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VOL 2

12 Cultural Perceptions of

Learning Disabilities Have Inﬂuenced the Development and Implementation of Inclusive Education Programs and Policies in Urban Secondary Schools

15 Racial and Ethnic

Background Effect on Voter Mobilization in American Expatriates

MIGNOTE TADDESE

16 The Differences in Bias

Across the Border: How an Indian and a Pakistani Author Showcase Bias in their Partition Literature

MAYA GARDNER

13 The Impact of the

Romanticization of Mental Illness on the Conceptualizations of Mental Illness for High School Students: A Focus on the Film Industry

MIRAAL BURNEY

17 The Impact of an

MARIA BAIG

14 Deducing the Effects of

Educational Intervention on Depression Literacy and Stigma Towards Depression MARYAM KASHEF

Home Court Crowd 18 Presence on the Performance of Adolescent Basketball Athletes

Ethical Implications of AI in Cancer Diagnostics: Patient and Physician Perspectives

MICHAEL KREMERS

NICHOLAS ROY

AP Research Papers 2024–2025

VOL 2

19 Examining the Extent of

the Existence of Political Polarization Among American Expatriate Adolescents Living in the UAE

ROSE SABOOR

contents

20 The Effects of

School-Sanctioned Breaks on Sustained Attention SABINE ELSAADANY

21 Empowering Change: The

Impact of Environmental Inﬂuencers on Sustainable Consumer Behavior Among High School Students TAMARA GHOUL

AP Research Papers 2024–2025

VOL 2

Cultural perceptions of learning disabilities have influenced the development and implementation of inclusive education programs and policies in urban secondary schools

AP Research 29 April 2025 Word Count: 4506

Abstract This study explored how cultural perceptions of learning disabilities have influenced the development and implementation of inclusive education programs and policies in urban secondary schools in the United Arab Emirates. This research combined qualitative interviews with teachers who specialize in special education and quantitative surveys to examine the relationship between cultural attitudes and inclusive education practices with teachers who do not specialize in special education. In order to answer the research question, how do teachers cultural perceptions of learning disabilities influence the development of inclusive education programs and policies in urban secondary schools in the UAE? For the qualitative part, thematic analysis was used to understand teacher perspectives, and it showed key barriers such as cultural perceptions, parental denial, inconsistency in policy application, and expat factors. For the quantitative part, Pearson's correlation test was used, which showed a strong correlation between teacher understanding and comfort levels and cultural attitudes, and student outcomes. It also found that while these policies and programs are still developing, their effectiveness is limited by cultural perceptions and financial constraints. The findings suggest that in order to achieve the goal of inclusion, it depends on not only a bigger cultural shift toward acceptance and awareness but also an improvement in the underlying structure. By improving teacher resources, opening conversations, and increasing community engagement it will help create a supportive learning environment for all students. Introduction In different cultural communities, the overall view of learning disabilities plays a big role in shaping how these students are supported and taught in classrooms. Cultural perceptions of learning disabilities are a huge factor in schools, in whether they become an inclusive

environment or exclude these students. These societal beliefs influence educational programs and the students overall school experience. In some regions, more specifically in areas of Asia and the Middle East, disabilities are often looked at as shame or even karma, leading to a negative reputation of the family. These types of perceptions are what can lead to limited school

opportunities and isolation for the child (Werner et al.,2015; Link & Phelan, 2001). On the other hand, western communities often have a different approach, from a medical perspective, focusing on treatment for the child. But this type of approach can unintentionally create divisions between the child and their classmates (Goffman, 1963).

Despite the improvements in inclusive

education, the cultural perception remains a constant challenge for the child and their family. Educators' beliefs and biases, often influenced by these cultural perceptions, limit or increase the inclusion of students with learning disabilities in classrooms (Health, 2015; Garcia & Ortiz, 1988). These challenges are even worse in rural areas, where they have limited resources, which often slows down the growth and implementation of inclusive policies (Wong et al., 2020). This research aimed to explore how cultural perception of disability influences educational opportunities for students with learning disabilities and highlighted the need for a cultural and structural change. The research question that arises is: How do teachers cultural perceptions of learning disabilities influence the development of inclusive education programs and policies in urban secondary schools in the UAE? Literature Review A. Cultural Roots of Disability Stigma The process of stigmatization often comes from cultural norms that define disabilities as different from societal norms. Goffman (1963) discussed how society labels individuals with disabilities as “different”, assigning them an identity that is viewed as weak by others. Link and

Phelan (2001) build on this by explaining that in collectivist cultures, disabilities are often seen

as a reflection of failure or even misfortune, opening this perception beyond the child but to their family and their reputation in the community, this is what discourages families from seeking educational resources for their child. In many Middle Eastern and Eastern Asian communities, disabilities are sometimes viewed as a form of spiritual punishment or karma, making the isolation for them even worse and limiting access to learning opportunities (Werner et al., 2015). However, while Western cultures adopt a medical solution to address these disabilities, the focus on diagnosis and treatment can unintentionally separate students, keeping the belief that they are different from their peers (Health, 2005). B. The Impact of Cultural Stigma on Learning Programs Not only does cultural stigma shape societal views but it can also directly impact the students access to a fair education. Heath (2005) highlighted that these biased perceptions often can lead to the “gatekeeping” of the student, where they are directed to excluded classrooms or speicalized programs. Garcia and Ortiz (1988) discusses how cultural norms can lead to a misdiagnosis, directing students into progams that don’t align with their needs and reinforcing this perception. Educators have a responsibility to either improve or worsen these practices in schools. Dempsey and Ford (2009) highlighted that teachers with these beliefs or perceptions are less likey to support insluive classrooms, instead choosing to segregate them, limiting their social and academic growth. However when educators recognzie that learning disabilities are a part of diversity, students are more likely to succeed within classrooms (Wehmeyer & Schwartz, 2001). C. Urban vs. Rural Access to Inclusion

The difference between urban and rural educational systems adds another layer to

understanding how perceptions work. Wong et al. (2020) found that rural schools often lack the financial resources, specialized staff, or training needed to support inclusive practices. This lack of support leaves students with disabilities in these areas more likely to face exclusion or have access to poorly trained, segregated programs. Urban schools, while typically are better resourced, do have challenges such as larger class sizes and higher academic pressures that can often affect students with disabilities. In both settings, cultural attitudes influence practices. Rural communities, often with traditional values, may look at disabilities as an embarrassment, promoting exclusionary practices (Link & Phelan, 2001). Urban environments, while more developing in certain areas, may accidentally continue the perceptions through these schools that prioritize academic achievement over inclusive practices (Dempsey & Ford, 2009). D. The Role of Teacher Training and Cultural Competency As well as, teachers, who play a big role in shaping students with disabilities being integrated into educational classrooms. Dempsey and Ford (2009) highlights that teachers personal beliefs that are shaped by cultural norms influence their relationship with students. But when teachers focus on the disadvantages rather than the advantages, often leading to them continuing these stereotypes to live on about students with disabilities. Programs and training that provide teachers with understandings of cultural awareness and tips for making an inclusive classroom can really help overcome this issue. Warner et al. (2015) really argued the importance of having a diverse perspective, where instead of thinking of diailities as a bad thing, and instead are looked at as a natural part of human diversity. When teachers are trained in this way, they are better able to understand how cultural perspectives can impact students and know how to implement programs that help students with disabilities.

Conclusion

The question that guided this research was: How do teachers cultural perceptions of learning disabilities influence the development and implementation of educational programs and practices in urban secondary schools in the UAE? It aimed to explore the relationship between cultural perceptions and the impact on prorgams, focusing on cultural pratcices that effectively help students with disbailities integrate into educational classrooms. Gap Even though there has been alot of studies on the perceptions of disabilities, alot of them focus on specific cultural ideas or specific countries. Research on how perceptions change and influence across different cultural, countries, and socioeconomic areas lacks in existing literature. There is limited research designed specifically to address cultural stigma within inclusive education programs. The first gap that was noticed was the lack of localized research. Most of the existing literature focused on inclusive education and learning disabilities in countries like the United States, Canada, or the UK. But there is very little focus that specifically looks at how this issue plays out in a conservative country such as the UAE, where the culture and diversity is completely different. That showed whether a generalization of the findings can be applied to different cultural contexts. Another gap identified was how often cultural differences get overlooked. A lot of these studies treat learning disabilities the same across all contexts, where perceptions of disabilities can differ a lot in different communities. Lastly, there is not enough research that brings both of these sides together, the cultural perceptions and the actual policy implementation. Most studies either focus on how schools apply inclusive policies or how society views them, but never on how one impacts the other. Methodology

Rationale for the Method

This method was chosen because it gave the ability to look at the research from different perspectives. The decision to use a mixed-methods approach was based on the idea of needing to understand the measurable impact and human experiences of such a sensitive topic on others. Creswell and Plano (2011) stressed that the method was particularly effective when exploring complex topics where both statistical trends and personal experiences are relevant to this issue. While the surveys showed patterns across a larger group of teachers. It was chosen to identify the broader patterns and examine the strength between common themes/relationships with perceptions. According to Creswell and Creswell (2017), surveys are effective in collecting data that can support broader and bigger inferences. The interview part helped give detailed insights into the past experiences of specialists who work together with students with learning disabilities. Supported by Bruan and Clarke’s (2006) framework for thematic analysis, they highlighted it is chosen specifically because it allows for flexibility in interpreting data while also still maintaining structure. This balance of relationships and depth helped make better sense of the topic this complex. Using both methods together also strengthened the reliability of the findings, by comparing data from different participants to see where they had similarities and differences in their opinions (Dempsey & Ford, 2009). Overview of the Method The decision to use a mixed-methods approach was the best method for the research, because it has allowed to bring together both quantitative and qualitative data needed in the research. Firstly, the surveys gave a bigger and better understanding of how all general teachers feel towards inclusive education, showing the overall perceptions and trends (Werner et al.,2015). At the same time, the interviews helped dig deeper into the challenges and barriers that

teachers face, especially when dealing with cultural perceptions (Goffman, 1963). Combining these methods made it easier to understand and analyze the broader patterns and the personal perspectives that connect to my research question. Steps of Data Collection

The first step when collecting the data was to recruit participants. The method worked with the ASD (American International School in the UAE) administration to reach a diverse group of educators. They helped identify both general education teachers and specialists, offering a mix of perspectives. General education teachers were invited via email to complete a survey, while specialists were approached for interviews via email. An email was sent to participants with the survey attached, which took them about five to ten minutes to complete them. The survey included twelve multiple-choice questions to capture their general opinions. (refer to Appendix A) For the interviews, the focus groups were organized in a way where they were separated into two groups based on their years of working experience, to allow them to discuss their views together. These sessions provided more in depth data as they were able to build ideas off each other. A semi structured interview format was used, participants had the freedom to share their experiences while staying focused on the main topics like perceptions and inclusivity (refer to Appendix B). The interviews lasted from twenty five to forty five minutes and were voice-recorded. Data Analysis For the surveys, Google Sheets was used to input the data received, but then used Microsoft Excel to conduct a Pearson Correlation test to statistically test the strength between the common themes. For the interviews, it transcribed all the interview group discussions (refer to appendix G&H) and used thematic analysis and inductive coding to identify the recurring themes

(refer to appendix I). The themes that came up were compared with findings from previous research and studies taken such as Goffman (1963) and Werner et al. (2015). By comparing both the survey and the interview data, it confirmed the authenticity of the results. Biases It was clear that interpreting qualitative data could bring out bias, so inductive coding was used to stay consistent. (Williams, 2024) For participant bias, some teachers might have

been tempted to give answers they thought were expected. To stop this, it was made clear their freedom in their answers and this research wanted to understand their experiences in the recruitment process (refer to appendix D) and consent forms (refer to appendix C). In the interview, the introduction briefly talked about the topic but did not show any sign of what side of the discussion the research was based on, and as well made sure that all responses were anonymous and confidential so that participants felt safe sharing their honest opinions. But even though the possibility of bias is still there. Second is cultural bias, since some cultural norms affect how questions are understood, which is what this research wanted, in order to help with that, pretesting all the questions were made to make sure that they were neutral and appropriate for the participants. Validity and Reliability To make sure the findings were authentic and reliable, there was a pretest of all of the tools and improvements made based on feedback from the expert advisor (Ms.Jackson). Then used the combination of the findings from both the survey and the interview to confirm the

results, which were backed up by multiple particpants. Next, there were consistent data collection procedures, and double-checked the coding of the interviews to reduce any errors. Limitations and Assumptions of Methodology The study was limited to only one school, which means findings do not apply to other urban secondary schools in the UAE. Also, sometimes self-reported data can be biased. The assumption was that participants would be honest in their responses and that they would give a good mix of different perceptions. Ethical Protections

All participants signed informed consent forms (refer to appendix C), which explained the research and their rights to confidentiality and anonymity, including the option to withdraw at any time. Also made sure that their identities were anonymous so it wouldn't scare them from sharing information in this paper. All of the questions were checked by the Director of Student Services and special education teams, Ms.Tracy Jackson, to make sure that they were all appropriate to ask. This procedure was established to ensure that ethical considerations were put into place and aligned with other scholarly research work done by Mitter et al. (2019). Scope of the Research This study focused on teachers within ASD (American International School in the UAE). The school had a diverse community which allowed and provided for important information for understanding how cultural differences shape perceptions of learning disabilities. Participants included general education teachers and teachers who specialize in working with students with learning disabilities. Even though there was a limit to just one school, it allowed to dive deep with more of their unique stories. The mixed-methods approach had allowed to explore how cultural perceptions affect inclusion education policies in urban secondary schools. It

acknowledged the bigger picture of teachers perceptions of the inclusion of learning disabilities while also seeing detailed stories of working with students with disabilities. The findings from this research can help teachers have a better and more detailed understanding of learning

disabilities and inclusion, and can help create a more inclusive environment based on the findings.

Figure 1, Image of data from the survey in Google Sheets

Figure 2, Image of continuation data from the survey into Google Sheets

Figure 3, Image of Pearson's correlation test between Years of Experience and Effectiveness

Figure 4, Image of Pearson's correlation test between the Rate of understanding of special education practices and the comfort level of teaching students with Learning disabilities

Figure 5, Image of Pearson's correlation test between bad and good perceptions of learning disabilities and those impacting students' outcomes

Results Quantitative Data As shown in Figure 1, the data had been distributed and gathered from the Google survey that was sent out into a Google sheet. In each column, it had the question that was at the top and the answers from the participants below it. The following questions were asked: How many years of teaching experience do you have? How would you rate your understanding of inclusive education practices? *Inclusive Education practices refer to equality-focused teaching. How would you rate your understanding of special education practices? *Special Education practices refer to accommodated education for students with disabilities. How comfortable are you teaching students with learning disabilities in general education settings?, How effective do you feel like your school's policies and practices are in supporting students with learning disabilities?, In your experience, has a bad perception of learning disabilities from others affected the student? *Bad Perception = Any negative view of those with learning disabilities, and In your experience, has a good perception of learning disabilities from others affected the student? *Good Perception = Any positive view of those with learning disabilities. They were given the options to answer these questions on a scale, either Very comfortable to Not Comfortable, Very good to Very bad, or yes to no, and due to that, there was a switch to a numerical value to make it easier to conduct a statistical test. After that, to analyze the relationships between the common themes, Pearson's correlation test was used. This test helps determine whether there's a connection between two variables and, more importantly, how strong that connection is. The test was conducted on Microsoft Excel, where the two themes data was inputed, and it conducted the test. The results give an R value between 0.19 to 1, and the scale of correlation from Research

Gate was used to correctly analyze the results, as seen in Figure 6. The first comparison was to

test the relationship between Years of Experience and Effectiveness of Policies; the R value was -0.165, which indicated that there was a very low correlation or even no correlation between the two, as seen in Figure 3. The second comparison was between their rating of understanding of special education practices and the level of teaching students with Learning disabilities; the r value was 0.59, which indicated that there was a moderate correlation between both variables, seen in Figure 4. The last comparison was between bad and good perceptions of learning disabilities, and that impacting students' outcomes had an R value of 0.57, which indicated again that there was a moderate correlation between them, as shown in Figure 5. Qualitative Data After conducting the interviews, the recording was put under an Audio to Transcript called Notta, and the transcript (refer to appendix G&H) was pasted onto a Google Doc and started to conduct the theme analysis. There was constant reading over the transcript a couple of times to understand their answers.. Next, the process started, to go in and highlight in different colors of words, phrases, or sentences that that was seen oftenly mentioned (refer to appendix i) and that were important to answer the research question to which started to come up with themes that felt represented the answers to supporting questions of the research question, as shown in figure 7. There were 6 final themes that came from the analyzation in both transcripts, Cultural Stigma and Denial of Learning Disabilities, Parental Influence on Inclusion and Policy Implementation, Teacher Perceptions, Training Gaps, and Institutional Resistance, Policy Development Influenced by Cultural Shifts and Expat Needs, Financial and Structural Barriers Reinforced by Cultural Norms, and Incremental Program Growth and Policy Progress. From there, there needed to be focus on what specifically answered the question best and was the most

valuable, and went through each theme and how it answered the question. From there, there were

the final four themes that best represented the data. The first theme was Cultural Stigma and Denial of Learning Disabilities. The key insights were that some families prefer to attribute challenges to a lack of effort rather than a diagnosed need, and this perception creates delays in identifying student needs and discourages school interventions. The second theme was Parental Influence on Inclusion and Policy Implementation. The key insights were that some parents become either strong advocates pushing schools and authorities to adapt to a new change, or others may unknowingly weaken progress by denying support needs or overprotecting their children. The third theme is Policy Development Influenced by Cultural Shifts and Expat Needs, they key insights were that KHDA (Knowledge and Human Development Authority) initiatives such as Students of Determination initiatives have driven change especially in the area, but in other areas they are still catching up showing uneven cultural and institutional readiness to change. The fourth theme, Financial and Structural Barriers Reinforced by Cultural Norms, and the key insights showed that Inclusive education often comes at an extra cost for the extra accommodation, limiting fair access, as well as schools sometimes prioritize reputation over inclusivity. Even when cultural perception is more accepting, financial constraints and school policies where learning needs are still being misunderstood make it even harder to be more accepting. Findings In the quantitative data, it was found that two out of three themes put under the Pearson correlation test had come out with a moderate correlation, indicating that there was a relationship between the two variables. The first one was the relationship between their rating of understanding of special education practices and comfort levels of teaching students with

Learning disabilities; the r value was 0.59. This relationship indicated that based solely on

teachers given perceptions on learning disabilities that had affected the way that they had taught against the students and how comfortable that they were with teaching the students and based on that, obviously changed the way teachers accommodate the students compared to students without a disability where teachers were more comfortable teaching them and with that changes teaching styles and how effective those are which disrupts the students academic outcome. The second relationship was between bad and good perceptions of learning disabilities, and that impacting students' outcomes had an R value of 0.57. This clearly showed that from first hand teachers saw a good or bad perception of learning disabilities that had affected the way these students were being treated and often it was more towards a bad perception, impacting them and leading them down an academic decline due to leaving out students or even voluntarily not helping accommodate those students. In the qualitative analysis, there were four big themes that were gathered. The first theme, Cultural Stigma and Denial of Learning Disabilities, answered the question by Cultural perceptions, especially stigma and denial, remain a major barrier to recognizing learning disabilities and implementing inclusive policies. As many families resist labels or diagnoses due to fear of social judgment or even a misunderstanding of what are learning disabilities and how to treat them. In the second theme, Parental Influence on Inclusion and Policy Implementation, parents often play a dual role they either are advancing inclusive policies by constant advocating or are obstructing them by not asking for the help their child needs due to background idea on learning disabilities, and their beliefs and advocacy directly affect how schools can respond to and accommodate student needs. The third theme, Policy Development Influenced by Cultural Shifts and Expat Needs, showed that the the evolution of inclusive education policies in the area has always been shaped by cultural change and the

growing expat population as they bring more new expectations for learning support, and schools must reshape due to new ideas and concepts as they wont be an option for the growing

population. The last theme, Financial and Structural Barriers Reinforced by Cultural Norms, indicated that even when cultural perception is more accepting, financial constraints and school policies, where learning needs are still being misunderstood, make it even harder to be more accepting. In all, adding both qualitative and quantitative results, it shows that cultural perceptions and certain stigmas do affect the way that policies are being implemented and how fast or slow that growth is to opening up to new and harder topics to address and accept, by the resources given to them and the environment that surrounds them. Limitations Like any research, this study had a few important limitations that are worth acknowledging. The first limitation is the scope of participation. This study focused solely on teachers, which means it did not include any perspectives from students or parents, both play a huge role in understanding how inclusion is experienced and understood, so teachers were only able to reflect one part of the picture. The second limitation is that data is that the data was self-reported. Since it relied on surveys and interviews to answer the question, this means that the responses came from the participants own perceptions and opinions. That means that there is always a possibility of bias, especially when it comes to such a sensitive topic like any perceptions with learning disabilities or teacher comfort level. People may have answered in the ways that they thought were acceptable. Another limitation is geography., since it specifically focused on an urban secondary school in the country, which means that the findings do not apply to rural schools or even primary education settings, where cultural dynamics and resources could be completely different. The last is the time frame, there were only 7 months to conduct the data,

but cultural attitudes and education policies can change over time constantly so these findings won't be applicable in years and don't give a clear picture of how inclusion evolves. Implications/Future Research

Building on this research, future researchers can focus on, firstly, investigating the long-term academic impacts of cultural stigma on students with learning disabilities, looking at their success or failure that the school sets them up for, confidence, and student progress over time. Second, there is a big need to explore the policy implementation in underrepresented schools, like rural schools or schools with fewew resources. As these environments might face different challenges and understanding these differences could help in investigating how to make inclusive education policies more adaptable and effective across the country. inally, they should focus on incorporating the experiences of students and families. While this research focused on teachers, students, and families' experiences of these policies and perceptions in a completely different way, their insights could help the community better understand what is helping and what still needs to change. These are directions built upon what was found, which could bring the community to creating a more inclusive, supportive, and culturally accepting body. Conclusion In conclusion, through the research process guided by the research question, How have educators cultural perceptions associated with learning disabilities influenced the development of inclusive education programs and policies in urban secondary schools in the UAE? The alternative hypothesis was accepted, showing that there was a significant relationship between cultural perceptions of learning disabilities and the development and implementation of inclusive education policies and practices in urban secondary schools. This study explored how cultural beliefs impact inclusive practices in educational settings. Understanding both qualitative and

quantatatative data, it was shown how teacher’s perceptions, often shaped by cultural perspcetives, impact how inclusion is understood and implmeneted at schools. This research started due to the bigger idea of getting a better understanding of the relationship policy and perceptions in a diverse school. By collecting data from a diverse teaching group, this research brought insight into how cultural stigma, teacher training, and personal experiences intersect to shape inclusive education. Rather than focusing only on whether these policies exist, this looked closely at how the teachers understand and apply them in everyday situations. The combination of survey trends and personal experiences allowed for the analysis of how individual ideas and cultural perceptions can influence the institutional efforts toward inclusive education. Going with this methodology helped show how complex the implementation is in such an international area. In the end, this study serves to show how research can merge perceptions and the actual implementation of practice, and how understanding is essential when aiming to support all learners.

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Appendix G

Transcript 1 Wanna start off by saying again, thank you so much for taking the time. And I'm just conducting this research as part of my project to understand more about the perceptions around learning with disabilities and, like, how that can affect the policies for them. And I just wanna assure you that your participation in the study can be withdrawn at any moment, anytime. You can be also as well anonymous, so you'll be referred as participant one, teacher a, teacher b, whatever. And, yeah. So I'm just gonna give you guys a series of questions, and you guys can build up more on it with whichever way you like. There's, like, no certain way that you guys need to answer these questions whatsoever. Okay. Okay. So my first question for you guys is can you share, like, your perspective, on how schools in The UAE address learning with disabilities and promote inclusivity in schools and whether you think it's they're doing the most or whether you think they should still be doing more? Do you want all schools in The UAE or Yeah. Specific. It can be specific to ASD. Yeah. I think it's really inconsistent. I think The UAE are taking the steps to promote and be more aware of what inclusive inclusivity should look like within the schools, but they're really behind the times if you look at other Mhmm. Countries in the world, like Canada and The USA. So I think they are taking the steps, but I do think it's going a bit slower. I think it's going slower than it should, and I don't think they're thinking full scale. So, for example, they obviously made inclusion a priority for, like, their KHA inspections for schools. Mhmm. And now they're pushing for schools to have alternative pathways for students who may not be able to obtain an actual diploma, but then they haven't thought post secondary. Mhmm. So these kids who are coming into these schools and getting these supports will hit grade 12, and then they have no options here in The UAE to do anything post secondary. Mhmm. So, I think I think it's happening, and I think they're putting policies and practices into place, but it's not where it needs to be as of yet. Okay. Yeah. Do you sure. I think I would agree. I think it's a push without the understanding and the learning behind what it takes to support students with needs. Mhmm. And I think because I don't know what it looked like before if it was hidden in this country, like,

people with needs or whatever. But I think they had no idea. Like, the country had no idea what that

meant. They were like, let's be inclusive, which is amazing. But there was no how do we do this? And I don't know if they're communicating with other countries like The US or Canada to understand what exactly that looks like and what that means for schools and who they need to hire and how they need to support these kids. So I think it's just a, like, a shift in mindset and a learning experience for everyone involved that is higher up to support kids at least. Mhmm. There's also a lot of financial implications for parents. Everything is at a cost. Mhmm. So even if we have these policies and practices that are coming into play Mhmm. Some of these parents can't afford to to get the support they need for their child, and that varies school to school. Yeah. You know, like, certain schools close by charge extra fee if a child needs a one to one. Mhmm. You know, ASD charges if there's a significant need, there is an additional fee that parents have to pay on top of if they need any therapy or anything like that as well. So financially, it could be Very high. Yeah. Very high for parents. Mhmm. Okay. Thank you. What is your view on, like, how perception surrounding learning disabilities is perceived in, like, different communities? And do you think and if it is, yes. Like, how does it affect education policies? So, like, maybe in your past work, maybe in different countries or even different schools, different cultural communities that you've seen, like, do you think that affects the way that they're seen? That the students are seen? Yeah. I think the perception in this country is, again, to kinda glaze over it and act as if it doesn't exist to a certain extent. Yeah. And it only exists when it benefits you, whether that's collegial or whatever. Like, I can get better grades or I can get into the college I want to or whatever. And so I think the perception here is quite different than in The US where it's like, this is a need, and we need to support these kids, and we need to figure out what policies we can create to support them and whether that is, again, good or bad, because I'm not gonna say The US has it all together. Yeah. Yeah. Because whether that's good or bad, it's kinda like, this is what we need to do and you better do it. And if you don't do it, here's what happens, and there's a consequence for that. Yeah. And so I think here, the perception is quite different as it relates to grades and college and Yeah. How that affects their child when other people know that there's a title or a

label on them. So yeah. Yeah. I'd agree. I'd say same, and then that, yeah, the cultural kinda aspect of it.

There are certain cultures. I worked previously in China before here in The UAE and kind of the same kind of mindset that, having learning differently or in, you know, not the typical way was not something they wanted to acknowledge or accept, and that created more barriers for those kids because it's very hard to support someone when the family doesn't believe in what you're trying to do for the child. So Yeah. I think there's different pockets of it. I think also with that, when you think of learning exceptionalities, it's such a big spectrum of what that looks like. And so I think the invisible ones are the harder ones to accept versus a child with Down syndrome or a child in a wheelchair. Something that you can see versus something you can see is very difficult to accept. Yeah. Wait. Can I ask you more about your time in China? Because I know, like, from my prior research, like, their perceptions isn't too good. So can I know whether, like, how, like, maybe you've seen children that might have had a harder time, like, doing school, but their family just wouldn't help them out? Like, did you have any stories like that at all? Yeah. They just had to work harder. That's what their parents would say. Really? They just need to work harder. They just need to study more. And, we were in a a Canadian school on a in a Chinese school. So, like, we were a program, but we were still in a traditional school. Mhmm. And so the kids would just they studied, caught up, went to school, studied from, you know, 06:30AM till 8AM, and then their classes started. And then after school, they studied from 5PM till 9PM and just sat in a class in a desk and studied. And so anytime we had a child that had, you know, potentially a learning need that we were trying to identify, the parents are like, nope. They just need to study more. Oh, wow. There was not even a conversation. It was like, nope. And then, unfortunately, they still use punishment, physical punishment. And so if the child didn't get the grades, then that was a consequence at home that, unfortunately, we had to we tried to deter. But Mhmm. Yeah. No. I think you you still find that even here. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah. When you have, like, parents who or kids who are legacy kids and have needs, and it's like, no. My kid needs to go to Harvard or Columbia or whatever. So when can we stop this tutoring? Because they just need to work harder. So it you can see you can find that here still, I think. Yeah. I think and, again, I only worked in

30 The US before here. Mhmm. I had never seen that in The US until I moved here. I was like, woah. Yeah. So you think it was better over there? Or, like I think it was different. Yeah. I wouldn't say better. I think Mhmm. There is a difference because even to make this a little bit more personal, like my own child when we were in The US, there are 13 categories in The in IDEA that students must fit into who pursue services. And my daughter did not fit into those 13 categories, but she had a different need. And they were like, no. She's fine. And I was like, but something's wrong, and this is before I was in special education and learning support. And they're like, no. No. No. It's okay. And so I just think it's different, not better. So there were policies in place that were like, oh, I wish we had this. Anyway, if I could pick through them, I was like, we need this, this, and this. Mhmm. But the others, we can like, that 13 category thing, we can get a we can do away with. But there are things here I'm just like, I kinda like the fluidity of this piece of it. So not better. Just different. But would you say maybe in America, were they more at least, like, welcoming with the fact? Because, you know, over here, you kind of have yeah. It's extremely international, but here, you have a lot of Arab families, so there's also a different type of perception. And then you with Chinese family, there's also a different type of perception. So I just kinda wanted to know whether American families maybe were at least more welcoming or you think they were the same. I think they were different. Mhmm. So I also worked in elementary. Mhmm. And so in elementary special ed, you would which is why I don't work in elementary special ed anymore. You hear things like, no. If I just stop feeding them x y and z, then they won't have ADHD. And I'm just kinda like, oh my god. Like, give the pill. I Yeah. I'm heavy on medication, which is kinda bad. But at the same time, I'm just like, there is no, like, if you just do. Yeah. Like, I could just stop feeding them red dye or I could just stop doing this, and they'll be okay. And so I think I was eating my salmon. The perception at the elementary level is very much like and I get that because as a parent, I understand that the the acceptance is hard because you're like, no. Not me. Like, why would this happen to me kinda thing. Mhmm. And as you get into middle and high school, the perception from student to student gets difficult. Yeah. And so I think here, it's academic. In The US, I think it's just it's more, you don't fit in socially, maybe. Mhmm. Maybe there's something

31 that the indivisible I mean, the invisible ones know. The visible challenges are like, you just you don't fit in. Mhmm. So Oh. Yeah. Blueberry and stuff like that. I was like, ouch. One thing I would say, like, looking at perception, I think that has also developed here in The UAE over time.

So when I first came to be to UAE, I moved to Abu Dhabi. That was in 02/2010. And I was actually hired to help integrate a girl, a grade 10 girl, who had Asperger's into a mainstream high school. Because at that time, if you had a need, you were in a center. Yeah. Schools didn't even look at you. It was like, oh, you have a learning need? You go to that center. Yeah. And that's where it was just in 02/2010, which we were so farther along in The US and Canada. And so this mother paid half my salary to help her daughter integrate back in high school. Now this girl graduated with a diploma, but this mom had to pay in order for her to have me there to make sure, you know, she was given what she needed she needed in her classes, and teachers understood what her needs were. And it just blows my mind to think that was 02/2010 that that was when the shift was starting to happen. And that shift actually like, for Kate with KJ, KJ didn't even start the inclusion thing until February '16. Mhmm. Mhmm. I was just gonna ask about that question, actually. So Yeah. That's good. Yeah. Go ahead. No. I was gonna ask that question if you've seen any, like, significant types of changes and developments and, like, the policies maybe specifically over here or even where wherever you guys were before. Mhmm. Like because, like, I know Dubai has had quite a change. Mhmm. So I don't know Just Dubai. Not even Abu Dhabi has just got on board. Like Oh, really? They just put out their inclusion policy Mhmm. Last year. Oh. Like, it hasn't been a focus for them. So it even it's even hard to say The UAE because it really from what I know, it's KJ has been doing it a lot longer than, say, Abu Dhabi is. I know Russell Kamah, They're still not there yet. And Mhmm. Al Quaym and all those different Emirates because it's not a cohesive Mhmm. Educational body that oversees every emirate has its own entity. So, yeah, KJ only brought in I wanna actually, I should pull up the framework. I think it's 02/2017 I'll do it later. And so I know how to how to just put out their their inclusion kind of policy for schools last year. So what do you think the challenge is that they're facing,

32 like, in order to put these policies into place? Like, why do you think maybe Abu Dhabi just got on to it or why Rasulhaimah hasn't? I think it's expats coming in. To be honest, it's the need. Mhmm. Not saying there's tons of expats in Abu Dhabi, but, and I don't I think schools were were taking the kids in. I just don't think they had the structure. Yeah. So schools were just kind of managing it case by case. Mhmm. And now Atticus come in and put, like, a blanket policy that all schools need to adhere to in terms of the support and what it looks like. Mhmm. I think, like, with so many international schools being here Mhmm. And inclusive policies, but other policies that say you can take in whatever kid you want and say no to kids that you can't support. So some schools weren't necessarily complying with that, I mean, that idea of inclusivity because they were willing to take the the rate their rating scale down because they were like, we can't, and we don't necessarily want to. But as soon as, like, Eli I'm gonna call you that. Is saying, like, I think the need has changed. Like, the more you bring in expats and people from different places, the more you're gonna have different kind of kids and different kinds of people coming in. And so I think schools are starting to they should have done this a while back, but are starting to say, okay. We can't just take these kids in and not support them. We have to figure out ways to support them. And it's kind of that idea of chicken before the egg. Do we take these kids in and figure it out, or do we figure it out and then take them in? And so that I think that's a lot of the challenge with schools. Like, which one do we do? Figure out the program, students in and morph the program and grow and what is it saying? Build the plane as you're flying or whatever. So I I think that's a hard decision to make. Like, I mean and in my mind, I'm just kinda like, take the kit and figure it out. Like Mhmm. You know what I mean? But I I understand why that may cause so many issues along the way. But that's a hard thing to figure out, and I wouldn't wanna be in that position. I think too, there's also barriers where and I'm speaking from not here, my previous school too now. Mhmm. You take kids in with the mindset of, yes, we wanna help them. Mhmm. And I know in my previous school, we took kids in and we tried and we put tried to put plans in place and programs in place, and it just wasn't the right fit because they needed a school that offered, you know, different therapies throughout the day. But then those those families, you can't say, hey. We're not a

good fit. We let's help find some you've taken them. You gotta keep them. Yeah. So then what it would

cause issues around is we had the student that we weren't meeting their needs. It was not a great environment, but that family was like, no. We wanna stay at this school. So then I'm like, are we doing right by this child? Yeah. Nope. But this family now is saying, well, you can't you can't make us leave. We don't wanna leave. You need to figure it out. And that's what I so that's just what it was what miss Johnson saying is that's really tricky. So as a school, do you develop a program and, okay, this is how it's gonna be and this is the kids we take? Or do we open those doors and say, yes, come in and hope that it works out? And I also think it's quite difficult to, like, standardize a program in special Yeah. Because that's the whole idea of inclusivity. You can get a kid with autism or ADHD, and they look completely different, and then your program is like, this doesn't actually fit for this student. Mhmm. And so when we like, what I'm talking about when I say chicken before the egg is also kind of that idea is if you're taking in these students and you're like, holy crap. Like, I didn't realize x, y, and z. Mhmm. What is the school doing to support that person that's in that position that is boots on the ground every single day? Mhmm. What are admin or boards or whoever doing to say, hey. Well, we need, like, a therapeutic whatever. How are we gonna build that into this curriculum? Because there are students that are needing various things. And although there's an identical diagnosis, their behaviors may look completely different. Yeah. It it's a it's difficult. It's hard. I mean, do you think, inclusivity is, like, a big topic here at ASD? And, like, what I mean by big topic is, like, you can say one thing, but, like, do they actually act on it and work on it? Like, if you guys bring up an issue, there isn't this type of program that this student needs, would they listen? Would they help? You'd have more knowledge of that than I would. You know, like or, like, what even what type of barriers did you come up with when you tried to implement these new programs? Or I think inclusivity is a big word. But if we're gonna talk specifically about learning support and special education, I think, once again, there are times when we're like, okay. We need to I'm I'm I'm out here all the time because I'm like, help kids. Like, I don't care who they are. Like, bring them in, help them, and figure it out. Mhmm. But I there are times when it's quite difficult to support students when we haven't developed,

like, a PE an adaptive PE program. Mhmm. Like, that is difficult when you're accepting students with

higher need. Yeah. So I think that maybe is and it's difficult for teachers. So we're like, oh, learning support, we know the things and we can support them. But when you're saying, like, we're in a school where we wanna be, like, exceptionally inclusive and we're saying they need to go to other classes because that's what inclusion means, and students need to see them and teachers need to understand. Mhmm. You need to also put in place training for teachers that aren't learnings. Yeah. And so though there are a lot of things that you need to do to prepare this space for a student that has a significant need or even something that not quite as significant because the teachers on ASD are quite long standing. Mhmm. And so they haven't had to deal with students of this kind of caliber, even small things. They're just like, woah. Because they're used to teaching it all the way at the top. They're like, oh, my kid these kids are at the top, so perfect. I can get them ready for school, and we also are known to be, like, college ready. That's how we get kids into the school because we're like, university, we've sent this amount of kids to Harvard or this amount of kids to here. And so when you start letting in kids with needs, that changes the caliber of students that you have in here. So you have counselors who are like, but that's not how we sell our school. So and not that they disagree with the inclusivity. They're just like, but what what are we doing here, and how are we supporting them? So when you when I'm, like, learning for learning for yeah. There are so many pieces outside of me and my role that are being moved and being affected by saying any kid should be allowed to come into any school. Mhmm. Yeah. But that's something also I find schools need to also get on board with is I this is my first year here at ASD, but I know from being in Dubai, ASD was a school that was like, oh, no. They don't take kids with learning needs Mhmm. In the past. Right? And even so, I when I worked at DAA, one sibling would go here, and the sibling with the needs would be at DAA. And it's still like, we have a lot of higher needs kids over at DAA that are there and and still aren't able to get in here. But what miss Johnson has said is teachers have to be on board with the shift. And if you are becoming this more inclusive, you know, looking at special ed and looking at learning support, the school has to say to teachers, you need to get on board or maybe this is the right fit for you anymore.

Mhmm. Because that mentality has to shift as well. Yeah. And that's some things that some schools are

not doing either. I I not here per se, but in the past, I've had teachers say, like, well, I don't I've not had to teach these kids before? Well, you teach them now. Yeah. Exactly. Like, we'll we'll support you. We'll do what we need to do, but it's like a full school thing that needs to happen. Yeah. It can't just be piecemeal. Yeah. Yeah. It's an investment in, like, the training and Okay. So for example, if you guys were to be policymakers, let's just say, what would your first steps be? Like, what is, like, the most important things that that you think need to be recognized? It's a hard question, but let's just imagine you're at the top right there. I don't wanna I don't wanna be at the top. I don't know. Because it it is it's hard. I know it's a lot more complicated than say, but, I mean, is it maybe putting in programs for teachers for, like, regular teachers who teach whatever? Like, do they need to start learning? Do you think that they need more education and knowledge on this type of stuff? Like I'd say for me, it'd be just a full school review and to ensure that not just ASD, that schools aren't just doing things to tick a box. Yep. We do that. Mhmm. Okay. You do it, but are you doing it well? Are you doing it properly? And look at whole school. Like, socially, are we supporting these kids? Academically, are we we supporting these kids? What does the team look like? Is it gen ed teachers, learning support teachers, counselors working together? Because so oftentimes you still hear teachers, and I don't know if it's an instinctive thing, but oh, those are your kids. They're not my kids. They're our kids, and we all work together. Yeah. So like I said before, it's that that mental shift. Mhmm. And so as a if I were to be a policymaker, it would be not just these are the boxes we need to tick. It needs to be a let's get almost like a committee together and do a full scale Yeah. Full school review of how we're doing it and how we're doing it and if we're doing it well. Oh, okay. Thank you. That was very good. Go on policymaker. What you gonna do? Mhmm. I think schools have a lot of pushes in various directions. Mhmm. And so their, like, idea of a good school is, like, are we innovative? Is our curriculum great? Is our like, are we doing all these things? And then it's inclusivity and learning support. And, again, inclusivity is so huge. Mhmm. There's so many things that is involved in that one word, but I think that has been and is still kinda on the back burner of, like, innovation and which is why

36 we have our innovation center or, like, curriculum or college. And so I think I think like you said, move that to the front and say innovation is gonna obviously happen, but inclusivity is, like like, kids are I think our primary goal is the kids and their needs. And even the kids that are don't have diagnoses, all the students in your space learn in a different way. Mhmm. And so I do think it's an education to gen ed teachers around what it is that they need to do, especially with long standing teachers in The UAE. Because people come here and they stay because they like it here, and it's easy living and life's good. And so if they're gonna come here and stay and I I actually don't think things are changing. I just think teachers need to get on board. Mhmm. This is like, even where they're coming from, they should have, like, known me some of these things. Yeah. So I think it's a huge push and, like, making this the primary focus. Mhmm. That, hey. We're gonna all sit in a room, and we're gonna talk about this, and we're gonna have panels of kids, and we're gonna educate you on designing your lessons. And that way, Jenna could feel confident in what they're doing and not put it off as those are your kids. Yeah. I agree. I think you're gonna have true inclusivity when you no longer have to talk specifically about inclusion. It's just happening. Yeah. Like, we still have to call it something, like, eventually, hopefully, we'll get there where it's just a natural thing that occurs in schools, and you don't have to have an inclusion policy. It's just happening. Yeah. I agree with that. Is there anything else you guys would like to share about, I don't know, your experiences or maybe your insights regarding, like, perceptions? Because that's pretty much it.

Appendix H

Transcript 2

But I just wanna, first of all, say hello, and thank you so much for taking your time. I know you guys have a busy schedule clearly. So I'm just, again, restating that I'm conducting a project on how the perception I don't wanna use stigma, but how the perception around learning disabilities can maybe affect the way that their education policies are being put in in, like, The UAE specifically. So I just wanna assure you that at any point in time, you can always withdraw and all that stuff. And as well, if you guys do wanna be anonymous, I will refer to you guys as teacher a participant one, anything like that. So, yeah, we can start now officially. I'm just gonna start off with a couple of questions. You guys are feel free to continue talking, yapping on. It's what I encourage. I like it more. Gives me more information. So, yeah, my first question would be, can you guys maybe share your perspective on how schools in The UAE address learning disabilities and how might they promote inclusivity? So, like, maybe are they doing enough, or do you think they could still do more? You know? But yeah. Yeah. I don't I don't have a ton of perspectives or information about other schools in The UAE, but I can say this is the fourth country that I've worked in an international school, and I feel like The UAE has done a lot to sort of support the the term they use is people of determination, students of determination. And so compared to other countries, I think The UAE is really working toward more inclusive schools and identifying and supporting people of determination through accommodations and different supports. So, again, I don't know what specific schools in The UAE are doing, but I know in Dubai, KHDA is, you know, strongly supporting, anything related to people of determination. So compared from okay. We we can just use your only time at here at ASD. So compared to ASD to the other countries that you worked at, would you say is The UAE maybe behind? Is it maybe better? I think it's ahead of other countries Mhmm. In terms of providing a, like, a governmental mandate, for lack of a better word, for all schools public and private to, provide supports for students of determination. Okay. Mhmm. Yeah. And I agree with everything that mister said. I think

also from my perspective is that The UAE is doing amazing job because they've got this outlined, you

know, handbook. But I also know, and this is a little bit of a sidebar, but when we were I was working with a team of people, looking specifically at kids with autism in schools, and interviewing families. And it was a little bit of a different experience that they had had because I think that part is still, there's a lot of catching up to do, in terms of creating long term programs for kids with with, let's say, severe autism because it's extremely expensive here. Mhmm. And so if families have money and they can afford it, they can hire aids, but they're not always the best, At least this was my experience with the interviews that we did, that there wasn't always the ability to for families to be able to pay for that and for their for the let's say their son or daughter that has a severe a severe, you know, severe autism and an inability to sort of function in school and inability to kind of go out and find their own job, so they have to bring in and pay for their own support. Mhmm. Okay. I think that's something that's in the works. Mhmm. So another question would be, with your interactions with, like, families of the ones of students with disabilities, do you kind of see a cultural factor when it comes to kind of accepting that their son or daughter has something that needs just a little bit more help? Have you seen any maybe good responses and specifically, like, which type of cultures or any type of bad responses per se? Yeah. I don't know if you saw any with the ones that you interviewed. Maybe they're a bit more put offish. Or And, you know, sorry for that because that was kind of a sidebar. It's not necessarily with exactly what you're researching, but I think it's kind of important to keep that in mind. I would say mental health is probably the area that could possibly be the most stigmatized within the, you know, know, sort of, like, the general the interactions that I've had over the years with families. I think that's probably the toughest one. Yeah. Mental health? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's it. Yeah. I this is a generalization, but I often find mothers tend to be a bit more open and supportive, and sometimes the fathers are nope. They just need to work harder Mhmm. Or yeah. They're they maybe don't they they have a different definition of success and outcomes, and so that would be a gender difference that I know I noticed. But I also I do notice, culturally, there are some some communities that, yeah, are a little bit more resistant to having their their child evaluated to potentially get

39 a diagnosis. Mhmm. Again, they would rather just, you know, work harder. We'll figure it out on our own. They don't want a label. They don't want their student to have a label or, you know, documentation that will follow them. But really, it it is case by case, and so I've had North American families Mhmm. That don't wanna pursue, you know, Asian families that have a very, high level of expectations for their kids. Mhmm. Arab family. You know? So it's really Yeah. I think it depends on very depending. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think there's been any type of significant changes or developments in, like, education policy policies for, for students with learning disabilities over, like, the past decade if you've been in Dubai specifically? Because I know for a fact they just made it they just made the policy, like, around 2015, '20 '17, so that's pretty recent. But I don't know if you were able to see that, like, change and She's been here longer. Oh, yeah. I just I I'm going gonna go back to the mental health thing because I think that that's it. That that totally affects our students. Right? The an anxiety diagnosis or it could be a trauma diagnosis. Mhmm. I think that it's and it seems to me, and I could be wrong, but I feel like that's just sort of global. It's not just Dubai and every and the global kind of influences Dubai, Dubai kind of influences globally. You know, in international universities everywhere also, it seems more accepting, more tolerant overall of understanding a student with a true real anxiety disorder, and looking at that student as having, you know, that's a student that we will accept in our school. Whereas maybe in the past, that would have been a lot more, I think, just looked down upon. But you're talking specifically about Dubai. I didn't think about that. UAE because, like, I know for a fact that Abu Dhabi just made it clear a year ago. Yeah. So, like, I don't think it's a sadly, I don't think it's a global thing just because it's especially hard for, like, an Arab country like ours to get on board with something like this super quickly. Dubai in specific started in 2015 only because of how many expats there are and how many needs that they have to take care of. You know? But, yeah, that's why I was just kind of wondering if you've seen any specific changes or, like I don't know. This is only my third year at ASD, but I know as a school, we've significantly grown in our inclusive practices and our programming. You know, three years ago was the the first special education Mhmm. Cohort in the elementary school. This year is the first year in the middle school. Next year, it'll be

the first year in the high school. So that's a very specific example of how one school in Dubai, ASD, is

building a program to be more inclusive and admit students that three years ago, five years ago, ten years ago, would not have been accepted to a school like ASD. Yeah. What barriers do you think you might have to encounter when for ex like, obviously, like, maybe you guys or maybe people more up in the power, but, like, implementing policies, what type of barriers do you think they that they might have? Like like you said, one might be financial, a 10%. Mhmm. Is there anything else kind of stopping maybe The UAE or ASD in specific from implementing even more policies to help out even more students? Yeah. So I also wanna respond to the last question that you asked because I remembered something, and that was there was one of the parents that we interviewed that was the main parent that went to KHDA KHDA because they didn't have school for their daughter. Mhmm. They were from, New Zealand. And so they had a place for the other part of, you know, other family members Mhmm. But not for her, and she had Down syndrome. So I think that was huge. Yeah. And that was multiple schools that she went to, and it was a it was a fight. Mhmm. But I think that that was probably around the time that you're talking that the shift happened. Yeah. You were talking about the barriers. I would say when I think about okay. For one thing, and I've heard, like, boards talk about this before, is that what kind of school do we wanna be? We have to decide. We can't be everything to everyone. We can't market ourselves as a university prep school Mhmm. And yet also have these programs and fund those programs and support those programs. So it's kind of like I kinda see ASD right now in one of those sort of shifts. Mhmm. It's like we want to maintain this, you know, this high level of expectations academically, you know, for sports, but we also want to completely open up our schools, not open up, but, you know, invite in, these these different pathways. Yeah. I know. Yeah. Yeah. Does that make sense? So I I don't really know, but I see, as you said, it's moving slowly, but it's happening Mhmm. Which is great. Do how do you no. What time do you need to leave? Me? I need to leave at 01:40. Okay. So eight more minutes, if that's okay. Do you think and if if you do think if what is it? But what type of role do you think parents play in either reducing or maximizing a type of perception against their disability? Because, like, also, you can talk about mental

health because I know that's also a very big thing. Like, a lot of times, parents think, oh, that's just

nothing. You need to get over anxiety. Same thing. Mhmm. Maybe with, like, learning with disabilities as well, like, what what do you what role do you think they play? Do they help the student? Does the student I find in in many instances, the parent is the biggest advocate. Mhmm. They see what the the child is struggling with at home. The child goes home and maybe opens up in a way that they don't at school with some of their challenges. Mhmm. And I have seen so many parents that just relentlessly advocate my child needs this to be successful. My child, you know, deserves this or would benefit from this. And I think, like you were saying, this mother who went to KHDA and said, I need a school for my child. So in many cases, the parents know that that child better than anyone in the world Mhmm. And they are the ones that can open doors and help other people sort of understand what it is that their child needs. Yeah. And that's not always that's not always the case. Yeah. But I think that's a a really. What's, like, the other case you would say? I think there are parents that can sort of get in the way of their students' learning. I think sometimes parents can enable learned helplessness, kind of making excuses, rather than helping empower their student to find the strategies they need to become more independent and successful. They might just swoop in and save the kid if they forget something or Mhmm. You know, they're the ones that reach out and communicate with the parent with the teachers rather than helping build the the skills within. Yeah. Mhmm. Perfectly. Perfectly set? Be set. Yeah. That's perfectly set. So in your opinion, what steps, could be taken at the school or policy level to further reduce any type of perception around it? Because perception can be either from parents, teachers as well, and also, students. So what type of steps do you think, if you could implement anything, should be taken? Because I'm also researching this to help implement new stuff. That's huge. I mean, this reminds me a little bit of NFI, the conversations that you have in schools when you're shifting in Mhmm. More and bringing in more inclusive. And I don't just mean kids with learning disabilities. I mean, inclusive all around. Mhmm I think that I mean, like Anne said, the parents are huge. Giving administration sort of, you know, support to be able to support their staff in terms of understanding, like, what what would I need to be able to have this student in my class?

