IU Indianapolis ScholarWorks :: Browsing by Author "White-Mills, Kim D."

Browsing by Author "White-Mills, Kim D."

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Black Women and Contemporary Media: The Struggle to Self-Define Black Womanhood
(2010-02-26T18:47:24Z) Mayo, Tilicia L.; Dobris, Catherine A.; Sandwina, Ronald M.; White-Mills, Kim D.; Sheeler, Kristina H.
This thesis sought to understand the messages Black women receive from contemporary images and how these messages may be used to help them develop a sense of womanhood. The framework for the analysis used in this research lies within the feminist standpoint theory and Black feminist thought. The interviews conducted for this research helped to reveal that young Black women recognize patterns within the images of Black women in contemporary media. The images help them to understand the treatment of Black women and about the Black women they want to be.
Conflict management styles : a predictor of likability and perceived effectiveness among subordinates
(2008-08-13T18:25:49Z) Copley, Rachel D.; White-Mills, Kim D.; Dobris, Catherine A.; Sandwina, Ronald M.
As greater numbers of women throughout the past few decades have assumed managerial roles in organizations, the question of whether gender differences exist in the ability to manage effectively has become an important concern. According to Korabik, Baril, and Watson (1993), conflict management skills are a fundamental aspect of leadership effectiveness and “perceptions of how females handle crisis and conflict often are cited as blocks to the female manager’s ascent to the executive suite” (Shockley-Zalabak, 1981, p. 289). Additionally, the importance of likability of supervisors by their subordinates has become of greater importance in the past few years as researchers have discovered that more people leave their job because they do not like their supervisor than for any other reason (Agrusa, Spears, Agrusa, & Tanner, 2006; Joyce, 2006). The purpose of this study was to examine gender differences in supervisor’s conflict management styles and to determine how they relate to both effectiveness and likability among their subordinates. Specifically, research was conducted to reveal a) what differences exist between conflict management styles chosen by women and men leaders, b) if a relationship exists between conflict management styles and likeability among subordinates, c) what influence conflict management styles have upon perceived effectiveness among subordinates, and d) what correlation exists between likability and perceived effectiveness.
The Cultural Influences that Provide the Impetus to Create Self-Identity Through Inscribing the Body
(2010-07-19T15:34:22Z) Doran, Teri Lynn; Dobris, Catherine A.; White-Mills, Kim D.; Parrish-Sprowl, John
Tattoos, a permanent body modification that has frequently been associated with deviance and lower class sub-cultures, have become increasingly popular in the United States since the early 1990’s. In my thesis I examine the shared worldviews of individuals who obtain tattoos by conducting an analysis of six internet communities that promote this sub-culture in order to understand how cultural influences provide the impetus to create self-identity through inscribing the body. I will argue that individuals who commit to a permanent tattoo may be motivated by the need to create self identity.
"Great Expectations" : Communication between standardized patients and medical students in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations
(2007-11-20T16:10:48Z) Budyn, Cynthia Lee; Schrader, Stuart M.; White-Mills, Kim D.; Goering, Elizabeth M.; Schultz, Jane E.
In relationship-centered care, the relationship formed between physician and patient is critical to the creation of positive patient outcomes and patient satisfaction (Inui, 1996; Laine & Davidoff, 1996; Tresolini, 1994). Medical educators have increasingly utilized Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs) to assess medical students’ abilities to utilize a relationship-centered approach in clinical interviewing. OSCEs, however, have recently come under scrutiny as critics contend that the overly scripted and standardized nature of the OSCE may not accurately reflect how medical students build and maintain relationships with patients. Although some studies have looked at how standardized patients help teach medical students interviewing skills, few studies have looked specifically at how the structured nature of the OSCE may influence relationship-building between standardized patients and medical students. Therefore, this study asks the question “How is relationship-centered care negotiated between standardized patients and medical students during a summative diagnostic OSCE?” Using an ethnographic methodology (Bochner & Ellis, 1996), data consists of an ethnographic field journal, transcripts of semi-structured interviews with SPs and medical students, and transcripts of headache and chronic cough videotaped scenarios. Using grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, 1998), a back-and-forth thematic analysis was conducted in discovering the saturation of conceptual categories, linking relationships, and in critically comparing interpretive categorical concepts with relevant literature (Josselson & Leeblich, 1999). Findings suggest that standardized patients and medical students hold differing expectations for 1) diagnostic information gathering and 2) making personal connections upon entering a diagnostic summative OSCE. SPs “open up” both verbally and nonverbally when medical students “go beyond the checklist” by asking discrete diagnostic questions and when overtly trying to connect emotionally. Fourth year medical students, however, expect SPs to “open-up” during what they experience as a rushed, time-constrained, and overly structured “gaming” exercise which contradicts their own clinical experiences in being more improvisational during empathetic rapport building. Differences between SPs and medical students’ expectations and communication practices influence how they perform during summative diagnostic OSCEs. Findings may suggest the re-introduction of more relationship-focused OSCEs which positions SPs as proactive patients who reflexively co-teach students about the importance of making personal connections.
