Theses and Dissertations from UMD

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2

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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    Affective Reactions to Uncertainty as Driven by Past Experiences, Personality, and Perceived Valence
    (2022) Ellenberg, Molly Deborah; Kruglanski, Arie; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The assumption that uncertainty is inherently threatening which underlies decades of research belies the fact that people rarely react negatively to uncertain situations about which they do not care, and that some are excited by uncertainty. I propose that affective reactions to uncertainty are driven not by uncertainty itself, but by people’s expectations of positive and negative outcomes to personally relevant uncertain situations. I find that positive past experiences predict higher optimism and higher resilience, both of which predict higher tolerance of uncertainty and more positive perceptions of uncertain events. I also find that negative past experiences predict higher pessimism and lower resilience, both of which predict higher intolerance of uncertainty and more negative perceptions of uncertain events. The second study suggests that optimistic people are more likely to approach, rather than avoid, uncertainty. The third study finds that mindfulness training, which emphasizes non-attachment to outcomes, results in more neutral reactions to uncertainty. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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    THE REJECTION OF CRUEL OPTIMISM IN FRENCH CONTEMPORARY THEATER: TROIS PIÈCES D’INITIATION
    (2020) McMahon, Morgan; Eades, Caroline; French Language and Literature; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    My doctoral research explores the effects of family trauma as presented in French contemporary theater, situating three plays written by Xavier Durringer, Jean-Luc Lagarce and Marie Ndiaye within the context of Lauren Berlant’s theory of Cruel Optimism. While Berlant points to a universal series of obstacles as proof of the current inability to achieve “the good life” through “lively, durable intimacy”, Durringer, Lagarce and Ndiaye depict a way through these obstacles as a means of initiation and agency, demonstrating an optimistic trend in French theater.