42 Mhmm. Do I have the training as a teacher to be able to support, you know, more students with challenges in my class rather than having the stigma of, oh, how am I supposed to teach these kids? Mhmm. The other thing was you talked about students as well. And Anne and I used to be in a, this group called Next Frontier Inclusion, which is kind of sort of evolved into Senia, sort of. It's part of that kind of, but, they used to do these things where they would have the students share with staff and with parents as well. And parents would come in and share with teachers their own experiences, which was super like eye opening. Because I think a lot of times, Zan is saying, like, parents don't always or teachers don't always understand what the parents are going through unless they've experienced it themselves. Yeah. So there's a lot of opportunities to raise awareness just through conversations. Yeah. Right? And also with this and also with the students. We also had the students present to the staff as well, which is fantastic. Do you oh, sorry, Tintra. Go ahead, Ben. Do you think do you think maybe, like, general teachers, do you think that they are, like, equipped and ready to take on a student that has maybe difficulty learning? Like, Sturm's looking at me. I have an answer. But it's interesting that you say that because the same way that you described, that she described parents, sometimes a teacher can be can cause, can be an enabler and not build the essential skills that they need because they're afraid of not giving enough support to the student, or they cannot give too much, or it's too much tough love, which also doesn't work on some kids. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. So I think there's always growth for teachers. Like, there's growth for us all the time. So I'm going to say, I'm gonna give a, I don't know. I if I had to be dead honest with you, what is it? Fifty fifty? I would Yeah. I would say no. Yeah. Because no, And I don't mean that in an unkind way, because we're great teachers. Yeah. But what you're actually saying is the reality of it, all the way through planning and grading, that's a whole another story. Go ahead. Sorry. Yeah. I think the vast majority of our teachers are capable of supporting a wide range of students. I think the vast majority of our teachers lack the confidence. I think they they feel like I need more training. I need more support. We're not ready, but it doesn't matter how much training and support. They're never gonna feel Mhmm. Ready. Yeah. But I actually think we have so many wonderful educators that they are capable. Could they

use more support? Yes. But I think one of the biggest barriers is just lack of confidence. It's it's scary to

think about the the makeup of your class changing and having a a wider range of needs, but most of our teachers are equipped to do that if they believe in themselves. Do you think maybe teachers might be scared because of either maybe, like, their own perception that they have of it? Mhmm. Because I was gonna verify you on your fifty fifty thing. I sent out a survey to all general teachers, and, like, it had, like, a bunch of multiple choice questions. Half of them said, yes. I could, and half of them said, no. I can't. Like, I don't feel ready to or I don't have the type of training. You know what I mean? That's why I was gonna verify you. Yeah. But I just wanted to see whether do you think maybe teachers might be scared because, like, also, like, their own type of perceptions of students with learning disabilities? Because at the end of the day, they signed up to teach everybody, but they didn't know that they were gonna be teaching everybody. Mhmm. You know what I mean? Especially for teachers that have been in ASD for longer than just three years. Yep. So I just wanted to see if maybe do you think that there is a type of perceptions also as well with teachers that they might try to hide because it's such an inclusive, like, school as well? Yeah. And I wanna talk about hiring practices really quick because anyone can say anything in an interview. They can say, I'm happy to co teach. They can say, I'm happy to have any I welcome all students. I work with this group here at this last school and whatever school they're at. But when it actually comes down to also when a person is asking questions and hiring, there's some specific questions in how they ask it Mhmm. In actually what responses a person can get. So I think it starts there. And then I would also say, like, what mister the exact same thing that miss Durham said was that if a there's there should there has to be some kind of ongoing support with teachers because, as she said, we could say and try to do our best, but it comes down to what is our core belief. And if a lot of our kids have a really teacher envisions as a good class. Mhmm. Right? So that's often, like, where we where we hit the we have a problem there Yeah. If that makes sense. So that's something that we work on a lot. Okay. Yeah. Appendix I

Qualitative Coding

Refrences

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Heath, S. B. (2005). Learning language and strategic interaction in cultural contexts. Linguistics and Education, 16(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.linged.2005.09.002 Inclusion. (2025). https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/inclusion Katz, I., & Chamiel, M. (1989). Relationship between children's ages and parental attitudes

toward a child with a physical disability. International Journal of Rehabilitation Research, 12(2), 190-192. Keller, C., & Siegrist, M. (2010). Psychological resources and attitudes toward people with physical disabilities. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 40(2), 389-401. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00579.x Kitayama, S. (2001). Culture and emotion. In Elsevier eBooks (pp. 3134–3139). https://doi.org/10.1016/b0-08-043076-7/01712-5 Learning Disabilities and Disorders. (2025, March 19). Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4865-learning-disabilities-what-you-need-to -know Link, B. G., & Phelan, J. C. (2001). Conceptualizing stigma. Annual Review of Sociology, 27, 363–385. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.363 Mitter, N., Ali, A., & Scior, K. (2019). Stigma experienced by families of individuals with intellectual disabilities and autism: A systematic review. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 89, 10-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2019.03.001

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What is inclusive education? ALLFIE (the Alliance for Inclusive Education). (2019, October 7). ALLFIE. https://www.allfie.org.uk/definitions/what-is-inclusive-education/ Wehmeyer, M. L., & Schwartz, M. A. (2001). Disproportionate representation of minority students in special education: Issues and recommendations. Exceptional Children, 67(2), 159–173. https://doi.org/10.1177/001440290106700202 Werner, S., & Shulman, C. (2015). Does type of disability make a difference in affiliate stigma among family caregivers of individuals with autism, intellectual disability or physical disability? Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 59(3), 272-283. https://doi.org/10.1111/jir.12136 Wong, M. H. R., et al. (2020). Rural-urban disparities in education for children with disabilities: A review of global practices. Journal of Special Education, 54(3), 123–140. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022466920924095 Williams, B. (2024, September 11). Coding Frame for Content Analysis: Step-by-Step Guide. https://insight7.io/coding-frame-for-content-analysis-step-by-step-guide/ The scale of Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient. (n.d.). ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-scale-of-Pearsons-Correlation-Coefficient_tbl1_3 45693737

The Impact of the Romanticization of Mental Illness on the Conceptualizations of Mental Illness for High School Students: A Focus on the Film Industry Word Count: 5500

Abstract Increased media representation has worked to destigmatize mental illness to some extent, however, it has also had the undesired effect of romanticizing mental illness. The romanticization of mental illness occurs when in an effort to make mental illness a more approachable topic, it is portrayed as glamorous or desirable (Issaka et al, 2024). Most research on the romanticization of mental illness focuses on social media, however, there is limited knowledge on its impact within the film industry. This paper aims to fill this gap by looking at how the romanticization of mental illness within the film industry impacts the conceptualizations of mental illness for high school students. A mixed-method approach was used, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data. To do this, a convenience sample of 33 participants each filled out a pre-questionnaire measuring their current conceptualizations of mental illness, watched a film clip containing elements of romanticization, and then filled out a post-questionnaire which measured their conceptualizations of mental illness after being exposed to the romanticization. The researcher did not find statistically significant differences between the participants’ quantitative responses between the pre-test and post-test; however, when analyzing the qualitative responses, several major changes in opinion could be seen between the pre-test and post-test. These qualitative findings indicated that the romanticization of mental illness within the film clip impacted the participants’ conceptualizations to a high extent and thus, the researcher concluded that the findings within this paper could potentially help reduce the risk of romanticization occurring in the film industry as they provide rationale to reexamine the regulations within the film industry pertaining to content made for adolescents. Further research should replicate this study with a larger, more representative sample for more generalizable results.

Literature Review When viewing the overall health of a human being, mental health is the portion concerning an individual's emotional, psychological, and social well-being (CDC, 2024). All three of these components are essential in order for one to engage in productive activities such as school, work, or caregiving responsibilities. Additionally, a stable mental health state allows us to develop and maintain relationships as well as learn how to develop resilience in times of adversity (Njoku, 2022). However, just like injuries can occur to the physical body, injuries can occur to the mind. Specifically, mental illnesses are defined as clinically significant disturbances experienced by an individual that directly impact their behavior, cognition, or emotional regulation. Common mental disorders include depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc (WHO, 2022). The causes and symptoms of each mental disorder vary, however, the negative perception of the general public of these different illnesses remains a shared characteristic. Fear and misunderstanding are two of the main factors driving most negative perceptions of mental illness and have furthermore led to the stigmatization of mental illness (Singhal, 2024). The two main forms of stigma are public stigma and self-stigma. Public stigma involves the discriminatory attitudes others have towards mental illness, while self-stigma refers to the internalized shame individuals with a mental illness develop towards themselves (Singhal, 2024). The implications of the stigmatization of mental illness are further highlighted in a qualitative study conducted by Katie Prizeman, who has a PhD in psychology, which analyzed the impact of stigma on young adults as participants revealed that a lack of understanding from their family and friends resulted in feelings of social isolation. Additionally, stigma reduced their self-esteem, leading to an increased desire to hide their mental illness (Prizeman et al., 2023). In correlation

with these findings, a second study focused on university students conducted by Virgínia da Conceição, who has PhD in public health, identified the most frequent barriers to seeking treatment were stigma and embarrassment surrounding mental illness (da Conceição et al., 2024). Thus, it can be concluded that although societal advancements have been made in terms of awareness of mental health itself, these advancements are not without the presence of the stigmatization of mental illness stemming from negative public perceptions.

Representation of Mental Illness In The Media While it would be inaccurate to say that the issue of the stigmatization of mental illness has been eradicated, there have been several actions taken over the course of the past decade that have worked towards destigmatizing the topic of mental illness. That is to say, steps have been taken to help mental health become a larger and more acceptable part of the conversation. A large factor driving these recent changes is representation within the media, which includes news outlets, movies, TV shows, social media, etc (Zhang & Firdaus, 2024). In a particular study conducted by Hao Zhang, a postgraduate student with a research focus in health communication, which focused on the media’s overall coverage of mental health, it was found that media plays a key role when it comes to influencing public perception. In the case of positive media reports, the observed effects included increased public awareness, reduced stigma, and increased help-seeking behaviors (Zhang & Firdaus, 2024). However, as with most things, there are two sides to representation of mental illness within the media. While media does have the power to positively impact public perception of mental illness and has been used for this purpose, there are also several instances where this has not been the case. For instance, in a meta-analysis study conducted by Gloria Mittmann, a

postdoctoral researcher with a focus on mental health, it was found that stigmatization of mental illness such as autism is still prominent within newspapers as as well as the film industry along with a negative tone and stereotypical portrayals (Mittmann et al., 2024). This was further corroborated by Zhang as he also found that negative media reports were found to deepen misunderstandings, increase stigma, and hinder individuals from seeking help (Zhang & Firdaus, 2024). However, Mittmann was able to find a second perspective in terms of differentiating between different forms of media. While newspapers and films contained a majority of negative reports, social media was found to have a more diverse and positive tone due to the fact that individuals with autism were included within the conversation, as social media is a platform which allows for self-representation (Mittmann et al., 2024). This goes to show that the media is a powerful tool when it comes to influencing public perception of mental illness. While it has allowed society to come a long way in terms of destigmatizing the topic of mental illness, there are still several flaws in terms of negative reports and inaccurate representation. All the more reason why social media constitutes a large portion of research on the topic of mental health representation, as individuals with mental illnesses themselves are able to speak out and offer accurate information on the topic of mental illness.

Romanticization of Mental Illness As previously seen there are both positive elements to media representation of mental illness as while as negative elements. Most research highlights increased stigmatization of mental illness as a result of negative media portrayals, however, there is a second consequence which may arise as a result of media representation. This would be the romanticization of mental

illness, which occurs when in an attempt to make mental illness a more approachable topic, it ends up being portrayed to be glamourous or desirable (Issaka et al., 2024). As mentioned previously, media is a platform where stigmatization of mental illness commonly occurs, however mental health researcher Jai Ahuja is able to comment on how a partial transition from stigmatization to romanticization can be seen as he states, “While traditional media has often been criticized for villainizing characters with mental illness, the new-age social media depiction of mental illness carries with it a sense of 'creative mystique' painting mental illness with a glorified aesthetic in segments of society exposed to such media” (Ahuja & Fichadia, 2024, p. 1). This phenomenon is further highlighted in a study by Issaka Barikisu, who works in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Michigan State University, which examined users' discussions regarding the romanticization of mental illness on the social media platform, Twitter. Not only were users able to recognize that romanticization was occurring, but specifically it was noted that content online portrayed depression as “fashionable” and anxiety as “cute”. The range of romanticization was also noted as sometimes light-hearted expressions were used to trivialize certain illnesses, while others went as far as to glorify suicide (Issaka et al., 2024). In a second study conducted by Roya Jadayel, a researcher from the University of Lebanon with a focus on mental health, similar experiences were shared by high school students which corroborated Issaka’s findings in terms of the impact of romanticization of mental illness on social media. These students identified “pro-ana websites” which hold the purpose of promoting dangerous practices relating to anorexia nervosa as well as encouraging unhealthy eating habits. As a result of this online content, individuals were characterizing mental disorders

as “relatable” and “desirable” to the point where they were falsely diagnosing themselves. In addition to this it gives individuals, who have been clinically diagnosed with a mental illness, the impression that what they are experiencing is “common enough” to the point where they did not need to seek treatment (El Habbal Jadayel et al., 2018). When discussing the topic of romanticization it is important to consider an additional perspective which was identified by Issaka. A large factor contributing to romanticization is the fact that several individuals enjoy being able to engage with communities such as the pro-ana communities, where they receive social support and validation for their actions. These major romanticizing content platforms are seen as sites of empowerment among certain individuals (Issaka et al., 2024). While the potential these groups hold in terms of creating a welcoming environment is not something that can be dismissed, several risks remain. All of the trends mentioned above have serious implications, especially for young adolescents more susceptible to social media trends, as they contribute to the desensitization of severe symptoms of mental disorders as well as an increase in feigned mental illness and self-diagnosis. Through romanticization, social media has caused mental illness to become “trendy” and has contributed to the development of certain “aesthetics” surrounding mental illness. Romanticization not only impacts individuals interacting with the specific content but it also takes away from individuals who struggle with the symptoms of mental illness on a daily basis. The severity of the seriousness of mental illness is downplayed which results in confusion among individuals in terms of identifying the difference between a stable and unstable emotional state and a hesitancy to seek professional treatment (Jigyasha & Sonali, 2023).

Romanticization of Mental Illness in the Film Industry While most research has been done on the romanticization of mental illness within social media, one component of media which is overlooked is the film industry. Alongside social media, TV shows and movies are outlets through which viewers can gain insight on the struggles of having a mental illness through character portrayal. And while these representations can contribute to reducing stigmatization surrounding mental illness, the quality of the portrayal influences whether or not the intended effect is seen (Calabro, 2019). This is corroborated by Zhang, as he points out how negative media reports were found to deepen misunderstandings, increase stigma and hinder individuals from seeking help (Zhang & Firdaus, 2024). Additionally, there is the risk of romanticization of mental illness which can stem from a particular portrayal of mental illness showcasing the condition as desirable. Looking at social media and the film industry, both platforms come with risks in terms of representing mental illness. However, as pointed out by Mittmann previously, social media allows for self-representation. Individuals clinically diagnosed with mental illnesses are able to comment on their own experiences within different social media forums. Self-representation is key to ensuring that mental illness remains a topic of conversation while also ensuring that the portrayals of it are kept accurate (Mittmann et al., 2024). This is something that the film industry often lacks. There’s no guarantee that an individual with knowledge of mental illness will be working on the project. Therefore, this could lead to elements of misrepresentation of mental illness present within mainstream cinema such as romanticization of mental illness. Furthermore, the film industry is able to easily influence adolescents. This is supported by an analysis of the Netflix Show, “13 Reasons Why” published by the National Mental Health Institute, which found that the release of the show was associated with an increased suicide rate of adolescents

within the U.S. (NIMH, 2019). While suicide was a main theme present within the show, this increase in suicide rate cannot be attributed solely to the romanticization of mental illness within the show as external factors were not controlled for. However, it does point to the fact that adolescents are particularly vulnerable to media in the context of film (NIMH, 2019). Therefore, as the film industry has minimal research in regards to romanticization of mental illness, a phenomenon with a high risk of occuring due to a lack of self-representation as well as a high influence on adolescents, a gap emerges. Further research is needed in terms of how glamorization of mental illness within the film industry may impact the conceptualizations of mental health of adolescents.

Research Question The paper aims to answer the question, “To what extent does the romanticization of mental illness within the film industry impact the conceptualization of mental illness within high school students?” The film industry has been chosen as the target media due to the high risk of the romanticization of mental illness occurring as a result of a lack of self-representation and the influence the industry has on adolescents. Additionally, it was chosen due to the lack of research concerning this industry within the current body of knowledge.

Methodology The method chosen for this study was a mixed-method intervention-based survey which included both quantitative and qualitative aspects. This survey was administered within a private school institution to high school students, grades nine through twelve. All participants were required to initially complete a consent form via Google forms, (see Appendix A) while

participants under the age of eighteen were required to have a parental consent (see Appendix B) filled out alongside the standard consent form. Once the consent forms had been filled out, participants were able to participate in the study. This method is best understood broken up into three different components: the pre-test, the stimulus intervention and the post-test. The pre-test was a questionnaire sent to participants via Google forms, and its main purpose was to assess their current conceptualizations of mental illness. It’s important to note that a pre-existing questionnaire measuring conceptualizations of mental illness was not adopted for this research study, however the newly created questionnaire was heavily cross-referenced and influenced by both the Community Attitudes Towards Mental Illness (CAMI) and the Attitudes To Mental Illness Questionnaire (AMIQ) to ensure that the questionnaire was accurately measuring the conceptualizations of mental illness for the participants (Luty et al., 2006). The main reason behind this choice was the fact that a majority of the pre-existing questionnaires were made up of agree and disagree statements corresponding to specific scenarios. For the purposes of this study, a broader form of measuring conceptualizations was needed in order to incorporate the stimulus intervention. Moving forward, this newly created questionnaire broke down the concept of conceptualizations into smaller chunks such as the participant’s perceived severity of mental illness, their understanding of mental illness, their opinions on seeking treatment, etc. In total there were six subtopics of the conceptualization of mental illness and these were further broken down so that two of the six questions were asked using a numerical rating scale while the remaining four were asked open-endedly. In this way the questionnaire (see Appendix C) contained both a quantitative portion as well as a qualitative portion.

Once the pre-questionnaire was completed, the participant was able to move onto the stimulus intervention. Within this research study the stimulus intervention was a brief film clip from the movie adaptation of, “Dear Evan Hansen”. This film was chosen because it was identified to contain elements of romanticization while also being a suitable maturity rating of PG-13, as this survey was being distributed within a private school institution to high school students (Emmich et al., 2019). The clip had a run time of seventy seconds and can be found at the time stamp 1:30:56. Bearing in mind that response bias is a risk factor when implementing a survey method, in an effort to reduce this risk, the choice was made to not reveal the fact that this clip contained elements of romanticization to the participant. Instead, romanticization was not mentioned at all within the questionnaire and the film clip was labeled as a media portrayal of mental illness. While this choice may not have eliminated response bias entirely, it is the researcher’s hope that it helped to reduce the risk of it occurring. After viewing the clip, participants were able to move on to the third and final portion of the method: the post-test. This questionnaire (see Appendix D) was very similar to the pre-test in terms of format and questions asked, as its main purpose was to measure the participants' conceptualizations of mental illness after being exposed to the romanticization within the film clip. Following this section, participants were able to submit the entire Google form and once they did so they had finished participating in the research study. Shortly after the survey was completed by the participants, a debriefing form (see Appendix E) was sent out in order to explain the findings of the study to the participants. It was within this form that participants were made aware of the romanticization present within the video clip and that romanticization of mental illness was the key factor being analyzed within this study. As this topic concerns mental health, it was ensured that counseling services had been

recommended within this form. Finally, it was made clear that the participant had the right to opt out of the study and to not disclose any of their responses even at the end of study. This method was aligned to several parts of the initial research question, “To what extent does the romanticization of mental illness within the film industry impact the conceptualizations of mental illness for high school students”. Starting with what the question was seeking to measure, this method ensured that a broad concept such as conceptualizations of mental illness was being measured by incorporating open-ended questions. This allowed the students to answer without any restrictions and to elaborate on their own unique conceptualizations as not all thoughts concerning mental illness are uniform. Secondly, by implementing a pre/post set up, this method was able to see the direct extent of impact of the romanticization of mental illness within the film clip, by providing two sets of comparable data for each participant. The pre and post data allowed for the observation of any significant differences in terms of responses to the two tests. As the film clip was positioned in between the two tests, any differences between the two tests could be attributed to the clip which aligns to the research question’s goal to see to what extent the romanticization of mental illness was impacting conceptualizations. Thirdly, by incorporating a stimulus intervention in the form of a film clip containing romanticization, this method further aligned to the research question as it asks about the impact of the romanticization of mental illness in the context of the film industry. And lastly, the choice to use a Google form to distribute the survey aligned to the chosen population seen in the research question, as this platform was already familiar to high school students. Additionally, using Google forms made the survey easy to distribute over a large group of individuals. Originally, in-person interviews had been considered as they allow the researcher to ask open-ended questions in order to accurately measure conceptualizations, however, this was not feasible to conduct for the entire

high school and there was the risk of interviewer bias. As the topic of mental illness can be quite sensitive, a Google form survey was chosen instead, as participants can still be asked open-ended questions while offering some privacy for the participant so they may feel less inhibited while filling out the questionnaire. Based on this methodology as well as the initial research question, the null hypothesis was that the romanticization of mental illness within the film industry has no significant impact on the conceptualizations of high school students. While the alternate hypothesis states that the romanticization of mental illness within the film industry has a significant impact on the conceptualizations of high school students.

Results and Analysis Quantitative After data from the 33 participants had been collected, their responses from both the pre-test and post-test were organized within a Google Sheets spreadsheet for analysis. Looking first at the quantitative data, there were two questions within the questionnaire which required participants to enter a numerical rating (from 1-10) using a Likert scale as a response. Question one being, “Please rate how significant you perceive the topic of mental illness to be in terms of its prevalence and severity” and question two being, “How confident would you say your understanding of mental illness is?” Each participant’s numerical rating for both the pre-test and post-test was organized in side-by-side columns in order to be graphed for both question one and question two as seen in Figure 1. For both graphs (question one and question two) the difference between the pre-test and post-test answers varied. Sometimes the numerical rating had increased, sometimes it had decreased and other times it had stayed the same.

Figure 1

Shows the difference between pre-test and post-test scores for question one

In order to see if the difference between the pre-test and post-test scores for both question one and two were significant, inferential statistics in the form of a statistical paired t-test were performed. A statistical t-test was used to compare the averages of two related groups to determine whether or not there was a significant difference between them. In this scenario, group one would be the pre-test scores and group two would be the post-test scores. The t-test must be paired as both data points (pre-test response and post-test response) were coming from a single participant. After running the paired t-test a p-value was calculated. The interpretation of the p-value is as follows: If the p-value is less than 0.05 then the null hypothesis must be rejected as there is statistically significant evidence to support the alternative hypothesis, however, if the p-value is greater than 0.05 then the null hypothesis must fail to be rejected as there is no statistically significant evidence to support the alternative hypothesis. In the context of this study as seen in Figure 2, both p-values for question one and question two were greater than 0.05.

Therefore, the null hypothesis failed to be rejected, and there was no statistically significant evidence that the romanticization of mental illness within the film industry impacted the conceptualizations of high school students.

Figure 2

Shows the p-value for question one (left) and question two (right)

Qualitative The remaining four questions of the survey required participants to enter an open-ended response. The questions asked were, “How much would you say mental illness impacts the lives of individuals?”, “How do you view individuals with mental illness?”, “Do you think that if an impacted individual has access to treatment (therapy or medication) that they should always take advantage of it? Please explain”, and “Do you think that there is ever a time where the impacted individual should not engage in treatment options? Please explain”. Similar to the quantitative data, the participants' written responses to both the pre-test and post-test were initially organized within a Google Sheets spreadsheet. However, for the ease of analysis these responses were transferred to a Google document as seen in Figure 3.

Figure 3

Shows the transfer of responses from Google form to Google document for question one

Starting with the pre-test of question one, each response was read through and codes were found amongst all thirty-three responses. An inductive coding process was followed, as the codes were created after reading through the responses in an effort to ensure that no predetermined codes were used. The codes were then numbered and color-coded for ease of organization as seen in Figure 4.

Figure 4

Shows the different codes (organized by color) for question one

Once all of the codes had been stated, the frequency or how often each code came up, was recorded. This same process was then repeated for the post-test of question one. The frequencies of responses for each code for the pre-test and the post-test were recorded in a table for ease of analysis as seen in Table 1.

Table 1

Shows the frequencies based on the codes for the pre and post test for question one

The qualitative analysis process explained above which included transferring the responses to a Google Document, reading through the pre-test and post-test responses, carrying out inductive coding for the responses, tallying the frequencies of responses based on the codes, and

organizing the data within a table was repeated for all four of the questions. This can be seen in Figure 5.

Figure 5

Shows the frequency tables made for each of the four questions for both pre-test and post test (in order from question one (top) to question four (bottom))

Once each question had both the pre-test and post-test frequencies table filled out it was easy to analyze the key differences. For question one, regarding what impact mental illness had on the life of individuals, a large portion of responses had indicated a high extent of impact in both the pre-test and post-test, however in the post-test a new theme had emerged. Seventeen out of the thirty-three responses, which is over fifty percent of participants, indicated that mental illness also impacts those around the individual to a high extent, only after viewing the film clip containing romanticization of mental illness. Thus, a direct impact on the conceptualizations of

mental illness of the participants can be seen. The key takeaway from question two which was regarding how participants viewed individuals with mental illnesses, had a large portion of responses indicating that they viewed them as “normal” in both the pre-test and post-test. However a key difference was seen in the number of responses that indicated that “it depended” between the pre and post test. Less participants said that “it depended” in the post-test and an increase was seen in the responses which indicated that participants “viewed them with empathy” or “viewed them as struggling individuals”. This switch in responses shows how after viewing the video clip, participants became more sure of their answer as the number of responses indicating that “it depended” had decreased, thus showcasing another impact on the conceptualizations of mental illness. In question three. which asked participants if treatment should always be taken, a large majority, twenty-four responses, had initially answered “yes” in the pre-test. However, this number decreased by fifty percent when looking at the post-test as only twelve participants had answered “yes” after viewing the video clip. Subsequently, the number of responses originally indicating “no” in the pretest increased by fifty percent when looking at the number of responses indicating “no” in the post-test. Thus, another extreme switch in participant response was seen as the majority opinion switched from “yes” to “no”, highlighting another impact on the conceptualization of mental illness. Finally, looking at question four which focused on times when individuals should not take treatment, the majority of responses had indicated that “no such time exists” within the pre-test. However, this number decreased within the post-test answers, as after watching the video clip several participants switched their answer to say “if they are not willing to”, as this response saw an increase from three responses in the pre-test to ten responses in the post-test. Therefore, as a result of the video clip, another switch in the majority theme was seen as the opinion of participants had changed

between the pre and post test, emphasizing another impact on the participants’ conceptualizations. To recap, the four takeaways were the emergence of a new theme that “mental illness also impacts surrounding individuals”, a shift in opinion as more participants viewed individuals with empathy, a second shift in opinion as the majority of participants changed their mind from saying “treatment should always be taken” to “it does not always need to be taken”, and finally a third shift in opinion was seen as a majority of participants changed their minds to say “when an individual is unwilling they do not have to take treatment”, from “no such times exist”. These differences between the pre-test and post-test responses highlight a high extent of impact on the conceptualizations of mental illness of the high school student participants due to the romanticization of mental illness.

Conclusions and Implications Going back to the initial research question, “To what extent does the romanticization of mental illness within the film industry impact the conceptualizations of mental illness of high school students?”, based on the quantitative and qualitative data gathered, two different extents of impact can be identified. When looking solely at the quantitative data, the romanticization of mental illness within the film industry impacted the conceptualizations of mental illness of high school students to a low extent, as a statistically significant difference between the pre and post was not found for questions one and two. This would indicate that the romanticization within the film clip did not have a significant impact upon the participants' conceptualizations. However, when looking at the supporting qualitative data, the romanticization of mental illness within the film industry impacted the conceptualizations of mental illness of high school students to a high extent, as key differences were seen between the participants' responses in the pre and post test.

Thus, the romanticization within the film clip did significantly impact the participants’ conceptualizations due to the observed changes in opinion which occurred between the four questions within the qualitative section of the survey. The first implication of these findings is that it helps to fill the previously identified gap within the current body of literature concerning romanticization within the film industry. As mentioned before, most research regarding the romanticization of mental illness focuses on social media, however as the findings of this research have identified evidence of romanticization within the film industry having a high extent of impact on the conceptualizations of high school students, it provides a pathway for additional research to be conducted upon the topic, to hopefully one day fill this gap within the literature. Moreover, the findings of this study provide a rationale to re-examine regulations and laws within the film industry regarding adolescents. As previously identified, there is a high risk of romanticization occurring within the film industry due to a lack of self-representation (Mittmann et al., 2024) and the fact that adolescents are easily influenced by content within this form of media (NIMH, 2019). However, as the findings of this study have found evidence of romanticization of mental illness impacting the conceptualizations of high school students, they can help lead to a reduced risk of romanticization occurring within the film industry by providing a rationale or push to take a second look at the regulations within this industry, specifically for the content being made for adolescents. Consequently, if the risk of romanticization of mental illness within the film industry is being reduced, then the risk of previously identified negative impacts of the romanticization of mental illness such as increased false diagnosis, the desensitization of severe symptoms, and decreased treatment-seeking actions, can also be reduced.

Limitations and Future Research As with every research study, this particular study comes with limitations. Firstly, a convenience sample was used to gather the thirty-three participants, instead of a random sample. This was due to the difficulty of ensuring that the randomly selected individuals were participating in the research study and completing the survey entirely. Consequently, the findings of the study cannot be generalized to the population of all high school students as a random sample was not used. Secondly, because this study was conducted within a private school institution, the film clip shown had to have a certain maturity rating. The movie from which the clip was taken had to be rated as PG-13 in order to be shown to high school students. As such, the choice of clip was severely limited as it had to contain both elements of romanticization and have a maximum maturity rating of PG-13. Unfortunately, most films containing romanticization of mental illness are mature films, and as a result, this study was limited in the degree of romanticization that was tested. The impact of the romanticization of mental illness on the participants’ conceptualizations may not have been fully accurate due to the fact that a film clip containing lower degrees of romanticization was used, and results may have varied had a clip containing higher degrees of romanticization been used instead. While these limitations must be considered in terms of the conclusions of this study, they also pave the way for future researchers. This study has found evidence of the romanticization of mental illness within the film industry having an impact on the conceptualizations of high school students, however as mentioned a gap exists within the current body of knowledge upon the topic of the film industry and romanticization within it. Thus, this study could be replicated by future researchers in order to help further fill the gap; however, with a random sample in contrast to a convenience sample. This way, their findings could be made generalizable to all high school

students. Secondly, future researchers could conduct a stratified random sample which would stratify by grade level to see if there are any difference between underclassmen and upperclassmen when it comes to their conceptualizations of mental illness and how they are impacted by the romanticization of mental illness within the film industry. Future researchers could also replicate this study in a different context, where instead of looking at a sample of high school students, they might look at a sample of adults. This way, they would be able to use more mature film clips which may contain higher degrees of romanticization of mental illness. Thus, the full extent of the impact of romanticization would be able to be assessed which may have been missed within this study due to the restriction of film clips based on maturity level.

References Ahuja, J., & Fichadia, P. A. (2024). Concerns regarding the glorification of mental illness on social media. Cureus, 16(3). https://doi.org/10.7759 Calabro, A. (2019). The media's portrayal of mental illness and its treatment: An analysis of the existing literature from a social work perspective. Locus: The Seton Hall Journal of Undergraduate Research, 2(1). CDC. (2024, October 18). About Mental Health. Mental Health. https://www.cdc.gov/mental-health/about/index.html Firdaus, A., & Zhang, H. (2024). What does media say about mental health: A literature review of media coverage on mental health. Journalism and Media, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia5030061 Issaka, B., Aidoo, E. A. K., Wood, S. F., & Mohammed, F. (2024). "Anxiety is not cute" analysis of twitter users' discourses on romanticizing mental illness. BMC Psychiatry, 24(1), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-024-05663-w Jadayel, R., Medlej, K., & Jadayel, J. (2017). Mental disorders: A glamorous attraction on social media? Journal of Teaching and Education, 7(1), 465-476. Jigyasha, S., & Sonali, K. (2023). Mental illness in today's scenario: Glamorization, trivialization or stigmatization. International Journal of Current Research and Review, 15(13), 01. https://doi.org/10.31782/ijcrr.2023.151301 Mittmann, G., Schrank, B., & Steiner-Hofbauer, V. (2023). Portrayal of autism in mainstream media – a scoping review about representation, stigmatization and effects on consumers in non-fiction and fiction media. Current Psychology, 43(9), 8008-8017. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-04959-6

Njoku, I. (2022). What is Mental Illness? https://www.psychiatry.org:443/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness Salo, D., Kairam, N., Mekaeil, V., Michel, L. K., Pandey, D., Patel, D., Bash, H., & Fiesseler, F. (2022). "13 reasons why": An analysis of pediatric psychiatric visits pre and post release of A popular netflix show detailing pediatric suicide. European Journal of Medical and Health Sciences, 4(3), 105-108. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejmed.2022.4.3.1242 Singhal, N. (2024). Stigma, Prejudice and Discrimination Against People with Mental Illness. https://www.psychiatry.org:443/patients-families/stigma-and-discrimination WHO. (2022, June 8). Mental disorders. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders

Appendix Appendix A Informed consent form sent to all participants via Google Forms

Study Title: Examining the impact of mental illness portrayals within the film industry on conceptualizations of mental illness.

You have been asked to participate in a research study that is part of the requirement for an AP Research course offered at the American School of Dubai . Before you agree to participate in this study, it is important that you read about and understand the study and the procedures it involves. The investigator will also explain the project to you in detail. If you have any questions about the study or your role in it, be sure to ask the investigator. If you have more questions at a later time, the investigator will be happy to answer them for you. You will need to sign this form giving us your permission to be involved in the study. Taking part in this study is entirely your choice. If you decide to take part, but later change your mind, you may stop at any time. If you decide to stop, you do not have to give a reason and there will be no negative consequences for ending your participation. Researcher: Maria Baig Contact: mbaig.25@asdubai.org Institution: The American School of Dubai

Purpose of the Study: The reason for this study is to examine how depictions of mental illness within the film industry, which includes tv-shows and movies, impacts conceptualizations of mental illness held by high school students. You have been asked to participate because you are a high-school student attending the American School Dubai. This study will aim to review the conceptualizations of grades nine, ten, eleven and twelve at the American School of Dubai. What You Will Be Doing: If you decide to take part in this study, you will be asked to fill out a short-answer, google form questionnaire in which you will be asked about your pre-conceptualizations of mental illness in general. Following this you will be shown a short less than one minute clip displaying a representation of mental illness in a certain film. After the clip has been watched the questionnaire will ask about your post-conceptualizations of mental illness. This questionnaire will take about 10 minutes to complete. Any information about you will be kept confidential. What are the risks? The potential risks of this study are minimal. However, you may experience some discomfort when answering questions or viewing the video clip as they concern the topic of mental health and mental illness. What are the benefits? Your participation in this research will help investigators identify the impact of underlying elements of the romanticization found in the film industry on individuals’ conceptualizations of

mental illness. This information may be useful in developing future resolutions to promote student and adolescent mental health. How will my privacy be protected? Information about you will remain confidential. Your name will not appear on the questionnaire, the only information the researcher will see is your grade level. The researcher will collect your information but not disclose it to anyone or include any identifiable information in the publication of the study. Only aggregated data will be published, and no individual responses will be identifiable. Further Assistance If after completing the survey there are any lingering or remaining concerns, the ASD counseling and support team will be available as a resource. The team includes a social psychologist as well as multiple counseling departments each complete with a team of professionals who are dedicated to supporting academic, social, and personal development. The link below can be used to access this support. https://www.asdubai.org/learning/high-school/counseling-support. Should you have any further questions you can contact Maria Baig.

What is your name? (first, last) ---------------------------Date of submission of form: (day, month, year) ----------------------------

Consent of Participant: I have read the above information, and I understand the purpose and nature of the study. I am aware of the risks and benefits of participating. By clicking on this box, I consent to participate in this study.

Parent/Guardian Consent (for participants under 18 years of age): I am below the age of 18 therefore I require parent/guardian consent. By clicking on this box, I consent to having another consent form sent to a parent/guardian of my choice. I am above the age of 18 therefore I do not need parent/guardian consent.

Section Required Only For Minors: (IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 PLEASE FILL THIS SECTION OUT) Please provide the ASD FAMILY EMAIL of the parent/guardian who will review the consent form. They will then receive a copy of the consent form on their family email for them to review.

----------------------------

Appendix B Parental consent form sent to parents of all participants under the age of 18 via Google Forms

Study Title: Examining the impact of mental illness portrayals within the film industry on conceptualizations of mental illness.

Researcher: Maria Baig Contact: mbaig.25@asdubai.org

Institution: The American School of Dubai

has been watched the questionnaire will ask about their post-conceptualizations of mental illness. This questionnaire will take about 10 minutes to complete. Any information about your child will be kept confidential. What will be in the clip? The video clip is a less than one minute excerpt from the film adaptation directed by Stephen Chbosky from a screenplay by Steven Levenson, based on the 2015 stage musical. The scene being shown in the survey depicts an argument between the main character, Evan Hansen, and his mother. The argument centers around the two characters' differing opinions on whether or not Evan should be seeking out treatment for his medically diagnosed social anxiety. If you would like to view the clip the link is posted here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12epoK9PcpDffFk_Nv3vN9vQi0bvpK7-V/view?usp=sharing. Additionally, when looking at Common Sense Media which is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children. The website discusses the mature themes within "Dear Evan Hansen", however has rated the film as age appropriate for high school students. The Broadway show was inspired by a novel titled "Dear Evan Hansen", by authors Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul. This is an additional resource you may look into if you still have concerns about what will be present within this clip or the movie as a whole. What are the risks?

The potential risks of this study are minimal. However, your child may experience some discomfort when answering questions or viewing the video clip as they concern the topic of mental health and mental illness. Your child is allowed to withdraw at any point during this study without any consequences. What are the benefits? By participating, your child will help investigators identify the impact of underlying elements of the romanticization found in the film industry on individuals’ conceptualizations of mental illness. This information may be useful in developing future resolutions to promote student and adolescent mental health. How will their privacy be protected? Information about your child will remain confidential. Their name will not appear on the questionnaire, the only information the researcher will see is their grade level. The researcher will collect their information but not disclose it to anyone or include any identifiable information in the publication of the study. Only aggregated data will be published, and no individual responses will be identifiable. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding this study, please feel free to contact Maria Baig Consent of Parent: I have read the above information and understand the purpose and nature of the study involving my child. I am aware of the potential risks and benefits associated with their

participation. By clicking on this box, I, as the parent or legal guardian, consent for my child to participate in this study.

Full Name of Parent/Guardian who has Consented (First, Last): ---------------------------Date of submission (month, day, year): ----------------------------

Appendix C Pre- Questionnaire questions sent to all participants via Google Forms Quantitative

Qualitative

Appendix D Post- Questionnaire questions sent to all participants via Google Forms Quantitative

Qualitative

Appendix E Debriefing form sent to all participants following the research study Impact of Romanticization on Conceptualizations of Mental Illness

Thank you for your participation in this research study. For this study, it was important that I withhold some information from you about some aspects of the study Now that your participation is completed, I will describe the withheld information to you, why it was important, answer any of your questions, and provide you with the opportunity to make a decision on whether you would like to have your data included in this study.

What you should know about this study

The clips that you were shown within the google form questionnaire were chosen with purpose Not only were they portrayals of mental illness within the film industry, but they were portrayals which contained elements of romanticization of mental illness. A certain portrayal is defined as containing romanticization when it contains certain outlined criteria. While this film has not been identified as a romanticization it was chosen due to its inclusion of the outlined criteria. It was necessary to withhold this information as the study’s aim was to see how romanticization would impact your conceptualization of mental illness. Had it been disclosed that romanticization was present, it may have influenced or swayed responses of individuals. This was the only aspect of the study which contained withheld information.

Right to withdraw data You may choose to withdraw the data you provided prior to debriefing, without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Please initial below if you do, or do not, give permission to have your data included in the study:

I give permission for the data collected from or about me to be included in the study

I DO NOT give permission for the data collected from or about me to be included in the study.

Questions If you have questions, the main researcher conducting this study is Maria Baig, a student at the American School of Dubai. If you have questions, you may contact Maria Baig at mbaig.25@asdubai.org If you have any questions or concerns regarding your rights as a research participant in this study, you may contact the Institutional Review Board (IRB) Chairperson at 706.542.3199 or irb@uga.edu.

Your signature below indicates that you have been debriefed, and have had all of your questions answered. _________________________

_______________________

__________

Name of Participant

Signature

Date

Please do not disclose research procedures and/or purpose to anyone who might participate in this study in the future as this could affect the results of the study.

If you feel upset after having completed the study or find that some questions or aspects of the study were distressing, talking with a qualified clinician or counselor may help. If you feel you would like assistance, please contact the school counseling team.

If you would like to receive a copy of the final report of this study when it is completed, please feel free to contact the researcher.

Deducing the Effects of Home Court Crowd Presence on the Performance of Adolescent Basketball Athletes Word Count: 4004

Abstract: In the field of sports psychology, there are many biopsychosocial factors that may affect performance, and one of these factors is the crowd and its effect on the game. Since the crowd is an ever-present, ever-crucial part of any sports game, it is imperative to analyze its effects on player’s performance.. Current research in the field analyzes how the crowd affects professional athletes and their performances in competition, however, there is a lack of research regarding the impact of the crowd on adolescent athletes. Thus, the following research question emerged to fill in this gap: how does home court crowd presence alter the performance of adolescent boys basketball athletes? The study aims to find a correlation between crowd presence and performance, as well as producing a methodology that can be translated into other populations with similar demographics. The methodology contains both qualitative and quantitative elements, including interviewing subjects during four seperate games. Two of these games had a low number of individuals present in the crowd, while the other two games contained large crowds. Specific questions were asked in order to analyze the subjects’ reflection on their own performance, as well as the impact of the crowd on their overall performance. Using the player perceptions of their performances as well as stats counted from the four games, it was found that there is a correlation between performing better and placing more importance in the crowd with the players who play more minutes, and a correlation between worsened performance and heightened importance placed in the crowd. Limitations include not being able to determine causation and only correlation because it was not an experiment, participant fatigue, and the use of a limited sample size. The study has produced a reusable methodology that can be applied to other populations with similar demographics worldwide, and with tweaks to the design of the

study to make measuring causation a reality, this methodology can be repurposed to find trends in crowd presence and performance worldwide.

Deducing the Effects of Home Court Crowd Presence on the Performance of Adolescent Basketball Athletes In the field of sports psychology, there are many biopsychosocial factors that can and do affect athletic performance, and they come in many ways, shapes and forms. Biologically (or physically), factors that can affect performance are simply corporal. The limits to your physical abilities are a factor, but other things that cut down your maximum physical ability count here too, like how injury-prone an athlete is and the physical state of an athlete (i.e. how injured they are, how well rested, are they warmed up or not, etc.). The other factors are external from the athlete and their "field of play"; mental and factors external to the athlete. Mental factors are simply categorized as the mindset somebody has whilst playing a game, and all the different portions of that mindset include things like confidence level, toughness of the mind, and level of focusness the athlete is exhibiting (Vealey, 2007). All of these factors can positively or negatively influence a player's athletic performance during a game depending on how well each respective athlete is feeling on any given day. Finally, circumstances that are external to the player are just what they sound like; things that affect a player's performance, for better or for worse, that do not have anything directly related to the player. This can be seen in the actions of other players on the court, referees, coaches, and people in the crowd and how their actions affect a player. In other cases, it could be the circumstances they are playing in that affect performance: this can be found in players playing in shoes they have never used before, or playing on unfamiliar grounds. Although all these factors exist, the one this paper hones in on is the effect that a crowd has on the game. Since the crowd is an ever-present, ever-crucial part of any sports game, there is importance in understanding its role in the game. Although there is a lot of research done on how the crowd affects professional athletes, this kind of information does not

exist for adolescent athletes, leaving a gap in the research for this study to attempt to fill. The study aims to find a correlation between crowd presence and performance, as well as producing a methodology that can be translated into other populations with similar demographics. Literature Review Athletic performance has traditionally been viewed as a multifaceted concept primarily focused on physical factors such as speed, strength, endurance, and skill proficiency (Morgan et al., 2018). However, recent scholarship has expanded this definition to include psychological and contextual influences, recognizing the fact that factors beyond an athlete's physical abilities can significantly impact performance outcomes. One such contextual influence, and the one that will be honed in on, is the presence and dynamic of the crowd at a sports competition. Crowds can alter an athlete's psychological state and can affect how they perform in these sports competitions. The interaction between external factors like this and psychological factors underscores the complexity of athletic performance as a whole, which highlights the need for a more holistic understanding of what drives success in sports. Building upon the previous discussion and subsequent definition of athletic performance, psychological factors such as mental toughness, focus, and confidence play a critical role in influencing an athlete's overall performance (Vealey, 2007). To maximize mental performance (which in turn would enhance athletic performance), Vealey posits that self-efficacy and mental preparation for high-stakes competitions is essential to achieving maximum performance. These psychological elements align with the biopsychosocial model proposed by Taylor and Wilson (2005) which emphasizes the interconnectedness of biological, psychological, and social factors in shaping performance. The model highlights the importance of contextual factors (like crowd presence) influencing an athlete's state of mind and performance. According to Li et al. (2023),

optimal performance occurs when the previous three factors are "in harmony", which coincides with the moment where negative emotions are minimized. Additionally, Li and colleagues have developed a mixed-method approach to quantify performance, offering a way to measure the balance of these diverse factors in order to find said harmony, and finding the impacts these factors have on an athlete's performance in competitive environments. Schempp et al. (2015) argue that an athlete's performance is shaped by the interplay between their skills and the environment in which they compete, where crowd presence is a significant contextual factor making up the latter of the interplay. This dynamic creates a "complex result" of physical, psychological, and contextual elements that together influence performance. One key aspect of this relationship is the concept of home court advantage, which in previous scholarship has proved to positively impact athletes. Courneya and Carron (1992) suggest that athletes often perform better when competing at home. This is primarily due to psychological benefits such as increased motivation and confidence. These benefits are particularly enhanced when athletes are in the presence of larger supporting crowds, since they would be more likely to feel supported and energized by familiar spectators. The presence of home crowd supporters can serve as a powerful psychological boost, ultimately leading to improved performance during competitive events. Côté and Hay (2002) suggest that an athlete's "arousal level" can be influenced by crowd presence, with crowd size and energy potentially elevating arousal levels. According to Yerkes and Dodson (1908), there is an optimal moderate level of arousal where performance peaks, and crowds can help athletes reach that optimal state. However, when arousal levels reach levels higher than the optimal zone, something that is especially possible with a highly energetic crowd, performance anxiety is known to set in which would negatively affect performance. This is

especially true when completing tasks that require precision in sports because high levels of arousal impair the execution of delicate skills (Woodman and Hardy, 2001). Thusly, the relationship between audience presence and performance is complex. The Social Facilitation Theory (Zajonc, 1965) explains that the presence of others can enhance performance on simple tasks but has the opposite effect on more complex tasks. Giacobbi et al. (2004) further emphasize the point just made, noting that while athletes may excel in tasks requiring physical exertion, they can struggle with complex skill execution when under the pressure of an audience. This highlights the nuanced impact that crowd presence can have on different types of athletic performance. A common gap in existing research on the effects of crowd presence on athletic performance is the demographic focus, with studies primarily concentrating on elite and professional athletes in large athletic markets. Notably, there is a lack of research on adolescent athletes, particularly those in the UAE. This presents a viable gap that this study aims to fill by focusing on adolescent athletes in the UAE. The research will provide valuable insights not only in the specific dynamics of crowd presence in this population but also into a methodology that can be reproduced across adolescent athletes worldwide. This is possible because despite cultural differences, adolescent populations share many common psychological and physiological characteristics, meaning the methodology can be translated to other regions without fault. This study's contribution lies in its ability to extend the understanding of how crowd presence affects performance in a new demographic while offering a framework applicable to global adolescent populations. Athletic performance is a dynamic and multifaceted concept, influenced by a combination of situational contexts, physical states, and psychological factors. These elements

interact in complex ways, and understanding their interplay is crucial for optimizing performance. This study aims to address the research question of: How does home court crowd presence affect the performance of ASD varsity basketball athletes? By investigating the specific dynamics of crowd influence on these athletes, the research hopes to provide insights that can be applied to other populations of youth athletes. The potential benefits of this study include the development of optimized training strategies that account for the psychological and environmental factors impacting performance, as well as the improvement of competition strategies in sports. Ultimately, the goal is to enhance both individual and team performance by better understanding the role of crowd presence in athletic success. Methodology To address this research question, a methodology was formed. For the qualitative part, all the necessary permissions were gathered (Informed/parental consent, IRB approval), and four games were selected before the season started with two high-crowd expected games and two low-crowd expected games. After each of these games, interviews were conducted with the players who consented. These interviews contained questions asking them about their performance and overall mental state during the game, and how the crowd (or lack of one) affected their performance. They were filmed and a transcript was taken from them, then it was coded to distinguish between the answers. All of the interviews occurred within a week from the date of the game so that remembrance of the game would be ensured. Interview questions (see appendix A) were specifically crafted in order to initially ask participants more open ended questions on competing in athletic events as a whole. There were three questions taken in their entirety from Li et al. (2023) that would serve as baseline questions; these questions gave the participants the opportunity to express how they experienced

competition, or more specifically, problems that the participants normally face while they are engaged in athletic competitions. Typical responses saw one of two things: Either that the subject experienced extenuating circumstances affecting them in game causing an issue, which in this situation could be another player getting into their heads, the referees making decisions that affect and change the game in an unprecedented manner, and something like the impending significance of the competition they were in (i.e., some games these athletes take part in mean more to them than others, which leads to an increased amount of stress and a shorter fuse in the middle of a game, leading them to become more prone to experiencing slumps). The next baseline question addressed and encompassed the most important factors for each athlete when it comes to optimal performance; this was taken in one of two ways (yet again). One common avenue for responses was to talk about the events leading up to the competition; getting a restful night of sleep, eating a certain meal in the morning of a game day, and things of that nature. All of these responses include actions taken by the player that don't directly relate to playing sports and competing in athletic events. These are regular everyday events that could be done irrespective of the game or not. The other batch of responses were taken in a more specific direction, where responses spoke just about routines that the subjects either carry out in the warm up period, or actually in the game. For instance, some players like to carry out a specific warmup routine in which they undergo a rigorous stretching routine followed by a hands-on ball handling warmup (this is a general example of a common warmup routine in basketball done by on the ball players, like point guards and ball-dominant guards who spend most of the game controlling the ball). Some responses even took this game-preparation lens into the game itself, talking about how their mindset and mental state was an important factor for them to be able to show their best on the court, so what they would do is regulate their mental

state in the pregame and maintain their level of calm throughout the game while they were playing by utilizing different breathing strategies, both while the ball was live and whenever there was a stop in the play. The two differing qualities of all responses were whether or not the response spoke about physical factors, such as being well rested, well fed, and well prepared to play a game. The other responses spoke more to the mental aspect of preparation to an athletic competition; being in the proper state of mind is extremely important to most (if not all) athletes whenever they need to compete at their top level. The third baseline question asked athletes for their personal strategies for combating challenges in the middle of a game, and these responses were all hands-on actions taken by players to cool off and lock back into whatever was going on in the court. One such strategy that was quite common and popular across participants was the utilization of breathing strategies to regulate oneself in the middle of a game in order to return back to a state of readiness for competition. However, there were other strategies as well, which included players taking themselves out of some situations on the court fully. This could mean walking away to an isolated area to just get away from all the action and intensity in order to reset (during a dead ball, of course, the ball is not in play during this) and come back stronger. Another direction this specific portion of responses was taken was that some players would constantly block out anything around them that wasn't necessary to be thinking about during a game. Things that met these criteria would be crowd noise, quantity and quality of people in the crowd (i.e., how many people are in the crowd and how significant the individuals in the crowd are to a player). These questions were questions one, three, and five respectively in the order of the interview questions. The subsequent follow up questions for each of these all asked how the crowd affected their experiencing of these problems. For instance, as a follow up to question

three, the inquiry posed to the players was if the crowd affected the factors that led to optimal performance during whatever game they were being interviewed about. The design of the first six questions was to ask a set of open ended questions, from which the interviewer would be able to discern how each factor that can affect performance regularly is dealt with by players; how they are able to prepare for a game, what the most common issues are to each player when they actually play in a game, and what kinds of strategies each player uses to combat with problems in real time. Since those questions have been answered, it invited the three other questions into the equation in order for each of these overarching performance affectors to be put into the lens the study required it to be put in: how each of the factors that affect performance were affected by the crowd in the game that the players were being interviewed about. The seventh and eighth questions (see appendix A) were questions that simply asked the players whether or not they believed they performed better, worse, or relatively at the same level to how they normally perform (this was asked while showing them their statistics from each of the games in question). Finally, the ninth question gave the players a straightforward topic; in their respective opinions, did they believe that the crowd affected their performance that game for the better, for the worse, or not at a significant level. For the quantitative part, film from all four of these games was taken and the stats were counted for each. The stats that were counted were points, assists, rebounds, steals, blocks, turnovers, field goals attempted and field goals made (for both two and three pointers), and finally free throws attempted and free throws made (see appendix B). The statistics were counted like so: points were given to the player who put the ball in the basket off of a field goal, assists were given to any player who gave a pass which led to a basket in three or less dribbles, rebounds were given to anyone who came into possession of the ball after a missed field goal or

final free throw (defensive and offensive rebounds were split accordingly, if the player got the rebound while on defense it got counted as a defensive rebound, and if the player got a rebound while on offense it got counted as an offensive rebound). Steals were accredited to whoever ended up with the ball after a turnover (giving possession to the other team by means that aren't missing/making a shot), as long as the ball stayed in play. If the turnover from the other team resulted in an out of bounds call from the referee, nobody would be accredited with a steal. Blocks were accredited to anybody who blocked a shot attempt, and turnovers were accredited to anyone who lost possession of the ball which resulted in the other team gaining possession. Field goals were accredited to anybody who took a shot while the ball was in play (so not including free throws or shots where a player was fouled), and the made field goals were accredited to anybody who made a shot while the ball was in play. This includes making a shot when a player was fouled (And ones, or a field goal made by a player as they got fouled, count towards attempted and made field goals. However, if a field goal is attempted and missed whilst the player taking the shot got fouled, it does not count towards the attempted field goal count). Finally, free throws attempted and free throws made were accredited to any player who would shoot and make free throws (or miss them). Out of all the common basketball statistics, fouls were not counted for the purposes of the study because fouls are not entirely dependant on a player. In a basketball game, receiving a foul call is not completely up to the player. A referee who has a tendency to call more fouls will affect a player's performance by either limiting them and removing them from the game early, or making them play inadvertently better by calling many fouls on the other team and forcing them to use players with less skill which you could then exploit. Since the purpose of the study was to deduce how the crowd affects the

performances of these players, fouls were consciously omitted from the stat counting and were just noted as a potential confounding variable. Photos of the crowd from each game (see appendix C) and decibel levels (see appendix B) in the crowd each game were also taken in order to categorize the size of crowd more clearly. These stats would be used alongside the interview responses to see if there was a correlation between higher (or lower) crowd presence and better performance. After recording these interviews, transcripts were made of all of them and they were combed through and coded to see just what the players were saying and put into four categories: high crowd significance/high performance, high crowd significance/low performance, low crowd significance/high performance, low crowd significance/low performance. High crowd and low crowd are categorized as high crowd presence (or low crowd presence) in the minds of the players. Through a coding process, positive statements (statements which the player said during the interview that hinted towards the crowd having a positive affect on their performance) and negative statements (statements which the player said during the interview that hinted towards the crowd having a negative affect on their performance) were tallied for each interview to see if trends emerged. This is how the qualitative data was processed and analyzed to reach the verdict of the paper. Results Analyzing the data retrieved from the methodology, two different answers were found. The first was a correlation involving the players who played more minutes throughout the games. Looking through all the processed data (both qualitative and quantitative) for the players who played substantial minutes (which are the members of the starting lineup that participated throughout the study, as well as the sixth man of the team), there seemed to be a trend that

emerged from the interview transcripts. All the interviewed players who play a substantial amount of the minutes were reported to play better when the crowd was either bigger and louder, or when they placed more importance on the crowd for reasons different to the size of the crowd (for instance, like having important people in the crowd like family and friends or because you pull the words the crowd is saying in your benefit). Players are reported as to saying that the crowd in some cases “inspired them to play better so that people there like my parents wouldn’t see me going out looking sorry”, which is a reason separate from the size of the crowd increasing or decreasing. In fact, the crowd size this interview was pulled from was low, showing that crowds can still have significant impacts on a player regardless of the size of the crowd. Furthermore, statistically all but one of these players exhibited above average performances in games they believed the crowds were more significant than normal. For the players who get less minutes, however, the crowd has the opposite effect. Placing more importance on the crowd causes them to rush decisions and believe they have something personal to prove to the crowd. These things would cause them to take stupid shots and harm the team’s chances of winning. In other words, this means that they lowered their performance because of the importance they put on the crowd. In summation, there was found to be a correlation between better performance and a more significant crowd impact (regardless of size) on the game for players who play more minutes, as well as a correlation between worsened performance and a more significant crowd impact on the game for the players who play less minutes. Limitations to this conclusion include that this study could only prove correlation and not causation. What that means is that the results procured from the study could not be generalized to a broader population outside of the one chosen to do the study on. The reason that causation could not be proven was because it was an

observational study and not an experiment. That means that there were confounding variables that could have affected performance other than the crowd (like the previously mentioned kind of referee who may have a tendency to call more or less fouls, the hours of sleep a player got on that given day, the amount of time the player had for warm up on that given day, the opponent that they were playing that day, etc.). Another limitation was the limited sample size used for the study. The study was only conducted on one basketball team, when there were four teams available at the international school that the study was conducted in (Junior Varsity Boys/Varsity Boys, Junior Varsity Girls/Varsity Girls). This would result in an overrepresentation (and subsequent bias) of the Varsity Boys team on the true answer to this question, and interviewing more teams would have reduced variability in the answers, meaning a more accurate conclusion would have been reached with more teams being interviewed. The final limitation was the participant fatigue. Initially all the subjects were open to being interviewed throughout the whole process, but due to personal reasons they were inconsistent with their interviews, meaning only a fraction of potential interviews were obtained throughout the study. This again resulted in overrepresentation and response bias from those who participated the most versus those who participated the least or not at all. Future avenues to further the research done in this study would be to tweak the study’s conditions to ensure that the methodology can prove causation (for instance, making all four games played against the same team with the same referee, the same start time/sleep time/warm up time for each player, played in the same venue, etc.). In other words, future researchers who want to expand upon this topic should utilize the methodology from the study while ensuring that the only feasible difference in each of the games measured should be the crowd size. Additionally, the sample size should increase in future research and the

study (or experiment) should be conducted on multiple teams to reduce variability and get a conclusion closer to the real answer.