The health-related uses and gratifications of YouTube: Motive, cognitive involvement, online activity, and sense of empowerment
(2015-07) Park, Daniel Youngjoon; Goering, Elizabeth M.; White-Mills, Kim D.; Brann, Maria
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among motives for health-related YouTube use, cognitive involvement with health information on YouTube, post-exposure online activity, and sense of empowerment regarding health and health care. As a result of the analysis of data from 263 participants, social utility, convenient information-seeking, habit-passing time, and exciting entertainment motives were identified as four motives for health-related YouTube use. Social utility and convenient information-seeking motives were positively related to cognitive involvement and cognitive involvement was positively related to perceived control. Social utility motive was negatively related to perceived competence, whereas convenient information-seeking motive was positively related to perceived competence. Habit-passing time motive was negatively related to goal internalization, whereas convenient information-seeking and exciting entertainment motives were positively related to goal internalization. The findings from this study imply that YouTube could be a useful health communication media for health professionals and organizations to use for empowering users in coping with health-related concerns.
A Quiver Full of Mommy Blogs: Ideological Subversion and Reinforcement of Mothering Models Online
(2011-08-23) Crosby, Emily Deering; Dobris, Catherine A.; White-Mills, Kim D.; Goering, Elizabeth M.
In this study, ideological criticism combined with use of muted group theory are employed to analyze four Quiverfull mothering blogs in order to unveil the models of mothering and maternal messages that emerge from the discourse. The Quiverfull, comprised of fundamentalist Christians who advocate prolific birth rates and strict traditional gender norms, propose a very narrowly defined view of motherhood. Therefore, the goal of this study is to analyze how Quiverfull mothers choose to construct and maintain their own rhetorical vision of motherhood through mommy blogs, in an effort to understand if Quiverfull mothers also struggle to “get it right” like so many other contemporary mothers, faced with cultural contradictions. The findings unveil that Quiverfull mothers struggle with many of the same ideological pressures that mainstream mothers endure such as being almost entirely responsible for childrearing, wanting to find time for themselves amidst society’s demands that children become a mother’s “everything,” and negotiating their role as mothers in the public sphere. However, Quiverfull mothers’ primary difference from mainstream mothers is through their relationship with God. They relinquish all control to God’s will, challenging the notion that good mothers must always be in control. Additionally, Quiverfull mothers distance themselves from feminist ideology by promulgating the need for male authority and criticizing all pro-choice sentiment. Moreover, through the exploration of these online artifacts, this study acknowledges the ideological differences between mothering groups, yet exposes that both mainstream and Quiverfull mothers find success as a mother almost unattainable. As a result, this study proposes that mommy blogs have the rhetorical ability to challenge mothering models that destine many mothers to “fail,” imbue value into motherhood, and unite women of competing and polarized ideologies as a way to question the “timeless truth” of what constitutes good mothering.
"Seduced and Abandoned Over and Over and Over": A Feminist Semiotic Narrative Analysis of the Films of James Toback
(2018) Davis, Stefanie Leigh; Dobris, Catherine A.; Hoffmann-Longtin, Krista; White-Mills, Kim D.
In this thesis, feminist semiotic narrative methodology is applied to James Toback’s films Love & Money, Exposed, Tyson, and Seduced and Abandoned, in order to illuminate his construction of womanhood and women’s sexuality. In each film, Toback served as writer, director, and producer, giving him total creative and business control. Due to this lack of outside oversight, these four specific films are most likely to directly reflect Toback’s perspective as a filmmaker. This study employs narrative-based semiotic criticism, expanding the work of Walter Fisher and Teresa de Lauretis, to identify how Toback’s creation of world, gaze, object/subject, and desire, construct womanhood and women’s sexuality. Toback’s creation of illusory worlds emphasizes that while superficial beauty qualifies a woman as a sexual commodity for men, sex will ultimately be women’s downfall.
Setting fire to our bed: a look at narrative persuasion through investigating depictions of intimate partner violence
(2015-09) Masterson, Desirae Sarah; Sandwina, Ronald; Rhodes, Nancy; Dobris, Catherine A.; White-Mills, Kim D.
This thesis sought to attain a greater understanding of persuasion through narrative. First, a rhetorical analysis was conducted. The rhetorical analysis identified fantasy themes represented in two original music video artifacts. These themes formed what the author calls Symbolic Convergence Cycle of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Next, an experiment was conducted to provide further evidence that realistic narrative presentations have a greater ability to shape perceptions than more abstract presentations. Findings included that women were more likely to identify subtle abusive behaviors as abusive then men. However, after exposure to conditions containing the visual portion of the music video “Love the Way You Lie”, both female and male participants were less likely to identify subtle abusive behavior as abusive. This revealed that even though two messages can contain the same themes about the subject of IPV, the way that these messages were presented effected the way in which viewers interpreted the messages.

Browsing by Author "White-Mills, Kim D."

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