social comparison is a strong agent in shaping aspirations, while the effect of adaptation is relatively weak. Subsequently, the dissertation tests for the effect of aspirations on two separate satisfaction indices, satisfaction with life and satisfaction with economic conditions. This dissertation uses a Chamberlain random-effects ordered probit estimation to control for time-invariant unobservable individual traits. In contrast to previous studies, the results suggest that increases in aspirations have a positive effect on life satisfaction. This dissertation argues that this is caused by the expectations contained in income aspirations. Higher aspirations reflect an increase in needs commensurate to changes in own and others' income, but they also reflect improved income expectations based on the information provided by the present income of relevant others. The improved outlook embedded in the higher income aspirations causes the latter to have a positive effect on life satisfaction. This suggests that, ten years into the transition process, the reaction patterns of life satisfaction in Russia differ substantially from those in developed countries. While the relationship between life satisfaction and income or institutions has recently received a lot attention, the relationship between life satisfaction and accumulated wealth remains unexplored. This dissertation makes use of the 2008 Gallup World Poll and a novel wealth database compiled by the World Bank to evaluate the effect of wealth, produced capital, and natural resources on life satisfaction. The dissertation finds that both produced capital and natural capital have a positive effect on life satisfaction. The effect of good institutions and informal safety nets is also positive. However, in results that parallel findings from the resource curse literature, this dissertation shows that the positive effect of natural capital is due to diffuse natural resources like cropland, pastureland and forestry. Subsoil asset wealth has no significant effect on life satisfaction. Blood feuds represent a significant challenge to law enforcement, institutional consolidation and economic development due to the violence they generate and the other forms of crime they contribute to. This paper seeks to model and explain the decision making dynamics behind blood feuds. Rather than a simple retaliatory act, the violence associated with blood feuds is very much an integral aspect of an institutional framework that reflects a different set of ecological conditions and preferences. This paper incorporates different cultural and ecological aspects of various societies into a theoretical model that explains how blood feuds are sustained in a society. In addition, the model developed in this paper helps explain the longevity of blood feuds and reconcile different views from the anthropology literature.Item Longitudinal Prediction of Domain Satisfaction and Global Life Satisfaction: Test of a Social Cognitive Model(2005-04-09) Singley, Daniel; Lent, Robert W.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The experience of life satisfaction has been studied at a global level and in specific domains of life such as work, marriage, and academic satisfaction. Global life satisfaction has been described as a predictor of, as well as an outcome of, domain-specific life satisfaction. "Top-down" conceptualizations of well-being indicate that one's level of overall satisfaction is essentially a personality trait, whereas "bottom-up" approaches assert that the experience of satisfaction in different domains of life combine to yield an overall sense of satisfaction. In order to integrate these two approaches, the current study utilized a longitudinal methodology and structural equation modeling to address how personality traits, domain-specific social cognitive variables, and life satisfaction (both general and domain-specific) relate to each other over time. A model of the hypothesized psychological processes involved in goal evaluations, life satisfaction, and positive affect is outlined. Of particular interest was the extent to which social cognitive variables (self-efficacy, social supports, and goal progress) account for unique variance in subsequent life satisfaction and domain-specific life satisfaction after controlling for personality effects (positive affect). In this study, 769 university students completed an online survey of their goals, academic satisfaction, and general life satisfaction at two points in time 8 weeks apart. Based on previous theory and empirical research on domain-specific satisfaction, this integrative model is cognitively-based and posits that if one has positive perceptions (high self-efficacy, resource availability, progress in goal pursuit) regarding one's goals in a particular life domain (e.g., family, work), then one will experience higher levels of satisfaction in that domain. Global life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction were hypothesized to have reciprocal effects on each other over time, as were goal progress and goal self-efficacy. Results generally supported the proposed model. The social cognitive variables accounted for significant variance in subsequent global and domain-specific satisfaction even after controlling for the effects of personality. Goal-oriented perceptions may, therefore, nurture a sense of satisfaction independent of personality traits. Self-efficacy and goal progress were found to have reciprocal effects, whereas global life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction did not. Results and implications for future research are discussed.