References Côté, J., & Hay, J. (2002). The influence of the crowd on athletes’ performance: The impact of the crowd on arousal and performance in sport. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 24(1), 42-52. Courneya, K. S., & Carron, A. V. (1992). The home advantage in sport competitions: A meta-analysis. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 14(3), 238-252. Giacobbi, P. R., Weinberg, R. S., & Jackson, A. (2004). The effects of competitive trait anxiety and sport performance on athletes with different levels of self-confidence. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 16(4), 339-353. Li, C., Zhang, Z., & Wang, X. (2023). Optimal performance zones: Examining emotional regulation and performance outcomes. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 22(2), 184-195. Li, B., Ding, C., Shi, H., Fan, F., & Guo, L. (2023). Assessment of Psychological Zone of Optimal Performance among Professional Athletes: EGA and Item Response Theory Analysis. Sustainability, 15(10), 7904. Morgan, W. P., Goldstein, M. S., & Ross, G. R. (2018). Understanding athletic performance: Physical, psychological, and social factors. Sports Psychology Review, 30(1), 12-22. Schempp, P. G., McCullick, B. A., & Mallett, C. J. (2015). The role of psychological factors in athletic performance: A holistic view. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching, 10(3), 477-487. Taylor, J., & Wilson, G. S. (2005). Applying the biopsychosocial model to athletic performance. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 17(3), 146-157.

Vealey, R. S. (2007). Mental toughness and sport performance: Theory and practice. International Journal of Sport Psychology, 38(4), 452-473. Woodman, T., & Hardy, L. (2001). The effects of emotional regulation on sport performance: The role of cognitive appraisal. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 23(4), 275-287. Yerkes, R. M., & Dodson, J. D. (1908). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation. Journal of Comparative Neurology & Psychology, 18(5), 459-482. Zajonc, R. B. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, 149(3681), 269-274.

Appendix A The interview questions used in each interview with each participant are as follows: What are the most common problems you face in competition? Did the crowd affect the ways you experience these problems? What do you consider to be the most important factors for performing optimally? Did the crowd affect these factors during the game? What strategies do you use to handle challenges during competition? Did the crowd affect the ways you combat your problems on the court? Compared to how you typically believe you perform, would you say you performed better, worse, or the same? Compared to your baseline game (vs NBA), do you believe you performed better, worse, or the same? How do you think the crowd altered your performance during this game?

Appendix B A sample of the stat counting done for one of the four games, as well as the decibel level for said game:

Appendix C Two photos used in the process of categorizing crowds as high or low crowd; one photo showing a low crowd, one photo showing a high crowd

Racial and Ethnic Background Effect on Voter Mobilization in American Expatriates AP Capstone Research April 17th 2025 Word Count: 4007

Abstract

This study investigates how racial and ethnic background affects voter mobilization in American expatriates. Specifically, this research focuses on the adult population of expatriates living in the UAE. With the growth of Americans living abroad, the need to understand voting habits increases considerably. Researchers utilizing various research techniques correspondingly conclude that the lack of voter engagement has remained a prominent issue worldwide. Voter mobilization is defined as the rate of participation of a population in a given election (Dark 2003). Specifically, in the United States, this has been an issue that many have looked towards as an actor that has led to the inhibition of a true democracy (Cain et al., 2008). While previous studies have examined the trends of absentee voting, a study has yet to be conducted analyzing the role race and ethnicity play in such trends. This study employs a mixed-methods approach and collected results from 47 American adults living in the UAE. Quantitative data assessed voting behaviors such as political interest, civic identity, and predominant voter encouragers. These questions aimed to identify if minority groups felt more disconnected and distrustful of the voting and political system as found within the US. Quantitative data used an unpaired t-test on 17 Likert scale questions and concluded that none of the questions were statistically significant. Qualitative data found the emergence of three significant themes: connectivity, accessibility, and transparency. This study concludes that while there is a lack of significance between racial and ethnic minority groups and their white counterparts, other themes that relate to the extent of voting significance are potentially important to investigate.

Introduction Researchers utilizing various research techniques correspondingly conclude that the lack of voter engagement has remained a prominent issue worldwide. Voter mobilization is defined as the rate of participation of a population in a given election (Dark, 2003). Specifically, in the United States, a lack of voter engagement has been correlated to the hindrance of true democracy (Cain et al., 2008). The cause of this evident issue is attributed to the issue of voter engagement stemming from systematic disadvantages faced by marginalized communities, which often leads to the disenfranchisement of certain demographics. Historically, during the period of the three-fifths Compromise and the Jim Crow Laws, people of color were systemically encouraged to refrain from voting (McCrary, 2019). These systems, although developed, still remain today in the form of gerrymandering, strict voter ID laws, and a lack of polling locations (Desmith, 2023). These forms of voter suppression, such as gerrymandering, are efforts made to limit access to voting opportunities for people of color, further leading to a misrepresentation of the popular vote (Desmith, 2023). Moreover, these forms of voter suppression lead to two significant problems: misrepresentation and a lack of accountability from policies executed by elected politicians (Lutz & Marsh, 2007). Furthermore, the effect of these problems are that politicians gravitate towards campaigning towards the populations that are more engaged in the elections out of self-interest. The policies suggested by such politicians eventually become a representation of this limited voting population perspective, which only further affects marginalized communities due to the lack of action and attention given towards these communities. What this study aims to investigate is how factors influencing voting behaviors within the United States affect voting participation among Americans living overseas.

For the scope of this paper, racial and ethnic groups will be defined as differentiations between “physical characteristics such as skin, hair, or eye color, [and] cultural factors such as language, religion, cuisine, ancestry, and nationality that specific communities share (Lewis et al., 2023, p. 2). Additionally, although many groups of people, specifically many Middle Eastern cultures, identify their race as white, the racial and ethnic non white group is defined as “denoting or relating to a person whose origin is not predominantly European” (Oxford Languages, 2025). Lastly, the study requirements for this paper are that participants must be 18 years old as of November 5th, 2024, in order to indicate eligibility to vote in the most recent presidential election.

Literature Review Established Lack of Voter Participation Overseas Researchers utilizing various research techniques correspondingly conclude that approximately 2.7 million Americans meet the voting requirement of 18 years of age outside of the United States, excluding military; however, only 4% actually engage in the elections both on the national level and in their respective state elections (Absentee Voting, 2024). This study will examine how factors and methods of voter disenfranchisement have either influenced or not influenced the voting participation of American citizens, as voter engagement has remained a prominent issue worldwide. Moreover, it is important to note the lack of information and research on prominent acts of voter suppression on American citizens who are deciding to vote as expatriates. Do these methods of disenfranchisement affect voting in more than just the country where the system was established? Due to the information illustrated, the research question arises: To what extent does racial and ethnic background affect voter mobilization of

American expatriates living overseas in the UAE? For the purpose of this paper, the null hypothesis is defined as Racial and Ethnic minorities have no difference in voter engagement and voter interest in US Presidential Elections for American Expatriates; and the alternate hypothesis is Racial and Ethnic minorities have less voter engagement and voter interest in US Presidential Elections for American Expatriates.

Factors Influencing Voting Behaviors of American Expatriates Upon researching the possible factors that influence voting behaviors for American citizens living overseas, a significant factor stood out. The primary reason why many choose to refrain from voting is due to the fact that they believe that with the geographical distance comes a feeling of disconnect between where they are residing and the elections that are taking place (Bourdin & Tai, 2021). This physical distance that many are familiar with leads to a feeling of lack of personal stake in the outcome of the elections and a feeling of disconnect. Moreover, many express that voting overseas is often an unknown process that many believe to be too difficult to actually endure. While living in the United States, the process of voting seems much simpler; on the day of the election, each citizen is tasked with finding a local voting location and placing their vote in person (How to Vote in the United States | Vote.Gov, 2018). However, once moving overseas, many believe the process to be lengthy and therefore not worthy of the time spent attempting to decipher the process (Caine et al., 2008). Additionally, studies such as that by Weiss et al. (2022), have found that a major factor affecting these voting decisions is the actions of the American government and American foreign policy. For example, many American-Palestinian voters chose to become active because of the conflict in the Palestine-Israel region (Weiss et al., 2022). This conflict is relevant to the present

day as many voters are taking the Israel-Palestine conflict as a significant leading factor in both their voting decisions and the political party they choose to nominate. This leads to the question of how these voting patterns extend to people living overseas who are faced with these regional conflicts more prominently. For example, within the UAE, due to its expatriate nature, there is a wide range of perspectives and cultures present. People living in this country are well exposed to a range of perspectives that offer education on various cultures (Ahmed & Rafiuddin, 2018). This makes American foreign policies more thought of by American expatriates because they can experience the effects of American actions more readily compared to their U.S.-residing counterparts.

Past Solutions to Mitigate the Issue of Lack of Voter Engagement One past solution introduced in the 2020 election to help increase voter turnout was the role of healthcare providers, such as those serving in the Community Health Centers (CHCs). A study conducted by Jonathan Kusner and colleagues found that since these healthcare providers work with vulnerable and underrepresented members of the population, these healthcare workers could serve as an opportunity for supplementary support during the voter registration process (Kusner et al., 2020). Furthermore, this study illustrates the opportunity for community-based organizations that support various backgrounds and socioeconomic magnitudes to offer support on the issue of voter mobilization. However, on the contrary, critics of this solution argue that this could interfere with the workflow of their job as healthcare providers and may create problems that inhibit their ability to provide equal treatment for all patients (Kusner et al., 2020). Additionally, many are hesitant that it may create political tensions within a place that is a crucial resource for all (Kusner et al.,

2020). This perspective prompts the question of which platforms are appropriate for the introduction of political discussions.

Gap in Research After conducting research, the apparent gap in the research was the effect that ethnic and racial background had on voter mobilization in Americans living overseas. It is clear that different racial and ethnic Americans living within the United States have different voting patterns, and it is apparent that there is a significant gap in voter mobilization for American expatriates. However, no research concludes the information on how race and ethnic background affect the voting patterns of such American expat groups. With that, how do the factors that affect the voting patterns of expatriates differ between various ethnic groups? The next steps taken with this research are to identify the problem in order to better mitigate it and discover solutions. This research will help bring to light the role, if any, that race and ethnicity play in voting patterns for Americans living within the UAE.

Methodology To start, this methodology began by receiving approval from the Institutional Review Board. Since this study conducted aspects that needed human participants, this step was crucial to ensuring the interactions with participants would meet the ethical requirements. Moreover, while using participants, the next step in the method process was gathering a population sample within the UAE community. The requirements for such participants were people who were American citizens and were at least 18 years old, the legal voting age of the United States, as of November 5th, 2024. This date was selected as it is the date of the most recent United States

national election as of the publication of this research paper. For the method of recruitment, flyers and emails were initially sent out to senior students at the American School of Dubai, in hopes that they would meet the requirements of this study. Participant volunteers were then generated through parent-school and teacher discussion forums. On each of the bulletin platforms, all participants were given the choice to sign up to engage in the study by utilizing the informed consent form (See Appendix Item A). As all participants were of age, no parental consent was necessary. Additionally, no deceit occurred through the data collection, therefore, there were no ethical concerns in this aspect. Once the informed consent was completed, participants were given a series of questions through an anonymous survey. The questions were adopted by the Electoral Commission in the United Kingdom, which conducted a similar study (Voter Engagement, 2002). This survey analyzed a similar issue of minority voter engagement in their own respective country. Through utilizing this pre-curated survey, the study can provide increased credibility and legitimacy for the final results. The questionnaire consists of 17 questions (see Appendix Item A), which gather information on participants' voting behaviors. This survey began by gathering demographic information on who filled out the survey. Participants were then asked to elaborate on their history as a voter, for example, the frequency of voting in past elections, or if they tend to support a certain candidate or party. Finally, participants were given a series of questions that were quantified on a Likert scale.

For the purpose of the questionnaire, the scale will represent the following: 1 represents strongly disagree, 2 represents disagree, 3 represents somewhat agree, 4 represents agree, and 5 represents strongly agree.

Essentially, this scale allowed for the results to be quantified and standardized in the analysis process. Participants were asked to rank statements from a scale of one to five, as seen below in the prompt that was provided. These questions were aimed to help identify why people decide to vote or abstain from voting and determine if there was any relation to their racial or ethnic background. Statements such as "I feel represented in at least one of the candidates" helped to illustrate how different racial and ethnic groups may visualize participants and their ability to represent their participants' backgrounds. Additionally, the questionnaire was conducted utilizing the scale for the majority, as it helped standardize the research into quantitative data that could be easily used to compare the results between different participant groups. At the end of the survey, participants were given the opportunity to opt into an in-person interview (See Appendix D for the full in-person interview questionnaire). Here, participants were asked to break confidentiality and provide contact information. The in-person interview is where qualitative data was gathered. Similar questions from the questionnaire were asked to investigate further on the reasoning behind the selected choices from. (See Appendix C for full questionnaire). After completing the analysis of the data, participants were given a debrief form that highlighted the results of the study. (See Appendix B for full debrief form). This research method aligned with the initial research question as it allowed for comparative research to be conducted that analyzed the differences between different ethnic groups. By having the survey, quantitative data was accessible and generated, making comparisons more feasible and less subjective to interpretation. Through this method, it answers the effect that background plays on voting habits and engagement was measured. Additionally, to gather a more in-depth understanding of the choices made by each participant, the survey was able to ensure this deeper understanding. This methodology will highlight how different

backgrounds engage with American politics and how important each group believes politics to be. Furthermore, these statements illustrate the differences in voter habits depending on racial and ethnic groups. This comparative methodology was selected due to the feasibility under time constraints, and since it identified the relationship between background and political engagement in the federal United States elections. Other methods, such as a historical analysis or correlational study, either created difficulties with generating population samples or couldn’t assert a relationship between variables. Therefore, this methodology helps to provide credibility and reliability with the questionnaire pre-generated by a credible study conducted through the Electoral Commission. This inquiry process led to significant results by placing participant groups based on racial backgrounds and analyzing the similarities within their population group and differences between other groups. Through the survey, generating patterns was easily collected and consequently led to the understanding development of the relationship between race and voter engagement in American expatriates.

Results Figure 1 Questionnaire Raw Results

Note. This table illustrates the raw results collected from each of the questionnaire questions, which were later used for analysis. Figure 2 T Test Analysis Q1

0.918 5962 799

0.354 7210 059

0.952 3896 157

0.927 6902 386

0.794 4350 116

0.944 8031 313

0.166 1925 181

0.762 6133 197

Q10

Q11

Q12

Q13

Q14

Q15

Q16

Q17

0.543 3071 821

0.212 74694 24

0.181 9601 983

0.956 9735 336

0.701 2770 2

0.696 4044 608

0.771 0205 257

0.920 8576 175

0.916 0626 662

Note. This table illustrates the results of the unpaired t test analysis Figure 3 Qualitative Analysis

Qualitative Key

Note. These figures illustrate the examples of coding that were utilized in-person interviews and offer the key that assessed the groups and trends found

Figure 4 Racial Limitaiton in Participants

Note. This figure illustrates the vast difference between white participants and other racial and ethnic minority groups

Analysis For the quantitative analysis, each question that was ranked on a scale of one to five were assessed using an unpaired t test to asses if there is a statistical difference between the non white group and the white group. Initially, the groups were aimed at being divided by different racial and ethnic groups. However once gathering participants, a major limitation arose that inhibited the researcher from dividing participants by their respective groups. Therefore participants were later grouped by whites compared to nonwhites, as seen in figure 4. For the quantitative data, the

results were not statistically significant for any of the questions. This is illustrated by the p-values of varying results between 0.1661925181 and 0.9569735336, which are not less than the standard p-value of 0.05, indicating that the results were likely due to chance. Therefore, the results failed to reject the null hypothesis. Additionally, while the results of the study were not statistically significant as seen in the data table in figure 2, the themes identified from the quantitative data were informative. Furthermore, for qualitative data, open-ended questions were divided into two categories: Background questions that analyzed voter habits, and solutions that analyzed what participants thought could be done to increase engagement. Through these themes, the background questions prompted how race and ethnicity affected mobilization, whereas the solution questions were unprompted and completely open-ended. While most participants noted inherent bias as a voting habit, they didn’t believe race to be a significant factor, whereas all participants replied to the unprompted solution question with one of three categories: Connectivity, accessibility, and transparency. These themes were identified through inductive coding. Essenitally this form of analysis allowed for participants to openly answer questions without pre designed themes guiding their responses. Therefore the results were authentically generated by the participant sample (Please see appendix E for full qualitative analysis).

Discussion Implications The primary implication of these findings is that the United States government should implement changes that promote voter mobilization. For example, it is found that accessibility was a significant factor mentioned as an inhibitor to voting, therefore, the United States government

could account for this factor by standardizing the voting process across the United States and federalizing an easier process. The results of this study have significant implications despite lacking statistical significance. For policy makers specifically, this study has the potential to encourage methods of engagement within American Expatriates, and even extend towards voting processes across other countries. For example, along with making the process more feasible, one of the motivating factors in voter mobilization in this study’s participation group was

Limitations Racial Distribution Firstly, the percentage breakdown of Whites to non whites was significantly unequal as results were skewed toward Whites. Additionally, this non white group doesn’t account for the differences in behaviors among minority groups. Additionally, since racial and ethnic factors have been estabolished as a factor that influences voter engagement and voting patterns, this limitation significantly skews the accuracy of the results. Gender Distribution Similar to racial distribution, gender distribution became a significant confounding variable as the majority of the participants were female, therefore, this may have skewed the accuracy of the results. Socioeconomic status Although socioeconomic status was previously identified as a factor affecting voter mobilization within the US, unfortunately, due to the the limited time for this study, this wasn’t a feasible factor to adjust for, therefore, it likely altered the results as the population centered in a wealthy community.

Future Avenues of Research While this study offers essential conclusions on the role of race and ethnicity within the convenience sample within the UAE, the paper leaves room for several avenues of research to be explored. One future avenue of research is to target specific racial groups and see how their results vary even within their minority category. For example, in this study, ‘non white’ referred to anyone who didn’t identify as European descent; however, that generalizes the behaviors of African Americans compared to Asian Americans, for example. Additionally, while the United Arab Emirates offers expatriates a level of safety and freedom, it should be explored how the nature of the country an American has moved to affects their desire to stay more politically involved. For example, is there a correlation between political stability, freedom of speech, or safety in the new country of residence compared to the United States, and how does this affect voter mobilization? Moreover, one aspect that was observed by the researcher of this study was that experiences significantly varied between each state. Depending on the level of regulation and ease of access to the ‘voting booths, ’ American expatriate mobilization exponentially varied. Thus, it is essential to conduct future research on understanding the differences between states and how those differences may contribute to differences in voter participation. For example, are certain states more likely to vote as expatriates than others? why? Lastly, it is imperative that future researchers are able to expand on the findings concluded in this study to both replicate it to ensure credibility; however, additional research is required to better understand the themes identified in order to assess their specific effect on voter mobilization.

Conclusions To conclude, due to the significant limitations present in this study due to convenience sampling, this study should certainly be replicated in order for the results to be generalizable. Additionally, while this study concludes that racial and ethnic background is not a factor in voter mobilization, the themes identified in the qualitative portion of my research are indicative of what could be targeted to improve voter turnout.

References

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Appendix Appendix A Informed Consent

You will need to sign this form giving us your permission to be involved in the study. Taking part in this study is entirely your choice. If you decide to take part, but later change your mind, you may stop at any time. If you decide to stop, you do not have to give a reason and there will be no negative consequences for ending your participation. Purpose of this Study: The reason for this study is to examine patterns of ice cream consumption of college freshmen. You have been asked to participate because you are registered as an American citizen of voting age. This study will review the voting habits and social and economic patterns of about 40 eligible expatriate voters. Description of Procedures: If you decide to take part in this study, you will be asked to fill out a 17-item, multiple-choice questionnaire that will ask for some personal information (e.g., gender, age, ethnicity), your past voting habits, your voting habits since moving to the UAE, and what factors have led you to your decision to either vote or abstain. This questionnaire will take about 15 minutes to complete. Any information about you will be kept confidential. To protect your privacy, you will be assigned a coded number and your name or any other identifying information will not appear on the questionnaire. What are the risks? We estimate that the potential risks of this study are minimal. However, you may experience some psychological discomfort when answering questions about your eating habits or social behavior. What are the benefits? It is not anticipated that you will experience any direct benefits from this study. Nevertheless, your participation in this research will help investigators identify motivators of expatriate

voting patterns and determine if there is a racial or ethnic motivating factor. This information may be useful in developing future programs to promote voter mobilization. How will my privacy be protected? Information about you will be coded. Your name will not appear on the questionnaire. The information gathered will be accessible only by the investigators and it will be kept in a locked facility on campus. You will not be identified by name in any publications that result from this research.

Consent to Participate Suppose you want to participate in this study, Predictors of Voting Habits of American Expatriates Living in the UAE. In that case, you are required to sign below as an indication of your willingness to participate: I have read and understand the information in this form. I have been encouraged to ask questions and all of my questions have been answered to my satisfaction. I have also been informed that I can withdraw from the study at any time. By signing this form, I voluntarily agree to participate in this study. I have received a copy of this form for my own records. _______________________________

_______________________________

Printed Name of Participant

Date

_______________________________

Signature of Participant

Date

Appendix B Debriefing Form Racial Background Effect on Voter Mobilization of American Expatriates Living in the UAE: A Comparative Study in the UAE Context: Researchers utilizing various research techniques correspondingly conclude lack of voter engagement has remained a prominent issue worldwide. Voter mobilization is defined as the rate of participation of a population in a given election (Dark 2003). Specifically, in the United States, this has been an issue that many have looked towards as an actor that has led to the inhibition of a true democracy. In this study, we wanted to see if people’s racial and ethnic backgrounds correlated with their voting patterns and engagement in national elections. In order to do this, each participant self-identified themselves in the categories of racial and ethnic groups they most identified with and was then tasked with answering a series of questions. Subsequently, We organized the participants’ answers based on their racial and ethnic groups and drew conclusions from these sample groupings. We predict that participants will have different voting patterns based on their racial and ethnic backgrounds whether living in the US or overseas. Therefore, participants are expected to vote more similarly to their participant group. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask me now. If you have any further questions or comments, please contact Mignote Taddese at mtaddese.25@asdubai.org. Thank you for your participation!

Appendix C Questionnaire Form Demographics: 1. What is your age? 2. What best describes your gender? a. Female b. Male c. Non-binary d. Prefer not to say 3. What language do you speak at home? 4. How long have you lived in the UAE? 5. Select all that apply. Which of the following best describes your racial background? 6. Select all that apply. Which of the following best describes your ethnic background?

Background political information: 7. Which of the following best describes the political party you most affiliate yourself with? a. Democratic Party b. Republican Party c. Independent/ Other 8. Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? 9. Did you vote in the 2024 presidential election? 10. If yes, to the previous question, which of the following best describes the political party you selected? a. Democratic Party b. Republican Party c. Independent Party

Other: For the following questions use the scale 1 to 5 to answer the following statements: 1 represents strongly disagree, 2 represents disagree, 3 represents somewhat agree, 4 represents agree, and 5 represents strongly agree. 11. I will likely continue to vote in the presidential elections in the upcoming years. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5

f. Unsure g. Not applicable 12. I didn’t vote because I was unable to utilize the resources to vote or it was too much of an inconvenience. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 13. I didn’t vote because I was not interested in politics. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 14. My vote will not make much of a difference in the election. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 15. I could not be bothered to vote. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 16. Both parties will not listen to minority communities. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4

e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 17. The parties are all the same. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 18. There isn’t enough representation in the candidates. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 19. I wanted to make a statement by not voting. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 20. I am interested in politics. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 21. Politics are difficult to understand. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4

e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 22. I don’t like either candidate. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 23. I am too busy to vote. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 24. None of the parties stand for the policies I would like to see. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable Solutions: For the following questions use the scale 1 to 5 to answer the following statements: 1 represents strongly disagree, 2 represents disagree, 3 represents somewhat agree, 4 represents agree, and 5 represents strongly agree. 25. I would be more likely to vote if there was more time to cast my ballot. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure

g. Not applicable

26. I would be more likely to vote if there were in-person polling locations. I would be more likely to vote if there were faster ways of voting, eg. online websites. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 27. I would be more likely to vote if there was more information about the process and resources to help me vote correctly. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 28. I would be more likely to vote if I felt more representation in my choice of government. a. 1 b. 2 c. 3 d. 4 e. 5 f. Unsure g. Not applicable 29. Would you be willing to opt into an in-person interview to help further my understanding of this issue? a. If yes, please provide your full name and ASD email address below.

Appendix D In-person Interview Questions Background: 1. Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? Why? Or why not? 2. Did you vote in the 2024 presidential election? Why? Or why not? 3. Were you an active voter when you lived in the United States? If you were in the United States now, do you think you would vote? Why or why not? 4. Is voting something you find important? Why? Or why not? 5. Do you have strong political feelings? 6. Do you support one political party - does the political party influence your vote? 7. How do you decide which candidate to support? 8. How do you decide which party to support? 9. Does your racial or ethnic background play a role in your voting patterns? How? Solutions: 10. As you may be aware, of those eligible to vote, excluding the military, approximately 4% of American Expatriates vote in each presidential election. What, if anything, do you think can be done to increase the number of people voting at general elections?

Appendix E Qualitative Analysis Key Race effects voting Race influences voting (subconsiously) Race doesn’t effect voting Connectivity Accessibility TransparencyNon white Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? Why? Some people feel like it your duty to vote. I vote especially if, um I feel like there are issues that are really support or am against, then I wanna make sure that I'm involved in that. It doesn't mean that every election I will vote. because I'm not Democrat and I'm not Republican. I'm not even independent. I'm just on right. I'm on the side of right, and what I feel like will be right decisions for people in general. So that doesn't connect to me with a political party. It's just wanting to make sure whoever the candidate is has done their best to present that I'm gonna do what's right for people. Okay. Yeah., and did you vote in 2024? Was the same reason or something more specific or it was basic I voted for those reasons that I just mentioned. there were some things that I saw that I was completely not in favor of. that I wanted to make sure that my voice was hurt for that.. yes. And do you think that being an octavoter, like, were you active in the US have you ever lived in the US? Yeah, I have I usually vote abroad but before've only been abroad 20 years now. But before that, when I was in the States, when I voted, I voted in the states, so yes. And do you think that you're like more of an active voter now versus before, or who you vote for has changed now that you've been over overseas? it's changed as I've gotten more informed.. I think it's also changed as um I was around before they probably had mobile phones. Right. Yeah, so that kind of took off in two thousands really, right? And so pre-internet, prem mobile phones in your pocket kind of phone, um, you had to rely on whatever mainstream media, ABC in the States, ABC CVS, NBC, we're giving you. And so when you're not able to fact check stuff, you kind of rely on what's fed to you, even if it's untruth. You have nothing to balance that against, right? So you just take it and you fed that and you make decisions according to what you've been given. And so now that more um more platforms are available for you to kind of go back and fact check because we're in the age of information. right? And so you have access to find out. You don't have to not know. Right? So someone could say the sky is blue, and I'm gonna go and check it myself, right? And so past, I think, is the era of just being giving information. and you taking it at face value though that's true.. And is running something you find important. um, important, yes, when it goes back to the question number one. Yeah. um do would you say you have strong political feelings? Strong political feelings? I'm not independent or whatever. party,

whatever the party, I'm not dead. I'm just on the side of right. And if you have a heart that I get assist that you have a heart of wanting to do what's right for people in general, then I can hear that in that I can kind of decide for myself in fact sure things.. um do you well, no, you don't support one political party. Um, but if you don't know, like a candidate or you don't know something, would you ever like do a straight ticket of something that you normally choose or and just not a Republican Republican and it had nothing to do with the party because that person was actually not Republican before. I went through and kind of like saw the issues and see where they align with what I thought, what I felt was right for me. And so I went down actually each person on the ticket to see what is your track record? What do you you stand for? Are you genuine? Do you really want to help people? Do you really want to help the country? In what way? right? And so I went through actually all those things for each person on the ticket. And so, um, I was committed to doing that, um yeah, I'll just say that. Because it doesn't mean that you actually agree or like the person you just feel for me. I' as irrelevant to me whether I'm not trying to like you. I'm not even trying to like your presentation. I just want to know, are you gonna what percentage of you and what you're standing for? is gonna help the country and what percentage of you is not gonna help the country? Right? And you may have a list of things that I don't really agree with, but this much of it, okay. get busy.. Okay. So that goes into the next question. like what issues are important for you? How do you support? like how do you decide which one to support or I probably very conservative. And so what I feel and think about things are also, I think very conservative. um and I's I'm not a sweater when you put on it all. what you see of me, good or bad, is what I am at home in my private life, with my family with my friends. This is just me. This is it. Like it or don't like it, you know? And so, I don't have to um really guess what's important to me. I already kind of know that. But now the question is, I'm not trying to duplicate me, but how many issues that you're running on, aign with what I think are important to be and how I want to live my life, which is peaceable, you know, very conservative, peaceable. but does that mean that you have to be that too? No, but how many things align with what I see? important to me, and that's that kind of got how I vote, or if I vote. Okay, so not if the candidate is actually the same, like as you, but just if they support those values. Right. Okay. um you're not. but the majority of what you're running on is something that I see yes, that would be helpful for me, and it seems as if it's gonna be right for people in the longer run. short term, it might not look like it, but longer term, it will kind of steer us back in the direction that I think aligned with my values. Okay. and would you say that you're racial or ethnic background plays a role in your voting pattern? Um, if you would have asked me that probably before the information age, yes. um uh in the statement will probably be very controversial. I voted for Mr. Barack Obama out of just completely identity politics.. But now, if I go back and backcheck something things, a lot of decisions that were made were decisions that were completely against when yes, whatever I believe as a person. But because it wasn't completely information, age kind of as we were going into that deeper, um, you go off of emotion's. I think we can, you know. It's caught up into the emotion of that, right? And I didn't do now, then what I do now. What else are you bringing to the table? How well, how do you align with really what I

think is good for me? and good for people in general? And so there were a lot of hidden things that were done that weren't they were transparent, that I didn't really know about until later. And when I went back to research records with people and, you know, things that were done or not done, things that were said and decisions that were made, I wasn't really happy with those things. And so it was like, okay. that was on you, Bertha.. Now that you know better, if they say this guy was blue, you go check it out. Okay. Okay, and then last question, um of those eligible to focusitting the military, approximately 4% of American expats do vote in each presidential election. What do you think of anything could be done to increase this number?. that people who are not in the states usually do not vote. People who are not in the states is like 4%, people who are in the states, it's like 50 a little over 50. Okay. I think part of that is you feel a little detached. And even when I go home I feel like I'm visiting, right? Um, because you know you're gonna go back out, we go to another country, so you don't really feel the direct connection of why you're voting. I think when people attached to, even if you' international, that you have loved ones that will reap, whatever it is that is left there. whetherther you were involved in helped to make it different, better, whatever. You have loved ones who are there, that it would be um the ones they well, guess, reaping, whatever is the outcome of that. When you have that kind of connection, then it matters to you. It matters to you. Um if you don't and you feel kind of disconnected from it, you probably won't. I don't care what kind of issue they they say. because you're in a bubble. Right? And it doesn't directly impact me. and that goes also, I think, with growth when you grow emotionally and as a person, you realize that I forgot the author who said it, that Bell was totallying for you, too. You know, we're not disconnected from the main. We're all connected. So when De Bell was tolding that someone just passed, it should impact you. because you're connected with that. So the same thing with the vote right? Exact not voting. Okay, so just connected this, yeah, it does. Okay. Okay, is there anything else you wanna add? oh, thank you. Okay, thank you

White Have you ever voted a US presidential election? Yes. Why? Why did I vote? Um, I just think it's my responsibility. like as a citizen to vote. And did heote in time24? Yes. Is it the same reason or yeah, the same reason. Okay, um, were you an act to voter when you live in the US? Yes. And do you think that that changes how octive you are in certain elections or who you vote for? by being in the US? No, like by being overseas now, does that affect affect it because I vote in, like, on federal issues, and then I vote in some state issues. but the ballot has a lot of like, more local stuff, like city of San Francisco, and I'm not as I don't deeply understand all of their issues, so, um I will either go party line or not go at all if I don't understand. So, you. Okay. Um, is voting something you find important? Um, yeah, I it's interesting cause the way, like you're inc culturated or raised in the United States is that the government is of the people, right? So it's our responsibility to always know um, what's going on. and then make sure that what decisions are being made is consistent with the world that we wanna live in. So we do that through voting, um

but, you know, I do think there's other ways to manage government, but in the United States, I think that's how we do it, so that's how I participate.. And when you say you have strong political feelings? Political feelings towards a party, no. I actually have no political feelings towards a party. Um, I did when I was much younger. Um, but since then, I believe that the two parties system is nonfunctional, so that's tricky for me to vote. Um, so I don't have party meetings, but I definitely have, yeah, political opinions. Yeah. And do you support one political party? No, not anymore. What influences your vote? Like, what is something that you find important for when you're picking a candidate? Okay. um I'm 100% percent like, what are my values? what world do I want to live in? And then I look at how they voted in the past? Are they voted? how they voted if they were in office. how they voted in the past, what kind of things they've stood behind, I look at who funds there, Canadaidacy, and then from there, I'll decide, if I think that they will continue on that trajectory that supports me, I've never found a candidate that fully aligns with used. so then you compromise. Okay. um, and does do you think your racial or ethnic background plays a role in your voting pattern? gonna say I guess it doesn't because I seem to continue to go out outside of my Rachel and ethnic well, I will say though that I if there are if there's a female candidate and I align with their issues, I have been known to vote for them. um, because I still see them as underrepresentative.. But I also think that the candidate pool remains to be there is no diversity. and so it's also kind of hard to even say. It's just no it's just old white men. Um, okay, and the last question, uh, of those eligible to vote,uding the military, approximately 4% of American expotates do vote in each presidential election.. What if anything do you think could be done to increase this number? Um, I think part of it is due to how to vote. so, cause I've been overseas for 19 years now. So I voted in a few elections, and initially, there was no transparency, and so I didn't know if my vote was counted, I didn't know how to submit it. I had to fax, and then, like, where is this fax go into the opening it? who's reading it? Um, is actually getting into their hands without being changed? Um, but then after like 2020, it's become much more transparent, and in the state where I vote the state of California, I can track that I've sent it, they've received it, and the number of years I've sent it and received it online and I get the data immediately.. and it's very simple and easy, and I get my ballot online, um, and they message me to say it's coming. So the process is so simple. and I know 100% it's not that simple for every state, and I believe 100% that it is our responsibility to make it as easy to share what you want to see happen as possible. and I don't understand why we're not there yet. So, I I definitely have seen the other 49 states, people are struggling to even figure out how to vote. So, you were able to vote just like directly online? I yes, I mean, I have to print it out, and I have to market it. And then I have to upload it again, but um, aside from that, I get it by email, I send it back by email and I can do a search and they will say we received this from you. And these are the number of years and um these are the elections that you have voted in.. And it's just like, it gives me that reassurance like, ah, they got it, even though the other side of it is, I know that the state where I vote, my vote doesn't totally count because of how because electoral college and stuff for that area where I vote is already aligned with me, so maybe I need to know. I don't know. Okay.'s it. Is that everything? Thank you.

White Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? Yep, I voted in every election since 1984. Why? Um, I'm a political science history teacher. um I've always been really involved in political events in the United States of America. um it was always something that my father and my mother voted and it was important in our small town to vote, so I always voted.. um and did he vote in 2024? Yes, sure did. Is it the same reason or something? Yeah, no, the same reasons, absolutely. Yep. I mean, I'm a social studies teacher here at school and it would seem kind of disingenuous if I didn't vote. Okay. Do you think that you'd be more active as a voter if you were in the US versus here in a certain elections, or it's funny because after George Floyd in Minneapis, I'm from Minnesota, I would sometimes argue not a great word, but talk about things on social media with my friends, like political things. And after George Floood just got too heated, so I've stopped doing that. So I guess I've taken a step back and I I like to talk to my I'm I'm liberal Democrat, my most of my friends are conservatives. So, I'll talk with them about issues one on one, but I won't engage anymore in social media. Okay. um, and do you think your vote changed being here, or it's been the same? No, it's the same. I mean, I vote the state of Minnesota, my state is usually democratic. my state went with Kamala for the presidential election, yeah. Okay. Is voting company you find important? Absolutely. Why? voting is important, if I'm a citizen of a country that has democracy, it's important for me to make that effort to vote. my wife, Linda in the library, encouraged all the exats in Dubide to vote, and I think she got a couple of hundred people to vote, which is pretty awesome and cool. She was inspired by Michelle Obama's speech about being doing something and lied did something, so have gotten mad at me if I had done something. No, but I would have done it anyway. no, no, I've always I voted for it 35 years. Okay. um, do you support one political party, and does that ever influence your vote? Yeah, I would I' probably a lifelong Democrat. I can vote for the Democratic ticket, not always, but most of the time. And if you didn't know a candidate or something, would you just put Democrat or Probably, I have done that, which is probably not the best thing to do, but I have I have done that. Okay. And how do you decide which candidate or party to support? What's important for you? I like the idea of helping others of being socially active. I like the idea of helping our schools and education in in the, in Minnesota, in America. I like the idea of maybe taxi wealthier people that have gotten a fair share, gotten their fair shape to maybe pay back a little bit and give a little bit more. Okay. um and would you say your racial or ethnic background plays a role in your voting pattern? Um, that's a good question. um, probably sometimes there's some for lack of a better word, white, rich male guilt and guilt's not the right word, but it is kind of an appropriate word. like, I was a white guy growing up in America and it was I've been very lucky and successful in my career. and some of that was because of who I am. Okay. And then last question um of is eligible to volks, including the military, approximately 4% of American expots vote in each presidential election. Yeah. Oh gosh. What if anything do you think could be done to increase this number? they could make the process easier. It's hard. It's convoluted every state is different, how you fold the

paper and whether or not you can do it by email. Make it easier and let's get that four percent up for crying out loud. Right? My God. I didn't know it was that low. terrible, ridiculous. Okay, is there anything else you wanna add? Okay, White Have you ever voted a US presidential election? Why? How about you have I voted? Yeah. I exercise my right as a citizen. My my obligation is a citizen. Okay. And did you vote in 2024? No. Why? I do not feel more vote would make a difference. I'm from Texas. Do you think that you'd be more active if you lived in the US? as a voter and presidential? No, I was unexactive overseas as I was in the States. And do you think, like, for local elections might have changed or no? Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, if I was in the States, I would have been go to like a and stuff like that.. is voting something you find important? Yes. Why? I feel it's it's our duty as associating to the country is really representatives of the city the citizens choose not to vote, I participate in government, then they are unfortunately the government's not operating as it should.. Would you say you have strong political feelings? Sure. Yes. I not the same as Mrs. Bryant, but yes, yeah.olutely. Um, do you support one political party and does that ever influence your vote? I an independent, so I independent. technically voted theory every time you wanted. um but I'm more concerned about what's going on this is currently.. that's going on. So for example, when John McCain was writing for the president. like it's a young Barack Obama, right? I was gonna go to McCain. um, because in the context of coming off of thewards that getting same Iraq off that his leadership would have been tremendous health answer. However, he took his running with his their payment and I was like, never mind this is I the other side. So it really depends upon what's going on in the country. and if you don't know a candidate, would you ever just put Democrat or like the independent? Um, how do you decide which candidates support was important for you? their platform. their history in terms of not just decision making, but the history is a human being. have they been arrested, what kind of, you know, what who are they? Where are they will they represent? So, no, I would never just blame it both. the wood party. Okay. um, do you think you're racial or ethnic background playss a role in your voting pattern? Sure, I think I think it's an unv. it's sadly. Yeah, but I mean, I' a two half voted for people who were more inclusive, right? in the past, so that's important to me, but, again, that's how I was raised in my particular context. Okay. and then last question, um, of those eligible to votes, including the military, approximately 4% of American expots vote in each presidential election, what if anything do you think could be done to increase this number? They have feel X are not cared for about the US government at all. and so, for example, the faces in a few countries where expats have to pay taxes on top of any country taxes that they pay, and then so inzerland had to pay Swiss tax and then I had to pay US. That's not fair, right? And so any as soon as they feel like they're not the neglected child, because some of them are doing jobs for the military, some of them are serving abroad. As soon as they feel like they're being represented by United States, be careful, when they doing a participate. it's very sad. Okay, is there anything else you wanna add? That was a pretty good interview well done. Thank you.

White Have you ever voted in the US presidential election? Yes, I have Why? Why? Yes. Because I think we're fortunate to live in a democracy where you get to vote. And then did you vote in 2024? Yes. Is it the same or something specific for this one? No, same. Okay. Um, do you think you'd be more active if you lived in the US versus here? Um, more active. More like in certain elections, like the local ones. I think living outside the country you're less likely to beformed or involved in truly local elections. Um, and then do you think it also has it changed who you vote for, like, being exposed to different things here, or No, I think what, um So, I guess I always vote on the issues and I don't vote a pure party ticket.. So I think every year I and every ballot look at the candidates, and I look at where this stand and issues that are most important to me. and then I make my choices, and it doesn't matter what I living, because I was living in the states for the 2020 election. and I was looking 2024 election. Yeah. um, is voting something you find important? I think voting is incredibly important. Um, would you say you have strong political feelings? I think I have strong issue. feelings. So I try not to have my feelings based on a political party. I try to have my beliefs in I try to have my feelings based on the issues that I think are important in the world. and which candidates, uh have views most aligned with those. who know how really worrying about. trying to be the personality of the candid or seing the party. Okay. um, and you said you don't support one political party and just go straight ticket, but would like, if you didn't know a candidate, would you go towards, like, the the party that you support, or, like So I think it depends. So, for example, there are some places such as Philadelphia that has been 100% democratic Democratic party for a long time. And those create one set of issues, whereas where I grew up with fromylvania has been 100% Republican party for a number of years. So I think sometimes that can sway my opinion a little bit on you to either break up the establishment or support this sound. Okay., and how do you decide which candidate or party to support? What issues are important for you? Um, what issues are important to me? Uh, issues are important to me are fiscal responsibility. Uh, equality. um depending geographically, like for the mayor of Philadelphia, it was really important for me about safety. in the winter, the mayor is a good friend of mine. Shll partner. No way. And she's very strong on she has three pillars for the city, safe safer, cleaner safer, cleaner, and growing. So I think it's harder sometimes to know, like so I mean, the can't the things that I think as America grows and evolves, it's are we can to are we making sure every individual has to has the best opportunities to grow and succeed? Is it a safe country? Is it physically sustainable? Yeah, I mean, those really I probably am also at least not more recent elections um, in my family, the right to for a to choose is very important. um my cousins had to play aaren an entirewood west coast of the US.. So, there are some issues that I think are important. Okay. um, would you say your racial or ethnic background plays a role in your voting patterns? I don't know how you would know if it did. I mean like um I I clearly I grew up in a rural part of America from you know, immigr great second generation ofm a great family. My father was a construction worker, he was in a union. He was unemployed, every winter, the all the things matterered, yes, I'm white. um you know,

and not, I think I've lived in places where I understand that that gives me a safety and security I little have. So I think it certainly all those factors matter in that develop your body thing. Like, my parents would never tell me who they voted for me. They wouldn't tell you? No, they were like, it's that's why they had the you know, it's private. They're like, you know what we stand for. We you know what we believe, you know what we stand for, you can probably guess who we put it for, but it's not really it's a private thing. Yeah. Okay. um, and then last question of those eligible to vote, including the military, approximately four percent of American expots vote in each presidential election, what if anything do you think could be done to increase this number? Yeah. I mean all of our credit cardapers are secure.. It can't be that hard. How was it for you in your state? Like, how did you vote? Um, it wasn't bad because I had to go online and I had to I mailed the thing in in July and I had the ballot and I reached a paper. I could return it via email.. So it was pretty it was it had all changed postcode, right? I was to use postccode.. It was an easier now than 2016 or 2012 or 208 or 20 or four. or like, I did overseas a long time. So it has gotten easier. Okay. Is there anything else you wanna add? No, I think it's interesting, right, in Australia, it's against the law not to vote. So, if you don't vote, you get fine. um you know, what was in this year we had half people voted? Yeah. So, 25% of the year possible voters elected the president. Right? Yeah. So, yeah, I've heard that before. I don't know.C if you do make it mandated, then would people be ill informed and then just voting for someone random, or does that, you know, I don't know. That's true. That's very true. I mean, I think that's one of the biggest challenges that has to figure out what caso ever talked about the issues. is so there's a lot of talked about the candidate and the personality whatever whatever. but you know, if you're big as concerned is safety security, itob hoping, how do you know which candidates that you better?. I mean it's that's really hard. Yeah. Yeah, I really don't know. So I think that's But I I'm I'm I guess, I'm I I'm wor I guess I wonder after 250 years, you know, what needs to change in the democracy. and we have tournaments for the president, which I is support. We don't have terminuments for congressman and senators. Why? it's representatives and senators have no tour limits and unlimited donations? Is that I mean, is it really only the best walk when you can buy? Those are all things that I think that we need as a to be a true to oxy need to get sort of help. And the Senate, right? The Senate, so North T gets two in Venezylvania is to. Why is that Yeah. much power. So I really don't know. Me either. Yeah. Okay? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. White Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? Why? Because I believe that this fundamental right to a citizen and will have a voice. Okay. And then evote in 2024 yes. Why for this? Is that it different or is my beaut and this in the vote, you have to do? Okay. and do you think that living in the US versus living here changes who you vote for or how active you are? Uh, yes or no. I will change that I vote. I vote but because you live in a country that I doesn't cannot express your opinions freely, I cannot really take positions. Okay. And does it change if you vote in, like, local elections or something? you mean local in the US? Yeah. I think the elections. Okay. um isoting something that you find important? Yes. Why? Because Um, would you say you're strong

political feelings? Yes. Okay. Um, do you support one political party? Does that ever influence your vote? AI because there are only major ones. so you choose is closer to Europe belief they represent a hand percent we're doing this, but it is basically the most closer, match. Would you ever do a straight ticket and just vote for one candidate or like one party? Uh, if you don't know a candidate or something, or would you just like I usually for the majority of the candidates, I vote based on the only party line on the lower level depends the area and the state.. If it's a critical swing lay stake, I'll vote for the part line. If it's not, I'll choose the best can for the job. Okay. Um, how do you decide which can support? what's important for you? It's basically for the of what I belief. I don't check the personality because in this point it is basically what, and do you think your racial or ethnic background plays a role in your voting pattern? Uh, no, because what Greeks is about vote Republicans, so I not. Um, okay, and lastly, um, of those eligible to vote excluding the military approximately 4% of American expots vote in each presidential election, what, if anything, do you think could be done to increase this number? Um It's honestly, I I tried to convince my parents a lot to voting Greece. It's so difficult for them to do male ballads. It's difficult for them to do and not everyone allows electronic. And when you do electronic, you have to disclose what you vote in, a lot of people that don't want to do that. So, the mailing ballot, some people they find it too complicated. So, and if you're not living close to an embassy to go vote it makes it even more difficult. Okay. Okay, is anything else gonna add? Okay. Thank you. White Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? And why? I think it's my duty as an American citizen to have my voice be heard. It's a value that I have believed in democracy and I'm appreciative and grateful for the right that I have to vote. And so participation participation in democracy is crucial to maintaining that. Okay. And then did you vote in 2024? Yes. Well, I for this one specifically or is it the same? Same reason. Yeah, just belief in uh a an optimistic hope for the American governmental system. Okay. Um, and do you think that living in the US versus overseas changes who you vote for or like how active you are as a voter? Yes, um I obviously you hear things like international voting doesn't isn't counted unless it's a um it's a close election and and not obviously depends on what state or ends. So I'm in Florida and I knew my predictions were accurate, so it is very unlikely that my vote was even considered. and um I don't vote now in the smaller elections. I will only now I only vote every four years. So that has changed since I move overseas.. um and then is voting something you find important? Yes. Okay. um would you say you have strong political feelings? I could answer that question yes or no depending on what you mean by strong political feelings. Do you have a definition of strong political feelings? Or I can take you take it how you want. I do not have polarized political opinions based on party lines. And I see the value in I believe that diversity is helpful. And so I actually feel very strongly that it is important that people in a healthy system have hold an express different political views. So with that said, there are many positions that I can see both sides on. um, and it's hard for me to make a decision. And there are other views that I do feel are

stronger about. Okay. um, okay, that kind of goes into the next one. Do you support one political party and does that ever influence you, like, have you ever done a straight ticket or if you don't know candate you just say, okay, there is lines with my party? I I'm registered independent so I don't align with any party with that I do typically vote in one direction. I will, however, on the ticket for Florida. There were some state issues that I like mostly for amendments, yes, no, I did not hurt I did not vote a long party lines. Okay. um so for the most part, I I go in one direction and I'm open to I I do the research that I have the time and capacity to do for the issues and make a decision based on the time and capacity that I have.. And how do you decide which candidate or party to support? What's important for you? Obviously there are some items and and issues that I'm more watchful of um than others I do believe that obviously a person's position is important and I also believe that a person's character and behavior is important to consider. So I would say it's not a science, but rather an art of making a judgment call of the degree to which I feel that person is going to effectively represent and make changes in the direction that I'm most passionate about. Okay. Um, and what you say your racial or ethnic background plays role in who you vote for? Or how you vote? I strongly believe that our positionality, which would be defined as like our identities and and how we identify strongly influences, how we perceive the world, how we interact with the world, how the world interacts with us and I strongly believe that it is nearly impossible to disentangle one's identities and especially with the way one perceived with how we respond to the world and how the world responds to us. Okay. And then lastly, um, of those eligibles of vote, excluding the military, approximately four percent of American expatates vote in each presidential election, um, what if anything do you think be done to increase this number? Do you have a, do you have the percentage of people that are non expatriots that built? Um, not here, but I think it's like a little over 50. It's really low. It depends on each election. Um, what could be done to increase that? I think I think the perception that our vote doesn't matter is crucial. I also think that the ease with which, I mean, the amount of things that you have to do to vote are very onerous, I just sign the print this paper, sign this paperapers, send it out. one year I had to go to the consulate. an hour, I should take time off work. I think that was my first year here. I think I had to like, I was to register, if I remember it correctly, but I think one year I did submit my ballot and I don't think that Florida one year I had to fax my ballot and um, we couldn't find fax machines so somebody had to like do this worker on solutions was like, don't tell anybody I can do this. it was like really shady. um excuse me, and this year, I was able to say email, which was great. um but so I think ease is important and I recognize one political party's movement towards this is the voter fraud is very important to them. And you know, ensuring that it's still a system of integrity is also important. And so how do you weigh the benefits of access and the importance of integrity? I think is a is a difficult question. Obviously, manpower and funds and the question is what is if the votes are not going to be accounted for to what degree is that a good use sort of fiscally responsible choice? Um, and thinking about the desire for voter votes to be counted in a way that is quick and efficient, again reducing the manpower of the people that are voting them, they are voting um again, how much money and funds should be allocated to that. I think, given my brief analysis of the cost and

benefits. of increasing accessibility It's rough. Do what I want American tax dollars to be spent on ensuring that more expatriots vote while also maintaining the integrity of the system when we're in debt and funds need to go to other significant areas of which I am passionate about. I think the first thing I would have to do is take a look at really analyzing the problem of like voter engagement with expatriots and saying to what to what extent is this really problematic? How many expatriots are they? Is it a critical number? Is it likely that an expatriot vote is going to make a difference given our electoral college system and is it worth the funds? I don't think I can answer that question without looking at that first. So that would be the first thing is getting a more in depth understanding of the problem and if it is a problem and recognizing that if it's not a large portion, if statistically it's unlikely to change the vote and that the amount of money to be spent on it would be an irresponsible use for funds a solution may be status quo. um might be something to consider in terms of the best, but that doesn't answer your question of which would get more people to vote. It's just is that the right thing to do to get more people to vote? And that's a question I would have to ask myself is it is this what would have solved to get more people to vote? And is a significant when at the system And if it is, then then you say, okay, how can we reallocate funds to make sure that we maintain integrity? So that especially so that we're not swayed by other motivated parties outside the American system who have massive intel and artificial intelligence and other systems of play that could, you know, other interested parties that would like to influence American elections. I don't know if I answer the question. Sorry. Sorry. No, it's okay. Um, okay, that's it. Is there anything else you wanna add? That's it. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

OK, have you ever voted in a US presidential election? Yes, and why? I'm sorry, why? Why? I think when so, in high school, I took an AP gov class and my teacher did this activity, talking about the importance of voting, so I don't really remember all the reasons, but basically we got in different corners of the room, like, what's a reason to not vote and some of it's like, I don't know enough information or like, I live in an area that's blue and I'm red and things like that. But I just remember doing that activity and thinking, like, the big takeaway was even if you feel those things, like you're doing a disservice by not voting, so you should, like, if you have the right to vote, you should, and you've worked really hard in this history to get everyone to have the right to. So, at the beginning, like, when I turned 18, I was voting, yes. And then 20224, did you vote? No, I didn't. And why not for this one? I sent in I mean, I'm here, so I sent in the application thing, and I know every state does it differently, but I didn't receive the information back to send

the ballot. So, I just didn't do it, and I didn't look into it. And part of it was just barrier to entry. Okay. um and so do you think that you'd be a more active voter, or do you think your vote would change if you lived in the US or I don't think at least in the last two elections, it would have changed just because of where I was living, like the last two I would have been in New York. and New York is always gonna be a blue state and things like that, especially the city, so yeah. and in voting something you find important. I think it's important to use the right to vote, for sure. and I wish I had voted more when I was living in New York. I just didn't find the time to do my research and look up all the policies and things like that. Okay. Uh, would you say you have strong political feelings? No. not at all. Okay. Um, do you support one political party? Not really. Okay, yeah, I think it's mixed views, like some parts I support and other parts I support with the other parties.. So you would never do, like, a straight ticket or anything. a straight ticket as in, like, all one, or if you don't know someone, you like put the party that you normally support or something. Yeah, probably like that.. Yeah. and how do you decide which can it to support what's important for you? I think, in general, I'm more fiscally conservative, but socially progressive. So those are things I look at, and then just seeing if those values align because some of these like, socially progressive policies don't really make sense in the financial sense. Like, where will we get the funds or budget to support these programs that I would totally be support about, but like everything costs money, so we need to reallocate funds for that.. um, and do you think your racial or ethnic background plays a role in who you vote for? Like, the I vote for someone that has a similar racial background, or just like how my upbringing? Like, your upbringing, or if it I don't know, if they' take into account of your upbringing or, you know, I guess personally no, I don't think it would. Um, and then, lastly, um, of this eligible toote, excluding the military, approximately 4% of American expats vote. so, what do you think if anything could be done to increase this number? Well, based on my experience this year, I think just the barrier to entry, like, maybe if there was a way that we could do online voting, that like, my email account is linked to the IRS or my Social Security and they're building out these kinds of technologies. It just seems a bit antiquated to vote with the paper ballot and mail it in. It's 20,5. So I think we could do something different. Yeah. Okay. is there anything else you gonna add? no, not really. Okay, perfect. Thank you. Yeah, of course.

Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? it's to exercise your right to vote given our system of government the way I can influence the direction of our country is by by voting. And did you vote in 2024? I did. Why? Sp specifically for this one? Why specifically for this election? Well, I mean the same basic idea, but beyond the same sort of thesis that I just articulated, but beyond that, um in 2024, I thought you had a a very clear and radical difference in the two platforms, uh, the two candidates, all candidates will have flaws. uh all candidates, um should have positives, um but I found a situation with a candidate that has very little offer and wanted to make sure that, uh, my voice was hurt and uh it was more important to me that I vote. um so if your point is, why 2024, I'd almost say in the number of years a number cycle that voted, I I could not see me missing 2024. If, you know, there was an emergency and I couldn't get to the polls or I couldn't mail it in or something was going on in other elections, that could have been possible. But in this one, absolutely not. Okay. Um, and do you think that you living in the US versus you living abroad affects how you vote, um, how active you are eyes a voter I mean, if you vote in like the local global, you know, different types of elections? Um, Voting in local uh statewide elections becomes a lot more difficult than much more cumbersome to be able to follow, you? I would love to, uh because when we were living in Hoboken, um I would go routinely because what does that mean? I leave work, stations are open, uh the reminders you obviously attract the elections and and people are educating the voter base on their candidates and you have an opportunity to vote here, you're removed from, obviously the education and the platforms at a local level, but then also the reminders that are necessary in in the busy lives that we live. So that would make a a big difference. I think, for me, having an international background, being a naturalized American, uh having traveled the world uh living abroad does not necessarily uh impact my voting patterns, but I would say for the Americans that I know that I had never been outside of the US, for the ones that have always heard the narrative according to the way it told the United States, they have aha moments and not just a moment, but moment where they wake up and begin to realize that the world is not the way it's spoken about or spun in the US. And I think that makes a huge impact because ultimately people coming out of the US will start to realize that other people are just like them wanting to raise their families, raise their kids, uh, you know, be gainfully employed but they're normal sort of things as opposed to the b boogeyman that we're waiting for all the time, so that makes a difference. is voting something you find important. it's not just important, it's critical. um listen, there are many forms of

government. The form of government that we have is the one that uh allows individual participation, which I firmly believe in, uh that there are other systems that have worked for periods of time, but to me, having a full democracy and a vote is absolutely critical. Do you think you have strong political feelings? I do, uh what is the political feelings, uh to be a politician and so forth, absolutely not? I'd probably say I have strong human feelings. I have strong beliefs um, but my beliefs tend to be uh, that other people should not be telling me or anybody else what to do and how to do it. And so it is about, you know, self determination, it is about the right of choice, it is about, um the right to be your best self, uh things of that nature. So I don't know, if that's considered political, but I'd say it's just it's human as the way I think about it., do you support one political party and does that ever influence your vote? Like have you ever done a straight ticket or if you don't know one candidate, would you just put it the party that you support? straight ticket all the time and I have done so. Okay. I can explain that to you if you want, but that's what I've done. Okay. um and how do you decide which parties to support? I decide, um Like what's important for you? No, what's important to me again, is self determination and um some of those basic human principles. and when there's a party and there is a party that, um does not believe in people's right to vote, um, a woman's right to choice. uh people's right to self determination. So the politics, people would say economics, uh national security, immigration blah, blah, blah. It's not about those things. I'm actually physically responsible. I think we should spend within our budget but for me to get to the point where I would begin to consider you, I got to consider to begin with that you respect all human beings and that you have a baseline from which to start from. If you can't do that, I think, I'm going to balance the budget and I'm stronger in the economy. I'm stronger on foreign affairs, blah, blah, blah, isolute rubbish. You're not strong at anything until you become stronger and I' being a human being. Okay. And does your racial or ethnic background play a role in your boating patterns? It does because of the positions that the political parties take in the way they will use utilize, um influence, um, under represented groups. You want me to say more? Yes, of course Yeah, I mean, so, again, if I see one party that is um, clearly, um intent on keeping the status quo, knowing the history of the United States, um, keeping the status quo, knowing the history of a gender bias in the United States, knowing, uh, that one party is intent on keeping um a minority as soon to be minority, uh versus the melting pot that we've become, um in power by disenfranchising voters, Hispanic voters, Latino voters, uh Taitian voters, uh act voters and the

like. um for me, my race influence is that because, again, I go back to the same principle. Now, whether that we came 10 years ago, 50 years ago, 100 years ago, whether our parents grandparents great grandparents came, we all came from someplace. and we should all have a right to be able to participate in this democracy, and there's one party in my mind that is consistently trying to deny the people's right to vote, and that is the system of government we have. and lastly, as you may be aware of it is eligible to vote, including the military, approximately four percent of American expansive vote in each presidential election, what do you think if anything could be done to increase this number? I think a lot of it has to just be on making it easier and more seamless. um I know some of Scandinavian countries, if I'm not mistaken off the top of my head, I' an ability to be able to vote via email and the like, um for us, uh that is the way I voted in Hudson County, New Jersey. I sent an email by and that's the way it so you print something out instead of being online that exactly it that the you print something out, you sign it and then you send it in. but then they ask you to make sure that you mail it in as well. So again, we need to get with the times, the world is completely moved ahead. So I really don't know why paper ballots and and the like. those should be available to a generation that is not used to computers and technology, but for the rest of us, especially those of us that are overseas, if you made it a lot easier, if you made it a lot more seamless, uh, you would have that. I know that the reaction is gonna be a voter fraud, blah, blah, blah. Again, prove where voter fraud is happening. prove that it's happening in a meaningful way. you gonna give me one example of one guy that voted in the wrong county versus another. That's absolute garbage. No system is for proof. But if a system is fallible, she'll be able to prove it in large numbers. and nobody's ever been able to do that. But if they intend to deny people the right to vote, you may get a lot harder. and those of us that are overseas are going there to work, going there for a variety of reasons, but mostly work, I think. It is the people that I know. And so if you're busy if you're traveling, if you're managing a family is on and so forth, it's just not as convenient as it was for me, to get home from work at five, six o'clock on voting day and they just to go to a voting station and the vote. And we need to do that. um that would be the one piece, um as a relates to the vote, technology, digital solutions can also help with informing people. overseas um so that you've got a more informed uh voter base um that can participate knowledgeably. Okay, is there anything else you wanna add? No, no, thank you. Thank you.

Have you ever voted in the US presidential election? Of course, the vote every year. Why? Uh, well, I consider to be my civic duty. I think it's extremely important as a citizen of the United States to participate in a democratic process. uh, also, I think it's really fun, and I like to have an opinion on things. And in 2024, did you vote? Why, for this is that one? I mean, I think it's again, I'll vote literally every election. I vot in the local elections, I vote my state elections, I vote in every presidential election. um I think this one is particularly important, you know, in terms of the policies, but they're all important, every presidential election is extremely consequential. Okay. Um, and do you think that you not living in the US affects, like, how active you are, like, who you before or anything? No, I've always had the same political opinions. I do think that when you littlese, you become even more open minded, you connect with different cultures, you start to understand that you have to US policies on various different groups, um so yeah, it's certainly expanded my worldview, expanded my understanding of the impacts of political process. Is voting something you find important? Absolutely., do you think you have strong political feelings? Yeah. Um, do you support one political party and does that ever influence your vote, like, have you ever done a straight ticket or if you don't know a candidate, would you just like, put the party support or anything? No, I consider myself to be an independent. I do caucus more with one political party because I find one party to be insane. Um, but no, I'm I'm very likely to go vote based on my concerns and my issues versus my understanding having a conversation? No, no, I have to make a phone call like five minutes. Okay, okay. Are you gonna be done by that? Yeah, yeah, we will.. And she's asking about my voting, uh history. um sorry, can see you. Oh, uh, uh, yeah, so I don't vote for one party. yeah. I vote based on the issues. so I usually do my research before every election. I try to understand the values of each candidate, their goals, what they say, they're gonna do, all of that. Okay. Um, and how do you decide which candidates support? what's important for you? The issues? Yeah. Uh, I care a lot about the economy. I care a lot about human rights. I care a lot about justice. um I care a little bit about foreign policy, but mostly, I'm really concerned with domestic policy. so I want a, you know, I'm voting for a candidate that I think is gonna do what's best for the average American in terms of the economy, uh, in terms of health care in terms of, um social rights in terms of human rights, things like that.. Um, and do you think you're racial or ethnic background plays a role in your voting patterns? Uh I mean, statistically, probably, right? Like, I think, um being white, being from the south gives me a certain type of understanding of certain events, and so that impacts

me, I think. for sure. And last question, um of those eligible to vote,uding the military approximately four percent of an American expots vote in each presidential election. That is the most depressing statistic I've heard. I know heartbreaking. What if anything do you think could be done to increase this number? I mean, look, I think Americans in general don't vote as much as they should. Yeah, it voting needs to be a holiday. like, everybody needs to have that day off.. It needs to be easy to do online. like it's just ridiculous. You have to do like a paper, like I had to I had to fill out a form, print that form, sign that form, mail that form, which state are you from? Georgia. Okay. Uh, and the whole process was stupid, expensive and time consumer. And that's inefficient, and that's not motivating people, especially people who feel like maybe you were saying earlier, oh, I'm not as impacted by this as you., so I think the day of voting needs to be a holiday. Okay. minimum, like, there need to be polls outside of the US, and you need to be able to vote online. Like, they need to create we have technology, we need to create secure technology where it's easy to vote. and voting shouldn't be honestly only one day, even though I think it should be a day off. It should be a long term process where you can do an absentee ballot at any point in time. I think some states now they do have that, actually. I know extremely backward. Yeah. And then others just like if you fold it the wrong way, then it doesn't count your bow or I don't even know. It's dumb. Is there anything else you wanna add? Uh, I love that you're doing this project, I think that participation of the electoral process is so essential. Um, and so yeah, are you 18? I hope you get your process. Actually, today. happy birthday. yeah, have fun voting in your first election. It can feel overwhelming, because there's so many issues to think about. I know. It's totally okay to choose two or three that you're passionate about. now, excited and I was so upset I missed it by only a few months. But don't worry, they have elections all the time. What are you from? New Jersey, so I think it's very clear which one. And and the ones that are the most important are the local ones. Yeah. Honestly, I think I just feel bad if I'm not there, voting on the local elections, because I'm just like, that's so you know what I mean? Yeah, but it's it's still very, very important. like, yeah, who's the mayor of this city in black showing people and you have a right to have a say in that, you know, I think now I definitely will want to go back. It was just like being overseas, I don't know. like, I've heard mixed things. I don't know I don't think my parents are that like they're into the national ones, but like the local ones. No, not really. But I'm excited. It's awesome. Yeah. Cool. Well, yeah, good for you.

So the econ is not important because I, as I told you, I was strong with the president I said it has nothing to do with the economy.. The either get blamed or get to credit and you don't really have any, so. but uh foreign policy is very important, uh the domestic policies, very important., the appointment of the supreme court is uh very important. Okay. Um, and do you think your racial or ethnic background plays a role in your voting pattern? Yeah, for sure. especially in the fore impuls. Okay. okay, and then last question, um, of this eligible to vote, including the military, approximately 4% of American expats vote in each presidential election, what do you think could be done if anything to increase this number? Only four percent. Really? No, it's That's the stunning. Yeah. stats.. I don't know, I haven't thought about this, but I, uh I think if they if they like, you know, uh email campaign and and then here around, not just like, you know, two weeks or three weeks prior to uh to the presidential election. They send an email. The embassy reminds you or whatever.. That's number one number two. after what happened not this election, the one before, some people would believe is, if you would two month out or three month ha it, you boat is really does't really count. that that's what so that's what people think, you know? And the email and mail you know, I think President Trump made everybody doubt this email brought in and mail vote and all. I'm sure until now they so count some some votes from somewhere. For what, the mail? Oh, for uh, you know, they' still not hundred percent, right? They still collecting, I guess. Just check it, I think. I think they still collecting some world from around the world, I don't know. Okay. Is there anything else you wanna add? Okay. Thank you. Yeah, that's a.

Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? Why? Why? Because of my duty. Okay. I' American. Um, and then did you vote in 2024? no? Why? Because I didn't like I don't. Okay. um, do you think that you'd be an active voter if you lived in the US? Yes, for sure. Why? I think it would be a more active on the Congress and the Senate. more than the presidential. especially in the last 12 years. Yeah. um, is voting something you find important?oting? Yeah, of course. Why? Because you're you have a say in the future of the country and uh for your you know, family, friends, your kids, and everything. Do you think you have strong political feelings? Yes, I do. Okay, do you elaborate or n Well, it depends on the issue. It's not just uh, you know, I registered the Republican, but sometimes I decided you the Republican as well, so as a nation.

Okay. um how do you decide to support a political party? Does, like that ever influence your vote? Do you ever go, like a straight ticket and just do Republican or No, it depends on nation. Okay. um, and how do you decide which canid support? What's important for you? Uh, the platform, so for me, the old run on an economy and I have a strong belief that the president of the United States has very, very little, if any. influence on my economy.. He has no influence in the economy whatsoever. Wait, second. that stopped. Oh, no, it didn't

Have you ever recorded in the US presidential election? Why? Because uh I don't think Webber's president doesn't really solve the main issue. Okay. And in 2024, he didn't. Nope. Why not for that election? Because it doesn't solve the main issue of the world. which is Jewish supremacy. Okay. um, do you think you have been active voter if you lived in the United States? No. it doesn't change, like, no. Okay. Is running something you find him for it? what? Is voting? This is this interview I come here, like we're trying to be professionals and stuff and she's laughing. Okay, is burning something you find important? Yeah, I mean, it depends on the elections, obviously. on before I didn cause like, it was obviously rigged before, like the last election, but after this election, I realized, like, at some point it could be too big to rig, which is what happened this time around.. Okay. um, do you have strong political feelings? Yeah. I'd say so. Okay. um, do you for one political party and does that ever influence how you vote, like, have you ever done, like, I see you haven't voted? Do you think you'd ever do, like a straight ticket? Yeah, that's what the Republican party. Okay. Yeah. Okay, and then how do you decide which candid to support what's important for you? Well, obviously putting the interests of their country first more than anything. First of all, I think that's the most important thing, because obviously some candidates have other interests in mind. and just doing what's best for for America. Okay, um, and not the same for the party, same thing. 100%. Okay, um, does your racial or ethnic background play role when you're voting cutters? no. Okay, um, lastly, including the military, approximately 4% of American expats vote in presidential elections, what do you think of anything could be done to increase this number? Probably just make it easier. and like push them more to vote. I don't think expots are really, like push to vote generally. Like, I feel like they

could be emailed like phone call, just like pushed in general and make them understand that they' vote actually matters, because otherwise they're just like, oh, they're not in the country, so it doesn't really matter. Why why would I go all the way to the embassy or whatever to vote? It's not really, like, necessary? Okay. Thank you. That's it? Is there anything else gonna add? I mean, you're the one that's asking the questions. asking the question or answer. Okay, no, that's. That's it? Yeah.. nice. Okay, thank you. You're welcome.

Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? I why? I feel like it's really important to participate in democracy and to vote, even if you're vote, like, doesn't count for me. I voted for DC.. which, in comparison to other states, my vote doesn't matter as much, but even though the fact, I still want to vote to participate in. And do you vote in? Yes, I did. Why specifically fit this one? Um, because I turned 18. Okay. umere you okay, do you think if you lived in the US, you'd be like moreive as a voter, or, I think so. I think I'm not very, um into politics. being so far away is less like realistic. It's not like the policities are like personally affecting me right now. So, I think that, um, if I did live in the US, I would become more of an active and more informed voter. Okay. um, is voting something that you find important? Yeah, I think voting, um no matter who you vote for, is very important because democracy relies on individuals making informed decisions on who they want to be their leader. So, um, yeah, I think voting is really important. Would you say you have strong political? No, I wouldn't say I have lots of strong flu feelings, like I said before, being away from the US, um has made all like the policies and everything seem very less realistic to me, and like less impactful. So, yeah, I'm not very into the politics. Okay. um do you support one political party and does that ever influence how you vote? Like, would I this is your first election, but do you ever think you would go like a straight ticket or something? Um Um, yeah, I the a certain party does influence my decision because of the their ideology and what they believe in. Okay. um and how you decide which party your candidate to support, like, what's important for you? Um, well, for example, like the environment is very important, so the party that, like supports that, for me is that I'm more likely to vote, because I'm very passionate about the environment and like human rights and stuff, so a party that leans towards that rather than economic policies is something I wanna support because it's something like I believe in. Okay. um does your racial or ethnic background?? Play a role in your voting

patterns? Um, I mean, I obviously I think it does, but maybe not as much as like, someone else's would, um, and why? I think, like I don't know why. there is not there's not like a lot of policies that either part is making that like the directly affects me rather like, those, like, like other people, like migrants and stuff, so it's not like, to towards me or anyone, I personally know, like family. So I think it's less than an impact on me. Okay. and then last question as maybe aware if it was eligible to vote, excluding the military approximately only 4% of American and expat do vote in each presidential election, um what if anything do you think could be done to increase this number? Um I think talking more about the importance of democracy and the history of it would be something that would help people realize that although the actual act of voting might not make the difference, be it in itself is what matters, because you're helping to keep democracy alive, even though your vote might not, or might matter. So, do you think it's like, like, the reason why a lot of people vote is because they don't know, like, the importance of it, or they don't I think that a lot of people get caught in on whether it matters or not they're individual vote. not on, like, rather than the fact that just the act is important. So I think if people like just realize that, okay, maybe you're individual vote doesn't matter, but, like, the act of doing so is important, and it really doesn't take that much time, especially, like, I did it online and it was very easy, so, um, you don't really lose anything, like maybe like five minutes. So, why not? Okay, is there anything else you wanna add? No, that would be all. Okay, thank you. Thank you.

Okay, um have you ever voted in a US election? I have. Why? Uh, as a US citizen, I feel it's an important part of my my rights as a citizen and kind of a responsibility of mine. I remember taking civics class in ninth grade and learning about, you know, the rights and responsibilities of citizens and, yeah, it's just something that I've always felt as an important aspect of, you know, my role.. And then did you vote in 20224? I did. Why? I felt this year was a particularly important election and an opportunity to, you know indicate the direction that I would hope the country is going and to make sure, um, so not just voting for the presidential election, but then I also had the opportunity to vote for, you know, Congressmen, Senators, um, for amendments to the state Constitution in the state that I'm in. So it's not just the top of the ticket. It's being able to have an impact on local state and national politics. Okay, that kind of goes into the next one, but

um do you think that you'd be more active in voting in the US versus here, or do you think that you, like, you would participate in the local ones too, and everything, or even though I live here, I still vote So I'm a Florida voter. So I I still feel like there are aspects of the local, Florida, um politics that impact me whether it's tax related or abortion related or, you know, all the different aspects of elections that, even though I live here, I still feel like it's important to, you know, have my voice heard and that politicians know, you know, this is what I value, this is what, yeah. Okay. Um, and is voting something that you find important? Yes. Okay. Um, do you think that you have strong political feelings? I I do. I feel like it's complicated, it's not just Republican versus Democrat, left versus right. I feel very strongly about specific topics. I feel very strongly about um leadership, um, and, you know, representing the the country and the the people of the country in an equitable way. So, yeah, I have I have strong beliefs. um that have also evolved over my lifetime.. um, do you think that you support one political party and does that ever influence your vote if you ever go straight or something or I do tend to support one party over the other, but I also try to consider I don't select the street ticket. I'll I'll try to do some research and try to understand people's policies, if there was somebody in my party that I didn't think represented um my beliefs in my perspectives, I would consider voting for somebody else. um and how do you decide which candidates support, like what's important for you?. It's tricky, like in the presidential election, it's a pretty clear, like the candidates are pretty aligned one direction or the other. For me, um, in in this election, character was a big, a big aspect of the vote for me. I I do tend to vote the Democrat side, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be open to voting for a Republican. Um, I think the last few elections have been, you know, a very, very stark contrast between the candidates. But I would say in non-presidential elections, so for senators, um representatives of Congress, you know, local school board members, that type of thing. I I try to go to their websites and learn about the different, um causes that they care about, what they voted for in the past. and try to kind of gauge how that aligns with the things that I value personally and professionally as well, I guess. Okay. um, does your racial or I think background play a role in your voting patterns? Uh, not really. um historically, there have not been many, uh options outside of a white person for the for the presidential elections. But then I would say when I'm considering the other um other elections, yeah, I'm I'm looking at the the issues and character versus racial. Yeah. okay. And then last question. um, as maybe aware of it was eligible to vote within the military approximately only four percent of American expots do vote, and what do

you think could be done to increase this number? I think continuing to promote the methods for voting while you're overseas, it's different in every state. So making sure people have access to the information early so that they can do whatever they need to make sure they're registered to vote and they they know how they need to vote for their state. So for example, Florida, you can receive your ballot by email, but you can only submit your ballot through f facts, which who has facts these days, or by now. So ASD is great because we have a male pouch that goes to the US every two weeks, so you can submit it that way. In other countries, that might not the the male may not be as reliable. So I think very, very early in the election cycle providing consistent and accurate information about how to register for to vote to check if you're registered, because some states can to kick you off the registration every year and you have to register. um and then increasing access to ways to vote. So maybe, you know, through the US embassy, there can be a collection point other than the embassy. It's a pain to actually go to the embassy to drop off your ballot, but if there could be collection points in other parts of of the city, um yeah, so lots of kind of communication and information so that people know it's really not that hard if I know what I'm doing. Okay, is there anything else you wanna add? Um what is like, what is your research question or topic? Um, okay, well, I can tell you

I've done this. That's like my fear. I'm not hitting our cord. Me too. every time I check it. Um, okay. have you ever voted the US Presual election? Yes, I have. Why? Why? I just voted since I turned 18, um, because I felt like it was like my civic duty.. Um, and then 2024 did you? Yes, I did. Well, I put this one. Well, this one for me personally, I felt there was a lot of stake in the election, so I wanted to make sure to vote and be a part of that., and did you vote or were you not to voter when you live in the US? Yes, I was. Do you think that that changes anything that you live overseas or well, I think okay, so before I was registered to vote in Virginia. And the a at least I don't know if it's different now, but like back in the day, the absentee ballot in Virginia was really difficult. It's like you had to fold a paper in a certain sort of way and stuff like that. It was very cumbersome where I just recently changed my sort of voter registration to North Carolina. so I was able to vote online and yeah, I've never heard of that Yeah. And you just click, submit it all, you get your confirmation and stuff like that, and it was so much easier. That has really good. It's so, so much easier, because I remember with the Virginia stressing about how to fold it, will

it out? making sure it was sent on time and, you know, like mail in different countries isn't as reliable. I didn't even know there was an option. I've just heard about mailing and then you have to like if you didn't fold it, they would encount it or something. No, no, no, you. I don't know what states have it now, but North Carolina does, so you should look into that, yeah. Okay., and is voting something that you think is important? Definitely, I think, yeah, we all it's a way to share your voice your power and this sort of process.. do you think that you have strong political feelings? Yes, I do. Um, do you' expand a lot? Yeah, so I actually started, like my first job out of college was in politics, and I was kind of in progressive politics. This is just some background, I'll tell you. So, like, it was started by John Pedesta, who worked for the Clinton administration, the organization I worked for and basically it was during the abush administration, which was more conservative, and there was this thing like, if we're gonna win, you know, if we want a progressive agenda, we need progressive policies in place. So this thing tank made progressive policies and stuff like that. So that sort of started off my interest in politics, and I'm still involved. or informed, not involved. Do you think that you support one political party and does that ever influence how you vote have ever done, like a straight ticket or something, or Yes, I have... So I've done like a straight democratic ticket before.. um, and how do you decide which candidate reported to support? Well, I feel like with the the way the Democratic and Republican party currently are, it's just the Democratic Party tends to align more with my values and the issues that I personally feel are important. So I will now as I've like paid a little more attention to my voting, I will just vote on elections that I know more about where there's lots of local elections, where I won't vote on those, because I I'm just not informed..., and do you think you're racial or ethnic background plays a role in your voting patterns? Well, yeah, so my family is like Latinx from southern California, and sort of my grandparents, my uncles and aunts have always been involved in, like social justice rights, worked with the Democratic Party and stuff like that, getting out the vote, representing with like minorities and whatnot, so that's kind of like how it was brought up. Okay. um okay, and then last question, um as you may be aware of is eligible to vote, including the military, approximately only 4% of American expots do vote, and each presidential election. What if anything do you think could be done to increase this number? I didn't realize it was so bad. Well, I think one making it an easier process. It's interesting cause like Americans abroad still pay taxes in the US, so you think like they'd have some sort of say in that, whatever they align with, um so that's really interesting to me. I think, yeah, the ease of

voting will help and I think that would be the number one. I think the biggest barrier is people wanna registering and then just actually amongst the many things they have to do making that a priority. Okay. Is there anything else you wanna have? No. oh, what made you interested in this topic? Um, well, I think Sam was you like my parents are just very interested in it and then we always talk about politics and everything. um and so now I kind of wanna go into it, and I feel like that's something yeah, awesome. Hopefully I don't get put off by it now, but there's so many ways, like what I didn't realize when I started, like because I worked in DC. there's so many ways to work in politics. Like there's some policy, there's through actual government, you know, running official like government officials and stuff like that. but there's so many other organizations that do that's politics. Yeah, exactly. like data and polling and so much, so, there's a lot. I don't know. Yeah, cool. I'm interested though see.. Are you gonna study like, you could stop?

OK, have you ever voted in the US presidential election? Yes, every single one Sami turned 18. Why? Um, I believe in being active citizen. Um, I don't I think it's one way to make a change happen. um I believe in a representative government. I also was a political science major in college. so I really do believe in it. um I believe in community. I believe in grassroots action. um yeah. Okay. Um, and did you vote in 2024? Yes, I did. Why for this past one? Um, cause I was worried about the outcomes of the possibility of what's gonna happen in the world.. Um, and do you think that, like, living in the US versus living here is affected you as a voter? I do not well, while I can still vote in local elections, I don't vote in them unless it's a bigger election, like the Senate or a senate or Congressperson or the presidency, those are really the only ones. I don't feel ethically good about doing the smaller ones. Also, because I am registered in Minnesota, um quite often by the time I get the ballot to be, I have to have my ballot in the like they have to receive it by mail by the last day of when the the voting polls close. So sometimes I have to fed exit and that can equate to almost $100. for me to vote. So if it's a bigger election that I feel uh, not that the other ones don't matter, but I'm not living there. I'm not experiencing that. I don't necessarily invest my money into that. Yeah. Okay. Um, is voting something you find in fore? Yes, I think it's very important. And I think everybody, um I don't know if you're gonna ask this, but like with some countries for voter registration, once you're 18, they automatically enroll

everybody. It drives me crazy that a constitutional right has to be depended on if you register or not. like and and I think's also asinine that every state has different registering qualifications and how that happens. and nothing none of that makes sense to me. No. do you have strong physical feelings? What do you mean by that? Do you mean in my far left or far right? Or do you mean, do I just have strong feelings? Do you have strong feelings about politics in general? Yeah, I think I'm I've very well informed and have many multiple feelings about them. Do you support one political party and does that ever influence, like, do you vote a straight ticket or do you Um, I wish there were more parties. Um, I am very frustrated by my options quite often. I feel like it's very limited. I feel like sometimes I'm voting for the lesser of two evils. um I I think having only two parties limits are possibilities of um having somebody who truly represents us. So while I tend to to vote down the party line, it's not always heavily.. Um, and how do you decide to pick a candidate? Do you So for definitely so some some candidates are for offices that aren't supposed to be part of a political party? So if it's like for school board or for judges, um I I do a deep some some websites have done a really good job of finding deep dives of people and how they have been civilly engaged in the past. And I try to find I usually go to those websites and try to align my my values with whoever those people are. Okay. Um, and do you think your racial or ethnic background place role in your voting patterns? Yeah, I'm white, so. I like obviously, I teach race culture, human. I really believe in um of in equitability, I believe in belonging. I believe in helping them marginalized. um so I not I also vote with my money. like, I really, I really believe in that. um outside of the voting time, how I what businesses I choose to invest my money in, um matter as well. So while being a white woman is't affecting it, my um my value system in general really affects it. It does what does it do people's I wouldn't even just say race. I would say anything on the power and privileged wheel marginalize groups. I work with my privilege to try to make sure I'm an ally to try to get everybody to the table and have a voice.. And then last question. um if as you may be aware of those eligible to vote, excluding the military approximately only 4% of American expatriates do vote, um in each presidential election, so what if anything do you think could be done to increase this number? Um, our school miss you have to have a miso set at your school. She was incredibly passionate about getting people to vote and making it really easy for them to vote. um and uh even Democrats abroad, which is a group that's really international and really, um representative, they don't even care what party you're in. They just want people to register to vote and I think they do a really good job with that.

There isn't a Republican abroad, which I think is really interesting. So I'd be curious if they did have something that existed like that. I mean, if they don't vote them, I'm kind of okay with that, but um but but why why not have a Republican abroad? Why why not be engaged in that? Are the are those the votes that are missing? I don't know. I think it's a shame if people don't take that opportunity. I mean, Canadian don't get an opportunity to vote abroad if they don't have certain statuses and that blew my mind when I found that out, just seems like such an intrical part of our rights as Americans to be able to have that option.. Okay. Is there anything else you want to add? No. Okay. Thank you I would like to um see how the results later. of like yeah, I don't know where you're going with this, but I'm really curious about getting this. Okay.

Um have you ever voted it in a US presidential election? Why? Uh why? I felt like it was my civic duty. um and there was times in my life that I felt like it mattered and that my I should express my opinion. Um, and did you vote in 2024? This year I did not vote. Why not? I've started to become a little bit more disillusioned with the process. um I don't think that my vote would have made a difference, uh, in the outcome and I don't actually care as much about the outcome itself. do you think, like, living overseas with the affected and how active you are, or it's I think it has added a little bit of friction. Um, it's slightly harder, I think, to vote when you're overseas. Um compared to when you're in the states and, you know, it's just you can just walk down the street and quote. Um, you don't have to kind of like plan it out or anything like that. Um but and that that's slight bit of additional friction might have contributed as well, but uh overall, like the this election wasn't very inspiring to me. So, there might be a time in the future when I feel like I'll do it again... um, is voting something that you think you find important? like at a smaller scale, I think so, uh, like if I were living in a local community where I had to say and, like those policies more directly affected my life than, yes, um like local elections, I think, where, um, you're voting on things that are happening immediately in your community. larger elections like federal elections, um to me, it's like one side, it's always like close to 5050, and it's like one side dictating what their policy should be to the other half of the country and, like, no matter what and half the people are gonna be unhappy with the outcome, and at that level, like, everything becomes so diluded that nobody's actually getting what they want anyway. So. And do you think you have strong political feelings? Uh no, not not really, like, my politics mainly

are around, like, as long as I'm able to live the way that I want, then I don't feel like imposing my will on other people. Um. So I feel like I guess that's what my political feelings are. like it's more like let's to the extent possible let everybody make have the freedom to make the choices that they want to live their life in a way that doesn't, like, negatively impact other people. Yeah. Um, do you support one political party and does that influence how you vote? Like, do you ever just go straight and select everything with one or Yeah, in the past, um I did. And uh I would say now not really... Um, and how do you decide which candidate to support? like, what's important? Well, I guess you said. And yeah, in the past, the political party probably was the deciding factor. Okay. um and now yeah, no, I just I don't really believe in governments at that scale of that the US scale. Like I don't think that there's actually serving. So, I've become so disillusioned that I probably wouldn't be inspired by a new future candidate as well. no matter what I feel like it all kind of turns out the same Okay. um and do you think your racial or ethnic background plays a role when you're voting patterns? Probably, but I'm not consciously aware of it. I'm sure that my upb bringing has has some influence, but it's not at the forefront of the I think, yeah. Okay. And then last question, um as you may be aware of those eligible toote,uding the military, approximately 4% of American expatriates vote in each presidential election. What do you think could be done to increase this number? the presidential elections. Uh I don't know, that seems like such a low number that I wonder if there's something systematic about it. Like, the reason that they're an expat is maybe because they don't care or align with the values of the US as much anymore. So maybe that there's not a whole lot that can be done. Um if the if anything, it might be to reduce the friction to boating a little bit more, but I don't really see how like, I doubt that that would have a significant impact. So I think that 4%, if um is more indicative of how exper in general feel about politics and so that that might be a hard hurdle to overcome. Okay. Is there anything else you gonna add? Good luck. Thank you.

Okay. Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? Yes. Okay, why? Um, because I cared about what was gonna happen next, and I fully believed in democracy. Okay. And then did you vote in 2024? No. why? Because democracy is dead in America. I knew that Trump was gonna win. Yeah. and I will never live there again. I decided that a long time ago. And um I still have to carry. I didn't think my vote would count at all. Okay. um do you think that you would be more

active if you lived in the US or is it Yeah, I do, actually, because I if I was stuck there, then I would probably get more about what was happening, but I've just given the country over to the people who live in it, right? and just whatever they if they want to live under that craziness, that they've just voted in, that's what it gets, right? So these things are these things keep happening. You must be seeing some of the things that are he's doing. and that's what you get it, right? Like it's hard to feel sorry for what that's gonna be. Yeah. It's about to get real bad. Yeah. Already? is voting something that you find important? Yes, absolutely. I think it's very important. I think if you have the opportunity to express your voice, that you should do that, you know, and I think if you have a say and and what happens. and it affects you direct directly, and you should definitely participate. Okay. And um, do you think that you have strong political feelings? Oh, yeah. I'm I'm super into politics. I have very strong political feeling. But I I'll also in I'm also in give up land.. You know what does that make sense? Yeah, I've heard it at all. Have you? Um, do you support one political party and does it influence your vote? Like, do you ever go straight when you were voting, or.. I actually neither of the political parties represent me, all that well. I am very liberal. Very, like the kind of liberal that only Bernie Sanders knows what it is. Does that make sense? Do you know who that is? Yes. Yes, so um I I tend, like, in the presidential elections that I've open for, I did vote Democrat. um but I don't have a problem with voting for someone else, like, it will not be a Republican or here, I voted green party one year.c some of us care about the environment and I was a very, like staunch vegetarian and all this things. so, um yeah, so I, you know, I'm open to other candidates and what their ideals are and that kind of thing. I don't 100% disagree with what Trump does, but I a lot of it is gonna make people aren't gonna be able to afford fancy.. um, how do you decide which candidate sport? What's important for you? For me, it's um it's issues, you know, like what and what kind of person are you? So, like, I would never vote for Trump, even if I agreed with them, because he's such a bully, he's a horrible human being. The way he treats everyone, he's racist, sexist, pick anyist ever invented, and he's all of it. And he says all of that out loud and he's empowered other people to do that. And when people go on Facebook, because I'm from Texas and my Facebook people are high school people and people Texas people, a lot of them, what they're like he's he, you know, I need good mod role models for my kids. I'm like, are you watching? If that's your example of a good role model for your kids? I'm the world is doomed, you know? It's really shocking. So I do the issues are super important to me, but also who they are as a person matters as well. I just don't I mean, you

probably know me well enough to know that I'm not into I'm not four bullies or anyone who treats people poorly. Yeah. um okay, and then does your racial or ethnic background play role in your voting patterns? I don't know, I don't know how good of a white girl I am. You know? cause I don't understand. I don't understand any of the racism or sexism, or any of those things. you know, I always still not his. I'm like, if you make me move back to the States, like we're moving to a black neighborhood, where people have a heart and soul in, like, really good food and the best part of American culture of black culture. right? It is. The music, all of it. Right? Yeah. um and then lastly, as you may be aware of eligible voters excluding the military, only 4% of American expatriates do vote, so what do you think is important to increase this number? Um I think making it easier for people to vote would would help a lot. It's quite a rigmarole to go through. and like, to to her credit, Mississett, the librarian. put together a whole thing where she was like educating people about it and helping them do the online stuff to receive, but then you gotta do it all at a certain, you know, an early amount of time to get it off in the mail. If you don't meet the deadline for the ASD, because ASD sends mail to estates, you put your stamps on it, they'll send it all for you, which is awesome. That's awesome. None of my other schools have done that. but then you have that deadline, too. It's just a it's just a lot to manage. um I think if if there were, like, there's overseas voting foundation, they did a really good job of reaching out to people and saying, okay, here are the candidates and here are what their views and policies how those things would affect you as an exatriot, then I think that might encourage people to vote more. Okay. Is there anything else you wanna add? Um, hopefully, I'll get to vote in an election at some point.. add that that actually is a thing that continues to happen. Trump's already put forward that he wants to change the Constitution so he can run for a third term. And people tear, yay! It's scary. It's terrifying. Yeah. Which we did yesterday? see what he did yesterday? Which one? Which one? such a good answer. Um, he basically froze the government spending on everything. So, all these people who get Medicare, Medicaid, those things, they couldn't log into the systems. You know, these are people who' worked their whole lives paid taxes to the US government their whole lives and depend somewhat. There's no pension in the states, no one cares about you in the US.'s one of the things I hate about the country. You don't get healthcare, they don't cares if you die in the street, no one cares. It's shocking, actually. I like Bernie. anybody who's all in Medicare Medicaid don't have it right now. Maybe it'll come back or saying that you know, what he did create a confusion, maybe Medicare and Medicaid is still okay, but

we still don't know, like just and they are saying there was a federal judge that came out and said it is unconstitutional, but it's not gonna matter to him. He fired everybody in the Justice Department who was working on his cases. I saw he fired everybody who's the watchdog person over each government agencies and put his own people in, but cause this is a dictatorship, taking shape. Yeah. Yeah, I really I really don't know.? Yeah, yeah. We' good, then you won't be refused to get in the country. Yeah, that's another thing. I really. I already know people who are trying to go now and they can't, so I really I don't know. It's so sad. And they frozen all immigration, like people who were following the legal process they had interviews, like the first day he took office, all those interviews were canceled. No. takes a month. It probably took me a year to get an interview. Yeah, and it's so expensive. Yeah, and it's gone. I really don't know. And then he's running people up. Immigrants, he's running them up everywhere and deporting him left and right. It'sic I don't understand what happens to the jobs that those people were doing. like they're doing jobs that so many people don't wanna do. Yes, they are. and you're benefiting off of it, but then the second I It's crazy, isn't it? So there if he keeps doing this, there'll be a shortage of people to pick in the crops. and a shortage of people to drive what is picked to the grocery stores. Exactly. And then tariffs on everybody? Right other countries? Do you know what happens when you put a tariff on something? Obviously it's gonna be more expensive for us. I don't understand what people are not picking up, like understand how that can work. I but I took one economics class and that makes sense. Are you not learning anything? I don't really the last 20 years or so. It's scary it is scary. Yeah, I wish I applied to Canada now., is it too late? Yeah, I've done all of them now, so. I' transfer. That's true. Yeah. where are you looking to go? What state? Well, I'm I'm not going anywhere on the west or the south. Okay, so good. Yeah, that's good. Yeah. The farthest south, I think is like in North Carolina, Virginia, and even that, I'm like, if I get into a I can't hide in my facial expressions, but I'm like. That's my don't speed, don't that's my problem, too. Oh, my God, everything. No, I know. Some of the stuff that happens yeah, I don't even know, especially for my brother, like I don't know. It's heartbreaking to me to think that there are people in the world in the US who have to have conversations with their kids. or they're starting to drive about how to deal with cops, which is a conversation that my white parents would never happen. How with me? I mean, it's just it's getting worse, turning it into a white man's country, like it wasn't already that you know, he pulled all the DEI J table in the government, and he said all this out loud and companies are doing the same. I don't, he does it whatever, but why are the

companies like, do you see target did it? Their whole campaign was like empowering all these people blah, blah, all of it, just like BS, like I think it's. I think it'sear. states are afraid. They're like if if we have if we have some kind of natural disaster or something like that would be like, oh, well, you're not you're a blue state. We're not helping you. He said that before. He's actually said that.. It's scary. It's scary. Anyway, I really don't know. One year of college at least, maybe four, and then you can leave. you know? Yeah, I don't I because American American university dec degrees are accepted everywhere in the world. Yeah, that's a good thing, that's why I need to I don't know. I just, if he goes again for a second term, like, no, that's it. I'm really a a third term. oh God. Which is not constitutional. Yeah, I'm sorry, how? I guess it's all his people in place to make those changes, then. I was actually I had a little bit of hope when he was when he was denominating all of his people for his cabinet. and he pulled up Mad Gates, also another horrible person. He was like a congressman. Wait, which one was he for? Matt he. I can't remember now. I can't remember now. There's so many rights, so it gets so be confusing. Um, I can't remember what he's gonna put him up for, but he was like I heard the name, though. I don't remember from Florida. He's like drug charges against him. charges, like all things. Let's see what happened was that they the government had investigated vacuums. And so they were getting ready to release the report about who he really is. Right as he nominated him? Trump nominated him, and that then he dropped out of Congress, so now that he has, they can't release a report. I mean he didn't but but the Republican, like they said no to Maggie, so that made me feel better. Yeah. But maybe maybe he maybe Trump called the and said it's just a stunt to make sure that his cause Trump loves disgusting people like that. What's his name? I think Pete Pegson. Yeah. Watching people interview him?

Okay, have you ever voted in a US presidential election? Yes. Okay. Well, or why not? Or why? I have always like every time when I've been eligible I voted and I just think it's really important to participate in democracy and I don't feel like it's fair to complain about the way the government's going or things are going if I didn't do my little part. Okay. And did you vote in the 2024 election? I. Why did you use for this one? I felt really strongly that, uh, one candidate was better than the other. I felt the other candidate was dangerous. I still I still do. Um I felt like I feel like our the US democracies at a turning point and and I don't like the way it's turning. Yeah. um

Do you think that living here versus the US changes how octive you are as a voter or how you vote? I don't think it changes how I vote because I think my values are the same here or there. But I think my values have been formed by living overseas and I I think I see more of the world and I I think I I have I have friends and people I know back in the states who are like, America's the best and it's all about America. And I and I think that they don't really know what to compare it to. And sometimes they wonder the best at what, and I'm proud to be American. Like I'm really proud. And I feel like I have a better perspective because I'm not there. Yeah. um is voting something you find important? Yeah, really important. So um just I think I told you the story before, but I was watching the Democratic Convention um the Democratic Party's convention most days and Michelle Obama, you know, she's like, you can't just believe this. You have to do something and she's just kept repeating do something and so I um yeah, tried to do something and tried to to motivate other people to vote. Um Do you think you have strong political feelings? I know I do. Yes. Okay. um do you support one political party and does that influence your vote? Like, do you just go straight or I am pretty straight. I'm pretty straight Democrrat. But I'm not opposed to voting against somebody or for somebody that I feel like shares my values. I just feel like the the current iteration of the Democratic Party while not perfect shares more of my values. And so if I don't know, I'll I'll vote a straight ticket. Okay. And how do you decide which party to support? um It's it's about values and what I believe. I just believe that the Democratic Party does a better job of including all people. I have friends and family who are gay, who are people of color, who are poor. I can I can empathize with people who are migrants looking for a better life, and I feel like that that's the party that cares about them more, that I don't I don't love our political systems. Like I but I, but it's the system we have. And so I I feel like the Democratic Party does a better job of representing my values. Okay. Um, does your racial or ethnic background play role in your voting patterns? So I'm white and so, I mean, I think the system has been designed for me all along, right? And and so, I try to think outside myself, right? And I and I think that it's like I just don't understand how people of color sometimes choose to vote against what I feel are their own interests. And I guess they see something different than I do, but I don't I don't understand that. Okay, and then last question as you may be aware of those eligible to vote, excluding the military, approximately only 4% of American expatriots do vote. And so what do you think is important to increase this number? I think uh decreasing the barriers as far as registration and the process, um, I told you before when

we talked the it's different for every state. And so that was really hard to navigate. And and I literally had people tell me, I feel like my state is trying to make it hard for me to vote so I don't. I think even the representatives at the consulate are kind of helpful, but not as helpful as they could be. um even information about how to drop ballots off at the embassy, I got conflicting information from different people about who could do it and when and if the envelope had to be sealed or not sealed. and we actually collected ballots here, um and sent them in up Fedx packaged to the states, uh, so people could avoid the embassy. Just because they have limited hours and whatever. And so I just think that our government needs to reduce the barriers to voting by expats, but also we're told our vote doesn't count. Our vote counts last, or there were places where the Republican party was trying to discredit international votes. And so I think we need to I think we need to vote and represent and show that that we do matter and we are still citizens and we need to vote from overseas. So I feel like our complacents and our laziness has also added to the problem. Okay, is that anything else you wanna add? I'm really glad you're doing this topic. Thank you. Yeah, I don't I don't know what you'll find if there's a way that you feel like you can influence change. Are you interested in talking to the contact that I had at the embassy who was in charge of helping ex pets vote? I mean, yeah, of course. So I just I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier. I will I will um send an email to you and to him and just saying that you're doing this project and then he and then you can take it from there. Okay. And you can leave me out after that if you want to I'll help you. Okay, thank you. Yeah, thanks.

Okay, um have you ever voted in the US presidential election? Why or why not? Yes, I have voted and pretty much all of them, except there I think there was one when I was 24, because I didn't live near my home at all. and I just totally forgot to register for it. But yeah, for all of them since I've been 18. Okay, so including 2024? Yes. Okay, and then why for 2024? Why did I vote? Yeah, like um I think it's important because it's our civic duty to do it. Everyone always talks about having a voice in our government, and so this is the opportunity for it. And not only that living in a foreign land, I have realized a lot of kids and people in general ask me who I vote for, and I don't find it offensive. I understand why they ask. It's because I have a chance to voice it, but they don't, and it affects them a lot of times. And so I think a lot of people shouldn't get offended if somebody asks who they voted for. It's because they're literally just curious how that

person's vote could have impact could impact them in the future.. um do you think that, like, you living abroad has changed how you vote or like, yes.. Why? Why? Yeah. um, and this is my ignorance. I didn't really know where Palestine was before I moved out here. I had heard it before. I didn't know where it was, I didn't know who the history of it at all. And so, living in this region has really impacted my view of how we deal with Israel and how they are basically causing a genocide in Palestine. And so that has given me a new perspective to some of the other conflicts that are going around the world, too, and how the media presents them. Okay. um, is voting something that you find important? Yeah, yeah, it it's embedded in my family values too. Yeah. um, do you think you have strong political feelings? Um, more so now that I'm older because I have a greater understanding. I would say when I was younger, no, I would have just briefly understood the difference between conservative and liberal, but now I have a lot more understanding of how those decisions with the presidency and Congress and Senate have really impacted my life and my loved ones lives. Um do you just support, like, one political party and go down, or is it no. I I look at the candidates and their policies, and so, um I I don't feel comfortable just saying, oh, they're a Democrat. I have to do that because they are some people that have had scandalous pasts that I don't agree with that are in both parties. And so doing the research on their policy, how they voted in the past, their priorities, I think, have have helped center my view on who I should vote for. Okay, so that goes the next one, what how do you decide which political party support, like, what's important for you? I would say social values are important, so the ones that are are not discriminatory against different groups of people, whether that be race, sex, um, sexual orientation, anything like that. Um and not disinfranchising anybody pretty much. Sometimes I look at the economics of how it goes, but that usually depends on what position they are holding. So presidential, they have to really have strong values for both social values and economic values for me. Those are probably the more the bigger priority, but if it comes down to I will look at someone more favorably regarding their social view over their economic view.. um does your racial or ethnic background play a role in your voting patterns, my whiteness? No, not at all. actually. No. No, I don't really I don't look at it as like, oh, it's a white person, so I have to vote for them, not at all. No. I look at again, I look at their platform, I look at their history. I hate to say it, but now in an age of social media, you can see well, inaccessibility to everything. you can see a lot of past issues that people had. um because people post everything online. and so there's a lot more stories and a lot more accessibility to

understanding more about the candidates. Yeah. okay, and then last question, um, as you may be aware of those eligible to votes, including the military, approximately 4% of Americanatriots, a vote in each presidential election, what if anything do you think could be done to increase this number? I think sometimes the accessibility, like to vote in the US is very easy to go there. like, you register when you get your license, you know, it's a very easy process to go go to a thing boat or you can do mail and ballot or whatever. um in the Middle East, it's a little bit trickier because you don't really have a proper postal system and so you really have to coordinated it, like, you have to really have a desire to do it. We've also been great. It's also been great here because like Moy has been really good at reminding everyone about boating the deadline, and so some of those constant reminders are really helpful, I would say, so, like strategies to help XPats. Is that what you're saying, like different strategies? I would say the constant email reminderers. a lot of it is also like my family reminded me too, like, hey, if you send this in. and um some of the the requirements are very strange, like, you have to only have this certain size of envelope, you have to cut it and fold it a certain way. And if you don't and it doesn't, if you don't, then it doesn't count for something, so it sometimes feels and I understand why they do it because they wanna make sure it's authenticote. But I sometimes I think online voting would be easier but it's hard like, I think you would have to go through, like a a multi tier process for security purposes, if not regard. Yeah. I'm okay. Is there anything else we wanna add? No, I mean, I think I think it's great that you're examining the different trends of how people are voting and yeah, a lot of expads, I think, don't always vote. because they're just like, ehh, it doesn't affect me anymore, I don't live there.. But if they ever wanna go back, it does, and some of the damage that that president has done lingers for quite a long time, that's important. Thank you, of course.

Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? Why why not? I voted in every single one I can since 1980 was my first election. Ron Reagan election. Why have I voted? I've always been really interested in politics, and I I realize when you look at different places in the world that the thing that makes America unique is that you actually can vote, if you live abroad. You know, like Mr. Hurd can't vote. He's never been able to vote. British people can't vote in elections if they don't if they're physically not. living. Yeah, and so the US is unique in that sense that you actually have the power to have a voice. because I always think about what would have

happened in Brexit if all the expats in Dubai could have voted, they would have voted to stay, you know, because it would it benefits them. So. So, yeah, I've always been like that, but I also, my parents are were very politically active, like my mom worked for John F. Kennedy's, campaign and stuff like that. So it's just something I think that we were brought up. I wouldn't say my brother and sister as passionate about it as I am, but yeah.. So you voted in the US presidential um 2024 presidential election? Yes.. Um, were you not to voter never mind. Do you think that living overseas affects like, how active you are as a voter to the United States? Um, I think it does. however, I would say after 2024, a lot of us uh expect are pretty disenfranchised right now because we're like, you know, that I mean, there's so many layers of of it, but I think the one thing is how we're looked at on the world stage. Like I'm to a point where if people ask me if I'm Americanized I'm Canadian. You know, because I'm kind of embarrassed about everything that's going on. Plus, you know, I don't know if I'm not safe. Like what I lived in Pakistan, I would have never admitted I was an American, you know, so I think that that a lot of just regular Americans don't realize the impact as well as these elections have. Do you support one political party and does that influence your boat? Like, do you just go into I'm not really a straight party person. I am very, you know, liberal. I mean, and uh, but there's certain things that certain aspects that I I might be a more conservative. So I usually both vote the issue as opposed, but if I have to admit this in Texas, if you because every judge gets elected, every I mean, there's so many like things on these ballots and I'm a Texas voter. I don't really know all that stuff, so then I will tend to vote the party. just, you know, cause I I just feel like maybe they'll be a lying to what I believe. Um, how do you decide to support a candidate, like what's important for you?, I'd like to stay honesty. I mean, I really that that would be my main thing, but our last few press, you know, like, I mean, Bush yeah, you know, wasn't that honest in terms of he got bad intel. I think it probably is more what they're doing for the people. The the thing that really has bothered me and it's it bothering me more is the way is the wealth gap. It's like getting so big, and I'm like gone are the days of the Carnegie, you know, building libraries because they can't, you know, and that so I try to look at how's this candidate gonna help the my kids and my grandkids. like, are they gonna have policies that will be where they don't have to live paycheck to paycheck, you know, that type thing. Okay. Um and does your racial or ethnic background play a role in your voting patterns? Um I don't think it does. I mean, I'm like my dad's half Navajo Indian, so he's always been like, you know resent it was resent maybe he't resent to gym, so I don't think it

really matters in my my who I would vote for or anything like that. like, I don't care about the religion or or anything. I just really want them to do what's best for every every American as opposed to just the top one percent. Yeah., and then the last question is, as you may be aware of those eligible to vote, excluding the military, approximately 4% of American exppatriots actually participate in each presidential election, um what, if anything, do you think can be done to increase this number? I having so Mrs.y and I made a very consecientious effort to do voter registration, and we were totally supported by the school. like the school was federal expressing the when people brought in their mailin ballotss and all that, um, but the one thing I realized in that process is not having a unified election code. every state had a different law. And so somebody comes in from Kentucky, you know, and they're asking, how do we register, how do we do? You're like, we literally, and I mean, we're not stupid people. We would have to spend like an hour figuring out that particular state and so I think, I think that's why a lot of Americans don't do it. It's not easy. And it's really not easy. And like, for Texas, they wouldn't take anything DHL or Federal Expressed. They changed the law. So it used to be that when I voted, I would do my ballot because they don't have an online. um, do my ballot, and I would go to DHL and send it in, you know, the woman would I'd get like an email saying we received your ballot. Then this election, the governor of Texas changed like literally, and I want to say August, changed the law, to say, we won't take any more federal express or DHL. So that means either you have to go there and physically vote or you have to, you know, do like I did, fedro express it to my brother who then took it to the election. So, I mean, it's and there's a an oil man, Texas oil man here who literally may had anybody in Dubai that wanted to, you know, send their ballot. He took it physically on his plane and his little, like, I don't know, secretary somebody in his office went to every county because Texas, every single county has a different type of election law. So the thing that would make it easiest is if the US. had a standardized election procedure. And I also think it would make it better for all these people that think, you know, the elections corrupt and stuff. If you had some big watchdog that was in charge, I think it would be much more um user friendly for for expats for sure. Okay. Okay, is there anything else you wanna add? If you, you know, don't complain, if you don't vote. I hope that everybody, you know what say in 18, it's it's it's the privilege, you know, so that's what I would say.. Now, do I get a come in when we have the capstone? You know, sometimes they come in and ask questions and Yeah, I think we're doing or we end up first.

Have you ever voted in a US presidential election? Why or why not? Yes, I have. Because it was my first time voting and I thought maybe my vote would make make a difference. um and then did you vote in the 2024 election? No. why? Because of my my first time I voted was when uh George Bush junior was elected and shortly after that is when 911 happened and I felt traumatized. So and I realized quickly that my vote really didn't matter. It's all about the electoral votes anyway. I really didn't feel like he end that represents the voice of of the individual. Even though I know it's a democracy, I didn't feel like it represented my voice. Which state are you from, Ohio? So is it it's a Republican State? Okay. And he was right and I think, you know, Bush was Republican. It just, I don't know, I felt like a backfired. I was like, oh my gosh, I voted for this man, and then he started a war and then to the conspiracies behind it. I don't know, I just was very conflicted and I felt too, again, that my voice, I didn't feel like that one vote mattered, even though I know let's preach it your vote matters, I didn't feel like it mattered. were you so you were an active votive were you lived in the United States? Yes. But then, do you think if you lived in the United States now you would vote or is that not a fact? Probably yes. Okay. Um and is voting something you find important? Yeah, for the reasons state before, I don't feel like one vote makes a difference. Okay. um you do you have strong political feelings? I guess it depends on on the situation, because different I don't know, I can't say I have four one party or not. I know I'm from a conservative state. There are some things I feel conservative about, but then there are other things that I'm kind of like middle of the road, but I'm not like a radical. right or left. I'm kind of like in the middle of I agree with and support both issues, because they all have good points, but that's whether or not they can deliver on those points. Yeah. um so you don't support a political party? No. Okay, okay, um, how do you decide which candidate to support? like what's important for you? I think for me, um, it's what would benefit the majority of the most, right? Because, like, I don't think, like I don't wanna get it to my political view about the current president of the United States, because I don't really like what he has to say. I don't like how he's treating people that have actually the foundation of America was found on foreigners and on expads. And what is he doing? He's getting rid of them. And people that they're doing jobs a lot of them are doing jobs. These uh foreigners stuff are coming in or whatever they wanna be called. um they're coming in and doing jobs that Americans don't wanna do. and he's so what's gonna happen? is it gonna be the collapse? uh many industries because they can't find people to work, kind of like back in COVID. I don't know. Um, okay, and then does your racial ethnic

background play a role in your voting patterns? Why or what not? really? No. Okay. um, okay, last question. as you may be aware of the eligible voters excluding the military, approximately 4% of American expatriots vote in each presidential election, what do you think of anything could be done to increase the number of people that vote in general elections? Well, for me personally, because I don't live in the US, I don't have a state, but I call my own and like, I'm not I used to be registered to vote in Ohio. and then I had an address there, but and then I moved to New Jersey and I don't really have an address that I can call my own to be register voter. Maybe it's laziness on my part or the lack of just how do you get them to vote? I don't know. I feel like I'm very far removed. because I live here, I've lived here for 18 years. We still pay taxes, which we get no we get no benefits from those taxes. my kids go to college there, but and I still have family there. That's my connection to the US for lived here for so long. I feel like I'm so far removed that the US is for us personally, has become a laughing like a joke. It has become a joke. and I'm married to a foreigner who became naturalized in the US, and I didn't realize how influential US politics are. It was very influential. he said growing up in Lebanon, everyone followed US politics. I was surprise, right? And then now it's become a joke. so just the US, a lotpy joke because of their president, because of our president, I should say, right? I. So how do you get them to vote? I don't know. I honestly, I can't answer. Thank you so much. welcome, is that it? Yes.

. Have you ever voted in a US presidential election and why or why not? I have um I did. I I think I the first one I voted when I was 18 because I was excited about being able to vote. um and I have living overseas as well and I think that was more because I felt obligated to do so. It was a kind of a more controversial election. And so I felt there was some external pressures that kind of not forced me, but kind of motivated me to to vote. And then in 2024, did he vote? I did not know. Why did you choose not to? So a couple of things. um I'm registered to vote in Maryland, which is for the presidential it's Democratic, like historically. And so I didn't and I think I probably would have voted that way. So I didn't feel a ton of motivation because um historically, you know, how I would have voted would have been reinforced by by Maryland and the history of Maryland. in terms of the state because people also talk about, you know, local elections, but to be honest with you, I've lived out of Maryland since 200 o, 2003. I lived in

Maryland, so it's kind of part of it too, is kind of am I am I the right person to be voting for a local elections where I know nothing about the candidates? I don't even know much about what is needed and and what the priorities are. in Maryland, because I'm so far removed from from there. And so, um and ill informed because it's it's not relevant to me right now. I don't have I don't have family there, I don't have um, you know, there's I'm just registered to vote there. The other thing this year was difficult and maybe it was difficult because Ilayed, and I wasn't motivated, but it is challenging to get absentee ballots here and then mailing them in with the amount of time. People at school did a really good job of. There were some people that were kind of initiating some things to move forward, and I didn't take advantage for whatever reason, but I think a lot of it had to do with just lack of motivation. Okay. Um and then were you an active voter did you live in the United States? Yes. And were you an octive voting when you were there and changed here or not really. Okay. No, I' I moved out of the US in 2007. and I mean, again, this may come up in another question, but I've never really been involved in politics or supported it. um I think the only times I feel passionate about politics is when I look at views related to education. um, but to be honest with you, I'm disappointed because I think it right now, education is not a priority on any ones. and maybe at the state level. um, but I think, you know, one of your questions in your survey, I can't remember what it was. It was something like, um you didn't feel that the candidates platforms. It was something along there lines, and I just feel that education at one time was our priority and that was driven behind bad test scores. And now I I don't feel that it's a priority. I feel it's it's other things. And so that has kind of turned me off. um on voting because that's something that I'm passionate about that can be that can be supported by politics and and now it's it doesn't seem like that's a big big deal. Okay. Okay, yeah, so this goes into the next one, so you don't think that voting is something you find important? Yeah, I don't I don't. It's funny cause I had a friend who used the analogy of recycling to me, and he was like,o you recycle yes. and he's like, do you you know? So there is there is an analogy there that I get, but um, again, if I'm registered wrote Maryland for the presidential election, my vote is kind of it's I feel like it's already set. um and being out of the US for so long, I just don't I do question sometimes the relevance um with some of the issues, um that I' be voting for. So, yeah, I don't I have to be careful who I say this too, but yeah, I I don't I don't think it really matters. Is that because of the state that you live in, or just in general? Yeah, I mean, partially, yeah, the state, as I said before, but then also, like I said, I I've been out of the country for a long time. So, 17 years

and it's part of it is the who am I voting for if I'm not voting for kind of my needs and my families and my job and career? It's kind of that may sound really, really selfish, but I say because I'm also ill informed, right? So I may be voting one way because I'm getting information, but I'm not living that. I'm not I'm not seeing it, so it's kind of I feel a little ignorant in terms of voting, especially on the state level. And so, if I were to really kind of be motivated and be informed and stay informed, and and vote on those things that I do care about, um, you know, equity and education and um underser communities and, you know, things like and healthcare, like things like that. then, yeah, I'd probably vote, but I'm just I don't stay informed. Okay. um I just have to ask the questions. Do you have strong political feelings? I um, no, I have a strong feeling that I'm apolitical.. okay. um, do you support one political party? Like, do you just go and do all of them the same or No, I actually, so in the past, I had this righteous idea that I was gonna and I may have sort of filled this on the survey that I'm independent. And I feel passionate about that in a way because I wanna make sure that for a democracy, like independent still has some some power to it, because if you just boil it down to the two parties, then, you know, I think that's the state we're in right now is that it's so it's it's so two sided. And so there was an idea where I I voted independent because I wanted to kind of give that some relevance, right? Otherwise it's solely Republican Democratic and it's I mean, right now it's so divisive in the states. Okay. So no. I think I'm actually registered Republican. I think I don't I I couldn't even tell you. Yeah. okay, I feel like if you've answered these ones. Does your racial or ethnic background player role in your voting patterns? Racial no. Okay. Yeah, no. Okay. I mean growing up, I did you know, I was I grew up privileged, so I think that kind of puts me in a certain situation too, where that could play on my my thought of like, you know, the need and the motivation piece is that certain things maybe didn't impact me directly. So I was maybe ignorant to those things, but I don't know if that's um racial. Um, okay, and then for this solutions, um, as may be aware of those eligible to vote, excluding the military, approximately 4% of American expatriots vote on each presidential election. What do you think if anything could be done to increase a number of people who vote in general elections? Yeah, it's a good question. I you had some things on there about, um, like online voting and just sort of ease. I I certainly think that would be part of it. I do wonder about security. Um, you know, how how secure that is and and, you know what what are the risks of doing that? I also wonder if maybe like the window can be opened up. So for example, I'm in the states every summer, right? So if there's something I could

do in an election year, if there's something that I could do while I'm home, as long as there's like a a window and and you you're providing something to prove that you're out of the country, right? I wonder if that I but ease really, um, especially for me, someone who's not super passionate and motivated about voting and politics in general, I think I'd be more inclined to do it if it were if it were easier, more convenient. Okay. Is there anything else you want to add? about anything No. I mean, as I told you kind of in conversation, but part of me is that having a family member work in a government job my my views of politics are pretty skewed. um I'm not really happy with American politics right now. Like I said, I think it's so divisive and it that has me concern more than anything else and I don't know what the solution is and I don't know if voting the solution because I feel right now it's always one sideboard or the other. and I do have to watch myself kind of who I talk to about politics and and what I say, um usually that's reserved for close friends, and I don't think it should be like that. I mean, I should be able to kind of voice those concerns. same thing with religion, same thing with race, like all of those things that are potentially divisive. It's like we should be able to share our opinions and thoughts um openly and I think right now in American politics, that is not the case. You are judged, you are um how to a certain standard and that, in addition to, you know, everything else, that's something that it has kind of turned me off as well, which maybe that's the wrong thing, but um, it's frustrating. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome.

The Differences in Bias across the Border: How an Indian and a Pakistani Author Showcase Bias in their Partition Literature Date: 30 April 2025 Word Count: 2719

Abstract The Partition of India and Pakistan was a deﬁning event for both nations, and the political and religious tensions can be seen in the literature written about Partition from each side of the border. Though research has been done on each side of the literature individually, this study aimed for a more direct approach, and chose to compare two stories, ‘Midnight’s Children’ by Salman Rushdie and ‘Toba Tek Singh’ by Saadat Hasan Manto, on the basis of viewing how an Indian and a Pakistani author, respectively, would portray a story about Partition in different ways. The original hypothesis was that there would be a bias for India in ‘Midnight’s Children,’ and a bias for Pakistan in ‘Toba Tek Singh,’ and that this bias would manifest in the given country being portrayed more favorably. However, through the analysis, it was found that the true difference was that the Pakistani author chose to keep their writing factual and without opinions given from any of the characters or the narrator, whereas the Indian author chose to display multiple opinions from various sides of the story without giving any of them preferential treatment, which also allowed the story to retain an unbiased view of Partition.

Intro The Partition of India and Pakistan was a deﬁning event for both nations, and the political and religious tensions can be seen in the literature written about Partition from each side of the border. Though research has been done on each side of the literature individually, this study aimed for a more direct approach, and chose to compare two stories, ‘Midnight’s Children’ by Salman Rushdie and ‘Toba Tek Singh’ by Saadat Hasan Manto, on the basis of viewing how an Indian and a Pakistani author, respectively, would portray a story about Partition in different ways. From here onwards, the authors will be referred to by their last names, as Rushdie and Manto.

Historical Context and Hypothesis To understand the literature that will be discussed in this paper, an understanding of the events of Partition is ﬁrst necessary. The Partition of India and Pakistan, which is referred to as Partition throughout this paper, was the displacement of millions of people within the Indian subcontinent [Which is referred to as the Subcontinent from here on out] when the British Raj was split into India and Pakistan. When these two nations were created, the choice was made that all Hindus in the newly formed Pakistan were to move to India, and all Muslims had to live in Pakistan. In theory, this was because the nations were divided based on religion, so the people of the Subcontinent should stay within their respective religious borders. However, in practice this caused widespread anger and unhappiness, with hundreds of thousands of deaths and the removal of families from their ancestral homes. In reality, many people didn’t see the need to separate people from their lives just because they had different religions–though there were many who wanted a Muslim nation in the Subcontinent, there were also many others who were against the forced movement of people to their respective religious nations. Different religions had coexisted in the Subcontinent for many years before the British Raj entered, and it didn’t seem necessary to push people away from their homes. Therefore, there was much anger against the governments who had allowed Partition to occur, and there was

also anger against the opposing nation, as both sides believed the other was at fault for pushing the idea of two separate nations. This anger sparked a wave of nationalism that burned between the two nations, causing a schism between India and Pakistan lasting to this day, with anger at the opposing nation still being common in events from nuclear power to cricket games. Based on this anger that started from Partition, the hypothesis that this paper originally had with respect to the bias of the two books was that Rushdie, the Indian author, would be biased against Pakistan, and Manto, the Pakistani, would be biased against India, and this bias would manifest in the stylistic, thematic and story-based choices of the author in their respective works.

Literature Review Compared to other similar areas such as American and British literature, South Asian literature has a much smaller Body of Knowledge, and there were not very many works that were particularly helpful in researching this topic. Anuradha Dingwaney Needham did have a paper discussing Midnight’s Children in detail and discussing the political stance it chose, which was helpful as it solidiﬁed the selection of the book as one of the two to be researched. It showed that Rushdie had written a book with deeper meaning that was important to analyze in further detail from many angles. However, similar papers analyzing Toba Tek Singh were not available, perhaps because Toba Tek Singh is a short story. The reason Manto’s work was selected was because a very well known author was preferable to compare to Rushdie, and Manto is certainly one of the best in-english authors in Pakistani history. The research by Shakti Batra, Shantanu Chakrabarti and Radhika Chopra were the most helpful in constructing this paper’s methodology. These papers either analyzed one or two books, and by reading through their methods, this paper’s coding trees and passage selection choices were inﬂuenced. Chosen works were often chosen for their similarities rather than their differences, so that their few differences could be attributed to the author and not the general style of the genre, and so two works with similar importance

placed on Partition were chosen; both works are set during Partition and discuss many people’s stories and how Partition affected them. Then for the analysis, these papers made sure to focus on only how the works differed, instead of discussing the similarities, since it’s already understood that the works were selected speciﬁcally for the similarities. The same style was used here to prevent repetition of redundant information and to keep with the conventions of the Body of Knowledge.

Methodology [Passage Selection] As has been mentioned, South Asian literature has a small Body of Knowledge, meaning the amount of research there was to access was quite small and very specific to certain areas that didn’t necessarily align with the aims of this study. Therefore, this study chose to conduct its own analysis rather than using past research papers for a meta-analysis. Another considered method was a type of historical research. Since Partition was a historical event, using historical data and comparing it to the books’ narratives to decide whether the authors chose to utilise bias was a possible method that could have been used. However, this methodology was rejected because the books selected were works of fiction, and many of the events were either fully made up within the context of Partition, or they were so removed from actual events that an understanding of the true history would not be particularly helpful in the analysis. For example, many parts of the exposition on events are seen through discussions between biased people within the book, and the events discussed are not fully taken from real events. The chosen methodology for this research was a type of content analysis, which is the analysis of chosen words, themes, or concepts within qualitative data. There were three criteria chosen to select passages that would help determine the differences between the portrayals of Partition. Then, the two texts were read, and each section that fit into at least one of the three criteria was marked, to be analyzed after the full reading was completed. The reason for waiting to analyze the passages after the reading was finished was that the context of the rest of the book may have affected the

significance of certain paragraphs; for example, if an event was revisited and described in more detail later in the book. The first criterion for significant passages was whether the passage had a portrayal of a real-world event that occurred in Partition. For example, Midnight’s Children describes the start of Partition, on 14 August 1947, and uses it as a major plot point. Though this is a real-world event, the author may choose to omit certain details or embellish a specific part, and these choices will affect how Partition is understood by readers. The second criterion would be whether a passage included a mention of a fictional event that would fit in the context/timeline of Partition. For example, Toba Tek Singh is about a fictional event with fictional characters, but it is set after the end of Partition, and characters specifically mention real-world events that occurred outside of the direct scope of the story. The choices made in scenes like these–what details to include, which to fabricate–are an author’s choice, and these scenes allow more creative freedom than simply following exactly what happened in real life. Lastly, my third criterion is whether the text includes any character’s opinions on Partition or on an event related to Partition. This criterion will only be fulfilled if either the first or the second is also fulfilled, since by including a character’s opinion on an event, the event will naturally be described from that character’s viewpoint. However, these criteria must be analyzed with more care; the opinions of the characters may not always align with the opinions that are being extolled upon the reader. If an opinion is given by an antagonist or someone who is not meant to be trusted in the premise of the story, then their given opinions may actually have the purpose of undermining that opinion.

Methodology [Passage Analysis] After the method of content analysis was selected, there were two coding trees made, to clearly and concisely categorize the selected passages based on their content so that

inferences could be made. The two coding trees had one focused on how events are described and the other focused on characters’ opinions on Partition and Partition events. Using these trees, each passage’s bias was easily discernible based on the three colors shown in the key for each passage, and patterns could also be seen based on repeated colors and ideas in the selected passages from each book.

Both of these trees were created to show the bias present in the selected passages–regardless of whether they were focused on event description or character opinions/reactions, the ﬁnal step describing the bias was the part that was focused on during the analysis of the results. One aspect of this coding that was noticed during the process was that these categories gave a much more detailed explanation than necessary. Since this research only looked at bias against the opposing nation, some aspects of these trees could have been simpliﬁed or removed entirely. This style of coding could be helpful if future research goes into more detail on bias, but for a style that is extremely similar to the one used in this paper–such as one that only decides between the presence or absence of one type of bias–a much simpler style of coding with fewer categories may be more effective and less time consuming.

Data and Findings [With example coding] Here is one example of how the coding was used for a speciﬁc passage from Toba Tek Singh, the Pakistani book:

As we can see from the coding, this passage is a Partition Event Description with an Emotional/Overly Fictionalized tone, and it is also Unbiased [neither Pro-India or Pro-Pakistan]. The underlined sections explain the coding choices: using words like ‘lunatics’ and ‘madhouses’ shows more emotion and depth than simply an informative description of an event. This is also fairly unbiased, as both India and Pakistan are described to have ‘madhouses,’ instead of one being given a more flattering word, and the narrator specifically states that they ‘can’t say’ whether a decision about Partition made sense or not. This example shows how the coding was also completed for the rest of the chosen passages from both books, which are seen at the end of this section. Through the analysis, there was indeed a difference found in how the two authors use literary choices to show bias to the reader. Though there is a difference as initially hypothesized, the difference is actually not seen in the bias itself; there is no significant bias for or against either country seen in these stories. The difference is actually seen in the style of giving an unbiased view of Partition: the Indian author chose to showcase many different opinions and views on Partition, which prevented one opinion from being supported or pushed more strongly than the others. On the other hand, the Pakistani author chose to omit most opinions, instead showing both the narrator and characters as being more focused on other things, or chose not to give any opinion at all, which gives a much more detailed and focused approach on the effects of Partition without bias. Neither author showcases their opinion very strongly. Since the Indian author shows so many opinions, we cannot determine which one is representative of his own personal standpoint. The Pakistani author only gives some characters’ opinions and refuses to give others, and the characters’ opinions are not relevant to the story. Furthermore, the narrator specifically refuses to show any bias, not giving any opinion and reinforcing

the apolitical styling of the writing. Below are the rest of the selected passages from the texts, with the passages from Midnight’s Children above and Toba Tek Singh below.

Limitations This research had a limitation of only one analyst to look at the passages. This could have led to a bias, since the researcher was Pakistani, and it also limited the number of books that were possible to be analysed in the amount of time given. Without multiple perspectives and discussion on the potential meaning of literary choices, we cannot conclude whether this analysis is sound and unbiased. The best way to prevent this in future research that emulates the methodology of this one is to obtain multiple perspectives on each passage, and to have scholarly discussion on which ideas are most understandable and relevant to the passage and the research. Furthermore, another limitation is that there was not very much existing literature about the difference between Pakistani and Indian writing styles. Because of this, it may not be clear whether the perceived differences in the nations’ writing styles in these books are actually due to author bias or not. Considering that this paper doesn’t compare the bias choices seen here to other examples of bias in a variety of works, it

cannot be concluded with certainty that the differences seen are not simply unique to the author. Future research should use these analyses from this paper as a starting point for a larger analysis; comparing more than one book from either side of this conﬂict will likely yield conclusions that can be better generalized to the Indian and Pakistani literary environments after Partition as a whole.

Conclusion and Implications Based on the research, it was concluded that we could reject the original hypothesis, as there was no strong prevailing bias throughout the texts seen from either author. The difference was actually seen in how each author chose to prevent bias from showing itself in the works. Rushdie chose to showcase a variety of different opinions, from anti-British to anti-Pakistan to fully uncaring/unbiased. By giving space and a platform for many different interpretations and opinions on Partition, Rushdie manages to retain an unbiased overall viewpoint, as no speciﬁc opinion is valued above any of the others. On the other hand, Manto chooses to fully ignore and reject strong opinions in his work, not giving strong importance to how the character’s opinions impact the story. Even when a character does show his opinion, they are either punished within the context of the story or their opinions are discredited by the narrator right afterwards. Using these techniques, Manto makes sure that the opinions of the characters are not seen by the reader as relevant, important, or signiﬁcant in the story, which also means that their respective biases are not pushed in the story to any extent. From the context of Partition, the conclusion of this study may actually make more sense considering the environment at the time of Partition. The hypothesis was made with the ideas of current-day nationalism in the Subcontinent in mind, but this was actually the wrong way to go about making a hypothesis–there should have been extra consideration given to the political and cultural environment before the strong nationalism set in. Near the beginning of the separation of the two nations, there was

not a strong sense of nationalism even among the government, which was seen in the Tryst With Destiny speech by Nehru; he said ‘we think also of our brothers and sisters who have been cut off from us by political boundaries [...] they are of us and they will remain of us whatever may happen.’ Many people from either nation were close friends and could easily coexist, and at the time, there wasn’t a strong anger or unhappiness between the nations. This should’ve been considered with more weight, as looking at it from a current viewpoint would not be accurate for a historical event. This research allows the roots to be put down for a greater scope of a similar research question, such as a comparison between Pakistani and Indian styles of writing about Partition. Future researchers can include more than two books and have more than one analyst, so that any potential bias is offset analysis from multiple perspectives.

Citations Batra, Shakti. "Two Partition Novels." Indian Literature, vol. 18, no. 3, 1975, pp. 83-103. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23330821. Accessed 29 Sept. 2024.

Chakrabarti, Shantanu. "Interpreting the Legacy of Partition in the Subcontinent: Indian and Pakistani Perspectives." Politeja, no. 40, 2016, pp. 21-30. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24920193. Accessed 29 Sept. 2024.

Chopra, Radhika. "Partitioned Lives in Khushwant Singh's 'Train to Pakistan' and Manju Kapur's 'Difﬁcult Daughters.'" Indian Literature, vol. 54, nos. 3 (257), 2010, pp. 164-75. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23349470. Accessed 29 Sept. 2024.

Needham, Anuradha Dingwaney. "The Politics of Post-Colonial Identity in Salman Rushdie." The Massachusetts Review, vol. 29, no. 4, 1988, pp. 609-24. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25090032. Accessed 29 Sept. 2024.

Nehru, Jawaharlal. "Tryst with Destiny." 14 Aug. 1947. Youtube, uploaded by Indian National Congress, 14 Aug. 2022, www.youtube.com/ watch?v=2Cudc5Mhlcc. Accessed 29 Sept. 2024. Speech.

The impact of an Educational Intervention on Depression Literacy and Stigma Towards Depression Word count: 5060

Abstract Objective: Within the UAE, there is a high prevalence of mental illness, yet despite this high presence of mental illness, in 2015, 44.8% of individuals diagnosed with a mental illness did not seek professional treatment (Sewilam et al., 2015). Furthermore, depression remains one of the most stigmatized mental illnesses, particularly among adolescents in the UAE, however; there is a limited understanding of effective strategies to reduce this stigma (Barbato et al., 2021). This study investigates whether an educational intervention can effectively increase depression literacy and reduce stigma among adolescents in the United Arab Emirates.

Method: A mixed-method approach was utilized, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data. To begin, a convenience sample of 30 participants at an international school in the UAE, completed a pretest that used the Depression Literacy and Misconceptions Scale. This pretest measured the participants' depression literacy as well as their level of stigma towards depression. The participants then engaged in an online educational course designed to address misconceptions held towards depression as well as increase depression literacy, this course acted as the intervention within the study. The participants then completed a post-test that remeasured their level of depression literacy and stigma towards depression. Additionally qualitative data was gathered through interviews with 9 professionals in the mental health field. Within these interviews, 3 questions were asked that all aimed to gain a better understanding of professionals' opinions of the potential effectiveness of educational interventions.

Results: In terms of the quantitative data, after statistical analysis, the researcher found statistically significant changes in the level of depression literacy and stigma towards depression among participants. These findings suggest that educational interventions can effectively improve depression literacy and reduce stigma among adolescents. In terms of the qualitative interviews, many professionals emphasized the critical role of education in reducing stigma and increasing depression literacy, again indicating the potential effectiveness of such educational interventions. Thus, the researcher concludes that educational interventions should be mandated across all highschools in the UAE, as they have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents.

Introduction Within the Middle East, the presence of various cultural norms and societal expectations can result in a high prevalence of stigma that surrounds mental illnesses and mental health conditions (Alattar et al., 2021). For instance, through a meta-analysis conducted by Alattar et al., (2021), a psychiatry and mental health expert, Alattar concluded that across the Middle East, there are very negative attitudes that are held toward mental illness. Though the root cause of this stigma is not fully understood, it is predicted to be due to cultural factors that can cause individuals who have a mental illness to feel ashamed and thus unwilling to seek help (Alattar et al., 2021). Similarly, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a pattern of high stigma surrounding mental illness is also present. For instance, in 2015, 44.8% of individuals who had a mental illness in the UAE did not seek professional treatment and instead opted for traditional healers that better aligned with their cultural values (Sewilam et al., 2015). This demonstrates that there is a high prevalence of stigma surrounding mental health in the Middle East and especially within the UAE. However, research regarding potential ways to reduce this stigma is limited, and therefore, further research needs to be conducted to understand the possible ways to reduce stigma and improve negative attitudes towards mental illnesses in the UAE. Thus, the focus of this paper will be primarily on understanding how the stigma present in the UAE can be reduced.

Review of Literature The High Stigma Surrounding Depression among Adolescents in the UAE There is a high prevalence of stigma surrounding mental health in the UAE, and according to research conducted by Mahmoud & Saravanan (2020), experts in the Department of Community Medicine and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Sharjah, this stigma can

result in a lack of help-seeking behaviors among individuals living in the UAE. This is especially relevant among adolescents, as there has been a high prevalence of mental illness diagnosis, especially the diagnosis of depression among adolescents. Yet stigma has prevented diagnosed adolescents from seeking needed support (Al-amer, 2022; Barbato et al., 2021). Thus, seeing as depression among adolescents is highly stigmatized within the UAE, and there is a lack of research concerning how to reduce this stigma, this paper will focus on methods to destigmatize depression among adolescents. To better understand a potential solution to this issue, it is important to examine past methods used to destigmatize mental illnesses globally, that could potentially be applicable to the UAE, adolescents, and depression.

Previous Attempts Outside of the Middle East to Destigmatize Mental Illnesses Though not particularly focused on depression, and instead focused on mental health as a whole, a variety of interventions have been implemented globally to better understand how stigma surrounding mental illnesses can be reduced. Specifically, research has found that educational literacy programs have the potential to be effective in destigmatizing mental health disorders (Yamaguchi et al., 2020). Educational literacy programs are defined as interventions that aim to destigmatize mental illnesses by improving knowledge of mental health, and promoting positive attitudes toward mental illnesses (Skre et al., 2013). One example of such a program was one implemented within a school in Tanzania, in which an educational program called “The African Guide” was administered, and focused on increasing mental health literacy and reducing negative perceptions of mental health among students (Kutcher et al., 2017). Kutcher et al. (2017), found that student’s perceptions of mental health improved after the intervention. Suggesting that a similar intervention could be applicable to the UAE. However, it

is also important to note that not all studies have found that mental health literacy courses are impactful. A meta-analysis conducted by Reis et al. (2022), concluded that there is weak evidence that supports the claim that mental health literacy courses can increase mental health knowledge or promote destigmatizing attitudes. Reis et al. (2022) examined five studies that evaluated mental health literacy programs and found that only one study had positive results. Reis et al. (2022) found that the other studies showed no evidence of improvement in mental health knowledge or stigma. Since there are many conflicting opinions regarding the effectiveness of these programs, it is imperative that these programs are further researched to determine their efficacy. In addition, it is essential to note that many societal and cultural factors exist in the Middle East, and more specifically in the UAE, that are not prevalent in other areas (Alattar et al., 2021), which may also limit how applicable the findings and methods of these studies are to adolescents in the UAE. Thus, it is important to focus on educational programs that have been implemented in the Middle East that may be more applicable to the UAE.

The Effectiveness of Mental Health Literacy Courses Implemented in the Middle East In order to better understand how mental health literacy programs can be applicable to adolescents in the UAE, it is important to evaluate educational programs that have previously been implemented across the Middle East. Educational programs globally have demonstrated mixed success; however, in areas in the Middle East, such as Iran and Egypt, these educational programs have been effective at improving attitudes that students hold toward mental illnesses (Abd El Salam et al., 2023; Zeidabadi et al., 2024). In Egypt, Abd El Salam. (2023), a researcher working in the Department of Public Health at Zagazig University, conducted a

cross-sectional-interventional study in which secondary students at a government school in Egypt were sampled, and their attitudes regarding mental illness were assessed prior to engaging in the mental health literacy course. Afterwards, an educational program focusing on mental health literacy was implemented to measure whether the students' attitudes toward mental illness underwent a shift (Abd El Salam et al., 2023). Abd El Salam. (2023) concluded that the educational program was effective in reducing stigma among adolescents attending the school, suggesting that such educational programs could be applicable to the UAE. Furthermore, a similar study was conducted in Iran through an educational program called “The Guide Cymru” (Zeidabadi et al., 2024). Within this study, the researchers administered a pretest to the Iranian students, which measured the student’s attitudes toward mental health (Zeidabadi et al., 2024). Afterwards, a six-module intervention (The Guide Cymru) was implemented, followed by a post test, the Mental Health Literacy Scale (MHLS), to measure any change in the student’s attitudes and knowledge of mental illness. The study concluded that the students’ mental health literacy and attitudes toward mental health improved after the intervention (Zeidabadi et al., 2024). This suggests that educational programs may be an effective method for destigmatizing mental illness among adolescents in the Middle East. Studies conducted both outside and within the Middle East have demonstrated the potential for educational programs to help reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health among adolescents. This supports the theory that implementing such programs in high schools across the UAE may help destigmatize and improve attitudes toward mental illnesses, and more specifically, depression. However, it is also important to note that not all studies examining the effectiveness of educational programs in destigmatizing mental illnesses in the Middle East have supported this argument. Ma. (2023), a researcher working in the Faculty of Education at the University of

Cambridge, evaluated the effectiveness of various mental health interventions that were conducted across the world, including Middle Eastern countries such as Iran. However, it was eventually concluded that there is a lack of significant evidence that supports the theory that these programs help destigmatize mental health or improve help-seeking behaviors (Ma et al., 2023). Since many findings contradict the effectiveness of educational interventions at destigmatizing mental health, further research must be conducted to determine the extent to which these programs are effective. Specifically, this paper will focus on the potential effectiveness of educational programs in the UAE, where depression is highly stigmatized among adolescents.

The Gap Though previous research has determined that there is a high prevalence of stigma surrounding mental health across the Middle East, limited research has been done to put forth a potential solution to this problem. The limited research that has been conducted has identified that educational programs have the potential to be effective in destigmatizing mental health in the Middle East, as they have been effective in areas such as Iran and Egypt (Abd El Salam et al., 2023; Zeidabadi et al., 2024). However, some of these educational programs have been ineffective, which further necessitates evaluating their effectiveness. Moreover, none of these educational programs have focused on adolescents in the UAE, despite the fact that there are high rates of stigma surrounding mental health in the UAE among adolescents, with depression being the most stigmatized among youth. This indicates that there is a current gap in the academic community regarding a solution to the presence of stigma surrounding depression in the UAE among adolescents. Therefore, further research must be conducted to understand

whether mental health literacy courses could be the potential solution to this problem. Thus, to understand how applicable educational programs focused on depression are to adolescents in the UAE, and whether these programs can destigmatize depression, the question arises: Should educational courses aiming to increase depression literacy and destigmatize depression be required for all high school students studying in the UAE?

Methodology Mixed-Method Design To investigate the answer to the proposed research question, a mixed-method approach was employed. Within the quantitative study, an intervention based experiment was conducted that measured the impact that an educational course, the intervention, had on the level of depression literacy the participants possessed, and the level of stigma that the participants held towards depression. In terms of the qualitative aspect of the study, nine interviews with psychologists and psychiatrists were conducted that aimed to gain a better understanding of whether professionals believed that educational courses can play a significant role in destigmatizing depression. Using a mixed-method design was pivotal to ensuring both factual numerical data, alongside qualitative data that highlighted the nuances within the research, were collected.

Quantitative Method: Intervention Based Study Pre-Test Survey In regards to the quantitative component of this methodology, an intervention-based experiment was conducted. A form of convenience sampling was utilized in which 30 students

studying at an international school within the UAE were selected and consented to participate in the study (see appendix A). Many of these students were minors, and thus, their parents, in addition to themselves, signed an informed consent form which detailed all of the components of the study, and included a referral to counseling services at the school, as this study included the sensitive topic of depression which students could potentially find triggering (See appendix B). Next, once all 30 students completed the needed consent form, a pretest using the “Depression Literacy and Misconceptions Scale” (see appendix C) was administered. The Depression Literacy and Misconceptions scale was administered through the use of google forms, in which the participants used a fake name that allowed the researcher to keep track of the data, while simultaneously maintaining anonymity.

Instruments and Scoring Figure 1 Depression Literacy and Misconceptions Scale

Please Indicate Your Agreement with The Following Statements Using the Scale Below 1

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neither agree or disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Depression is an illness Depression is just a fad Depression can affect anyone Depression is just a temporary mood deterioration Depression makes people lose interest even in the things they used to enjoy doing Depression affects only the people who are weak and cannot cope with their life Depression makes people lack the strength to do anything

8. To overcome depression, all you need is willpower 9. People with depression often think about suicide 10. To overcome depression, all you need is to get yourself together 11. Depression is associated with great suffering 12. Antidepressant medication start to work right after the intake 13. Depression is just a self-pity 14. People with depression are mentally weak Scoring: Depression Literacy (DL): Average of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 Misconceptions About Depression (MiscD): Average 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14

Note. Full Depression Literacy and Misconceptions Scale used within the quantitative study, in the experiment this scale was adapted to a google form format.

The Depression Literacy and Misconceptions Scale included 14 statements that measured the participants' understanding of depression and their attitudes towards depression. A likert scale of one to five was used to measure the participants' agreement to each of the statements, with “strongly disagree” corresponding to the numerical value of “1” and “Strongly Agree” corresponding to the numerical value of “5.” Specifically, a different set of statements corresponded to either the participants' depression literacy or their level of stigma. Statements 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, were all statements that measured the participants' understanding of depression, or in other words, their level of depression literacy. Moreover, statements, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14 all included false misconceptions about depression, and the more a participant agreed or believed these misconceptions, the higher their level of stigma towards depression. Thus, through this process, the participants' level of depression literacy, as well as their level of stigma towards depression, prior to completing the educational intervention was calculated.

Educational Intervention After completing the pre-test survey, the participants were then asked to complete an educational course created by the organization Alison Empower Yourself (see appendix D), an organization aiming to provide individuals with free, and certified education globally. The course utilized within this study was the, “Depression: Myths and Causes” course, and it focused on educating individuals about depression as well as addressing common misconceptions about depression (see appendix D). This was a self paced course that took the participants around one and a half to two hours to complete. It included three modules, which either focused on increasing individual's understanding of depression or disproving common misconceptions that are held towards depression. This educational course served as the educational intervention within this study. After completing this course, the students received a certificate of completion that they then emailed to the researcher to validate their completion (see Appendix E).

Figure 2 Excerpt from Educational Intervention

Note. Excerpt taken from the educational course used in the study, introducing a common misconception about depression and explaining the reason why this statement is false.

Post-Test Survey The participants then took a post-test which utilized the same “Depression Literacy and Misconceptions Scale” (see Appendix C), that was administered at the start of the experiment. The method of scoring the participants' level of depression literacy, and level of stigma towards depression, was done the same way as in the pre-test survey. Again, the participants average score of agreenes to the statements 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, was calculated to find their depression literacy score. As well as, the participants average score of agreenes to the statements 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14 was calculated to find their level of stigma towards depression. Thus, the participants' depression literacy and stigma towards depression, after completing the educational intervention, were reassessed. The participants were later debriefed about all aspects of this study (see Appendix F).

Hypotheses and Assumptions Within this study, the researcher established both a null and alternative hypothesis. The proposed null hypothesis was that the educational course did not significantly change the participants' depression literacy and stigma towards depression. Conversely, the proposed alternative hypothesis was that the educational course did significantly change the participants' depression literacy and stigma towards depression. Additionally, The researcher made multiple assumptions in regards to this experiment. The first assumption made by the researcher was that

the participants' level of depression literacy would increase after the educational intervention. In addition to this, it was also assumed that the participants' level of stigma towards depression would decrease after completing the educational intervention.

Justification of Intervention-Based Study The researcher chose to conduct an intervention based experiment as it would allow for the direct quantitative analysis of the impact that the educational course had on the participants' level of depression literacy and level of stigma towards depression. Based on the effectiveness of the educational course, the researcher would be able to better conclude whether such educational courses should be mandated across highschools within the UAE. In addition to the quantitative aspect of the methodology, there was also a qualitative component in which various psychologists and psychiatrists across the UAE were interviewed.

Qualitative Method: Interviews Structure of Interviews To conduct the qualitative aspect of this study, various psychiatrists and psychologists based across the UAE were interviewed. All of the professionals interviewed had lived in the UAE for six months or longer, meaning that they all had sufficient experience dealing with the stigma surrounding depression among adolescents within the UAE. The interviews were conducted on Google Meets, and ranged from five to fifteen minutes, averaging ten minutes long. A total of three questions were asked (see Appendix G).

Figure 3 Interview Questions

Note. The interview questions used during the qualitative aspect of the study, nine professionals including psychologists and psychiatrists based in the UAE were asked these questions.

The first two questions were open ended, and did not directly mention education or schools in any way. Rather, these questions focused on understanding what interventions the professionals have seen been effective in destigmatizing depression, and what they believe has the potential to be effective in the future. In comparison, the last question was direct and leading as it asked the professionals what role they believe that schools and education should play in destigmatizing depression. Assumptions

The researcher made three main assumptions in regards to the qualitative aspect of this study. The first assumption made by the researcher was that the psychiatrists and psychologists interviewed had previously researched, witnessed, or administered interventions focused on destigmatizing disorders across the UAE. Another assumption made by the researcher was that the psychologists and the psychiatrists interviewed, would bring up educational interventions during the first two questions, despite not being directly asked about education. Lastly, the researcher also made the assumption that the professional’s would mention another factor other than education that has the potential to destigmatize depression during the interview.

Justification of Qualitative Methodology The researcher chose to conduct interviews with psychologists and psychiatrists across the UAE, as it would provide professional opinions’ regarding the potential effectiveness of educational interventions. This would provide the researcher with a more nuanced understanding of the topic, and more evidence to conclude whether educational interventions should be mandated across high schools within the UAE.

Data Analysis: Quantitative Data Data Analysis Design After the participants completed the intervention-based study, the researcher calculated the participants' average depression literacy and stigma level scores both before and after completing the educational intervention. This was done by finding the average of the participants' responses to the statements, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 which were the statements that corresponded to measuring the participants' knowledge of depression. A calculated average value

of “1” indicated a low depression literacy, and a calculated average score of “5” indicated a high level of depression literacy (see Appendix C). Similarly, to calculate the participants average level of stigma towards depression, the researcher focused on statements 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14. In this case, the participants' level of stigma was based on the amount of false misconceptions they believed in. The more false misconceptions a participant believed in, the higher their stigma level towards depression. An average stigma level of “1” indicated a low level of stigma and an average calculated score of “5” indicating a high level of stigma (see Appendix C). The researcher then separated the data into two groups, one group corresponding to the average depression literacy scores and one group corresponding to the stigma level scores. To begin, the researcher analyzed the depression literacy data (see Appendix H).

Table 1 Table Including the Pre and Post-Test Depression Literacy Scores of the Participants

Fake Name

Pre-test Results

Post-test Results

Emma Arrons

3.666666667

4.166666667

Alex

3.0

4.0

Roy

3.833333333

4.166666667

Athena

4.666666667

5.0

Christina

4.666666667

4.833333333

Emma SinClaire

3.666666667

4.333333333

Serena

3.666666667

4.333333333

Violet

3.666666667

4.0

Batul

4.333333333

Melissa

3.833333333

4.166666667

Jeremy Higglesworth

4.333333333

3.333333333

Jasmine

4.333333333

3.666666667

Jane Doe

4.333333333

5.0

Mariam

3.166666667

4.666666667

Rachel

3.166666667

3.833333333

Alya

4.333333333

4.5

Angelina

4.0

3.5

Mark

4.0

4.5

Julia White

4.0

3.833333333

Ann Beth

4.166666667

5.0

Kenna

3.333333333

4.333333333

Sandra

3.5

4.333333333

Diana

3.5

3.166666667

Betty

3.166666667

4.0

Amy Beth

4.666666667

3.5

Jane Smith

4.333333333

4.666666667

Sabine Wick

3.833333333

3.333333333

Carmen

4.166666667

5.0

Maya

4.333333333

4.666666667

Amanda

3.833333333

4.666666667

Note. Table that includes the participants' fake name provided, as well as their corresponding pre test and post test results which indicate their average level of depression literacy before and after completing the educational intervention.

Statistical Analysis of Depression Literacy Data The researcher created a data table that included all of the 30 participants' fake names, and their corresponding pre and post-test scores. This allowed the researcher to begin statistically analyzing this data. Specifically, the researcher chose to conduct a paired t-test, which is a form of statistical analysis that compares the mean values of two groups, and measures whether or not there is a statistically significant difference between the mean values. In the context of this study, this paired t-test would allow the researcher to measure if there was a statistically significant difference between the mean value for the depression literacy scores of the participants before and after the educational intervention. The paired t-test produces a P-value, with a P-value less than 0.05, indicating that the findings are statistically significant, and a P-value greater than 0.05 indicating that the findings are not statistically significant. Through the use of the Google Sheets statistical analysis tool the researcher calculated a P-value of approximately 0.0105, indicating statistically significant results. In the context of this study, this statistically significant P-value indicated that the educational intervention effectively increased depression literacy levels.

Statistical Analysis of Stigma Towards Depression Data Table 2 Table Including the Pre and Post-Test Stigma Level Scores of the Participants

Fake Name

Pre-test Results

Post-test Results

Emma Arrons

1.5

1.25

Alex

2.375

1.875

Roy

1.125

1.25

Athena

1.25

1.0

Christina

1.5

1.375

Emma SinClaire

2.0

1.5

Serena

2.625

2.875

Violet

1.25

1.0

Batul

1.5

1.25

Melissa

2.875

1.5

Jeremy Higglesworth

2.0

1.0

Jasmine

2.0

1.25

Jane Doe

2.125

1.0

Mariam

2.75

1.5

Rachel

2.25

2.0

Alya

2.0

1.25

Angelina

2.375

1.375

Mark

1.75

1.25

Julia White

1.25

Ann Beth

1.625

1.0

Kenna

1.875

1.125

Sandra

2.0

1.25

Diana

1.375

Betty

1.625

1.0

Amy Beth

1.25

1.625

Jane Smith

2.5

1.0

Sabine Wick

2.0

1.625

Carmen

1.375

1.625

Maya

2.0

1.375

Amanda

1.875

1.375

Note. Data table with the scores representing the participants level of stigma towards depression before and after completing the educational intervention.

Regarding the data measuring stigma toward depression, another paired t-test was conducted using the statistical analysis tool in Google Sheets. In this case, the calculated P-value was approximately 0.0000045, again indicating statistically significant results. In the context of this study, this meant that the educational intervention was able to effectively reduce students' level of stigma towards depression.

Findings Based on the findings of the data analysis, specifically the calculated P-value, the researcher concludes that the educational intervention was able to effectively increase depression literacy levels, as well as effectively reduce stigma towards depression among adolescents. Thus, the null hypothesis was rejected, and the alternative hypothesis that the educational intervention did effectively increase depression literacy levels, and reduce stigma levels towards depression was accepted. These findings indicate that educational interventions should potentially be mandated across highschools in the UAE, as they have proven to be effective.

Data Analysis: Qualitative Data Quantitative Content Analysis

To begin, after all of the interviews were completed, the researcher created transcripts of all of the interviews. The third question was initially excluded from the data analysis, and only the first two questions, that did not mention schools or education in any way were analyzed. Specifically a form of open coding was used to qualitatively analyze the interview responses (see Appendix I). Open coding refers to a process when the researcher does not have any predetermined themes, and instead identifies common themes that emerge when conducting the coding process. Any time a specific topic was mentioned across two or more interviews it was considered to be a recurring theme. Different themes were grouped into different colors, which allowed the researcher to visually color code the different themes. Figure 3 Excerpt from Interview Conducted with Psychologists and Psychiatrists

01:11 - Safa Javad (Guest) So first of all, I think you know psycho educating the patient is very important regarding the symptoms and you know how disappearing and the frequency and all of that. You know the disorder itself makes a lot of you know kind of insight to the patient regarding their symptoms and background. All of it and, um, the stigma, along with her mental disorder, is so much that people don't even see treatment for it. The reason there has been a lot of improvement in those areas could be possibly due to the education, could be possibly because there are lots of advertisements and marketing regarding all those you know information happening all around could be that aspect. But the educational background of the patient matters a lot, um, which means, um, you know, the, if the patient has graduated and has the um is receptive to the information, that it makes a lot of a difference in the patient. But then there are chances that the patient just gets stuck on to the you know the symptoms and not able to, you know, get out of it and it requires the need for interventions. You know the importance of the interventions. So I think cbt helps in a way that you know, helping the patient to understand their cognitive distortions, how it is coming from and what is the core. You know part of the person that is. You know from where the symptoms are coming and also the thoughts, beliefs and errors in the beliefs that lead to all these kinds of symptoms.

Note. Excerpt taken from an interview transcript that shows different aspects being color coded, with each color representing a specific theme.

This coding process was done for all of the interviews, which allowed the researcher to identify common themes and viewpoints across the interviews. A quantitative content analysis was then conducted to determine the degree to which the professionals mentioned educational interventions, or schools without being directly prompted. Themes mentioned in two or more interviews were considered main themes, and based on this definition 17 main themes were found during the open coding process. To examine the significance of each theme, the researcher calculated how many times overall the themes were mentioned, how many interviews each theme was brought up in, and the relative percentage of interviews that each theme was mentioned in. This allowed the researcher to quantitatively determine which themes were most recurring, or in other words, most significant. After calculating the percent of interviews each theme was brought up in, themes discussed in 50% or more of the interviews were classified as significant. It was found that only 6 themes were brought up across 50% or more of the interviews. Of these six themes 3 were chosen as the most relevant to this topic, as they specifically mentioned schools, education. or depression literacy.

Figure 4 Qualitative Analysis Table

Themes:

How many times How many interviews What percent of overall was this theme was this brought up in? interviews mentioned

mentioned?

this theme?

The importance of education

100

The importance of Psychoeducation

55.55555556

The importance of school support in destigmatizing depression

100

Social media

44.44444444

Patients need to be receptive/willing to learn about their mental illness

22.22222222

Mention of Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

22.22222222

The stigma surrounding depression in the UAE

66.66666667

Mention of a lack of depression literacy in the UAE

33.33333333

The stigma among adolescents

22.22222222

The importance of psycho educating parents

88.88888889

Improving depression literacy to help destigmatize and normalize it

77.77777778

Mention of how knowing someone with the disorder helps reduce the stigma

22.22222222

Government interventions

33.33333333

Misinformation about depression

44.44444444

Access to therapy

22.22222222

Individualized interventions rather than general ones

22.22222222

Importance of teachers being education about depression

22.22222222

Note. Table including all of the main themes identified across the interviews, along with the amount of times the theme was mentioned and the amount of interviews the theme was brought up in. Bolded numbers represent the most significant themes mentioned in 50% or more of the interviews.

Figure 5 Qualitative Analysis Bar Graph

Figure. 8. Bar graph illustrating the percent of interviews each theme was mentioned in, the highest bars, indicating the themes mentioned in the largest number of interviews were chosen as the most significant.

Figure 6 Most Significant Themes Identified

Most common themes: The importance of education

Percent of interviews it was mentioned: 100%

The importance of Psychoeducation

55.50%

The stigma surrounding depression in the UAE

66.60%

Improving depression literacy to help destigmatize and normalize it

77.70%

The importance of psycho educating parents

88.80%

The importance of school support in destigmatizing depression

100%

Note. Table with most significant themes identified across the interviews

Findings of Qualitative Data The 3 most relevant themes to the research question were the importance of education, depression literacy, and school support. The importance of education was mentioned in 100% of the interviews, depression literacy was mentioned in 77% of the interviews, and school support was mentioned in 100% of the interviews. These results indicate that professionals, even when not directly asked about education, believe that educational interventions, depression literacy, and school support can play an important role in destigmatizing depression. For instance, one professional stated that, “The most important factor for me is education. So if you educate people… you will be able to break the stigma.” To add on to this, professionals also mentioned the importance of school support, and integrating more in- person psychological education into schools. For instance, one professional stated that, “I think psychologists or the counselors should go to the schools and do the speech, give the speeches about the psychological problems.” Based on the responses to the first two questions, it was concluded that school support, education, and depression all play important roles in destigmatizing depression. In terms of the third question that directly asked if the professionals believed that schools and education play important roles in destigmatizing depression, all the professionals agreed that educational interventions implemented in schools could effectively reduce stigma held towards depression among adolescents in the UAE. For example, one professional mentioned that, “I do believe that

psychology should be one of the core subjects that need to be studied, like they do it for math and science and so on. Psychology should be a core one.” This data further indicates that educational interventions should be mandated across high schools in the UAE, as psychologists and psychiatrists both believe that educational programs within schools have the potential to destigmatize depression.

Results The findings of the qualitative study illustrate that psychologists and psychiatrists across the UAE believe that educational interventions have the potential to reduce stigma levels among adolescents in the UAE. In fact, many highlighted the need for such interventions to become required core classes across high schools. Furthermore, as proven by the quantitative results, educational courses effectively reduced depression among adolescents. Based on these findings, it is clear that educational interventions should be mandated across highschools within the UAE.

Limitations Though this study produced significant results, it is still important to note that limitations to this study do exist. One major limitation to this study was the time constraints. Since there was only a limited amount of time allocated for the researcher to complete this study, the researcher was only able to gather a small convenience sample of 30 participants, and was unable to use a randomly sampled population. Due to this, the results of the study were not generalizable to the entire UAE population. Furthermore, another limitation to this study was the presence of outliers within the quantitative data. Due to the already limited sample size, the researcher was unable to disclude these outliers, which could have altered the results. In terms of the qualitative data, the

time constraints present within this study again posed a limitation. Psychologists and psychiatrists often have very demanding schedules, which made it difficult to arrange interviews. Due to this, only nine interviews were conducted. Additionally, the researcher also had to limit the duration of these interviews to accommodate the time constraints. The limited number and duration of the interviews, thus reduced the amount of qualitative data collected through the interviews. However, despite these limitations, the results of this study still indicate that educational courses have the potential to reduce stigma among adolescents in the UAE. Thus, this study is still significant to the broader academic community.

Implications and Future Directions The findings of this study possess many implications for the academic and broader community. To begin, these findings indicate that the UAE government, and schools across the UAE should consider mandating such educational interventions and programs within the school curriculum. This study also emphasizes the importance of school support in destigmatizing depression, and thus, schools across the UAE should consider having school counselors, or outside psychologists administer talks at the school to further destigmatize depression and other mental illnesses. Future researchers should replicate this study with a larger, random sample which will allow the results to be more generalizable to the entire UAE population. Furthermore, future researchers should also ensure that there are no time constraints prevalent, as this will allow them to have a larger sample size for the experiment, as well as a larger sample of professionals to interview. Limited time constraints would also allow the researchers to have longer interviews, which would result in more data collection. Moreover, future researchers should also replicate

this study with a focus on other stigmatized mental illnesses such as anxiety and ADHD to measure if educational interventions would also be effective in destigmatizing other mental illnesses. Lastly, within the qualitative aspect of this study, though only three themes identified across the interviews were considered relevant to the research question, another theme that was mentioned in over 50% of the interviews was the importance of psychoeducation. Psychoeducation refers to educating a mental health patient about their own stigma in an attempt to reduce self stigma. Though psychoeducation was not something relevant to the research question of this paper, it was proven to be significant within the interviews and thus should be further examined by future research.

Conclusion and Fulfillment of Research Gap Within this study, both the qualitative and quantitative aspects further demonstrated that educational courses have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents within the UAE. In terms of the quantitative data, the intervention based study produced statistically significant results, meaning that the educational intervention used within the study was able to effectively increase the participants level of depression literacy and effectively decrease the participants level of stigma towards depression. These findings were further corroborated by the findings of the qualitative data. Through various interviews with psychologists and psychiatrists based across the UAE, it was found that even when not prompted or directly asked about schools and education, the majority of the professionals still believe that by increasing education, depression literacy, and support within schools, stigma among adolescents could be reduced. Since educational courses were effective in this study, and professionals also believe in the importance of such programs, it can be concluded that educational courses aiming to increase

depression literacy and destigmatize depression should be mandated across high schools within the UAE. The findings of this study fill a gap within the research, as there is currently a very limited understanding of the stigma present towards depression within the UAE, and more importantly, potential solutions to this problem. Thus, though there are limitations to this study, the findings still indicate that educational interventions could potentially be the solution to the stigma surrounding depression among adolescents in the UAE, something previously missing from the academic community.

References Abd El Salam, A. E., AbdAllah, A. M., & El Maghawry, H. A. (2023). Effect of health education program on improving knowledge and attitude towards mental health stigma and professional help-seeking among adolescents. Middle East Current Psychiatry, 30(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43045-023-00298-1 Al-amer, R. (2022). A Silent Epidemic of Depression Among Adolescents in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Emerging Tribulation. In C. Barakat & F. Al Anouti (Eds.), Adolescent Mental Health in The Middle East and North Africa (pp. 31–46). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-91790-6_3 Alattar, N., Felton, A., & Stickley, T. (2021). Mental health and stigma in Saudi Arabia: A scoping review. Mental Health Review Journal, 26(2), 180–196. https://doi.org/10.1108/MHRJ-08-2020-0055 American Psychiatric Association. (2017). Stigma, Prejudice and Discrimination Against People with Mental Illness. https://www.psychiatry.org:443/patients-families/stigma-and-discrimination Barbato, M., Al Hemeiri, S., Nafie, S., Dhuhair, B. A., & Dabbagh, N. T. (2021). Characterizing individuals accessing mental health services in the UAE: A focus on youth living in Dubai. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 15(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-021-00452-4 Jaber, R. M., Farroukh, M., Ismail, M., Najda, J., Sobh, H., Hammad, A., & Dalack, G. W. (2014). Measuring depression and stigma towards depression and mental health treatment among

adolescents in an Arab-American community. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 8(3), 247. https://doi.org/10.1080/17542863.2014.953188 Kumar, A. (2023, January 27). Paired Sample T-Tests: Formula, Examples. Analytics Yogi. https://vitalflux.com/paired-sample-t-tests-formula-examples/ Kutcher, S., Wei, Y., Gilberds, H., Brown, A., Ubuguyu, O., Njau, T., Sabuni, N., Magimba, A., & Perkins, K. (2017). The African Guide: One Year Impact and Outcomes from the Implementation of a School Mental Health Literacy Curriculum Resource in Tanzania. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 5(4), 64. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v5i4.2049 Ma, K. K. Y., Burn, A.-M., & Anderson, J. K. (2023). Review: School-based mental health literacy interventions to promote help-seeking - a systematic review. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 28(3), 408–424. https://doi.org/10.1111/camh.12609 Mahmoud, I., & Saravanan, C. (2020). Prevalence of Mental Disorders and the Use of Mental Health Services among the Adult Population in United Arab Emirates. Asian Journal of Epidemiology, 13, 12–19. https://doi.org/10.3923/aje.2020.12.19 Morgan, A. J., Ross, A., & Reavley, N. J. (2018). Systematic review and meta-analysis of Mental Health First Aid training: Effects on knowledge, stigma, and helping behaviour. PLOS ONE, 13(5), e0197102. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197102 Reis, A. C., Saheb, R., Moyo, T., Smith, C., & Sperandei, S. (2022). The Impact of Mental Health Literacy Training Programs on the Mental Health Literacy of University Students: A Systematic Review. Prevention Science, 23(4), 648–662. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-021-01283-y

Sewilam, A. M., Watson, A. M., Kassem, A. M., Clifton, S., McDonald, M. C., Lipski, R., Deshpande, S., Mansour, H., & Nimgaonkar, V. L. (2015). Suggested avenues to reduce the stigma of mental illness in the Middle East. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 61(2), 111–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764014537234 Skre, I., Friborg, O., Breivik, C., Johnsen, L. I., Arnesen, Y., & Wang, C. E. A. (2013). A school intervention for mental health literacy in adolescents: Effects of a non-randomized cluster controlled trial. BMC Public Health, 13, 873. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-873 Yamaguchi, S., Ojio, Y., Foo, J. C., Michigami, E., Usami, S., Fuyama, T., Onuma, K., Oshima, N., Ando, S., Togo, F., & Sasaki, T. (2020). A quasi-cluster randomized controlled trial of a classroom-based mental health literacy educational intervention to promote knowledge and help-seeking/helping behavior in adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 82(1), 58–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.05.002 Zeidabadi, B., Khodayarian, M., Sadeghi, R., Jambarsang, S., & mohseni, M. (2024). Validation and evaluation of school-based mental health literacy training program “The Guide Cymru” in Iranian adolescent students aged 13–15: Study protocol. Archives of Public Health, 82(1), 31. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13690-024-01257-w

Appendix A: Students Informed Consent Form

Introduction You have been asked to participate in a research study. Before you agree to participate in this study, it is important that you read and understand the following explanation of the study and the procedures involved. The investigator will also explain the project to you in detail. If you have any questions about the study or your role in it, be sure to ask the investigator. If you have more questions later, Maryam Kashef, the person mainly responsible for this study, will answer them for you. You may contact the investigator(s) at: Maryam Kashef - mkashef.25@asdubai.org Daena Greig - dgreig@asdubai.org You will need to sign this form giving us your permission to be involved in the study. Taking part in this study is entirely your choice. If you decide to take part but later change your mind, you may stop at any time. If you decide to stop, you do not have to give a reason and there will be no negative consequences for ending your participation. Purpose of this Study The reason for this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the attitudes that are held towards depression among adolescents in the UAE. You have been asked to participate in this study as you are a high school student studying at the American School of Dubai, and thus match the target population of this study. Around 30 participants are expected to participate in this study. Description of Procedures If you agree to be part of this study, you will be expected to complete a pre-intervention assessment in the form of a google form survey. Then you will be asked to complete a course that is designed to advance your mental health literacy regarding depression. After completing this course, you will take a post-intervention assessment that will again be administered through google forms. The total time commitment expected for this study will be around one and a half hours; however, the course used in this study is completely self paced so you do not have to complete it all in one sitting. What are the risks?

This study will target the sensitive topic of depression, which may be triggering or uncomfortable for some individuals. Thus if needed, please contact any of the high school counselors at the American School of Dubai and feel free to stop the study at any time. Furthermore, when participating in the educational course, please remain only on the course and do not access other parts of the website such as the blog using your school email. Also, besides from logging in, please do not enter any personal information into the website. What are the benefits? The information from this study will help you expand your knowledge and understanding of depression, and help contribute to the current knowledge regarding depression within the UAE. If you are a member of the National Honor Society, this study will fulfill one out of two of your NHS service requirements. How will my privacy be protected? The results of this study are confidential and only the investigators will have access to the information which will be kept in a locked facility at the school. Your name or personal identifying information will not be used in any published reports of this research. All information gathered during this study will be destroyed 3 years after the completion of this project. If you ever feel like you need any help or support please speak to your school counsellor. Consent of Participant: I have read the above information, and I understand the purpose and nature of the study. I am aware of the risks and benefits of participating. By clicking on this box, I consent to participate in this study. Consent I am below the age of 18 therefore I require parent/guardian consent. By clicking on this box, I consent to having another consent form sent to a parent/guardian of my choice. Consent I am above the age of 18 therefore I do not need parent/guardian consent. Section Required Only For Minors Consent Please provide the ASD FAMILY EMAIL of the parent/guardian who will review the consent form. They will then receive a copy of the consent form on their family email for them to review.

Appendix B: Parents Informed Consent Form

Informed Consent Form: Introduction Your child has been asked to participate in a research study. Before they can agree to participate in this study, it is important that you read and understand the following explanation of the study and the procedures involved. The investigator will also explain the project to you in detail. If you have any questions about the study or your child's role in it, be sure to ask the investigator. If you have more questions later, Maryam Kashef, the person mainly responsible for this study, will answer them for you. You may contact the investigator(s) at: Maryam Kashef - mkashef.25@asdubai.org Daena Greig - dgreig@asdubai.org You will need to sign this form giving us permission for your child to be involved in the study. If you decide to provide consent for your child, but later change your mind, your child may stop at any time. Purpose of this Study The reason for this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the attitudes that are held towards depression among adolescents in the UAE. Your child has been asked to participate in this study as they are a high school student studying at the American School of Dubai, and thus match the target population of this study. Description of Procedures With your consent, your child will be required to: Complete a pre-intervention assessment in the form of a google form survey. They will then be asked to complete a course that is designed to advance their mental health literacy regarding depression. After completing this course, they will take a post-intervention assessment that will again be administered through google forms. The total time commitment expected for this study will be around two hours spread across four weeks, with an expected 30 minutes per week.

What are the risks? This study will target the sensitive topic of depression, which may be triggering or uncomfortable for some individuals. Thus if needed, your child may contact any of the highschool counselors at the American School of Dubai and feel free to stop the study at any time. What are the benefits? The information from this study will help you expand your knowledge and understanding of depression, and help contribute to the current knowledge regarding depression within the UAE. If your child is a member of the National Honor Society, they will fulfill one out of two of their NHS service requirements. How will my privacy be protected? The results of this study are confidential and only the investigators will have access to the information which will be kept in a locked facility at the school. Your child's name or personal identifying information will not be used in any published reports of this research, and the survey will be completely anonymous. All information gathered during this study will be destroyed 3 years after the completion of this project.

I have read the above information and understand the purpose and nature of the study involving my child. I am aware of the potential risks and benefits associated with their participation. By clicking on this box, I, as the parent or legal guardian, consent for my child to participate in this study. Consent Full Name of Parent/Guardian who has Consented (First, Last):

Appendix C: Depression Literacy and Misconceptions Scale

Please Indicate Your Agreement with The Following Statements Using the Scale Below 1

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neither agree or disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

15. Depression is an illness 16. Depression is just a fad 17. Depression can affect anyone 18. Depression is just a temporary mood deterioration 19. Depression makes people lose interest even in the things they used to enjoy doing 20. Depression affects only the people who are weak and cannot cope with their life 21. Depression makes people lack the strength to do anything 22. To overcome depression, all you need is willpower 23. People with depression often think about suicide 24. To overcome depression, all you need is to get yourself together 25. Depression is associated with great suffering 26. Antidepressant medication start to work right after the intake 27. Depression is just a self-pity 28. People with depression are mentally weak Scoring: Depression Literacy (DL): Average of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 Misconceptions About Depression (MiscD): Average 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 14

Appendix D: Educational Intervention/Course Utilized in Study Link to Alison Empower Yourself

Appendix E: Sample certificate of Completion

Appendix F: Debriefing Form Dear Participant, During this study, you were asked to take part in a course designed to improve your knowledge of depression as well as your attitudes towards depression. You were told that the purpose of the research study was to measure your attitudes and understanding of depression. The actual purpose of the study was to measure if the intervention, which was the educational course, would be able to enhance people's understanding of depression and thus also improve the perceptions that students had towards depression. From this, I hope to understand the effectiveness of this intervention, and if educational courses that educate students on depression should be required across schools in the UAE. I did not tell you everything at the beginning of the study because I wanted to limit any potential bias in your responses during the assessment.

If you have any concerns about your participation or the data you provided during the study, please discuss these concerns with us. We will be happy to provide you with any explanations or information to ease your concerns. The responses in this study cannot be linked to you. Contact Information: If you have any questions or concerns about this study, please contact me at mkashef.25@asdubai.org. Thank you again for participating in this study.

Appendix G: Interview Questions

1. Based on your professional experience, what have been the most effective programs or interventions in destigmatizing depression among adolescents in the UAE? 2. What interventions do you believe have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents in the UAE? 3. What role do you believe that schools and education should play in shaping adolescents' attitudes towards depression and understanding of depression?

Appendix H: Depression Literacy Pre and Post Intervention Data

Depression Literacy Results

Fake name

Pre-test results

Post-test results 3.666666667

4.166666667

Alex

Roy

3.833333333

4.166666667

Athena

4.666666667

Christina

4.666666667

4.833333333

Emma Arrons

Emma SinClaire

3.666666667

4.333333333

Serena

3.666666667

4.333333333

Violet

3.666666667

Batul

4.333333333

Melissa

3.833333333

4.166666667

Jeremy Higglesworth III

4.333333333

3.333333333

Jasmine

4.333333333

3.666666667

Jane Doe

4.333333333

Mariam

3.166666667

4.666666667

Rachel

3.166666667

3.833333333

alya

4.333333333

4.5

Angelina

3.5

Mark

4.5

Julia White

3.833333333

Ann Beth

4.166666667

Kenna

3.333333333

4.333333333

Sandra

3.5

4.333333333

Diana

3.5

3.166666667

Betty

3.166666667

Amy Beth

4.666666667

3.5

Jane Smith

4.333333333

4.666666667

Sabine Wick

3.833333333

3.333333333

Carmen

4.166666667

Maya

4.333333333

4.666666667

Amanda

3.833333333

4.666666667

Stigma Towards Depression Results

Fake name

Pre-test results

Post-test results 1.5

1.25

Alex

2.375

1.875

Roy

1.125

1.25

Athena

1.25

Christina

1.5

1.375

1.5

Serena

2.625

2.875

Violet

1.25

Batul

1.5

1.25

Melissa

2.875

1.5

Jeremy Higglesworth III

Jasmine

1.25

Jane Doe

2.125

Mariam

2.75

1.5

Rachel

2.25

alya

1.25

Angelina

2.375

1.375

Mark

1.75

1.25

Julia White

1.25

Ann Beth

1.625

Kenna

1.875

1.125

Sandra

1.25

Diana

1.375

Betty

1.625

Amy Beth

1.25

1.625

Jane Smith

2.5

Sabine Wick

1.625

1.375

1.625

Emma Arrons

Emma SinClaire

Carmen

Maya Amanda

1.375

1.875

1.375

Appendix I: Coding Process and Full Interview Transcripts

CODING KEY: Purple - Mention of the importance of education Pink - Mention of the importance of Psychoeducation Red - Mention of school support in destigmatizing depression Dark pink - Mention of social media Green - Mention that patients need to be receptive/willing to learn Orange - Mention of Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) Blue - Mention of the stigma surrounding depression in the UAE Green/bule - Mention of a lack of depression literacy in the UAE Mauve - Mention of the stigma among adolescents Light Blue - Mention of the importance of psycho educating parents Light Green - Mention of improving depression literacy to help destigmatize and normalize it Light purple - Mention of how knowing someone with the disorder helps reduce the stigma Green (2) - Government interventions Burgundy - Misinformation about depression

Dark purple - Access to therapy Light orange - Individualized interventions rather than general ones Light Pink - Importance of teachers being education about depression

Interview one: 00:00 - Speaker 1 I wanted to check is it okay if I record just the audio of? This Okay perfect, thank you, okay, so I'm just going to ask you a couple of questions. 00:08 - Speaker 2 Sure. 00:09 - Speaker 1 So the first question is based on your professional experience what have been the most effective programs or interventions in destigmatising depression among adolescents in the UAE? 00:22 - Speaker 2 Okay. So from personal experience I would say I'm in schools a lot, so at least once a week different schools. For me, trying to destigmatize this topic in the UAE is much more effective and easier now than it was 10 years ago when I first moved here. 11 years ago, years ago when I first moved here, you know there were hardly and there were hardly any middle eastern families that were coming to therapy, for example. There were a lot more British and European. That has dramatically changed to the point where my caseload is probably something like 70 percent let's say British or European or Americas, 30% Middle Eastern. So it has naturally changed over time where I think, particularly for Middle Eastern families, stigma has reduced which is great for them, how it's reduced. 01:17 I think it's mostly been awareness building. So as an individual myself, I'm in schools a lot doing talks every week about mental health awareness, mental health understanding. Lots of parent talks about what parents can do to support the child who's going through an anxiety condition or low mood or an eating disorder or ADHD, and those families. Sometimes the attendance can range from 10 parents to 250 parents, so it can really range. So as an individual and as a clinic, we do a lot of awareness building. I think our social media outlets and that of other clinics have also helped in the community to be able to, I

suppose, demonstrate to families that mental health is okay to talk about. So all the other clinics that I'm aware of that kind of, we work closely with. They also have drives around mental health awareness uh self-help type skills for families to engage in. 02:18 Uh, the authorities here have done a lot as well. I remember I did a project with the abu dhabi government, uh, about five or six years ago where they wanted, wanted to create awareness campaigns in Abu Dhabi around mental health, literally pop-up tents they were going to put in the malls and they went ahead and did this, which was really, really great. The attorney general for health care and child health care in Abu Dhabi is excellent as well. She is a champion for mental health awareness and mental health building of knowledge in the community. She pushes a lot for the Abu Dhabi sector In Dubai, whilst we don't hear a great deal about it. Dha do a lot of campaigns for mental health, they just do. There's a lot that DHA and CDA do, not necessarily in terms of pop-up tents, but they campaign to organizations. You know they provide online resources, online talks for individuals and organizations, not just in government organizations but external organizations as well, about parenting, mental health concerns. 03:25 You know the stress and burnout in the workplace. So there are a lot of different, I suppose, streams where the UAE is trying to, I suppose, infiltrate the stigma around it. But there will always be a stigma, Maryam. Where there's mental health, there will always be negativity towards it. But I would say, you know, in the last 10 years and I think this is evident particularly from those Middle Eastern families that are now much more willing to ask for help that there is less stigma there. There's less fear about what it would mean. I remember when I first moved to Dubai back in 2014,. There were some families that I worked with and a lot of families that I heard of where, if the child under the age of 21 had a mental health concern, such as depression, anxiety, ADHD or autism, they were sent to their grandparents' house in Al Ain or in Ajman. They were kept out of sight. 04:28 - Speaker 1 Now, that's far, far more rare than it used to be. 04:32 - Speaker 2 You know, families are willing to engage with support and help, which, you know, for me just really shows that the region has come a long, long way in just 10 years. So there's a lot of different streams that are helping with this yeah, okay, and then um next question. 04:50 - Speaker 1

This is kind of similar, but um what interventions do you believe have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents in the UAE? Um? 05:05 - Speaker 2 well, um, okay, some of them are natural, some of them are forced, so, such as like the talks that we do when we go into schools. This is one of the ways, you know, getting people to talk about it, getting people to engage and be interactive in these sessions that we run, is a really good way to helping into life. I think whenever I'm doing talk, I'm always talking about prevalency of mental health concerns and I always start or typically start with, let's say, like an exposure experiment. So I will, in any group or any room that I'm in, you know, I'll ask a certain proportion of the class to stand up, ok, and I'll get the other side of the class to look at them and then so this might be okay what do we think of a group of 200 people? How many people do we think are diagnosed, could be diagnosed, with a mental health concern right now? Typically it's about 20, okay, and then, after I've done that and they're looking around thinking why that's a lot of people, I'll then say to them okay, throughout the course of between now to the age of 25, could this segment also stand up? Now we've got more than half of the room, half the side of the room that's still sat down and looking, thinking. Well, across the world, this is the amount of people between the age of 7 and 25 that have a diagnosable mental health concern. It brings it to life. So I think this kind of you know, talking with young people about prevalency rates helps them to see that, ok, this is far more normalised than we actually thought. You know, 10 years ago people kept it a secret if they had anxiety, low mood, adhd secret if they had anxiety, low mood, adhd. 06:50 Now schools run, you know, campaigns and support in class or support in school where those kids, should they want it and should they need it, can go off as groups and they can, you know, learn in their the ways that they learn best. You know many schools implement, um, you know, like adhd centers or mental health. You know they call them lots of different things, but when those kids would come out of a class and go there, 10 years ago kids didn't want to do that. It was embarrassing, it was stigmatising, it was, you know, something they were ashamed of. Now, a lot of kids, because they see that the group numbers are actually very substantial, they're much more likely to engage in it. 07:29 I think schools have been very, very active in, you know, regular assemblies about mental health, mental health awareness. The schools you know, all of them now pretty much have school counselors, inclusion teams, sen departments. They have separate areas like different learning centers for those with specific learning needs. Like it's just much more in your face now than it used to be, yeah, which which reduces that stigma and I think

because there are more people now presenting with mental health concerns than before, there's a much bigger group of people who have lived experience of mental health concerns and, having lived through it and let's hope they've overcome it they're able to look at. There's a much bigger group of people who have lived experience of mental health concerns and, having lived through it and let's hope they've overcome it they're able to look at mental health and say, ok, that was a bad period of my life, but nothing to be ashamed of. 08:17 Yeah, you know, ok, I just had some anxiety. You know I didn't have an access one type diagnosis, like a personality disorder or schizophrenia or psychosis. I just was struggling like a personality disorder or schizophrenia or psychosis, I just was struggling. So I think people now see mental health as something that's more temporary as opposed to permanent, and if it's temporary, they feel like it's something we can overcome. So I think there's just a big change in the dialogue. I think social media and access to the internet has created a bit of a problem as well as part solution. 08:51 - Speaker 1 Yeah. 08:51 - Speaker 2 Okay, it's very easy now to look online to pick your symptoms in to see what comes up. So people are self-diagnosing a lot and because there are such high numbers of mental health concerns, or higher numbers now than there were before, when people search they're probably somewhat accurate. Accurate in their search. They do have some kind of anxiety or depression, but when you feel like you've got it yourself and you've got access to all of this information online, it's very easy to capture. 09:18 It doesn't feel so isolating anymore yeah it doesn't feel like I'm the only one. You know. A lot of kids are talking about mental health you and they're not ashamed to talk about it like they used to. So I think there's been mindset change. I think schools have been very proactive in trying to push mental health campaigns. Online has been helpful to some degree, and I think a lot of the clinics out there are trying to do everything they can to help break down the stigma. 09:46 - Speaker 1 Yeah, okay, yeah, that makes sense. Um, okay. And then last question, but you kind of already like touched on this um earlier, but what role do you believe that schools and education should play in shaping adolescents attitudes towards depression and their understanding of depression?

10:13 - Speaker 2 Well, I think schools are doing some schools are doing a pretty decent job in terms of allowing conversations about depression to happen in school, on site and to signpost those young people for external support if they need it. I think schools a lot of the schools here being private have the access to funds to be able to support in-house, in-school children who are experiencing problems like depression. So almost all schools have at least a counsellor and I think having access to that counsellor very much helps. So I think that's something good that schools are doing. But then saying that, you know schools the mindset and the ethos typically is well, we don't want to have a focus on mental health. You know they don't want to be put, they want to be trained to the community, in the public as being well-being focused, without identifying that they've got a problem in their school. 11:18 And almost every school in Dubai, if not all, has problems with mental health. You know mental health depression is not isolated to certain schools. It's got a worldwide prevalency rate. It's in every single school and the thresholds for diagnostic numbers are probably relatively the same across all schools. So schools are doing a good job. I mean schools. They do these well-being campaigns. They try to help. 11:47 Schools they do these well-being campaigns. They try to help. If you think about it the majority of your day is spent on school grounds. You would hope that you know that's a place where well-being is being, I suppose, encouraged, to be spoken about and to be worked through. 12:07 Relating to depression, I mean, schools have a big responsibility to try and do more and I think a lot of schools here know that they have that responsibility and they're trying that responsibility and they're trying, but also they've got so many other facets that they have to consider as part of the school curriculum and how they divide up their time for talks and for independent study and when to provide external support. 12:33 It's really hard on them because there are so many different factors that parents expect a school to be able to, to manage and deal with. So I think school is is schools. A lot of schools are doing what they can and they've got a big responsibility to do so, but I think the biggest responsibility sits back on parents parents to be more mindful, more knowledgeable, more psychoeducated about the dangers that young people face, about the, the challenges that young people face. You know I do a lot of talks around raising teenagers it's pretty much

the title, uh, you know raising teenagers in the here and now, and you know the most common mental health concerns, the most common challenges young people have. These kind of programs are quite helpful as well, but parents have a huge responsibility. 13:25 - Speaker 1 Yeah. 13:29 - Speaker 2 If you can, Maryam, just to make sure that I've touched on it, could you just read the question again? 13:33 - Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, of course. So what role do you believe that schools and education should play in shaping adolescents' attitudes towards depression and their understanding of depression? 13:45 - Speaker 2 I think they're doing a lot. I think they're probably schools who feel like they're doing as much as they can. They have a burden of responsibility, but I don't think it's their sole responsibility. I think actually, schools as a system are designed to be education, mostly with an academic focus. We go to school to learn. Yes, in an ideal world we would learn everything that we need to to be a functioning adult, but with the limited time that we have, even though it's seven hours a day, it's just not possible schools have a responsibility, but not the soul. 14:21 I still genuinely believe. 14:23 You know, education starts at home yeah so I think, while schools have that, that responsibility, uh, actually it's the role of parents to guide their children, to make them resilient. You know, if you look at kind of you know maslow's hierarchy or any kind of psychometric hierarchy on the role and responsibilities of parents, they'll all say that the parent's role is to guide, is to facilitate, is to teach. So schools are there, but it shouldn't just be one setting. Anyway, hopefully we would have, you know, every kind of setting or access and arrangement the child has, giving education around mental health. Unfortunately, social media at times, perhaps more often than not, it's quite a negative portrayal of mental health yeah you know it's it's mental health is a butt of the jokes. 15:22

You know it's people talking about crazy. It's people talking about, you know I hate to say it, but retarded. You know this is what's going on in schools at the moment. So social media isn't helping and social media has a big responsibility as well, and I think governments around the world are becoming a bit more savvy to that. Yeah, you know there are governments that are banning access to different social media apps. Uh, especially in scandinavia. You know they're really limiting that. So there's a lot of schools. They've got a responsibility, but they can only do as much as they can yeah, no, it's perfect, thank you. 16:03 - Speaker 1 Well, those are all the questions, so, okay, thank you, if you have any others. 16:07 - Speaker 2 Mariam, just feel free to reach out to me at any time and we can come on another Zoom thank you so much you're so welcome. Good luck with your project, thank you. Thanks, mariam, take care bye. Interview two: 00:10 - Speaker 1 (Host) hi, hi, how are you? I'm good. Thank you so much for agreeing to do the interview. Oh, no, no, no worries about it. Um, to start, I just wanted ask is it okay if I record the interview? It's just the voice, no camera. 00:27 - Speaker 2 (Guest) Okay, all right. 00:29 - Speaker 1 (Host) Okay, Okay, thank you. So I'll just get started with the questions, because I know you have a busy schedule. Okay, so the first question is based on your professional experience what have been the most effective programs or interventions in de-stigmatizing depression among adolescents in the UAE? 00:52 - Speaker 2 (Guest) Okay, so de-stigmatizing? Of course you know. Are you asking about the intervention or the treatment plan, or just you knowigmatization? 01:04 - Speaker 1(Host) it can be. It can be a program and initiative, anything that has to do with the destigmatization okay.

01:11 - Speaker 2 (Guest) So first of all, I think you know psycho educating the patient is very important regarding the symptoms and you know how disappearing and the frequency and all of that. You know the disorder itself makes a lot of you know kind of insight to the patient regarding their symptoms and background. All of it and, um, the stigma, along with her mental disorder, is so much that people don't even see treatment for it. The reason there has been a lot of improvement in those areas could be possibly due to the education, could be possibly because there are lots of advertisements and marketing regarding all those you know information happening all around could be that aspect. But the educational background of the patient matters a lot, um, which means, um, you know, the, if the patient has graduated and has the um is receptive to the information, that it makes a lot of a difference in the patient. But then there are chances that the patient just gets stuck on to the you know the symptoms and not able to, you know, get out of it and it requires the need for interventions. You know the importance of the interventions. So I think cbt helps in a way that you know, helping the patient to understand their cognitive distortions, how it is coming from and what is the core. You know part of the person that is. You know from where the symptoms are coming and also the thoughts, beliefs and errors in the beliefs that lead to all these kinds of symptoms. 02:58 To to a limit, cbt helps to reduce the symptoms of the patients, but then in the when we look at the disorder through a deep lens, we can see that I'm basically a psychodynamic oriented practitioner which goes on the unconscious part of the mind and you know, reflecting the causal factors and root causes of it. 03:26 So in my approach I always tend to look at the deeper part of the personality, from where it is coming from, how it is caused and how that personality is organized and why the symptoms are maintaining. So, according to our intervention, I believe that the symptoms are basically the reflections of the undersold conflicts that patient is really struggling with. So I don't know like to what extent I can convey this information because it is too depthful. Like you know, we look at the deeper meaning of the individual and the deeper meaning of the personality organization that the patient is having, and it serves a lot, a lot of you know how symptoms yeah, example, if the patient is having unresolved conflicts in the relationship or an unresolved conflicts about themselves, it can be reflected in any kind of these kinds of symptoms. So I believe psychodynamic oriented psychotherapy helps in um bringing a lot of. You know differences in how the individual is perceiving and you know differences in their thought process yeah, okay, and how do you think? 04:36

oh sorry, go ahead yeah, I think I answered your question. 04:40 -Speaker 1(Host) If you have yeah, yeah, um, like specifically, what do you think has been effective in destigmatizing depressions among adolescents in the uae? So it might be just adolescents in general that don't necessarily have the disorder, maybe, but it's just in terms of what do you think has been effective in educating, like, the general population of adolescents? 05:02 -Speaker 2(Guest) The adolescents you're asking about. Okay, so of course the intervention is part of it and, as I said, the CBT, psychodynamic, all get along with that. But then, and specific to adolescents, it's the age where they struggle with lots of identity crisis and identity role confusions. Here comes the patterns of the role, here comes the parents of the role. Here comes the role of the parents, which means psychoeducating parents are also important at this point. A lot of interventions and counseling or parent management training, which is found to be very efficient. Especially, we enclose the parents into the team, so it's not just the adolescent dealing with or we dealing with the intervention. We also inclusive of the parents in this intervention, so it makes a lot of difference. 05:55 - Speaker 1 (Host) I'd say Okay, and this question is kind of similar, but what interventions do you believe have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents in the UAE? 06:12 - Speaker 2(Guest) I think I it includes everything that I just said. 06:16 - Speaker 1Host) Like you know, CBT psychodynamic mindfulness training yeah yeah okay, and then this is the last question what role do you believe that schools and education should play in shaping adolescents' attitudes towards depression and understanding of depression? 06:40 - Speaker 2 (Guest) School support is very much important for the children. Especially when the children are appearing with their symptoms and they are also hearing a lot of comments or lots of stigma from the school as well, it leads to worsening the symptoms. Hopefully the support system from the school or the school counselor or at least from the teacher should be there, which helps actually the functioning of the individual, because the children is just depressed, not only at the home but also in any other clinical setting, the any other setting. The child remains safe. So I think a support hand from the school would really help or motivate or help help them to initiate activities, since the children are struggling with

initiating activities when they are depressed. So I think that support system would actually help children to recover. 07:36 - Speaker 1 (Host) Okay, perfect. Is there anything else you'd like to add? 07:41 - Speaker 2 (Guest) I hope whatever I said is clear to you. Yeah, no, it's perfect. If there's a question, you can ask me. 07:47 - Speaker 1 (Host) Okay, no, that's all the questions. Thank you so much for agreeing to the interview. 07:51 - Speaker 2 (Guest) Thank you, jaya, and I'm sorry, taina, I had to extend the meeting. 07:56 - Speaker 1 (Host) Oh, no, no, no, it's okay, don't worry about it. Thank you so much and all the best for your research. Thank you, have an amazing day. 08:03 - Speaker 2 (Guest) Thank you. 08:03 - Speaker 1 (Host) Bye-bye. Interview three: 00:06 - Speaker 1 Hi, Hi, how are you Good? How are you? Thank you so much for agreeing for this interview. And just to check, are you okay with this being recorded? 00:18 - Speaker 2 It depends if you're posting somewhere. 00:20 - Speaker 1 No, no, no, no, completely private. It's just to transcribe it, so the video will not be recorded, it's only the. 00:30 - Speaker 2 No, no, no, there's no video.

00:31 - Speaker 1 It's only words, no, no, no, only like the voice. Okay, perfect, okay. So let's just get started, because I know you have a busy schedule today. So, based on your professional experience, what have been the most effective programs or interventions in destigmatizing depression among adolescents in the UAE? 00:54 - Speaker 2 Well, probably this is not something I have experienced here in the UAE, but I would support this kind of intervention. Just to talk about depression or preliminary symptoms of depression in teens among schools when I see teens here in my clinical practice, sometimes they are quite like shocked about the symptoms or they are totally unaware about what is going on, while sometimes there are many factors involved periods starting of the period, mood swings, some episodes with friends so they are completely unaware about many aspects of the topic. So, in my opinion, having talks in the school using social media like Snapchat or WhatsApp can really support the teens in that difficult stage. 02:09 - Speaker 1 Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, and I think you kind of answered the next question. But if there's anything else you want to add, what interventions do you believe have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents in the UAE? 02:22 - Speaker 2 First of all, also to share personal experiences, maybe anonymous, because it's not easy to put the face on on the video or in other social medias. So I really can't imagine a 14-year-old talking about her mood or her feelings on a camera, unless it's for a different purpose. Okay, so if we're talking about TikTok or we're talking about, you know, instagram, kind of like personal pages, that's something different. Ok, that goes for sponsor and, you know, to advertise themselves. Ok, not on the purpose of helping and supporting others. Ok. So maybe to social media to normalize other, um, their own experiences. Okay, sometimes when I see things, um, during the one-to-one session, they said oh, I talked to my friend and she said that she also experienced this. I had no idea about that, so she had no idea that I was going through this, so like to share experiences. 03:32 - Speaker 1 Yeah. And then last question what role do you believe that schools and education should play in shaping adolescents' attitudes towards depression and understanding of depression? 03:45 - Speaker 2

So, first of all, okay, so I know that there is the figure of the school counsellor here anyway. Okay, sometimes it's not easy to work for a school counsellor. Okay, because this would be visible to all the other classmates or schoolmates. Okay, so, probably to make these things a little bit more private when it's about seeking for personal help. Second thing at the same time, start talking about mental health on a daily basis, some sort of program at school. There are some universities in UK and around Europe they ask in the admission form if the student has had any episode of anxiety or depression in the past, because they are going to consider that aspect of the mental health when they have to make their requirement to access to the university. 04:49 So, for example, this is a way to normalize when students have mental issues. Okay, so, for example, having a focus group about depression or about the anxiety, or making some sort of like a wellness week all over, like february or march. So making as as much as possible a normal topic. So, as the students are studying math, geography, english literature, anything, they can also have a well-being kind of like course or first, I don't know actually how to call it, but this is the idea. So, to put it in a like, in a normal um, school, uh, protocol, like, yeah normalize it. 05:39 - Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, okay, perfect. Is there anything else you'd like to add or? 05:45 - Speaker 2 No, let me think no. There are probably some sort of like idea I had about the bullying. Okay, so the bullying means the idea that when something happens at school, students should be able to address it. I mean, if I know that the environment I'm in is supportive, I won't be judged for my reactions. 06:19 And it's okay. If I'm sad one day or if I panic about an exam or if I'm a bit stressed for something that happened at home, I can also express myself properly. But if I feel that anything I do I'll be judged for that. So my behaviour will be subject to that person's comment and the other person's comment. I will probably try to shut down and keep everything for myself. 06:48 But for this we have to again support a school environment where it's possible to be ourselves, like to be themselves, without any sort of like prototype of student the excellent student, the pretty one, the sporty one. So in an environment where and this is, I think, a reflection of Dubai, which is a place where welcome all the people around the world and we

respect each other the same reflection at school, where we are different but we can coexist in this environment where everyone respects each other. If I know that I express myself and I'll be judged for that because I'm a bit weird or I'm a bit shy, I won't, and this is probably an additional layer to my mental well-being. So probably to spread it out where differences are supported and then there is no any sort of bullying around the personal characteristics. 07:46 - Speaker 1 Yeah, okay, that's all, thank you, so so much. 07:50 - Speaker 2 You're welcome. I hope it helps. Yeah, it's really helpful. 07:51 - Speaker 1 Thank you so so much. You're welcome. I hope it helps. Yeah, it's really helpful. Thank you so much. You're welcome and good luck for everything. Thank you so much. Have an amazing day. Thank you bye. Interview Four: 00:00 - Speaker 1 Just to double check. Are you okay with this being recorded? 00:06 - Speaker 2 Yes, I'm okay. 00:09 - Speaker 1 Okay, perfect. So the first question is based on your professional experience what have been the most effective programs or interventions in destigmatizing depression among adolescents in the UAE? 00:25 - Speaker 2 The most important factor for me is education. So if you educate people and you have early detection about depression as a medical condition, then you will be able to break the stigma and make people understand that although you may have triggers, you may have no triggers whatsoever psychosocially and you may develop depression. So it's a medical illness that is multifactorial. So understanding that would break the stigma. 00:58 - Speaker 1

Okay, and what interventions do you believe have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents? In the UAE it's almost the same question. Yeah, it's very similar, but maybe this is something that you haven't tried yet, or just something you think has the potential to. 01:16 - Speaker 2 I would try. 01:17 - Speaker 1 Yeah. 01:19 - Speaker 2 And if you look at the media, you guys are into social media a lot. So, explaining that into social media, I've very much faced all of my life in educating people understanding to break the fear what is depression and any other psychiatric illness. So yeah, I would go through social media and whatever you guys are more into it. You guys are more into it and understand that. I'm not too much into AI but to use it as a process coming to learn about the medical condition to break the fear. 01:55 - Speaker 1 Okay, and then last question what role do you believe that schools and education should play in shaping adolescents' attitudes towards depression and understanding of depression? 02:09 - Speaker 2 Unfortunately, I don't think they're playing any role. The stigma is so high, habibi, not just between schools, even among medical people. So it would be again from above, the schooling, and the schooling has to understand how the directors, the people that deal with the school, they themselves have to be trained in order to make projects. And you know little group therapy. Let's talk about it. Let's give importance to what is important to understand if you are depressed and how to break it through, and most people don't need the medication to to get through this. So it's more, you know, an education coming from up above for them to believe in the, the project or whatever they want to do and start again. It's like an algorithm. If the head understands, then the teachers will understand, or whoever is responsible, then the teacher, then they will educate the parents as well. 03:35 - Speaker 1 I'm different. 03:36 - Speaker 2 You can do a lot, a lot for awareness not only of depression, but at a younger age, younger age and personality traits at, if they believe, and the family issues and people like you all

together. But I see a multifactorial. It comes from stresses or triggers or social media or family at home and school academics. So it becomes a key multifactorial that it suffers a. Sometimes, if you're not capable, you become overwhelmed easily. 04:12 And you're not capable to see anything anymore. You become, with food, a vicious cycle that won't help you. Yeah, okay. So you end up in a vicious cycle where you find yourself ruminating about the thoughts and the emotions and not seeing that there is a way out, that I can do it. So again, talking about it, not being afraid, understanding what psychology and psychiatry is. It's a medical condition, whether we are in a psychosocial or other triggers. It's a neurotransmitter that not everybody and it's disavowable me of the people would not need medication if they become beyond. Early detection, early awareness and intervention okay, um, perfect, thank you. 05:05 - Speaker 1 Those are all the questions. Is there anything else you have to add? 05:08 - Speaker 2 because, other than that, I want to put pressure on education, okay, psychoeducation and everything Okay. 05:17 - Speaker 1 Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. 05:19 - Speaker 2 You're very welcome. 05:20 - Speaker 1 Have a good day. Thank you, you too, baba Bye.

Interview Five: 00:00 - Speaker 1 Okay, perfect, just the voice, that's all. Okay, perfect, thank you so much. Okay, so I'll just get right to it, because I know you have a busy schedule. So the first question is based on your professional experience what have been the most effective programs or interventions in de-stigmatizing depression among adolescents in the UAE? 00:23 - Speaker 2

Can I ask for a clarification of the program? What do you mean by programs? 00:27 - Speaker 1 So this could be just any program or initiative or, I guess, something that you have seen has worked and helped adolescents, or just people like teenagers around that age group, have a better understanding of depression or better attitudes towards depression. 00:55 - Speaker 2 Okay, my opinion. I think social media has been a main factor, because a lot of people do share on social media that they are depressed or they feel bad. 01:00 And it does make a difference when you know it's a friend, close friend of yours. So then you realize that depression is not that unique or rare. It's actually going to affect anyone. Also, I don't say media, then as much, but it is getting better Because still in the media, still in movies, still in shows, wherever, also depending on the country, where is it from there's still a kind of like bad depiction of mental health in general. But I would say it's, compared to like 20 years before, it is much better. 01:41 - Speaker 1 Yeah. 01:42 - Speaker 2 Yeah, but I'm still there. I think these are the two main factors. The third factor is when a country does promote mental health, that does make a whole lot different. 01:59 - Speaker 1 Yeah, okay, next question what interventions do you believe have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents in the UAE? What? 02:09 - Speaker 2 I mean sorry interventions. 02:11 - Speaker 1 Have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents within the UAE. 02:18 - Speaker 2 I think I mean the government initiatives are good, they need to do more. I think also it is about I think, when it's about the stigma, I think now we are in a generation that is okay with having a mental health problem and going to a therapist. Yeah, the issue now is not that

okay, I'm afraid to go because I'm not crazy. It's about more of um. When they come, they expect things to like just be, you know, quick yeah sessions, I will be healed. 03:02 Uh, they expect, for example, that you know when you go to a session you need to come out happy, smiley. You know that. Completely different. So they have no understanding or a proper understanding of how therapy does work and how long it takes, plus, also when it comes. When it comes, when it comes like in a way of how do you say it Forgot the chain of thought. What was I saying? 03:35 - Speaker 1 like just a moment ago what you were saying like, I guess, when people are in the session and they believe that it's going to change immediately, yeah, the access to care. 03:47 - Speaker 2 Access to care, I mean like if insurance doesn't cover things are expensive and also as well like that kind of withdraws or make people withdraw from it. Then it becomes kind of like it's a niche service, or seem like a niche service rather than it's a bad thing to just meet a therapist, It just became now more of like luxury, which shouldn't be luxury yeah so to have access or better access. 04:20 Provide that better access. Discussing our explaining therapies or like how like things go, because you explain that usually also in other medical fields, like when you go to have a cast, for example, with my hand. Yeah, we know that. Even from school. We have at least a general knowledge at least that how it can go. They don't even talk about it in schools or anything. So schools need to talk about it. It not teach therapy, but teach about like you know it won't help you go seek therapists in these professions yeah, 04:52 - Speaker 1 And this question is actually very similar to what you just said, but um, what role do you believe that schools and education should play in shaping adolescents attitudes towards depression and understanding of depression? 05:13 - Speaker 2 um, yeah, I mean, aside from that, providing our teaching in general, like how therapy goes, how mental health, I I do believe that psychology should be one of the core subjects that need to be studied, like they do it for math and science and so on. Psychology should be a core one, because then it helps at least to understand your feelings. Yeah so that will

also help understand, like okay, when you're not just sad, you're depressed. You know you'd be aware of it. 05:55 - Speaker 1 Okay. Is there anything else you'd like to add? 05:58 - Speaker 2 No, that's it. 05:59 - Speaker 1 Okay, then we're done. Perfect Great. 06:01 - Speaker 2 All right. 06:02 - Speaker 1 Thank you so so much. 06:03 - Speaker 2 No problem, have a good day. Thank you you too. 06:07 - Speaker 1 Thank you so much. Have a great day, bye. Interview 6: 00:13 - Speaker 2 Hi, good afternoon. 00:17 - Speaker 1 Oh, sorry. I'm very thankful that you reminded me, because there were about 10 meetings simultaneously. Oh yeah, your meeting was just collidating with another meeting. I finished with another meeting only four minutes ago. I'm very thankful for that reminder. 00:32 - Speaker 2 Oh, yeah, of course. Thank you so much for agreeing to this. Thank you, are you okay with this being recorded? Not the video, just the audio being recorded. Is that okay with? 00:41 - Speaker 1 you. Yeah, it's okay, the audio is okay.

00:43 - Speaker 2 Okay, perfect, being recorded. Is that okay with you? Yeah, it's okay. The audio is okay, okay, perfect, okay, I know you're busy, so let's just get started, so I I don't want to take too much of your time. Um, so the first question is based on your professional experience, what have been the most effective programs or intervention or interventions in de-stigmatizing depression among adolescents in the UAE? 01:16 - Speaker 1 It might be the CBT, the cognitive behaviour therapy. That's because most all the patients, regardless of if they are starting from simple depression, moderate to severe depression, the medication should be completed with psychotherapy, particularly the CBT. You can sometimes manage the simple depression only with the help of CBT. 01:47 - Speaker 2 In terms of destigmatizing it, so making it more just helping people's perception of depression and helping people's understanding of depression. Have there been any effective programs or interventions that have occurred that you believe have helped enhance people's view towards depression? 02:11 - Speaker 1 Okay, I've been living here for about only one year. De-stigmatizing is that, you know, the know, the stigma is something building in the culture and it's so in order to try to destigmatize it. And you have actually there is not that I don't follow a specific intervention or specific program to destigmatize. I just individualize. So I just review, take consideration to the patient's age, sex, gender, the cultural background, the position, their experience of the, their previous contact with mental health, and just try to apply it according to these factors. So I used to individualize. 03:19 - Speaker 2 Okay, yeah, and then what interventions do you believe have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents in the UAE? 03:31 - Speaker 1 So, as I told you, according to my experience I don't want to generalize, I don't know what the other professions will think about it, but I think it's that information is the most important one. It's called psychoeducation. Psychoeducation is the most important one. 03:58 - Speaker 2

Yeah, Okay and this kind of relates to that. But what role do you believe that schools and education? 04:11 - Speaker 1 This kind of relates to that. But what role do you believe that schools and education should play in shaping adolescents' attitudes towards depression and their understanding of depression? Speaker 2 A very huge role, main role, schools' main role. To be honest with you educate the kids and the parents at a very young age, early age, to psycho educate them. What's the difference between stress, distress, anxiety? Should we, what should we do to in order to just protect ourselves from getting distressed, and also providing general information about mental health? That would help the next generation very much okay, perfect. 05:09 - Speaker 1 Thank you so much. That was all the questions. So yeah, thank you very much, perfect good luck thank you so much. Have a great day, thank you.

Interview seven: 00:04 - Speaker 1 Hi, how are you? I'm good. How are you? Thank you so much for agreeing to the interview. 00:12 - Speaker 2 Yeah, I'm sorry for being. You know I was postponing, I didn't. I saw. I mean I read your email, but then I, I mean we were moving and everything. 00:20 - Speaker 1 Yeah, no, no, don't worry about it at all. Thank you Okay. Um, okay, before we start, I just wanted to check. Is it okay? If I record the interview, it's just the voice, okay, perfect, okay, thank you, okay, I'll just get right. Um to the questions. So the first question is based on your professional experience. What have been the most effective programs or interventions in destigmatizing depression among adolescents in the UAE? 00:51 - Speaker 2 That's a difficult question. I think the psychoeducation, both for the adolescent and for the family as well, because many of the family members doesn't have any idea about. You know the psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, adhd. So sometimes and usually they think that you know the if, the, the, the kid. You know the son or daughter, you know

the being I mean feeling depressed. They think that they are not being grateful. You know that they're ungrateful and they are supposed to be. You know they appreciate you or you know the things that their family is doing and so on. So I think they're giving the psychoeducation about the psychological disorders depression, anxiety or or the other. You know the stuff regarding psychological problems can help adolescents. 01:49 - Speaker 1 And then, um, this question is kind of similar, but what interventions do you believe have the potential to de-stigmatize depression among adolescents in the UAE? 01:58 - Speaker 2 again. I think I mean I'm doing that. You know the psychoeducation, giving the psychoeducation with. You know the individualistic, I mean only the parents of the patient or the client, but in general I think the psychologists or the counselors should go to the schools and do the speech, give the speeches about the psychological problems, about bullying, ADHD, or you know everything like autism and everything, Because usually people don't know. I mean we know because I'm psychologist, you're studying psychology, but you know the other than our profession. People generally doesn't know it, doesn't have any idea about the psychological problems. So I think you know the giving some kind of presentations. You know the. I think it helps a lot. 02:42 - Speaker 1 Yeah, okay, and last question you kind of spoke about this a little, but what role do you believe that schools and education should play in shaping adolescents' attitudes towards depression and understanding of depression? 02:57 - Speaker 2 Yeah, I think also the teachers should be educated about all kinds of mental or psychological problems, not only depression or anxiety, but also autism, adhd. Usually they don't have any idea about it. They have some kind of idea, but not specific. So not only the special education teachers or the counselors. I think that all teachers should know more about depression and anxiety, because they usually label the kid, the students, as a you know, being um, what do you call it? I forgot the word uh, being lazy. You know, they're just lazy, they're just postponing, they're just doing that? 03:41 no, it's not. Sometimes they feel, I mean they're struggling at home, you know, in their personal life, and usually teachers doesn't aware, I mean they don't see it, they don't aware of that, you know any kind of issue. So I think the education regarding to, you know, the learning

awareness, you know the increasing the awareness regarding to the social I mean the psychological and the mental disorders, could be very helpful. 04:05 - Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, okay, and is there anything else you'd like to add? Yeah, okay, perfect, and that was all the questions. 04:14 - Speaker 2 Okay, thank you. Is there anything that you want to ask, karina? No, that's all. Thank you so much. You're welcome. No problem at all. It was nice to meet you, nice meeting you too. 04:24 - Speaker 1 No problem at all. It was nice to meet you. Nice meeting you too. Thank you, have an amazing day.

Interview Eight: 00:00 - Speaker 1 (Host) Is it okay if I record the audio? Okay, perfect, so the first question is based on your professional experience what have been the most effective programs or interventions in destigmatizing depression among adolescents in the UAE? 00:15 - Speaker 2 (Host) I think part of the problem with stigma is in society right, in laws as well, the way we treat people with disabilities and have been treating people with disabilities, especially mental health-related disabilities, for centuries, right? It's not a new kind of stigma that comes with society. I think changing the laws and providing students with mental health concerns equal access to both the workforce as well as schooling experiences has definitely helped. Some Psycho education has helped explaining you know what the mental health you know. Why is it important? What can we do about it? What are some strategies? It has nothing to do with students being unmotivated or lazy or anything like that. So there's a lot of education that goes into it, and it's not necessarily even done with the students themselves, but it's done through parents a lot of times. The students themselves, but it's done through parents a lot of times, because here in the UAE you know you have to be 21 in order to be allowed to seek your own treatments in any area, right, and so everything that happens, especially in children and adolescents, has to go through the parents. They kind of have to agree with it. 01:44

I can give you an example I just had a meeting from a ninth grader with parents about mental health and the dad was like listen, you know, he just needs to man up and you know this is. 01:57 You know, I know people who go to psychologists and therapists. They come out worse than they, you know, when they went in. So, trying to explain to them, you have to go in with a certain goal when you go to therapy at this age and the goal usually is feeling better and having skills when you don't right. So it's not any different than you asking your ophthalmologist for eyeglasses because you're near or far-sighted right. Your kid doesn't have the skills right now. So there goes a lot of education and explanations in to destigmatize and so with that, you know, we've come a long way to also change the laws around how do we provide services. So you know, here at school there's a big push for inclusion right, and that comes out of we believe that even students with significant disabilities, be it mental health-related or be it learning-related or developmental in nature, should have access to schooling with, you know, your typical population, and so all of that is slowly changing. 03:05 - Speaker 1 (Host) Okay, and the next question is what interventions do you believe have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents in the UAE? 03:13 - Speaker 2 (Host) So I think one of the big parts is having bigger push into what we call SEL lessons in school. Those are the social, emotional learning components that are being rolled out, oftentimes starting with really young kids, right, because if they learn strategies early on without even yet having mental health concerns, be it depression, anxiety or anything else, if you already get taught skills, how do I stand up for myself, how do I be kind? You know, how am I going to make friends, how am I going to take care of my own well-being, right, everything that goes into it and then potentially even getting we call it tiered support. So you know something that in small groups may be delivered through the counseling team. 04:07 Counseling team, you know I already can notice you have some signs of talking negatively about yourself and viewing yourself in a negative way that we provide you already strategies early on on. You know what do I do when these thoughts are, you know, creeping into my mind, and so I feel all of those initiatives at a school are extremely successful in, you know, destigmatizing any type of mental health because it's first taught on a universal level. All of the kids are getting it, and then you notice, you know, some kids may need a little bit more. And then they get some pull-out small group support in that, without yet having any labels related to it, and again it's kind of trying to explain what is happening to you right now, why, potentially, is it happening, and then what can we do about it? Right, and so the more kids

are understanding that, the less stigma is there around having some struggles with depression or anxiety or anything else that mental health brings. Self-esteem, confidence, all those areas. 05:14 - Speaker 1 (Host) Okay, and then last question what role do you believe that schools and education should play in shaping adolescents' attitudes? 05:21 - Speaker 2 (Host) So you know, you guys are in school for most of the day, right? When you think about it, schools start around anywhere between 7:45 and, you know, 8:20 with us here, and so the majority of your day is spent at school. If schools are not able to take part in educating about mental health and well-being, who is going to do it? Right? There's very, very little time at the end of the day or on weekends to truly get the education you need and the skills you need in order to build your mental health. Your parents, of course, are really important and a lot of components about mental health, but they're not experts in the field either. Right, and that's why we have so many resources available on campus with counselors. We have speech-language pathologists, we have OTs, you have, you know, psychologists, you have educators more and more teachers also learning about social, emotional well-being that this is a place where you get the most effective interventions. And even more so, you know, looking at preventative care. Right, because what you want to do is we want to prevent the mental health. Right, we want to have well-adjusted, resilient students. So preventing it, because if we can prevent it, we don't have to intervene, which is a lot more work and more individualized work right. But even for that component in schools interventions at schools we do provide support plans for students who struggle, right? The one thing we don't do in schools is therapeutic type of work, right. So, depending on the severity of your mental health concerns, most of the time we have to collaborate with outside community resources in order to provide true therapeutic clinical work to help with depression, anxiety and other mental health concerns. Those are then able to prescribe medication. Potentially they do cognitive behavior therapy, which has a long, long history of being one of the most successful interventions that are out there in order to deal with what we call internalizing mental health concerns right, which depression and anxiety falls under. So having those resources available is extremely important as well and we're lucky to be in Dubai because we have a variety of different centers providing excellent care in those areas and so that collaboration is going to be really important because there may be strategies as a school that we get from these outside resources that we can then implement here on a daily basis. 08:16 Easiest way to explain and let's say, you suffer from depression and it's pretty severe to the point where it's hard for you to get to school, right, I feel so down I'm. You know I'm sad all the time. I can't eat, I can't sleep. So getting here on time, getting out of bed and being motivated to do that is really hard, right. And so you know you get sent out to a community provider and you're

working on skill development talk. You know we call that. You know you get sent out to a community provider and you're working on skill development. You know we call that. 08:46 You know reconstructing off your negative thoughts. So, instead of always being like oh, it's never going to get, you know any better, no one loves me. You know all of those negative cycles that you talk about in your own head. We've got to change that right. And with that we also have to change behaviors that follow right, because when you have those thoughts, it impacts you and your behaviors. While it's great to have that done in sessions and go home with some strategies, someone at school, where you're at most of the day, has to reinforce that as well, and sometimes it means reminding you of here are your coming strategies or here are your strategies you have learned. Use them right. So we have to collaborate in order to make sure we can streamline those intervention efforts thank you so much welcome thank you that was all you needed. Interview nine: 00:01 - Speaker 1 I'm good. Thank you for agreeing to be a part of this interview. Before we start, I just wanted to check. Is it okay if I record this, only the audio? 00:13 - Speaker 2 Yeah, only the audio is fine because most of us have started having breakfast. 00:17 - Speaker 1 Okay, yeah, only audio. Okay, perfect, thank you, okay, so I'll just start with the first question. Thank you, okay, so I'll just start with the first question. Based on your professional experience, what have been the most effective programs or interventions in destigmatizing depression among adolescents in the UAE? 00:39 - Speaker 2 I've just joined UAE. I know in the past there's been a lot of success in terms of school interventions and in terms of awareness programs around community setups. So I think, and even social media, I think social media is playing a big, big, big role in sort of de-stigmatizing mental illness. And social media not just by the kids but also by the parents, because parents are then becoming much more aware and parents are becoming much more open, taking their kids for therapy. 01:16 - Speaker 1

Okay, and then next question what interventions do you believe have the potential to destigmatize depression among adolescents in the UAE? To? 01:25 - Speaker 2 destigmatize depression among adolescents in the UAE. So that was a question earlier. Right, that's what I answered, right now. 01:32 - Speaker 1 This might be something that hasn't been tried before, but just something you think that could be tried in the future, but may not have previously been tried. 01:45 - Speaker 2 Maybe like some parenting, parenting training programs and maybe some school intervention program. I think those would be good ideas. 01:55 - Speaker 1 Okay, and then lastly and you kind of touched on this a little earlier but what role do you believe that schools and education should play in shaping adolescents' attitudes towards depression and understanding of depression? 02:10 - Speaker 2 I think a lot of educational systems may need to start including some awareness about mental health, not in terms of just for psychology students, but actually in terms of all high school students. 02:29 And there are like one or two workshops that happen in some of the schools with regards to, like you know, support and all of those things, but actually nobody's talking about the symptoms and nobody's talking about what it looks like. It's almost like you know how people may feel that if you talk about it, then kids will start showing up the symptoms. But there's so many kids who are still showing up the symptoms, just that you know they don't know, they don't know what to call it, so then they end up calling it something else you know or they don't know where to go. So I think it needs to start as a very straightforward awareness campaign for adolescents talking about the symptoms, talking about everything in detail, and not just like one or two workshops about resilience and everything. I think people are just trying to put the positive spin to it. People are not talking about what is exactly going on okay, perfect. 03:29 - Speaker 1 Um, those are all the questions, so is there anything else you'd like to add? Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. Have a good, all the best, have a great rest of your morning. Thank you bye.

Ethical Implications of AI in Cancer Diagnostics: Patient and Physician Perspectives Word Count: 4858

Abstract Objective: As AI has become a growing influence in the world of medicine, both patients and physicians are concerned and question the ethical considerations (trust, reliability, etc) of AI in different fields of medicine, especially in important technologies like cancer diagnostics. While most studies identify the ethical constraints of AI, there remains a notable gap in what creates these ideological barriers. This study aimed to understand the current setbacks concerning patients and physicians regarding AI in cancer diagnostics. To fully understand what causes these withdrawals, it is fundamental to answer the question: To what extent do the ethical considerations of AI impact the patient and physicians’ ideologies toward cancer diagnostics? Method: The study conducted a mixed-method approach, in which it was hypothesized that there would be a significant difference in comfort levels toward AI in cancer diagnostics between younger and older participants, while the null hypothesis stated there would be no significant difference. To fully understand the patient’s ideologies between the different age groups, a questionnaire (from Google Forms) was used to identify the comfort/trust that the participants had with AI in that field of medicine. After collecting enough participants (n=56), 35 “young participants” aged 10-30 and 21 “older participants” aged 30+. Ultimately, after calculating the mean value for each question, the results were used to calculate the p-value of 0.979, which is much larger than 0.05, failing to reject the null hypothesis. Additionally, interviews were conducted with radiologists and oncologists with varying experiences with AI to understand the ideologies that physicians held toward AI in their field. There were 3 physicians interviewed, each one lasting from 15 to 30 minutes. Once all the

interviews were completed and transcribed, inductive coding was used to create four major themes: AI as a decision maker vs. a tool, human oversight, ethical concerns, and future integration. Each theme was filled with generalizations and direct quotes from each physician. Different colors were used to aid in identifying agreements (green) and disagreements (red) between the three participants. It was made clear that because of these differences in opinions, it may have highlighted that experience might stem from differences in ideologies. Conclusion: Ultimately, since the study’s quantitative research failed to reject the null hypothesis, it is clear that there is no significance in age differences that lead to ideologies toward AI in cancer diagnostics. However, after identifying a noticeable difference in responses based on physicians' ideologies, it can be concluded that there may be a possible explanation for ideologies based on AI experience.

Introduction With approximately 19.3 million new diagnoses and 10 million deaths worldwide as of 2020, cancer is one of the most serious health challenges in today’s society (Pulumati et al., 2023). Currently, cancer diagnostics has begun to shift to artificial intelligence (AI), through technologies like machine and deep learning to facilitate quicker and more precise detection (Uygun İlı̇ khan et al., 2024). AI's ability to analyze large amounts of medical data has improved patient care by increasing early detection rates. Additionally, healthcare organizations around the globe have collectively saved nearly 51 billion dollars because of AI support (Zamberlan, 2023). Regardless of AI's advantages, several ethical questions have been raised regarding AI’s development in the healthcare system. More specifically, conversations among patients and physicians have raised concerns about data privacy, patient autonomy, and the depersonalization

of healthcare (Wang et al., 2022). The role of AI in cancer diagnostics is still under debate among physicians. While some believe it will improve efficiency and accuracy, others are wary that it may reduce medical empathy and create liability issues (Longoni et al., 2019). Similarly, patients have shown both enthusiasm and hesitation; although AI can offer more rapid responses, concerns about algorithmic bias and fear of misdiagnosis have contributed to their resistance to accepting AI-driven care (Robertson et al., 2023). As AI advances, its acceptance in cancer diagnostics will depend on how well ethical concerns are mitigated. The extent to which patients and physicians will trust AI-driven tools will change the medical field forever (Herington et al., 2023). However, while current research has acknowledged internal conflicts regarding AI in the medical field, few studies have explored how these challenges arise and how we can surpass these pressing ethical challenges. Additionally, although some papers have identified external factors, such as gender, as influencing AI skepticism, these variables made no significant difference in the ideologies of patients and physicians (Hermann et al., 2022). This gap in the literature raises the question: To what extent do the ethical considerations of AI impact the patient and physicians’ ideologies toward cancer diagnostics?

Literature Review Ethical Considerations of AI in Cancer Diagnostics Following the Hippocratic Oath, medical professionals must prioritize the safety and confidentiality of their patients. However, in many fields of medicine, physicians have expressed growing concern over user safety, particularly patient data confidentiality.

Most AI databases collect information from previously provided user input (data) by asking simple questions about a patient case or inputting identifiable user details (Hamzelou, 2023). As most healthcare facilities integrate AI into their patient databases for better efficiency, responses are usually generated using past cases, which is considered confidential information. In 2015, 15% of global data breaches were linked to healthcare facilities (Zhang & Zhang, 2023). Given that such a significant number of breaches occur in the medical field, AI has attained a negative reputation. Due to unsupervised access to information, most medical professionals have grown cautious of using AI for cancer detection purposes overall (Lambert et al., 2023). Privacy concerns have also significantly diminished patients' trust and confidence in AI treatment (American Medical Association, 2025). In recent years, there has been a rise in cases in which medical professionals prioritize AI-generated responses over their clinical intuition. A recent paper by Jacobs et al. (2021) reported concerning data on doctors' overuse of AI and not trust in their profession. This has ultimately led to the belief that AI can be more trustworthy and direct with its answers (Hatherley, 2023). The growing prominence of AI has caused signs of distress and a lack of accountability, diminishing the once-trusted reliance on clinical professionals (Sauerbrei et al., 2023). These ethical challenges have not only affected clinical outcomes but also altered how both patients and physicians determine the evolution of AI in clinical applications.

Impact of AI on Patient and Physician Ideologies As AI continues to revolutionize the field of medicine, patients and physicians are beginning to reconsider their roles, values, and expectations in response to its growing influence. From the patient's perspective, a major concern is the lack of human empathy in AI care, medical

data being leaked or misused, and algorithmic biases in diagnosis and treatment (Cestonaro et al., 2023). Similarly, physicians have expressed unease toward AI’s rapid advancements in clinical applications, fearing that AI could surpass attributes of their profession, the vast amounts of patient information it collects, and the risk of possible errors produced by the program (Sauerbrei et al., 2023). In the last few years, patients have expressed uncertainty about trusting doctors who depend on AI-produced procedures, especially in critical decision-making situations. Patients are questioning the balance between human empathy and technological decisions (Tyson et al., 2023). In addition, it has been noted that younger generations are more willing to be diagnosed and treated with AI compared to older generations, despite already existing stigma (Benda et al., 2024). Ultimately, medical facilities prioritize giving patients the comfort and reliability they require, which makes hospitals wary of adopting this mode of healthcare. While the patient perspective highlights the fear of depersonalized and misused data information, physicians’ ideologies are shaped based on different professional concerns. In the field of cancer diagnostics, physicians have debated the usefulness of AI’s potential, anticipating that its widespread usage will damage the current clinical autonomy, accountability, and role in decision-making (Jiang et al., 2017). Emotional resistance, a major roadblock in AI integration, remains a significant barrier in AI integration (Mesko, 2017). Currently, approximately 35% of healthcare organizations plan to adopt AI in the next two years, with another 50% expected in the next five. However, only around 23.7% of physicians intend to adopt AI into their clinical applications (Mat Reffin et al., 2021). This gap in adoption highlights the ethical and clinical hesitancy that continues to slow the advancements of new technologies in medicine.

Shifts in the Doctor-Patient Relationship The doctor-patient relationship serves as the foundation for gathering, diagnosing, and providing personalized patient care (Goold, 1999). However, with the introduction of AI into clinical settings, researchers have raised concerns about the decline of human interactions in medicine, especially regarding the growth of AI applications. (Bauchet et al., 2016). The depolarization of patient care and the deteriorating trust between patients and physicians are the main ethical concerns for this transformation(Longoni et al., 2019). A lack of a strong doctor-patient relationship can be detrimental for the patients, particularly when they feel unsafe sharing their information, which could lead to misdiagnosis or a chance of mistreatment (Verghese et al., 2018). Furthermore, without a strong bond between professionals and their patients, the likelihood of medical errors may increase. These concerns have only grown since the COVID-19 pandemic, intensifying the general shortage of staffing and increasing time constraints for physicians (Robeznieks, 2023). Hence, the amount of workload will only increase, and the duration of appointments will shrink (Kingsford & Ambrose, 2024). Patients may find this type of experience to be rushed and unprofessional, bending the traditional doctor-patient relationship, which prioritizes empathy and care. Particularly, the mass shortage of doctors will result in fewer providers aiding in the rising patient load (Spoehr, 2024). In contrast, some physicians have highlighted that AI could be a possible solution rather than a threat. Cardiologist Nicola Davis defines artificial Intelligence as offering “the gift of time,” potentially allowing doctors to redirect their attention to in-need patients and reducing time doing routine diagnostics (Sauerbrei, 2023). The ongoing decline in healthcare workforce

density has decreased to approximately 12.9 million according to the World Health Organization (2009), making AI an immense supplemental tool for strained medical systems. However, given that the statistics were reported in 2009, the information could be considered to be predated in comparison to recent global health developments. These intersecting developments raise questions about whether or not AI will serve as a tool to help strengthen the work of physicians or inevitably widen the gap in human interactions by replacing them (Kim, 2019).

Medical Education and AI Literacy In the coming years, the medical field will move from being information-driven to AI-driven (Bajwa et al., 2021). In this case, future professionals will need to have prior knowledge about AI tools to responsibly process and integrate large amounts of data results into patient data (Wood et al., 2021). However, recent research has revealed that medical students, particularly in the UK, do not feel educated enough to work with AI programs (Sit et al., 2020). These students acknowledge the importance of AI’s growing potential, but many have said that they reported having underdeveloped skills in using AI as a proactive tool. In contrast, students who have received more AI guidance have expressed a greater level of confidence in utilizing AI in a medical situation (Sami et al., 2025). Similar to this, the Canadian Federation of Medical Students published a study on the importance of providing medical students with an AI-focused curriculum that teaches them not only what AI is, but also how to use it efficiently and safely for the benefit of both the patients and future doctors (Harish et al., 2019). The hesitation to use AI in the medical community highlights a current disparity. The lack of medical education focusing on the importance of AI is not growing at the pace of AI

innovation. While other professions begin to learn and advance in their integration of AI, the medical field has a notable resistance to this progression, putting the future of medicine at risk of falling behind (Briganti & Le Moine, 2020). In addition to preparing future physicians, it is just as important to improve patient AI literacy. As AI tools become prominent in the medical field, it is important for patients to understand how these technologies are influencing their diagnosis and treatment. With no type of clear communication, the prominent AI gap will continue to grow and slow down the progression of AI in medicine (Mesko, 2017). According to a report by Leah Chong et al. (2020), doctors’ decisions to accept or reject AI revolve around the influence of people’s confidence rather than their trust. This suggests that people who lack confidence in AI will either use it excessively or will not use it at all, which are both poor medical decisions. Reliance on AI can lead to acceptance of inaccurate outputs, whilst complete resistance may prevent opportunities for improvement in diagnosis and treatment. Similarly, a patient's understanding of AI’s role is crucial in ensuring that technological integration is effective. Improving patient AI literacy is not singularly based on correct education, but also empowering patients to interact and engage with the program with confidence and autonomy.

The Gap While prior research has looked at general attitudes toward AI in medicine (Sauerbrei et al., 2023), there continues to be a lack of understanding regarding the root causes behind differing ideologies between patients and physicians. Studies have explored how variables like gender, profession, and technical literacy impact AI acceptance (Lampert et al., 2023). However,

rather than producing reliable solutions that could help enhance AI integration in medicine, most research has reviewed AI as a concept, focusing on its limitations. Furthermore, the vast amount of research done on this topic is quite recent, making information quite limited or needing room for further investigation (Khan et al., 2023). The role of generational disparities is one understudied area of research which this study aims to address. Generational differences can affect a variety of factors such as ethical concerns, level of trust, and biases. Research Question: To what extent do the ethical considerations of AI impact the patient and physicians’ ideologies toward cancer diagnostics? Hypothesis: There is a significant difference in comfort levels toward AI in cancer diagnostics between younger and older participants.

Methodology The purpose of the study aimed to identify generational differences in attitudes toward AI. According to earlier studies, such as Natalie Benda et al. (2024), there are gender-based disparities in the acceptance of AI, especially in applications regarding mental health, where a higher percentage of female respondents were more hesitant to acknowledge the advantages of AI (Benda et al., 2024). Additionally, Barbul et al. (2023) conducted research dividing the study by age groups from 30 and below and 30 and above to fully understand the difference in attitude individuals had regarding AI as a whole. This study draws influence from Barbul et al.’s age division, containing a similar split of looking at the comfort levels of participants from ages 10-30 and 30+ to investigate any generational differences. The age of 30 is often considered the

age threshold between younger adults who have grown alongside digital integration, whereas older adults have had less exposure, causing them to adapt to this digital revolution. This division will highlight contrasts that the two different generational populations have about ethical perspectives on AI in cancer diagnostics. A mixed-methods method was used to address the suggested research question. This study investigates the external variable of age to comprehend the foundation behind these ideologies. Age was chosen as a variable because prior research has shown that a major factor dividing the opinions of AI is ageism, which is defined as the biased, stigmatized and biased assumptions about how different age groups use AI technologies (Stypinska, 2023). As stated by Mostaq Rony et al. (2025), older individuals are often believed to have a negative outlook toward AI, especially in terms of diagnostic treatment and patient privacy, which may influence trust in AI in medicine. On the contrary, younger individuals have increasingly positive beliefs about AI’s efficiency and have greater comfort with the program treating them. This generational divide can play a key role in analyzing the ethical concerns that shape patient and physician perspectives. The research consists of two primary methods to answer the hypothesis and the null hypothesis. Hypothesis (H1): There is a significant difference in comfort levels toward AI in cancer diagnostics between younger and older participants. Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant difference in comfort levels toward AI in cancer diagnostics between younger and older participants. These hypotheses were investigated through a questionnaire designed to assess patients’ attitudes toward AI in medicine, as well as structured interviews with physicians to comprehend the professional viewpoint regarding current and future applications of AI in their field of medicine.

Questionnaire Design and Distribution Inspired by Mohammed Khalid-Al Medfa et al. (2023), who polled roughly around 100 participants regarding their opinions on AI’s role in medicine, a questionnaire was developed to learn how patients perceive AI in various medical settings Categorical questions ranging from options “unlikely”, “likely”, and “unsure” were used in the original survey to record participants' comfort levels through the variable gender. Convenience sampling opposed to random sampling, was used to distribute a questionnaire based on this framework to students and faculty at a private international school in the Middle East, who were between the ages of 15 to 60. The school’s newsletter was used to notify and remind potential participants in order to ensure patient participation. Parent consent forms were requested for minors, and interested students had to read and sign informed consent forms. (see appendices A and B). After gathering an adequate amount of student responses, the focus shifted to faculty, who were similarly requested to complete consent forms before participation. Participants were asked to complete the survey in a quiet environment, either at home or at school, which took approximately four to six minutes. The questionnaire (see Appendix C) included demographic questions (age and gender) followed by nine distinct situational applications of AI in medicine, whether AI functions autonomously or as an aid for medical professionals. The respondents rated their comfort levels from “very uncomfortable” to “very comfortable”. Google Sheets was used to analyze data by age group and determine the percentage of users who were comfortable in specific situations.

Structured Interviews with Physicians In addition to the questionnaire, structured interviews were conducted with physicians who specialized in oncology, radiology, and cancer care to discover more about their opinions on the present and future applications of AI in their respective fields. The format and question style were modelled after Matthew R Allen et al., a cellular biologist at the University of Indiana, who utilized open-ended questions to establish thematic trends through interviews (Allen et al., 2024). Although Allen’s research primarily focused on cellular biology, the methodology provided an ideal framework to collect detailed physician responses. Emails with a thorough introduction and research description were used to recruit participants. Three physicians agreed to participate, and organized interviews were held and recorded via Google Meet, with meetings lasting up to an hour. The interviews consisted of seven predetermined open-ended questions regarding AI in cancer diagnostics, with follow-up questions varying based on the participant's responses (see Appendix D for the predetermined questions). Participants were asked a variety of questions about how AI is being used in their field, ethical concerns, future integration, and the impacts of patient-physician relationships. The responses varied depending on whether the physician agreed or disagreed with particular AI scenarios, providing insight into the limitations and ethical concerns associated with AI’s integration into oncology. To manually transcribe each interview, inductive coding was utilized. Based on similarities, differences, and relevance to the study’s research question, key phrases and concepts were highlighted and categorized into overarching themes. To narrow the themes, when physicians repeatedly discussed the same idea or when two or more physicians agreed or disagreed about it, major themes were established. Overall, four major themes were created from

this process: AI as a tool vs. a decision-maker, human oversight, ethical concerns, and future integration.

Justification for Methodological Approach A questionnaire was considered over alternative approaches to effectively identify observational trends in participants’ attitudes. Due to time constraints, it would not have been practical to conduct individual interviews with a similar quantity. Furthermore, the survey’s design made quantitative analysis possible, producing trends in AI adoption by age. On the other hand, qualitative data from an interview-based technique would not have allowed for the same statistical comparison that the quantitative survey approach did. To ensure that the questionnaire was reliable, a pretest was conducted before creating the final version. The pre-test used the same survey questions as the final questionnaire and aimed to eliminate any type of potential biases and unclear questions. A doctor at the international school and a technologist specializing in AI reviewed the pretest survey to ensure that each question was clear and neutral. While there was no pre-test appendix, all suggested feedback was used for final revisions to improve the final version. For the physician component, structured interviews were selected because a mixed-method approach alone would not have sufficiently answered the research question. Direct communication with medical experts through interviews allowed for the drawing of broader findings about the attitudes of doctors and the ethical issues with AI’s current position in cancer diagnostics. Since all participants were licensed professionals, their responses were considered credible sources of information.

Results As shown in Figure 1, the mean comfort levels based on ten AI situational questions measured using a 1-5 point Likert scale, 1 being “very uncomfortable" and 5 being “very comfortable", varied in responses between the two different age groups. Compared to their older counterparts (30+), younger participants (10-30) indicated slightly higher comfort levels for the majority of questions. For example, the younger groups’ means were much higher in Q2 and Q10 (2.688 and 2.486) than those of the older group (2.391 and 2.228). However, for Q3 and Q6, the mean values were much larger for the older group (4.288 and 4.095) compared to the younger group (4.0 and 4.085). These values were further analyzed using an unpaired t-test to identify if the difference in responses, from the younger age group when compared to the older age group, was statistically significant. Ultimately, there is no significant difference in ideologies between age groups, as indicated by the p-value of 0.979, which is substantially larger than the threshold of 0.05. Thus, the alternate hypothesis - that there would be a significant difference in comfort levels between younger and older participants - was rejected, and the null hypothesis - there is no significant difference in comfort levels toward AI in cancer diagnostics between age groups - failed to be rejected.

Figure 1 Older Group Versus Younger Group Mean Comfort Levels

Note. This figure reports the mean comfort levels of 10 different situational questions, compared between two different age groups (10-30) and (30+). This data was used in an unpaired t-test to determine whether there was a significant difference between the two age groups.

As shown in Figure 2, the bar graph visually compares the difference in comfort levels between the two different age groups across all situational questions. In six out of the ten questions, the younger population's mean value (the blue bars) reported slightly higher levels of comfort than the older population's mean value (the red bars). The younger respondents discord significantly higher than older respondents in questions 2 and 10, which represented the biggest deviation. However, the replies to questions three, six, seven, and nine were greater for older respondents. This illustration also highlights that despite the disparities in scores, both age

groups’ comfort levels were comparatively high, with the majority of the values falling between 3 and 4.5

Figure 2 Average AI Comfort Levels Across the Younger and Older Groups

Note. Bar graph comparing average AI comfort levels across 10 survey questions between younger (10-30) and older (30+) respondents. Younger participants reported higher marks than older participants.

Physician responses were analyzed through inductive coding, allowing for themes to be created in agreement with what respondents discussed within their interviews. (Table 1) The interviews were categorized into four different categories: AI as a tool vs. a decision-maker, human oversight, ethical concerns, and future integration. Additionally, color coding was used to clarify the level of agreement among the physicians: green illustrates agreement among all three

physicians, red demonstrates disagreement among the physicians, and black represents neutral comments or descriptive statements. Table 1 Summary of physician responses to structured interviews

Note: Summary of responses organized by inductive coding (4 themes). Responses by physicians highlight different perspectives on the role of AI in various themes: AI in diagnostics, human oversight, ethical concerns, and future integration.

Though the three physicians largely agreed that AI should serve as an assistive tool rather than a decision-maker, the emphasis and tone of each viewpoint varied. For instance, Physician 2 highlighted AI’s growing role while expressing concerns about privacy issues, whereas Physician 1 emphasized the importance of clinical judgment over manual oversight. Physician 3, meanwhile, expressed optimism, focusing on the potential benefits of AI and its broader

systemic implications. These varying responses suggest that experience and years of practice with AI may shape physicians’ attitudes and comfort levels toward AI.

Analysis It was initially hypothesized that age would have a significant impact on patient ideologies toward AI in medicine, with anticipated generational trends shown through patient responses. However, the results from the unpaired t-test (p>0.05) indicated no statistically significant difference between age groups, suggesting that age does not explain the differences in patient perspectives. Instead, while age did not have a statistically significant effect, qualitative findings suggest that an alternate factor, experience with AI, does. Physicians who had taken professional development or used AI in their profession had responses that regarded AI's positive impact on the patient's experiences and the larger roles they play in benefiting doctors. They believed it would play a significant role in the future of medicine. “AI can help streamline diagnosis and treatment, allowing doctors to focus more on patient care and complex decision-making,” said physician 3. This suggests that physicians who are more experienced with AI may be more inclined to use AI since they value the program as a tool to strengthen the physician's abilities. On the other hand, professionals who did not know much about AI expressed that AI will most likely remain a tool that needs human oversight, emphasizing that AI cannot replace clinical and ethical decision-making. Physician 1 noted, “AI is a helpful tool, but without clinical judgement, it could lead to more errors than it prevents.” This perspective identifies a concern among physicians that AI cannot fully take over human decision-making in difficult medical cases, emphasizing the idea that ethical needs still need to be overseen by human decisions.

These overall findings conclude that experience with AI, rather than age, plays a substantial role in AI acceptance. Improving AI literacy and education can help individuals not only understand how AI programs operate but also how they functionally improve the healthcare system in multiple ways. Future research should explore how exposure to AI experiences can impact the ideologies of both physicians and patients, specifically looking at how levels of AI literacy impact both physician and patient willingness to interact with AI in a clinical setting.

Discussion Implications This study has identified that experience with AI, rather than age, may play a more influential role in shaping the attitudes between physicians and patients toward AI in cancer diagnostics. This finding contradicts the assumption that generational differences are slowing the process of AI adoption in cancer diagnostics. Medical and educational institutions can benefit from the study’s findings by focusing on providing hands-on experience with AI programs through training and courses, instead of prioritizing breaking generational stigma. For example, integrating AI training courses into medical programs will not only allow physicians to better understand what AI is as a diagnostic tool but also how they can safely and efficiently treat their patients. Similarly, this understanding also applies to patients, many of whom have voiced concerns regarding privacy and trust concerns. Patients’ doubts and anxieties can be resolved by increasing AI literacy through education initiatives and clinical guidance, which will help boost confidence in AI’s role in the healthcare system. Once both parties, patients and physicians, can coherently understand the limitations and advantages of AI, decisions can be made ethically and

collaboratively. Ultimately, improving AI literacy for patients and physicians may allow for a more responsible and safer usage of AI in cancer diagnostics. Limitations This study faced some limitations, one of which was the small sample size, especially for the qualitative interview, which only included three physicians (radiologists and oncologists). Since the study focused on a narrow field of medicine with an already small population of physicians, this may limit the overall generalization of results to the overall population of cancer specialists. If a larger range of physicians were collected (different fields or more cancer specialists) could have offered a better representation of the medical community. Furthermore, survey respondents were drawn from a private international school using convenience sampling as opposed to random selection, which reduces the patient population’s representativeness. Utilizing random sampling would have achieved a more varied participant pool, improving the generalizability of the dataset and providing a broader perspective on patient ideologies. Lastly, because AI in healthcare is rather controversial, some participants might have provided responses that supported their own prejudices and views, which could have influenced how critical and opinionated answers were. To mitigate bias in future studies, researchers should ensure that both qualitative and quantitative research questions are open-ended to help reduce the possibility of pre-existing biases. Despite these limitations, the study’s methodological approach and strong alignment with the research objective and data collection remain valid. By examining trends and patterns across multiple data sources, the mixed methodology improved comprehension and reliability of the study’s conclusions. Moreover, although the sample size for the qualitative research was limited,

the responses received from the cancer care physicians' high-quality perspectives ensured that all findings were specific and relevant to this field. Therefore, while the study may not provide generalizable information for all ages, the conclusion contributes valid and informative data that can be used within the target population. Further research Future research could expand on this study by looking at additional variables, which could influence trust, such as AI literacy and education. Investigating how these factors play a role in patient and physician ideologies could provide a deeper understanding of what influences AI acceptance in clinical applications. Additionally, incorporating a longitudinal approach to examine how attitudes may change over time with exposure and education to technological advancements.

Conclusion

The findings of this study reveal that both patient and physician experiences with AI may play a crucial role in ideological responses toward AI cancer diagnostics. While AI continues to revolutionize the medical field, AI adoption continues to remain a challenge due to persistent ethical concerns, physician resistance, and a lack of trust in clinical autonomy. Despite AI’s permissible advancements in diagnostic efficiency and accuracy, fears regarding misused data and a lack of trust in AI have prevented AI integration in clinical applications. These revelations have made it clear how vital it is for medical institutions to develop strategies to better mitigate a balance between technological advancements and ethical concerns. Future studies should examine how different experiences with AI can influence physicians and patients, more specifically, how exposure levels can impact notions of ethics, acceptance, and trust. Further research in this field of conversation can help contribute to

creating a better framework for AI in the healthcare system, while also maintaining integrity and ethical values in clinical practice.

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31 Appendix A: Participant Consent Form

Surveying the Opinion on AI Application in the Medical Field

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR Nicholas Roy American School of Dubai nroy.25@asdubai.org

PURPOSE OF STUDY

You are being asked to take part in a research study. Before you decide to participate in this study, it is important that you understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please read the following information carefully. Please ask the researcher if there is anything that is not clear or if you need more information. The purpose of this study is to understand the difference in opinions towards AI applications through various age group responses.

STUDY PROCEDURES

The study will be a questionnaire with 10 real-world examples in which the participant will rank their comfort level with AI taking control from uncomfortable to comfortable. Your information will be used to understand the relationship between AI technology and patients. The survey will approximately take 10 minutes and will only be one session.

RISKS

Some questions may cause emotional distress or “triggering”. In this case you may decline to answer any or all questions and you may terminate your involvement at any time if you choose. BENEFITS There will be no direct benefit to you for your participation in this study. However, I hope that the information obtained from this study may help further the understanding on the future of AI application use.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Your responses to this survey will be anonymous. Please do not write any identifying information on your survey. Every effort will be made by the researcher to preserve your confidentiality including the following: -

Assigning code numbers for participants that will be used on all research notes

and documents -

Participant data will be kept confidential except in cases where the researcher is legally

obligated to report specific incidents. These incidents include, but may not be limited to, incidents of abuse and suicide risk.

CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have questions at any time about this study, or you experience adverse effects as the result of participating in this study, you may contact the researcher whose contact information is provided on the first page. If you have questions regarding your rights as a research participant, or if problems arise which you do not feel you can discuss with our high school councillors.

VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION

Your participation in this study is voluntary. It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part in this study. If you decide to take part in this study, you will be asked to sign a consent form. After you sign the consent form, you are still free to withdraw at any time and without giving a reason. Withdrawing from this study will not affect your relationship with the researcher, if any. If you withdraw from the study before data collection is completed, your data will be returned to you or destroyed.

Date of Submission Month, Year, Date

Signature (last name, first name) (insert)

34 Appendix B: Parental Consent Form

I hereby voluntarily grant permission for my child to participate in the research study conducted by Nicholas Roy. I release and discharge the researcher(s), institution, and associated personnel from any and all claims, demands, or causes of action that may arise in connection with my child's participation in this study. I understand that the study involves completing a 10-20 minute survey regarding situations in which artificial intelligence (AI) is used in medicine. In the survey, participants will be asked to rate their comfort level with various AI applications in medical settings. I agree that the information collected may be used for research purposes in a confidential manner and that my child's identity will remain anonymous in all published results. In case of an emergency, I give permission for the researcher(s) to contact medical professionals if necessary. The information provided in this form is complete and accurate. By signing this form on, I confirm that I have fully reviewed and understood the contents of this consent form.

Date of Submission Month, Year, Date

Signature (last name, first name) (insert)

35 Appendix C: Full Patient Questionnaire

This will be a 13 question survey, to each question please provide your comfort level to each scenario. 1 - very uncomfortable; 2 - uncomfortable; 3 - unsure; 4 - comfortable; 5 - very comfortable . "Comfortable" is referred to your confidence in which AI can execute the specific situation ** If at any moment you feel distressed or uncomfortable you may end the test and not continue with the survey**

1. What is your gender? a. Male b. Female 2. What is your age? a. 10-20 b. 20’s-30’s c. 40’s-50’s d. 60+ 3. How much do you use AI weekly? a. Never b. 1-2 times a week c. 3-4 times a week d. 5-6 times a week e. Daily 4. During an imaging report, an AI algorithm generated and analyzed your medical history and symptoms, suggesting potential cancer diagnoses before consulting with a doctor.

a. Very uncomfortable b. Uncomfortable c. Unsure d. Comfortable e. Very Comfortable 5. In a clinic equipped with a new, fully autonomous (the entire process is completed without any involvement from a doctor) AI diagnostic system. The AI independently gathers information about symptoms, orders and analyzes tests, and identifies masses in organs. Based on its findings, the AI identifies the stage of cancer and recommends a treatment plan. a. Very uncomfortable b. Uncomfortable c. Unsure d. Comfortable e. Very Comfortable 6. Researchers use an AI system to identify potential compounds for a new antiviral (medication that fights against viruses) drug. The AI analyzes millions of molecules virtually, evaluating their potential effectiveness, reducing years of research to months. a. Very uncomfortable b. Uncomfortable c. Unsure d. Comfortable e. Very Comfortable 7. During an X-Ray scanning, an AI system assisted radiologists by highlighting areas of concern in your imaging tests to improve cancer detection. This includes identifying, and suggesting further steps in treatment planning. a. Very uncomfortable b. Uncomfortable

c. Unsure d. Comfortable e. Very Comfortable 8. In an intensive care unit (ICU), an AI monitors your vitals in real time. It predicts the likelihood of sepsis (life-threatening condition) developing 12 hours in advance based on analytic data, allowing doctors to intervene early. a. Very uncomfortable b. Uncomfortable c. Unsure d. Comfortable e. Very Comfortable 9. An AI powered system assists with patient documentation by transcribing conversations between the doctor and patient directly into electronic health records. The AI system's organization and efficiency reduces the number of errors and saves time for doctors. a. Very uncomfortable b. Uncomfortable c. Unsure d. Comfortable e. Very Comfortable 10. An AI tool autonomously examines digitalized biopsy slides to identify cancerous cells. It highlights area of concern and provides probability of uncontrollable cell production, allowing pathologists to confirm the diagnosis faster. a. Very uncomfortable b. Uncomfortable c. Unsure d. Comfortable e. Very Comfortable 11. A psychiatrist uses AI platform to analyze patterns in a patients speech and text communication during therapy sessions. The AI identifies signs of depression or anxiety severity and suggests different personalized patient treatment. a. Very uncomfortable

b. Uncomfortable c. Unsure d. Comfortable e. Very Comfortable 12. Before performing a complex orthopedic surgery, a surgeon uses an AI tool to review 3D models of the patient’s anatomy created from CT scans. The AI provides recommendations for incision points and predicts potential complications based on the patient’s medical history. a. Very uncomfortable b. Uncomfortable c. Unsure d. Comfortable e. Very Comfortable 13. A critically ill patient is under the care of fully autonomous AI system in a hospital specializing in organ transplantation. The AI reviews the patient’s medical history, monitors current health status, and assesses their likelihood of surviving the procedure. Based on its analysis, the AI assigns the patient a priority level for the transplant list, determining whether they will receive the organ ahead of other candidates. Throughout the entire process, no human intervention occurs in the decision making, as the hospital relies entirely on the AI’s intuition. a. Very uncomfortable b. Uncomfortable c. Unsure d. Comfortable e. Very Comfortable

Appendix D: Structured Interview Questions 1. What are your thoughts on AI in medicine a. How do you currently use it in your field? b. Why haven’t you used it? What hesitations do you have? 2. How do you think AI might impact the patient-physician relationship a. Do you think AI can still maintain the relationship, and how? 3. What skills or training do you think future physicians will need to effectively work with AI in the future? a. Should there be courses that medical students should be required to take? 4. Are there areas where you feel AI has exceeded expectations or fallen short? 5. How do you envision AI’s role evolving in the next decade, particularly in terms of balancing automation with maintaining the human touch in patient care? 6. From an ethical standpoint, what are your biggest concerns with AI? Is it biased and data privacy? Or the lack of human decision-making (more errors than humans)

Examining the extent of the existence of political polarization among American expatriate adolescents living in the UAE Word count: 4178

Abstract Political polarization in the United States is an issue, specifically the ongoing spike among American adolescents since the 1960s. This study aimed to address this issue among American expat adolescents (14-18) living in the UAE to better understand the underlying factors and the extent of it. A mixed method was chosen to answer that question, which gathered qualitative and quantitative data through 8 structured interviews and 30 survey responses. The survey was derived from three questionnaires handed out during the 2016, 2020, and 2024 elections in the United States by the American National Election Studies. A survey with 20 questions was sent to all volunteered American citizens between the ages of 14 and 18 attending the American School of Dubai, a private international school in the UAE. Through performing an unpaired t-test for the quantitative section, it was found that political polarization exists to a slight extent since only the p-value of 6 out of 20 questions was statistically significant. The qualitative section that was analyzed through qualitative coding found that political polarization, more specifically affective polarization, exists to a significant extent. The findings of this study illustrated that political polarization is not limited to simply the U.S. and suggest that, despite the geographical separation, adolescents can still be politically polarized. Implications include educating students more about politics to avoid tense conversations, increasing polarization.

Examining the extent of the existence of political polarization among American expatriate adolescents living in the UAE Currently, it has been observed that ethnic groups in the United States feel underrepresented in American politics, posing an issue (Bradley & Chauchard, 2022). Since the Voting Rights Act was implemented in 1965, there has been an issue with equal representation of minorities during elections (Ricca & Trebbi, 2022). This is even more significant when 40% of the American population is composed of Americans of ethnic background, while only 23% of the national congress is composed of them (Ricca and Trebbi, 2022). Although these ethnic groups make up a large amount of these votes, many American citizens' voices are not being heard. According to the article “The Ethnic Origins of Affective Polarization: Statistical Evidence From Cross-National Data,”, this problem has negatively impacted marginalized groups in the United States because they are being underrecognized (Bradley & Chauchard, 2022). A possible cause of this issue is due to the disproportionate representation of ethnic minorities when compared to their population demographics in the United States (Bradley & Chauchard, 2022). This leads to political, or affective polarization, which furthers the gap and separation between the two political parties (Bradley & Chauchard, 2022). Affective polarization is defined by the Journal of Annals of the International Communication Association as the extent to which individuals like or dislike their political allies and opponents (Kubin & von Sikorski, 2021). This problem is what causes minority populations to be underrepresented in American politics, which leads to their problems and needs not being addressed, which exacerbates the gap and separation further as politicians fail to overcome it (Kubin & von Sikorski, 2021). An explanation for this issue can be found by identifying the underlying factors of affective polarization to address the root cause. The underlying factors are composed of negative campaigning and misinformation belief through social media, which influence partisans as well as the population and leads to affective

polarization. Therefore, with that being said, to better understand the scope of this study, the question arises: What are the underlying factors of affective polarization in the United States that lead to the underrepresentation of ethnic minorities, which also include Americans living in the UAE? The objective of this literature review is to highlight and compare the different measured underlying factors of political polarization to understand why it is still so prevalent in society, especially in the current elections when a significant amount of research has been done regarding it over time. This paper will analyze the two main current underlying factors identified and lead to forming a conclusion regarding this study.

Literature Review II. Misinformation Belief According to the Journal of Political Behavior, there is a relationship between misinformation belief and affective polarization, which is exacerbated by political polarization (Jenke, 2023). As stated by Jenke (2023), social media campaigns as well as the widespread misinformation online, have expanded the magnitude of political polarization. This is an important underlying factor of political polarization because when one feels very strongly towards their party, they tend to dismiss and feel extremely negatively about the opposing party, which leads to the concept of misinformation belief. Misinformation belief is an emotional collusion that affects the way partisans react, or perceive information that is presented to them. For example, when partisans, no matter the party, encounter political news, they are likely to associate positive news with their party and the negatives with the opposing party, which leads to incorrect and biased perceptions of political news and, therefore, leading to misinformation beliefs. This specific phenomenon under the concept of misinformation belief is called “hot

cognition,” which refers to how emotions hinder logical perceptions of political concepts (Jenke, 2023). An additional factor that lies under the same concept is “motivated reasoning” (Jenke, 2023). Motivated reasoning is the concept of individuals researching information that support their beliefs. This means that the individuals do not search for any additional pieces of information, demonstrating that they do not believe in the validity of any perspective but their own. This is also called “confirmation bias” (Jenke, 2023). They reject any information that contradicts their belief and supports the opposing side. To conclude, affective polarization leads to partisans believing misinformation regarding their own beliefs and parties due to bias rather than misinformation presented to them regarding the opposing party. As a result of examining three different hypotheses throughout the paper presented above, the results showed that an increase in political polarization is associated with an increase in the acceptance of misinformation online by partisans. III. Negative Campaigning As the prevalence of affective polarization increased over time, new ideas and hypotheses regarding it arose. Affective polarization has been on the rise since the 1970s, which raised concern as it threatened democracy and social integration (Phillips, 2022). Technological advancements highly influenced this phenomenon (Jenke, 2023). For example, according to a study in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, the major cause of political polarization was the “realignment of party affiliations that began in the 1960s” (Oberlander, 2024). However, as time went on, in the 2020s, this changed to being a social media influence which caused misinformation belief and led to further separation (Jenke, 2023). It is imperative to recognize that historical events were not irrelevant in influencing the underlying factors. For example, as further stated by a study published in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, the fact that

African Americans were obtaining voting rights and demanding equality caused them to feel guarded towards the conservative party which favored the Americans of Western backgrounds. This created more tension and segregation between the parties, making ethnic Americans feel underrepresented and led to political polarization (Oberlander, 2024). Moreover, during the current period, more current events such as the recent COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the differences in ideologies, making legislation regarding the issue increasingly tense between the two political parties (Oberlander, 2024). Although this study does not pertain to high school students, it provides relevant data regarding the political climate in the United States and can broadly apply to the topic. Over time, different methods for campaigning and leading political debates arose, including, negative campaigning, which happened to be one of the main underlying factors of affective polarization (Martin & Nai, 2024). In a paper by Martin & Nai (2024), published in the Journal of Electoral Studies, it was found that negative campaigning is a key factor in political polarization. As defined by Danielle Martin and Alessandro Nai, Negative campaigning is when parties send political messages that encompass attacking a person based on their traits and issues, which is a very common form of campaigning today (Martin & Nai, 2024). This is because it grabs the audience's attention and leads to augmented voter turnout; however, while doing so leads to discontentment among electorate candidates, “political cynicism” further heightens affective polarization among partisans (Martin & Nai, 2024). Negative campaigning is associated with increased partisan dislike (Martin & Nai, 2024). This is due to the fact that it depends on how voters perceive information that is presented to them by their preferred party, and if that information is presented through negative campaigning, then those negative messages are favored and the feeling of dislike towards the opposing party is increased (Martin & Nai, 2024). This is because this form of campaigning aims to reduce

sympathy towards the opposing party and increase loyalty towards their own, which simply further segregates the two main political parties, leading to increased affective polarization. The way these theories move research forward is by solving certain gaps, they create other ones. This is due to the fact that there are always limitations to proposed causes for issues such as these. For example, by increasing feelings of loyalty towards their party and increasing voter turnout, they increase affective polarization, and the cycle of underrepresentation of minorities in American politics continues. With all this, through all research it was found that the underlying factors of affective polarization necessary to address the root cause. However, a lack of research was available pinpointing this issue in high school students, or showing the prevalence of this feeling among minority Americans living in the UAE. This calls for research on the topic, ensuring that both adolescence and expat minorities are also accounted for within the body of knowledge. The underrepresentation of ethnic minorities in American politics is a major contributing factor to the presence of affective polarization and has occurred differently over time (Bradley & Chauchard, 2022). This is because it further enlarges the gap between the political parties, and its major underlying factors, such as misinformation, belief, and negative campaigning, are the proposed causes for it (Jenke, 2023; Martin & Nai, 2024). However, upon solving this gap, the creation of another gap arose and that was whether this existed among American expat adolescents living in the UAE. Furthermore, the prevalence of this instance is unclear among high school students living abroad, creating a knowledge gap. This raises a broader problem of political polarization which “erodes democracy” leading to “gridlock and careening” a term that refers to a type of government dysfunction that causes separation and extreme policy changes which ultimately leads to democratic collapse under new, old, and dominant groups. This results in the loss of public trust and the rise of authoritarianism according to The American Behavioral

Scientist (McCoy et al., 2018). Interest in this study emerged through observing the behavior of students during the mock elections organized by an American international school in the UAE. Particularly since, according to the American Political Science Review, this problem has been on a spike among adolescents since the 1960s (Tyler & Iyengar, 2022). It was seen that this strong sense of partisan belief also existed among adolescents. This prompted curiosity as to whether this existed specifically among American expat adolescents to see if this problem is limited to national settings only or simply the product of domestic political discourse. Observing the tension rising between students due to the difference in political opinion and strong partisanship led to the question: To what extent does political polarization exist among American expat adolescents, ages 14 to18, of all ethnic backgrounds living in the UAE? For this study, the null hypothesis was that political polarization does not exist to a significant extent in this population, and the alternative hypothesis stated that political polarization does exist to a significant extent in this population.

Methodology Quantitative A mixed method was chosen to answer the proposed research question, which gathered qualitative and quantitative data through structured interviews and survey research. The survey was derived from three sources (refer to appendix F item) handed out during the 2016, 2020, and 2024 elections in the United States by the American National Election Studies, also known as ANES (American National Election Studies). The surveys were used to measure the extent and existence of political polarization in the United States during the election timelines stated above. Although it is not explicitly stated how they have done so, according to Boxell and colleagues

from the Research Journal of Economic Sciences by PNAS, the feelings thermometer is one of how political polarization is quantified through measuring the in and out party sentiment. The affective polarization, in this case, is measured by calculating the sum of the mean differences between affirmation towards one's party and the opposing party, which is taken separately for Republicans and Democrats (Boxell et al., 2017). The party thermometer measures the respondents' ratings of the Republican and Democratic parties, and the candidate thermometer, which measures the rating of respondents toward political candidates (Tyler & Iyengar, 2022). However, out of all the quantifications stated above, the feelings thermometer, which was used in this method, has proven to be the most commonly used to analyze participants' responses (Boxell et al., 2017). The responses of the participants will indicate their favorability and/or disapproval towards polarization, then the feeling thermometer will scale their responses from 0 to 100 (100 being polarized). For this methodology, the thermometer measurement scale was followed. This is through studying the respondents' data. An example of a question that was derived from this on the survey was: After reading the name of the political party below, please rate it on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means you strongly dislike that party and 10 means that you strongly like that party; The Democratic party. The respondents are then given the choice of rating it from 0 to 10 which is the same format. The same question was repeated for the Republican party as well as other inquiries (refer to Appendix Item A). Quantitative portion: Survey The first section of this methodology which includes the survey research was quantitative. A survey with 20 questions was sent to all volunteer American citizen participants between the ages of 14 and 18 attending the American School of Dubai, a private international school in the UAE, since that was the population being studied. The survey included questions

elicited from, and similar to those in the three ANES questionnaires provided above. The questions inquire about political problems that concern the respondents the most, their involvement in American politics, and their sentiment towards their opposing party (refer to Appendix Item A). The reason why these questions were specifically chosen was because it directly demands the sentiment of partisans towards their opposition, which is what political polarization is. The implications of this include allowing for the collection of generalized data in a short amount of time as well as making practical political analyses. However, the limitations to this are respondent bias and offending participants in any way due to the sensitivity and controversy of the topic, which was overcome through carefully formulating sentences and avoiding using any kind of adjectives or expressions that put a spin on the question and hindered the participants from responding truthfully. Other limitations include accounting for diverging perspectives and confounding variables, such as those who are uneducated or interested in politics. Qualitative portion: Structured interviews The qualitative section of this methodology was conducted through structured interviews following the completion of the survey. Structured interviews were implemented in order to avoid the interview becoming a conversation, which could potentially lead to respondent bias, where the participants will give answers they believe the researcher wants to hear rather than being true to their standpoint. If the participant wanted clarification, the question was repeated, but not reword or simplified. This was also implemented in order to avoid respondent bias. The interviews contained 20 open-ended questions, which were structured in a careful manner in order to avoid adjectives, or subjectively worded questions, leading to potential bias. Furthermore, an example question included: What factors do you take into account when

choosing your news source? Instead of inquiring whether they take into account credibility or alignment with their political beliefs more when choosing a news source. Additionally, asking: What conversations or factors contribute to differences between Democrats and Republicans? Instead of writing about what conversation makes it hard for the two parties to find common ground, already assuming that there is a division. Some of the questions include asking participants what they observed during the mock elections that took place in school. For example, one of the interview questions is: Did you vote in the school mock elections, why, and why not? Then, What did you observe about the behavior of the voters during the mock elections in school? This was done to avoid explicitly asking the participants if tension arose from the mock election, instilling the idea that there was tension. This was also employed to make a correlation between the political polarization in the U.S. and schools. Then asking: Were you public about your participation and who you voted for if you voted? This is to show how polarization causes many to not be open about who they voted for, as they are afraid of the judgment and opinions of others (refer to Appendix Item B). Hence, why when asked for the list of people who voted during the mock election, the school stated that it was confidential information. The reason why many of the questions demanded about the mock elections was to make a connection and see if the students had similar behavior to the polarized voters during the real elections in the fall of 2024 in the United States. The implication of carrying out interviews is that, in addition to quantitative data, it allows the researcher to obtain in-depth responses to have a better understanding of the political analysis and the extent of polarization. This is because the mock school election was very accurate in mimicking the real 2024 elections as well as mimicking the voter behaviors during elections in general. This is due to understanding whether it is prevalent or exists in the research scope.

Recruiting participants The participants were gathered through an email explaining the purpose of this study, sharing information about it, and explicitly mentioning that the only people eligible to participate are American citizens and/or passport holders via an official grade group chat. Participants were also informed of the conduct of the study through the student bulletin shared every Friday (refer to appendix item G). The survey that was linked was a student consent form that had the parental consent form linked in it for those participating who are below the age of 18 (refer to appendix items C and D). Only after the parental consent form was completed were the students sent the main survey. The consent form stated explicitly that the students participating are not allowed to share any of the information they give or their responses with any of the other respondents until the end of the methodology. The students were also assured that they would not be identified throughout any part of this study. Upon the completion of the interview and survey, the students were sent a debriefing form, which allowed the students to withdraw any of the responses given throughout this experiment to conclude the methodology (refer to Appendix item H). The expert advisor was also requested to mention this study and information regarding it during classes and place the link to all the consent forms and surveys on the lesson slides. Attempts to put the link to the forms on the digital high school bulletin were also made to gain attention. The interviews followed the surveys, and only those who were invited to participate completed the survey and the dates and timings will be discussed for this. According to the article ‘Learning to Dislike Your Opponents: Political Socialization in the Era of Polarization’ by Cambridge University Press, adolescents today are just as polarized as adults, with this sentiment being on a spike since the 1960s, hence the alignment between the research question and the methodology (Tyler & Iyengar, 2022).

Data Analysis Quantitative The quantitative portion of the methodology was analyzed through performing an unpaired t-test, which is a statistical test that compares the means of two unrelated groups. However, the questions first had to be numbered on a scale from 1 to however many options of answers there were, so there would be quantitative data to work with (refer to table one and two). Each question then had a p-value, and if that number was less than the value 0.05, it would be considered statistically significant. Out of the 20 questions, only six were statistically significant, nevertheless, those were important questions that contributed to rejecting the null hypothesis. For example, two of the statistically significant questions were when partisans were asked to rate their opposing partisans as well as their own on a scale of one to ten and because they rated themselves so high and their opposition so low, the p-value for that question was statistically significant (refer to table 3).

Table 1 T-test calculations

Note. The spreadsheet shows the numbered questions as well as the calculated p-values of each question at the bottom. Table 2 Form responses

Note. The spreadsheet shows the form responses of the political polarization survey. Table 3 P-value bar graph

Note. Bar graph of the p-value of each question on the quantitative survey.

Data analysis: Qualitative The qualitative portion of the methodology was analyzed through qualitative coding, specifically inductive. Inductive coding was used since the aim of the analysis was to find themes without having pre-established ones (refer to appendix item I for examples of coding). The eight interviews were transcribed (refer to appendix item E) and coded following the colors of blue represented not polarized, green was slightly polarized, yellow was polarized, and red was very polarized.

Results While only six of the p-values of the survey questions were statistically significant, they were significant questions in proving the existence of political polarization among this population. For example, two of the questions that had p-values below 0.05 were questions asking democrats to vote how much they like republicans on a scale of 1-10 and vice versa,

which shows the statistical significance of that affective aspect of polarization. The findings of this study illustrated that political polarization is not limited to simply the United States,. and suggests that, despite the geographical separation, adolescents can still be politically polarized and divided. This provides a new perspective on how adolescents develop ideological and or political beliefs outside of their home country and challenges how polarization is not bordered to national settings. It was found through the qualitative portion that political polarization exists to a great extent among American Expat adolescents. In the interviews, many stated that they were uncomfortable sharing who they voted for during the mock elections and showed a strong sense of partisanship. Many associated the opposing party with a single political value that they disagreed with and that was their main reason for being polarized. Every single interviewee recognized that political polarization exists in the United states. Another sign of polarization being existent was how when asked why they identify with their party, instead of stating the reason why they were the partisan of that party, were more focused on convincing the interviewer why they were not part of the opposing party (refer to appendix Item I).

Discussion Implications By doing a study on the existence of political polarization among American expatriate adolescents it showed that political polarization is a problem that can be developed among adolescents as well not to mention, a problem that is not the result of domestic political discourse therefore, it alerts schools of the long-term effects of political participation as they grow to voting age. It also creates spaces for balanced discussions to prevent misinformation and division of any sort.

Limitations It was imperative during the scope of this study to not reword questions for the participants to avoid bias, however, due to the complex format of the questions, simply repeating the questions was not sufficient. Another limitation to this is that this type of polarization is extending globally and is seen in different patterns in different countries since all the participants were from different ethnic backgrounds. Additionally some of the responses were not serious or professional, such as responding with emojis or vulgar language, posing a difficulty during the data analysis process. Furthermore political opinions are often a sensitive topic, and some participants may have hesitated to share their true views due to the stigma surrounding political discourse, even though they ensured the confidentiality of responses. This is evident since most of the participants interviewed stated they are uncomfortable sharing their true political opinions in fear of judgement of others. A delimitation to this study was purposely only sending the survey to American passport holders/citizens in high school as it was focusing on the existence of political polarization in the US and therefore American expat adolescents (14-18) living in the UAE.

Improvements for future research Future research could improve by exploring the existence of this among the same population in different countries to see if the same pattern is applied to American expatriates all over the world and see its effect on international votes. Conclusions Through this study, it is clear that political polarization exists among this population, and that polarization is affected by external factors and globalization such as media usage, school

environment, and discussion with peers. Additionally, it can be concluded that political discussions still remain sensitive even outside of the United States as many may have refrained from sharing their true political views in fear of judgement from others. This study is significant because it disproves the notion that political polarization is limited to national settings and shows that it does exist among American expatriate adolescents living in the UAE. It was also found through the interview that all the participants believed that one of the main underlying factors for political polarization is lack of education. Furthermore, many believed that another underlying factor was media usage and literacy which refers to what extent sources are analyzed and emphasis is put on the biases contained. Lastly, another underlying factor pointed out was, school environment which affects the formation of political opinions and the influence it has in allowing people to be true to their own true political beliefs in fear of judgement.

References American National Election Studies. (2024, August 6). 2024 Time Series Study - ANES | American National Election Studies. ANES | American National Election Studies. https://electionstudies.org/data-center/2024-time-series-study/ Boxell, L., Gentzkow, M., & Shapiro, J. M. (2017). Greater Internet use is not associated with faster growth in political polarization among US demographic groups. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(40), 10612–10617. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1706588114 Bradley, M., & Chauchard, S. (2022). The Ethnic Origins of Affective Polarization: Statistical Evidence From Cross-National Data. Frontiers in Political Science, 4. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2022.920615 Jenke, L. (2023). Affective Polarization and Misinformation Belief. Political Behavior, 46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-022-09851-w Kubin, E., & von Sikorski, C. (2021). The Role of (social) Media in Political polarization: a Systematic Review. Annals of the International Communication Association, 45(3), 188–206. https://doi.org/10.1080/23808985.2021.1976070 Martin, D., & Nai, A. (2024). Deepening the rift: Negative campaigning fosters affective polarization in multiparty elections. Electoral Studies, 87, 102745–102745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2024.102745 McCoy, J., Rahman, T., & Somer, M. (2018). Polarization and the Global Crisis of Democracy: Common Patterns, Dynamics, and Pernicious Consequences for Democratic Politics. American Behavioral Scientist, 62(1), 16–42. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764218759576

Oberlander, J. (2024). Polarization, Partisanship, and Health in the United States. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 49(3), 329–350. https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-11075609 Phillips, J. (2022). Affective Polarization: Over Time, Through the Generations, and During the Lifespan. Political Behavior, 44(1483–1508). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-022-09784-4 Ricca, F., Trebbi, F., Bombardini, M., Dal Bó, E., Jha, A., Little, A., Forte, G., Newson, A., & Riaño-Rodriguez, J. (2022). We would like to thank. https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w29738/w29738.pdf TYLER, M., & IYENGAR, S. (2022). Learning to Dislike Your Opponents: Political Socialization in the Era of Polarization. American Political Science Review, 117(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1017/s000305542200048x

Appendices Appendix A Political polarization survey Introduction - This research will focus on how the existence and prevalence of political polarization will change after identifying the missing underlying factor(s) that contributed to its immense prevalence today in American society. *This survey can only be filled out by American citizens in this school. Purpose of Research - The purpose of this research is to identify the underlying factor of the existence of political polarization among American expats between the ages of 14 -18 living in the UAE. Affective/political polarization is defined by the Journal of Annals of the International Communication Association as the extent to which people like or dislike their political allies and opponents and the division between them (Kubin and von Sikorski) Duration - This research might be completed within a month or two. The participants being sent this form will have to respond within a week of being sent this survey. Confidentiality - The data provided by the participant will be considered strictly confidential and will not be given to others without written permission from the participant (should have already given permission if the consent form was filled). Participants will also not be allowed to share any of their answers with other participants. This is to avoid the results being skewed and to avoid bias between participants. Right to Refuse or Discontinue - The participant has the right to discontinue or decline participation in the research anytime he/she feels to do so.

If you are below the age of 18 I will need your parent's email to get their approval of your participation (if you have been sent this form then you have already gotten parental approval and give consent). Survey questions

Questions

Response choices

Do you consider yourself involved in American politics or interested in American politics?

Yes No

How many times did you read, watch, or listen to any information about the campaign for President on the Internet during the recent election?

None one or two several many

How many speeches or discussions about the campaign for President did you listen to on the radio?

None one or two several many

How would you describe your political views?

Moderate Liberal Conservative Progressive Other:

Rate you level of agreement with the statement below on a scale of (1-5) : "People in the opposing party are dishonest, close-minded, and unreasonable"

1 2 3 4 5

When thinking about political activism, what political party do you feel you identify with?

Democrat Republican

After reading the name of the political party below, please rate it on a scale from 0 to 10, Where 0 means you strongly dislike that party and 10 means that you strongly like that party. The Democratic party

Strongly dislike 1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 Strongly like After reading the name of a political party below, please rate it on a scale from 0 to 10, Where 0 means you strongly dislike that party and 10 means that you strongly like that party. The Republican party

Strongly dislike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Strongly like

What political party does the state you are from in the US identify with?

Democrat Republican Other:

Here is a seven-point scale that describes the way many people think of themselves in terms of the major parties. Where would you place yourself on the following scale?

Strong Democrat Not very strong Democrat independent leaning toward Democrat independent independent leaning toward Republican Not very strong Republican Strong Republican

Were you able to vote in the recent election? (mock election at school counts)

yes No I prefer not to say

How do you feel about the results of the recent election?

Free response

What criteria do you use to evaluate a political candidate?

News on TV Articles in the newspaper or online Attend events where the candidate is addressing people I research all the channels before making my choice Number of fundraisers the candidate has done in your area

The family upbringing of the candidate Efforts to reduce racism and address racial discrimination problems Other: What criteria do you use to get your source of political information?

Blogs Articles or newspapers online News on TV Pages on Tiktok or instagram Twitter Other:

Rate how much you agree with the following statement 'Most politicians are trustworthy.'

Agree strongly Agree Neither agree or disagree Disagree Disagree strongly

What political issues are most important to you? (Check no more than 3 answers)

Environment Job and Economy Second Amendment (right to keep and bear arms) Foreign Policy Education Healthcare (includes abortion, insurance, and etc) Federal spending Racism Illegal immigration Drug legalization Political/affective polarization Other:

To what extent do you think political polarization effects

a) Country as a whole? - Not at all - A little - Somewhat - A lot - A great deal b) Your local community? - Not at all - A little - Somewhat - A lot - A great deal

Do you evaluate a political candidate/identify

Yes

with a political party based on the representation of your ethnic/racial group in politics?

Do you use social media as the main source of Yes information in order to follow the No news/politics?

Appendix B Interview questions 1. Firstly, do you know what political/affective polarization is? If so could you explain? (If not I give a definition): 2. Affective polarization is defined by the Journal of Annals of the International Communication Association as the extent to which people like or dislike their political allies and opponents (Kubin and von Sikorski). 3. Do you think political polarization exists in the United States? 4. Have you ever lived in the U.S.? 5. How long have you lived abroad? 6. Where else have you lived other than the UAE (maybe the US)? 7. Do you feel more connected to politics in the United States or the UAE which is your country of residence? 8. On the survey when asked what news resource you use to get your political information, what did you choose? If you chose news articles, what website would you use? (e.g. al Jazeera, BBC, CNN, etc) 9. What factors do you take into account when choosing your news source? 10. How is American politics portrayed in the media of your country of residence? 11. What political party do you identify with? 12. What is your main reason for choosing to identify with that party? Be specific. 13. What factors do you take into consideration when choosing a political party to identify with? 14. What aspect of your political leanings do you feel the most strongly about?

15. What about those issues do you think influence differing views in American politics? 16. What conversations OR factors contribute to differences between Democrats and Republicans? 17. Do you consider one's political party identification when interpreting opinions about them? 18. Did you vote in the school mock elections why and why not? 19. What did you observe about the behavior of the voters during the mock elections in school? 20. Were you public about your participation and who you voted for if you voted? 21. What factors, in your opinion, contribute to the polarization in American politics?

Appendix C Student consent form Introduction - This research will focus on how the future of the existence and prevalence of affective polarization will change after identifying the missing underlying factor that contributed to its prevalence today in American society. This includes studies on how effective remote work is for the company and how they will benefit from it.

*This survey can only be filled by American citizens in this school. Purpose of Research - The purpose of this research is to identify the underlying factor of increased affective polarization among American adolescents. This will also explain how despite much research being done on it, it still exists. Affective/political polarization is defined by the Journal of Annals of the International Communication Association as the extent to which people like or dislike their political allies and opponents and the division between them (Kubin and von Sikorski) What You Will Do in This Study: If you agree to participate, you will be asked to: - Complete the survey that will be sent to you after you complete the consent form (and parental consent form if necessary). - You will be invited for an interview that takes no longer than 15 minutes that will be recorded. Risks: There are minimal risks associated with this study, primarily related to the time commitment required to complete the interview and survey. You are allowed to pull out of the study at any time without any repercussions. Duration - This research might be completed within a month or two. The participants being sent this form will have to respond within a week of being sent this survey.

Confidentiality - The data provided by the participant will be considered strictly confidential and will not be given to others without written permission from the participant (should have already given permission if the consent form was filled). Right to Refuse or Discontinue - The participant has the right to discontinue or decline participation in the research anytime he/she feels to do so. If you are below the age of 18 I will need your parent's email to get their approval of your participation.

Appendix D Parental consent form If you are being sent this email, your child has volunteered to participate in my AP Capstone research project and is in need of parental concern due to being under the age of 18. Introduction - This research will focus on how the future of affective polarization will change after identifying the missing underlying factor that contributed to its prevalence today in American society. This includes studies on how effective remote work is for the company and how they will benefit from it. *This survey can only be filled by American citizens in this school. Purpose of Research - The purpose of this research is to identify the underlying factor of increased affective polarization among American adolescents. This will also explain how despite much research being done on it, it still exists. Affective/political polarization is defined by the Journal of Annals of the International Communication Association as the extent to which people like or dislike their political allies and opponents and the division between them (Kubin and von Sikorski) What You Will Do in This Study: If you consent for your child to participate, they will be asked to: - Complete the survey that will be sent to you after you complete the consent form (and parental consent form if necessary).

- You will be invited for an interview that takes no longer than 15 minutes, which will be recorded.

Risks: There are minimal risks associated with this study, primarily related to the time commitment required to complete the interview and survey. You are allowed to pull out of the study at any time without any repercussions Duration - This research might be completed within a month or two. The participants being sent this form will have to respond within a week of being sent this survey. Confidentiality - The data provided by the participant will be considered strictly confidential and will not be given to others without written permission from the participant (should have already been permitted if the consent form was filled out). Right to Refuse or Discontinue - The participant has the right to discontinue or decline participation in the research anytime he/she feels to do so. If you are below the age of 18, I will need your parents' email to get their approval of your participation (if you have been sent this form, then you have already gotten parental approval and given consent). If any further questions arise, feel free to contact me at XXX

Appendix E Interview transcripts 1st democrat interview Speaker 1:Hello. So today, you're participating in this AP Capstone Research study for political polarization. Do you consent to being recorded? Speaker 2:Yes. Speaker 1:Okay. Let's begin. Firstly, do you know what political polarization is? If so, could you explain? Speaker 2:I don't have a very, like, good understanding of what it is, but, I think it's, like, like, certain things affect, like, different communities, like, the gov like, certain things that, like, political parties affect certain communities. I'm not sure. Speaker 1:Okay. Basically, political polarization is the extent to which people like or dislike their opposing partisans, their opposing political party. So do you think political polarization exists in the United States? Speaker 2:100%. Yeah. Speaker 1:Have you ever lived in the US? Speaker 2:Yes. Speaker 1:How long have you lived abroad? Speaker 2:Well I live in the US for 14 years, and then I moved to Dubai, 2 years ago. Speaker 1:So how have you lived anywhere other than the UAE? Speaker 2:Just the US. Speaker 1:Okay. Do you feel more connected to politics in the US or the UAE, which is your country of residence? Speaker 2:The US. Speaker 1:On the survey, when you were asked what news resource you used to get your political information, what did you choose? Speaker 2:I chose, like, social media, like TikTok and certain news articles.

Speaker 1:If you chose news articles, what websites would you use? Speaker 2:I would use, like, CNN and New York Times, but those are pretty biased towards the left side. So that's just where I grew up in, like, a more liberal state. So I've just been more drawn to using those. Speaker 1:What factors do you take into account when you choose your news resource? Speaker 2:I take into account how popular they are and, like, how much I see them being, like, promoted. Speaker 1:How is American politics portrayed, in your country of residence, which is UAE? Speaker 2:Like I said, it's very liberal. So Democrats, it's a very, like, diverse empire. Speaker 1:How is the news resources in the UAE, how do they portray American politics? How do you feel about the way they portray it? Speaker 2:I feel like they portray it in, like, there's certain things that, like, portray the US in politics, like, as, like, really bad, but, I feel like, although the US politics aren't, like, the aren't, like, amazing, I feel like the UAE may over exaggerate it a bit. Speaker 1:What political party do you identify with? Speaker 2:Democrat. Speaker 1:What is your main reason for choosing to be a part of that party, to identify with that party? Be specific. Speaker 2:So my parents grew up, in the same place that I grew up, in New Jersey in the US. And it's just, like, they passed it down to me because it was what I was surrounded with. Like, my friends are all liberal in the US, my parents. So it's an environmental thing. Speaker 1:What factors do you take into account when choosing a political party to identify with? Speaker 2:How open they are to different communities and the diversity and, like, when, like, more I, like, when it comes to, like, different countries because I'm, Hispanic, so I feel that they're very, open and, like, understanding of different foreign, like, countries in comparison to the Republicans. Speaker 1:What aspect of your political leanings do you feel the most, strongly about? Speaker 2:Sorry. What is that? Speaker 1:Your political leanings, your political values, things that you value in politics, things

that matter to you. For example, on the survey, when I asked the same question, for, for example, the options were abortion, health care, drug legalization, things like that. Yeah. Which one do you feel the most strongly about? Speaker 2:I think I feel the most strongly about education because I feel like education is a really big thing, especially in the US. A lot of people go to public schools, and from my own personal experience, public school isn't the best. They can't provide you with the best education, I feel, in comparison to public schools. And a lot of the teachers are overworked, and they don't get the best pay, the best wages, and I feel like that causes them to underperform. Mhmm. And it's just not, like, the strongest. And, overpopulation in schools can also be, like, a major thing because it's too chaotic and students can't focus in large classrooms. Mhmm. What about those issues, those political leanings that I mentioned before? Speaker 1:What about those issues do you think influence differing views in American politics? Speaker 2:I think that wait. Can you repeat the question? Speaker 1:Yes.What about those issues do you think influence differing views in American politics? Speaker 2:The education system, I feel, is looked at in the same way between the two parties, but I feel they prioritize it differently. And because one side may see that there's no problem with the education system, and the other side may see a problem, I think it's just, like, how involved they wanna get with education, I guess. Speaker 1:What conversations or factors do you think contribute to differences between Democrats and Republicans? Speaker 2:Different beliefs. So different religions because each side has many different religions, but, there can be, like, majority Christians and, there can be majority Christians in the republican side and, like, like, any other religion in the Democratic side. And there's just a lot of different beliefs. It's just, like, it's just the way that it was, like, created to be that there's a major difference in between the two parties. Mhmm. So, yeah, beliefs, on things like religion, like women's rights, and, education, and all that. Speaker 1:Do you consider one's political party identification when you interpret opinions about them? Speaker 2:No. Because I don't think that your political beliefs really define you as a person. It just depends on what you believe in. If it's, like, a big thing such as, like, abortion rights and if a woman should be pro life or pro pro choice, I feel like, if it's something that relates to you that I don't agree with, I'm a little skeptical about it. Speaker 1:Did you vote in the school mock elections? Why and why not?

Speaker 2:I did it because, I thought it would be like my life. I thought it would be good to engage with the school, and my friends were doing it. So my teacher encouraged everyone in the class to do it, so I did it. What did you observe about the behavior of the voters during the mall collections in school? The voters, I I heard a lot of talk about who voted for who, which I feel like everyone should kinda keep it to their themselves because if you grow up to live in the US, like, you kind of, like, as you're voting, you don't wanna tell someone who you voted for right away. But I feel, like, people just, like, talked about who they voted for. Speaker 1:Were you public about your participation and who you voted for? Speaker 2:If someone were to bring it up to me, I would tell them. I mean, like, if someone were to ask me who I voted for, and if I did, I would tell them. But I wouldn't, like, initiate a conversation like that and bring it up. Speaker 1:What factors, in your opinion, contribute to political polarization in American politics? Speaker 2:Can you, you, like, simplify that question? Okay. Now having discussed all these and you knowing what political polarization is, what do you think causes that in the US? What do you think contributes to the existence of that in American politics? Speaker 2:I think just the difference in the way people act and the things they believe in, caused the polarization Mhmm. Between the 2 and just the major difference yeah. Just the major differences between the two parties, I feel like. And there's so many, different, like, factors that can go into it, that make the parties the parties. Mhmm. Speaker 1:Thank you so much for participating in this interview. Just know that you can withdraw from the study and withdraw your information at any time. Speaker 2:K. Thank you so much. Speaker 1:Thank you.

1st republican interview Speaker 1: Hello. You are currently participating in this AP Capstone research interview for political polarization. Do you consent to participating in the study and being interviewed? Speaker 2:I do consent to participating and being interviewed. Speaker 1:Okay. So let's start. Firstly, Do you know what political polarization is? If so, could you explain? Take your time. Speaker 2:Sorry. Political polarization, I believe, is the disparity in between political parties,

like, such as the, conservative and more liberal parties and, in the very polar relationship between the two. Speaker 1:Yeah. So, like, as to the extent to which people dislike or like their political allies and opponents. Knowing that, do you think political polarization exists in The United States? Speaker 2:Oh, for sure. Speaker 1:Have you ever lived in The United States? Very briefly when I was younger. Speaker 1:How long have you lived abroad other than The US? Speaker 2:I've lived abroad for twelve years now. Speaker 1:Where else have you lived other than The UAE? Speaker 2:Hawaii and North Carolina. Speaker 1:So just The US? Speaker 2:Yeah. Speaker 1:Do you feel more connected to politics in The US or The UAE, which is your country of residence? Speaker 2:I feel much more connected to my own country, The US. Speaker 1:On the survey, when they ask what news resource you use to get your political information, what did you choose? Speaker 2:I chose through social media and through news websites and sources such as, you know, CNN, BBC Mhmm. New York Times, and also social media such as Instagram and TikTok. Speaker 1:So if you chose news articles, what websites would you use? Speaker 2:I like to stick to unbiased, kinda central leaning. Mhmm. So I really like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Speaker 1:What factors do you take into account when choosing your news resource? Speaker 2:I try to look at it holistically, kinda seeing the general, you know, way the news source leads and also how they're reporting certain stories. So I look at the credibility first, of course, and then kinda just the holistic sort of everything else. Speaker 1:How is American politics portrayed in the media of The UAE, which is your

country of residence? Speaker 2:I feel it's portrayed in a very odd way. It's been sort of tamped down and, you know, not censored, but I don't see a lot of it. And especially here, there's not that many Americans. So it's not a huge topic of interest, I'd say, and saying that I haven't seen it portrayed in a positive or negative light. Speaker 1:What political party do you identify with? Speaker 2:I'd say I'm more conservative, so a Republican. Speaker 1:Mhmm. What is your main reason for choosing to identify with that party? Be specific. Speaker 2:I like the policies on the economy. I'm not a big fan of the DEI and gender stuff, like, you know, taking taxes to pay for a gender reassignment surgery. I also the, the political not leader, but the, head of the head of the party, I feel is a more well put together person. But for me, it's mostly about the working class and creating new jobs and, you know, some about taxes. Most of my family is, you know, working class tradespeople. So, especially for president Trump, his policies seem to be kinda helping that class of people. Mhmm. Speaker 1:What factors do you take into account when you choose a political party to identify with? Speaker 2:You should always look at what you believe in and what you hold truest to your heart, and then try to find a party and representatives that share that and can also help make that goal more possible. Speaker 1:What aspect of your political leanings do you feel the most strongly about? Speaker 2:I think that the immigration, I feel pretty strongly about. I've got lots of friends who are, you know, legal immigrants, but, you know, there's a way to do things, and you gotta do it right. So that's something I feel very strongly about. You know, the right to bear arms, that's a pretty easy one. You know, it's in the constitution. I'm not a gun nut, but, you know, it's nice to have them. DEI, you know, it should be to the person who's the most qualified, not because of, you know, color of their skin or where they came from. Yeah. Speaker 1:What about those issues do you think influence differing views in American politics? Speaker 2:Pardon? Speaker 1:What about those issues do you think influence differing views in American politics? Speaker 2:I think the way that social media puts news out is always so incredibly biased,

which causes a schism between the two parties because they're very extreme and very, they're they're very extreme. Either one, you know, either left or right. There's not much middle ground. So I think that social media really plays that big part. Mhmm. Speaker 1:What conversations or factors do you think contribute to the differences between Democrats and Republicans? Speaker 2:Excuse me. Speaker 1:Don't worry. Speaker 2:Thank you. You know, on the converse of that, I feel like the lack of conversation between the two parties really drives the separation between them. Because if you look at it from afar, you'd see that, you know, everybody wants the same thing, which is, you know, America and everyone to prosper. But kinda holding that, sticking your heels into the ground, you know, not budging and, you know, not being able to say, I'm right. I'm wrong. We can improve this. That's the main thing. Speaker 1:Do you consider one's political party identification when you interpret opinions about them? Speaker 2:Depends. I do take it into account, especially if it's something that's kinda more serious such as, you know, the Gaza war, you know, Ukraine, Russia Mhmm. Gender, sort of stuff because you can kinda tell when somebody has a very deep opinion on that, and, you know, you're not gonna be able to have a conversation with them about it. In terms of my friendships, no. I don't look at that. But when talking to someone about politics, it's a bit it's a big thing I have to look at I think about. Speaker 1:Did you vote in the school mock elections? Why and why not? Speaker 2:I did. Speaker 1:Why? Speaker 2:It's my duty as an American, and to mock elections is kinda fun. Speaker 1:What did you observe about the behavior of the voters during the mock elections in school? Speaker 2:The behavior of the voters was pretty normal or was pretty bad. You know, I noticed some tense conversations between people and, you know, people getting mad and annoyed if you said you voted for a certain party that they didn't like. Yeah. It was pretty much it. Yeah. There's lots of tension and people disagreeing, in the wrong ways. Speaker 1:Were you public about your participation and who you voted for if you voted?

Speaker 2:I was. Yes. Speaker 1:Now having been asked all these questions, what factors, in your opinion, contribute to the polarization in American politics? Speaker 2:Social media, lack of education, lack of personal research. Yeah. And then, very just, you know, being stubborn, I would say. Speaker 1:Alright. Thank you so much for your participation. Just know that if you ever feel uncomfortable, you are free to withdraw your data and withdraw from the study at any time. Okay. Speaker 2:Thank you. Speaker 1:Thank you.

2nd democrat interview Speaker 1:Okay. So you're being interviewed for this AP Research AP Capstone Research methodology. Mhmm. And this interview is recorded. You consent to being recorded? Speaker 2:Yes. I do. Speaker 1:Okay. Feel free to refrain from answering any like, from, dropping out of the study anytime that you feel Okay. You're uncomfortable. Speaker 2:Okay. Speaker 1:Firstly, do you know what political polarization is? Speaker 2:Yes. Speaker 1:Could you explain it? Speaker 2:It's basically 2 I don't know how to explain it better, but 2 poles of politics. One side against the other side, and it just divides Mhmm. Between the two sides. Yeah. Speaker 1:To help you, it's basically the extent to which people like or dislike their political allies and opponents. Speaker 2:Yeah. Speaker 1:Do you think political polarization exists in the United States?

Speaker 2:Very much so. Yes. Speaker 1:Have you ever lived in the US? Speaker 2:No. Speaker 1:How long have you lived abroad? Speaker 2:17 years, my whole life. Speaker 1:Where else have you lived other than the UAE? Speaker 2:I've lived in Qatar, Doha, and yeah. Mhmm. Speaker 1:Do you feel more connected to politics in the US or the UAE, which is the country of your residence? Speaker 2:More so the US because that's where I'm gonna be spending my future. So I feel like it is more important. Speaker 1:Mhmm. On the survey, when asked what news resource you used to get your political information, what did you choose? Speaker 2:I chose the news on TV, TikTok and stuff, and online articles. Speaker 1:Mhmm. If you chose news articles, what websites would you use? Speaker 2:More so for updates, I've used, like, New York Times or BBC News. Speaker 1:Mhmm. Okay. What factors do you take into account when choosing your news resource? Speaker 2:Reliability. So Tik Tok is definitely not my first choice. But if I hear something and I wanna do more research on it, I use that as just, you know, a quick segue, and I'll go to trusted websites that are widely used. Speaker 1:Mhmm. How is American politics portrayed in the media of your country of residence? Speaker 2:It's not great, which is only fair because it's quite hard to navigate, but also the only place that I normally see politics in the US is Mhmm. Talking about or commented on is in a bad light. Mhmm. So, yeah, more mostly negative stuff. Speaker 1:Okay. What political party do you identify with?

Speaker 2:Democrat. Speaker 1:What is your main reason for choosing to identify with that party? Be specific. Speaker 2:My main reason for identifying with that political party is because of their liberalism and how they believe in progressing for, like, equal rights and equal treatment of just all people in general. Whereas can I use republicans? Why wouldn't I wanna be part of it? Speaker 1:Yes. Speaker 2:Republicans because they're quite narrow minded, and they're kinda stuck in the past. They want things to stay the exact same, and I just feel as though they're not as progressive as they should be. Mhmm. Speaker 1:What factors do you take into consideration when you choose a party to identify with? Speaker 2:I don't know how to answer that question. I'm not sure. Speaker 1:Okay. What factors, what values are more important to you or what Okay. Things that matter to you more, what things do you pay attention to when you choose a political party to identify? Speaker 2:I pay attention to their view on racial discrimination and how they are planning to work with it moving forward if they wanna keep it the same or if they wanna change it. Mhmm. How they view education and its importance, how they view social discrimination in any, like, walk of life, and just how their plans for the future will impact the whole of the US. Speaker 1:What aspect of those political leanings do you feel the strongest about? Speaker 2:I feel probably the strongest about racial discrimination Mhmm. Because I feel like it's one of the biggest issues in the US, and it's one of the things that makes it the hardest to live there. Mhmm. It kinda divides people a lot and causes so many conflicts. Mhmm. Okay. Speaker 1:You answered the next question I was gonna ask. Okay. What conversations or factors do you think contribute to differences between Democrats and do you think contribute to differences between Democrats and Republicans? Speaker 2:What conversations, I think? Can you word it in another way? Speaker 1:What conversations do you think make it hard for Democrats and Republicans to find a common ground? Speaker 2:I think it's hard for Republicans and Democrats to find a common ground on, say, the abortion laws because that's a very personal thing, I feel. And so it's, like, hard to have a conversation on different sides about that because each person has a completely different

opinion on it, and it affects people differently. So any conversation that's more so about personal stuff than group stuff, it would affect the person more than it would affect the group. That makes it harder to draw, blurring the line between the Democrats and the Republicans. Speaker 1:Okay. Do you consider one's political party identification when interpreting opinions about them? Speaker 2:No. Not really. If I found out about what political party they are in, I still don't think I would judge them on that because it's very common for a family Mhmm. A child to just follow whatever their family is a part of. Mhmm. Maybe sometimes they don't do their own research, and they just go with what their parents tell them to go with. So there's a lot of different factors that can play into it. So, no, I wouldn't judge them on that. Mhmm. Speaker 1:Did you vote in the school mock elections? Why and why not? Speaker 2:I did not. Mostly because I didn't know it was required. Oh. Or I didn't think it was required. But if I would have, I would have voted for Kamala Harris. Mhmm. Just because I think it's important to see what the community is like and see what those opinions are. Mhmm. And based on the results, it's clear that Kamala was Mhmm. The more favorable candidate. So I thought that was just interesting. Speaker 1:What did you observe about the behavior of the voters during the mall collections in school? Speaker 2:I noticed a lot of kinda, like, promotion for their candidate, like, vote for Trump, vote for Kamala, or just, like, here and there in the hallway, not, like, too much going on. But just every now and then, I'd hear a student say to a couple of their friends, like, make sure you're voting for this person, like and explain their reasons why. Speaker 1:Mhmm. Were you public about your, okay, you didn't vote. Right? No. If you did vote, would you be public about who you voted for? Speaker 2:Not outgoing public, but if somebody asked me the question, I'd answer it. It's not I wouldn't keep it confidential. But, no, I wouldn't just go around saying who I voted for. Speaker 1:Okay. Last question. What factors, in your opinion, contribute to the polarization in American politics? Speaker 2:A lot of factors can contribute to polarization because there's so many different things that cause it, like Mhmm. Abortion, race, gender, sexual identity, age. Like, there's so many different things that divide it. Mhmm. And I think just all of those topics together make it really hard to find an equal ground between these two parties. And also just the strength of the parties themselves. Like, their opinions are so grounded and so strong that it's really hard to sway either side. So I think that also creates a polarization. Mhmm. And then finally, like, people's need to feel as though they're a part of something. So it's not common that someone will stick up against their party that they identify with, because they're too scared of being

ridiculed or outcast. So it's also that feeling of belonging that people want. So that's why they stay in their political parties and just stick with it. Okay. Speaker 1:Thank you so much. Just know that you can withdraw from the study anytime if you feel uncomfortable. Speaker 2:Thank you. Speaker 1:You're welcome.

2nd republican interview Speaker 1: Okay. You are currently doing an interview for this capstone methodology on political polarization. Do you consent to this interview being recorded? Speaker 2:Yes. I consent. Speaker 1:Firstly, do you know what political polarization is? If so, could you explain? Speaker 2:I know very briefly that it's the division between the 2 parties, the 2 political parties. Speaker 1:Okay. Political polarization is defined as the extent to which people like or dislike their political allies and opponents. Do you think political polarization exists in the United States? Yeah. Definitely. Have you ever lived in the United States? Speaker 2:Yes. Speaker 1:How long have you lived abroad? Speaker 2:Abroad as in the US or outside of the US? Speaker 1:Outside of the US. Speaker 2:Outside of the US, maybe 7 years? Speaker 1:Where else have you lived other than the UAE? Speaker 2:Other than the US, and I've lived in Korea for a few years. Speaker 1:Do you feel more connected to politics in the US or the UAE, which is your country of residence? Speaker 2:United States.

Speaker 1:On the survey, when asked what news resource you use to get your political information, what did you choose? Speaker 2:I chose mostly articles and other news sources. I don't get it from social media sometimes, but that's usually not my primary source of information, usually articles. If you chose news articles, what websites do you use? So the mainstream, obviously, like CNN, BBC. Fox is a slightly biased right wing, but usually the mainstream news article websites. I don't go digging, like, in-depth more, but usually the mainstream I get on my feed. So things like that. Speaker 1:What factors do you take into account when you choose your news resource? Speaker 2:For me, obviously, bias is very important. Especially when dealing with political things, it's important to see which sites are biased towards the right or left. I try to pick the most neutral one so I can get just the facts. But, obviously, all news sites are gonna have some sort of bias. Yeah. But I try to choose the most neutral ones. Speaker 1:How is American politics portrayed in the media of your country of residence or the UAE? Speaker 2:Here, I think it depends on how much you're actually into the actual politics. Because here, I don't obviously, being at this school, I get a lot more exposure to that, especially after I take APUSH courses like APUSH (AP United States History). But I think it depends on to which extent you want to expose yourself to. I don't think it's as much as because if you're living in the US, obviously, you're gonna get exposed to it every day, but here, I think it's a little less. Speaker 1:What I meant was how is American politics portrayed in the news resource of this country do you feel? Speaker 2:Oh, yeah. So here, I think there are obviously things like the things about that in the media here. Obviously, not to the extent in the US, but there are still I think it's. I would say it's pretty important here because people want to know what's going on. Speaker 1:What political party do you identify with? Speaker 2:Republican. Speaker 1:What is your main reason for choosing to identify with that party? Be specific. Speaker 2:So from the start, my entire family has been a Republican family, so I've grown up within a Republican household. And it's to me, what's most important in the parties. Obviously, my family, we have a resident in the US and everything. So for me, what's most important is which party best fits the ideals that my me and my family won and which one will benefit us the most, and the Republican party is the one that benefits us the most. Speaker 1:What factors do you take into consideration when you choose a political party to

identify with? Speaker 2:So for me, I value economics a lot, so how it affects the economy of the country, as well as, laws and immigration and all those are all those such things are, foreign policy as well. It's very important. Speaker 1:What aspect of your political leanings do you feel most strongly about? Speaker 2:Aspects, you mean, like immigration, economy, or what? Speaker 1:Yeah. Like values. Speaker 2:Yeah. So for me, I would say economy currently, economy tops the list, and then followed by immigration, legal immigration, and then foreign policy, in that order. Speaker 1:What about those issues do you think influence differing views in American politics? Speaker 2:So I think, obviously, between the two parties, there are gonna be they both have different ideals. So for me, I think if you're interested in economics, I think most people are gonna sway to the more right wing because they have so much of a focus on the economy rather than a liberal, humanitarian kind of, democrat view. Speaker 1:What conversations or factors do you think contribute to differences between democrats and republicans? Speaker 2:So as I said before, I think it's in the end, it's gonna be what values that you support and which values benefit you the most. So like I said, the republicans are gonna be more conservative, obviously, more economic, economics, values that benefit the economy and one nation as a whole. Obviously, if you're more liberal and willing to be more open, you know, view on everyone as a whole, then you're gonna sway towards the left side. Speaker 1:Do you consider one's political party identification when you interpret opinions about them? Speaker 2:Well, that depends on what I'm talking about. Obviously, if I'm talking politics or economics or something that could come into effect, but not usually. No. Speaker 1:So on a personal level? Speaker 2:On a personal level, no. I don't think that matters. Speaker 1:Did you vote in the school mock elections? Why and why not? Speaker 2:Yes. I did vote. Obviously, I was taking APUSH, and mister Hurt, he strongly encouraged all of us to vote, and so I did.

Speaker 1:What did you observe about the behavior of the voters during the mall collections in school? Speaker 2:So here, obviously, it's the first one they really caught. Harris won the school mock election. I think here, a lot of people here because, obviously, we're a much younger demographic. The people who are voting were skewed towards the younger side as opposed to in the US where everyone's a diverse age. I think that a lot of the younger people tend to sway left a little bit more just because they tend to view more progressive than any of the traditional or oriental views. Speaker 1:Were you public about your participation and who you voted for? Speaker 2:Yes. Yes. Most mostly, yes. Speaker 1:What factors in your opinion contribute to polarization in American politics? Speaker 2:For me, the main thing again is the beliefs and values of the person. So either because right now, the biggest thing is, again, Liberals are more progressive. They want things like abortion and all of that, while the Republicans focus more on traditional values. And so I think that's the best thing, what values you and beliefs that you have. I think that's what's why them the most and more than anything. Speaker 1:Thank you so much for your participation. Just know that if you feel uncomfortable throughout any process of this, you can withdraw from this methodology at any time. Speaker 2:Thank you.

3rd democrat interview Speaker 1:Okay. So this is an interview for AP Capstone Research for this political polarization product project. Do you consent to being recorded? Speaker 2:Yes. Speaker 1:Okay.Let's start. So, firstly, do you know what political polarization is? If so, could you explain? Speaker 2:Yes. Political polarization to me is when 2 parties or 2 factions in the United States are so or not even just in the United States, but are very divided among the people, and political ideals are very, very separate. Speaker 1:So, what I've been using for the participants is that according to the Journal of Annals of International Communication Association, it is defined as the extent to which people

like or dislike their political allies and opponents. Do you think political polarization exists in the United States? Speaker 2:Absolutely. Speaker 1:Have you ever lived in the United States? Speaker 2:Yes. Speaker 1:How long have you lived abroad? Speaker 2:15 years. Speaker 1:Where else have you lived other than the UAE and the US? Speaker 2:Lebanon. No. Speaker 1:Do you feel more connected to politics in the US or the UAE, which is your country of residence? Speaker 2:US. Speaker 1:Mhmm. On the survey, when asked what news resource you use to get your political information, what did you choose? If you chose news articles, what website did you use? Speaker 2:I did choose news articles, and I read a big variety of them. I do use sources like All Sites to differentiate bias between different news sources. So I think my go to's are CNN and Reuters. Speaker 1:Okay. What factors do you take into account when choosing your news resource? Speaker 2:I take into account how much bias is within the media itself. I mean, I look at spin. I look at what's in the headlines, and I look at how it's written specifically and also what they decide to cover and what they do not decide to cover. I also look at their spokespeople. I think it's really, really telling what they choose to cover and what they don't. Speaker 1:How is American politics portrayed in the media of your country of residence? Speaker 2:I feel like it is it isn't portrayed very heavily over here, but, I mean, it is talked about in the sense that I feel like we're only seen as an economic an economic thing to talk about because every so many things are really reliant on US politics, especially for the economy here related to oil and gas, etcetera. Speaker 1:What political party do you identify with? Speaker 2:I would say democrat.

Speaker 1:What is your main reason for choosing to identify with that party? Be specific. Speaker 2:Oh, I think my main reason for choosing to identify with it is is because I believe that there are so many people in the US that are completely underserved, and I do agree that the party does try to advocate for them, which I agree that the other party, the Republicans, do not historically. But there are a few things, of course, that I disagree with my party, especially when it comes to foreign policy and border relations and definitely their leadership within the last 10 years. But, I think it's on moral principle that I agree with them mostly. So what factors do you take into consideration when choosing the party you identify with? Speaker 1:What factors are most important to you? Speaker 2:I take into account reliability. I definitely think that there are, I mean, not as many as there used to be, but reliable candidates out there who will advocate for you, who will uphold their promises, and who are not shady with money and shady with business practices. Being a completely clean politician is, of course, impossible, but I think it is important to at least be trustworthy. Speaker 1:What aspect of your political leanings do you feel the most strongly about? Speaker 2:What do you mean by that sorry? What aspect of your political values and beliefs, the things that you, for example, took into account when choosing a party to identify with, which one of those do you feel the most strongly about? I think I definitely feel most strongly about anything related to morals or anything related to human rights. Honestly, because especially looking at where the US is going now directionally, I mean, since the overturning of Roe v Wade and now with the Trump presidency, I think I think it means so so much to me that our people have, their own personal freedoms, especially considering we're called the land of the free, And I really hope to preserve that. Speaker 1:What about those issues do you think influence differing views in American politics? Speaker 2:Influence difference? Okay. I think the reason that our views are so different and we really are unable to reach bipartisanship is because of the way that people are raised and the differences between economies, especially between the South and the North. People there were raised very, very differently than we were, in the North. And, I mean, I come from Chicago, which is a very liberal, very blue city. But, I mean, when you look at historically when the South so incredibly racist and very conservative, I mean, I also grew up Catholic, but I don't think that religion is a way to demonize people or to exclude people, which I definitely believe is kind of ingrained in southern behavior and typically republican behavior. What conversations or factors contribute to differences between Democrats and Republicans? Conversations are factors. I think it's not necessarily the beliefs that have made us so partisan. I think it's the way that we go about them. Because when you go back 20 years, you can see many different politicians, people running for office. They're gonna have perfectly reasonable conversations with each other, and they cannot do that anymore because it has become so

demonized and so polarized in the US to talk about anything that you believe in without feeling like you have to have a complete response that has to align with your party values. Because in reality, your party values or your values personally and morally, will never match up with any party. I mean, the way that Democrats go on about border policy, I don't necessarily agree with. I think we should be enforcing our borders, but I don't think it should be cruel. And I think being able to have that conversation has gotten really difficult here, and I think that's why it's so difficult to have these conversations. Speaker 1:Do you consider one's political party identification when interpreting opinions about them? About the person personally? Speaker 2:Yeah. Definitely.I think because politics has become so morality morality based, I think it is definitely important to be considerate when I'm talking to people. I mean, especially because it's so prevalent now than it was, let's say, maybe 45 years ago. But, yeah, I would say definitely. I do. Speaker 1:Did you vote in the school mock elections? Why and why not? Speaker 2:I did vote in the school mock elections. I voted in the school elections because, one, I wanted to see what different political views were around the school, I mean, in the general population. Because I know people specifically here, and I know what a certain demographic of people here think, but I really wanted to see the scale of it. And I voted here because I was just shy of being able to vote in the US election. I turned 18 in May. So I guess this was a chance that I got to voice my opinions even though it doesn't really matter. What did you observe about the behavior of the voters during the mall collections in school? I think the behavior of the voters here was also just as polarized as it would be if you were to run this in the states, maybe a little bit less so. But I think what I've noticed is the older you get within the population of the school I mean, excluding, like, middle school, whatever, lower high school. When you look at the adults, there are so many of them that tend to vote democratically here compared to Republicans. And I think that there are so many students here that are young and impressionable that are not completely media literate and do not read news in their spare time. And, I mean, they find all of their things off of TikTok, which I guess I am slightly guilty of. But I think they're not completely educated when I look at the polling here, based on how they form their opinions and how they choose to express them. Speaker 1:Were you public about your participation and who you voted for if you voted? Speaker 2:I was public that I voted. I picked up one of the voting stickers from mister Hurt. But, I mean, within my own group, I was very opinionated with or very public with my opinions on how I voted. But with people outside of my group, I felt that I could not share those opinions because I am aware of the political social life here at ASD. And I was not really ready to have those conversations no matter how strongly I felt about it. Speaker 1:What factors, in your opinion, contribute to the polarization in American politics? Speaker 2:What factors contribute to American polarization?

Speaker 1:Yeah. Speaker 2:Polarization in American politics. I think education definitely is a factor in polarization here in the US, at least. Because when you look at traditionally rural areas and, I mean, I am from a very rural area. I say that I am from Chicago, but, really, I am from 2 hours down south from the middle of nowhere, and we really, really lack a lot of basic education because I come from where farmers are. And, typically, we vote very left leaning because I feel that's what politicians most or at least politicians on the right definitely look to advocate for even though they do not. And, I mean, I think the higher up you go when you realize that big cities, regardless of if you were to blame it on an immigrant population or anything like that, they are they they definitely tend to vote more blue because I believe that they are more educated, and they actually understand the background of which we are coming from demographically in the United States when you look at the difference between the south and south and the north. And they definitely understand. They have more access to things to become media literate, to understand the actual depth of what these politicians are asking of them and what they're taking from them. Speaker 1:Thank you so much for participating in this interview. Just know that if you ever feel uncomfortable, you can have the right to withdraw from this, study at any time. Speaker 2:Alright. Acknowledged.

3rd republican interview Speaker 1: Hi. You're currently doing the interview section of this AP capstone AP capstone research methodology about political polarization. Do you consent to participating and being recorded? Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker 1: Okay. So let's get started. Firstly, do you know what political polarization is? If so, could you explain? Speaker 2: I do not. Speaker 1: Political polarization is the extent to which people like or dislike their opposing political party opposing political partisans and refers to the divide between the two main political parties. Do you think political polarization exists in the United States? Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker 1: Have you ever lived in the United States?

Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker 1: How long have you lived abroad other than the US? Speaker 2: 2 years. Speaker 1: Where else have you lived other than the UAE? Speaker 2: I lived in the US. Speaker 1: Do you feel more connected to politics in the US or the UAE? Speaker 2: US. Speaker 1: Do you on the survey, when asked what news resource you use to get your political information, what did you choose? Speaker 2: I chose news websites and social media. Speaker 1: Did you choose news articles? Speaker 2: Yes. Speaker 1: If so, what websites would you use? Speaker 2: Fox and CNN. Speaker 1: What factors do you take into account when choosing your news resource? Speaker 2: Looking at both sides to make sure that I can see what both parties are saying. Speaker 1: How is American politics portrayed in the media of the UAE, which is your country of residence? Speaker 2: I think badly because they just think that the US, they're not in order. Mhmm. Speaker 1: What political party do you identify with? Speaker 2: Republican. Speaker 1: What is your main reason for choosing to identify with that party? Be specific. Speaker 2: I think just the laws about immigration and also just, like, gun control. Speaker 1: What factors do you take into consideration when choosing a political party to identify with?

Speaker 2: You have to see who's representing and also just the policies that are gonna be most affected by all Americans. Speaker 1: What aspect of your political leanings do you feel the most strongly about? Speaker 2: Immigration. Speaker 1: What about those issues do you think influence differing views in American politics? Speaker 2: I think some people might see it as harsh, like the Democrat party, but Republicans see it as necessary. So I think it's really the opposite of how they see it. Speaker 1: What conversations or factors contribute to differences between Democrats and Republicans? Speaker 2: The differences, I just think, at least on social media, what I've seen is, like, they don't really talk about it. They just get into fights. So I think that they don't have any conversations? Speaker 1: For example, we talked about the issues that you said that you care about as a Republican. What, topics of conversation now knowing those you think make it difficult for the 2 parties? Conversation, now knowing those you think make it difficult for the 2 parties to find a common ground? Like the Democrats and Republicans, why are they so different? Yeah. Why what conversations Mhmm. About those topics makes it so difficult for them to find a common ground? Speaker 2: I just think some people hold a lot of emotion to it. So it's just like it hits harder for some people. Speaker 1: Do you consider one's political party identification when interpreting opinions about them? Speaker 2: No. Speaker 1: Did you vote in the school mock elections? Why and why not? Speaker 2: Yes. I did. I just wanted to see or I wanted at least my vote to be counted as ASD, and I also just wanted to see other people's votes. Speaker 1: What did you observe about the behavior of the voters during the mock elections in school? Speaker 2: I think everyone participated well. I don't think anyone really got into fights in the mock election, so I think it was good.

Speaker 1: Were you public about your participation and who you voted for if you voted? Speaker 2: Yes. I was. Speaker 1: What factors, in your opinion, contribute to the polarization in American politics? Speaker 2: Again, like what I said, I think just the emotions, looking at the other side and not understanding them, but also not respecting them. And I think respect has a lot to do with it. Speaker 1: Thank you so much for participating. Just know that if you ever feel uncomfortable, you can withdraw your data and withdraw from the study at any time. And your information will not be shared with anyone. Speaker 2: Thank you.

4th democrat interview Speaker 1:Hello. You're currently participating in this AP Capstone research project about political polarization. Do you consent to participating in the study and being recorded? Speaker 2:Yes. I consent to be recorded and participating in the study. Speaker 1:Perfect. Let's get started. Firstly, do you know what political polarization is? If so, could you explain it? Speaker 2:Oh, no. I don't. Speaker 1:Okay. So political polarization is defined as the extent to which people like or dislike their political allies and opponents. And now knowing this, do you think political polarization exists in The United States? Speaker 2:Yes. I do. Speaker 1:Have you ever lived in The United States? Speaker 2:For two years when I was a baby, but not really. Speaker 1:How long have you lived abroad other than The US? Speaker 2:Sixteen Years. Speaker 1:Where else have you lived other than The UAE, which is your country of residence

right now? Speaker 2:I have not lived anywhere else but The UAE. Speaker 1:Do you feel more connected to politics in The US or The UAE, which is your country of residence? Speaker 2:The US. Speaker 1:On the survey, when asked what news resource you used to get your political information, what did you choose? Speaker 2:I chose The New York Times. Speaker 1:No. So, like, news articles, social media, like, what news resource? Speaker 2:Okay. Social media, like, my parents as well are big help and news articles. Speaker 1:If you chose news articles, what websites would you use? Speaker 2:The New York Times, and then also the governor and Washington Post. Speaker 1:Okay. What factors do you take into account when choosing your news resource? Speaker 2:I like to ensure that they're bigger companies to make sure they're more credible. I don't like it when they're biased, and I made sure to read on other sources to see if their information is true. Speaker 1:How do you feel American politics is portrayed in the media of The UAE, which is your country of residence? Speaker 2:In the media of The UAE, I feel like we don't really see a lot of American politics as typically The UAE takes a very neutral side to things, but I would say we are more Trump based as I know our president and our king prefers Trump. Speaker 1:What political party do you identify with? Speaker 2:I am a Democrat. Speaker 1:What is your main reason for choosing to identify with that party? Be specific. Speaker 2:First of all, my mom is a Democrat, so I just followed her lead. But they're also more liberal, and I align with their views more, for example, their views on women's rights and voting rights, and views on where money should be split against the country. Speaker 1:What factors do you take into consideration when choosing a political party to

identify with? Speaker 2:What values they align with and if they align with my values. And I also like to consider how other people and not just myself are going to be affected by the decisions of this party. Speaker 1:What aspect of your political leanings do you feel the most strongly about? Speaker 2:Probably women's rights and gun control rights, specifically allowing gun control and gun, like, regulation in America and also abortion rights and women having the right to decide for their own. Speaker 1:What about those issues do you think influence differing views in American politics? Speaker 2:I think, definitely, religion is a big influence for both of those, especially for abortion. In religion, it's considered a sin. However, it's not necessarily abortion is very wide range of when it is considered death and when it would be considered a sin and when religion could take place. And, also, for gun control rights, I think a big part of it is, Americans believing they have the right to freedom and the right to, bearing arms, which is true in the constitution. However, there is a limit, and there should be more rules and regulations in place because as such, we have a lot of school shootings and mass incidents that occurred due to this. Speaker 1:What conversations or factors do you think contribute to the differences between Democrats and Republicans? Speaker 2:I think religion is a big factor. Their people's beliefs, is it also another factor that people consider? And lastly, I also think that how they were raised in their family is one of the big factors that people choose which party to take part in. Speaker 1:Do you consider one's political party identification when you interpret opinions about them? Speaker 2:If their political party has a strong standing on who they are as a person, then yes. I do. If not, then no. Speaker 1:Did you vote in the school mock elections? Why and why not? Speaker 2:No. I did not because I had volleyball practice after school. Speaker 1:What did you observe about the behavior of the voters during the mock elections in school? Speaker 2:I did not observe anything.

Speaker 1:What did you think about the behaviors of the voters? Speaker 2:Everyone was very proud when they voted, and I saw that a majority of people voted for Kamala, unlike The US. And I think that's because they have more open views about things. Were you, okay. Since you didn't vote, then I won't ask you this question. Speaker 1:What factors, lastly, do you think, in your opinion, contribute to the polarization in American politics? Speaker 1:I'll ask again. Now talking about polarization having talked about polarization, what factors do you think contribute to the existence of it? Speaker 2:I think a big factor is social media and how different things can kinda play, especially the bias of social media. Speaker 1:Alright. Thank you so much for participating in the study. Just know that if you ever feel uncomfortable, you can withdraw your data and part and participation from the study at any time. Speaker 1:Thank you so much. I don't withdraw.

4th republican interview

Speaker 1: Hello. You're currently participating in this AP capstone research study about political polarization. Do you consent to being recorded and participating in this interview? Speaker 2: I consent to both. Firstly, do you know what political polarization is? If so, could you explain it? Speaker 1: Yes. Political polarization is essentially the extent to which people, with different views dislike each other or like each other. Speaker 1: Okay. Do you think well, let me define it as what we said as well. It's the extent to which people like or dislike their political allies and opponents. Do you think political polarization exists in the United States? Speaker 2: Definitely more so than any country in the world. Speaker 1: Have you ever lived in the United States? Speaker 2: I did for the first 7 years of my life. Speaker 1: How long have you lived abroad other than the US?

Speaker 2: The other 11 years. So yeah. Speaker 1: Where else have you lived other than the UAE? Speaker 2: Nowhere else but the UAE. Speaker 1: Do you feel more connected to politics in the United States or the UAE, which is your country of residence? Speaker 2: The US because it's more open. On the survey, Speaker 1: when asked what news resource you use to get your political information, what did you choose? Speaker 2:I recall choosing articles, news sources, radio, and social media. Speaker 1: If you chose news articles, what websites would you use? Speaker 2: CNN, BBC, and maybe ABC. Speaker 1: What factors do you take into account when choosing your news source? Speaker 2: Just their reputation, their credibility, and how non biased they are. Basically, how central they are. Speaker 1: How is American politics portrayed in the media of your country of residence, which is the UAE? Speaker 2: It is portrayed through a primarily objective and neutral view. Obviously, US politics have an important place in the international stage, but not to the extent where opinions are expressed freely, perhaps here as much they would in the US. Speaker 1: What political party do you identify with? Speaker 2: Republican. Speaker 1: What is your main reason for choosing to identify with that party? Be specific. Speaker 2: I am from Pakistan, and the Democrats in the last couple of years have done some pretty bad stuff to my people, and so I would settle for the Republicans. What factors do you take into consideration when choosing a political party to identify with? Primarily my my, my own family and my own people. So, I guess on that note, because I'm from Pakistan and I have cousins in Pakistan, I need to ensure their safety, and I don't necessarily trust a Democrat in office to ensure that. Also, I guess, the economy. So maybe you could call like, there's a pretty big subdivision of Republicans, fiscal Republicans.

Speaker 1: What aspect of your political leanings do you feel the most strongly about? Speaker 2: Again, it's just that bit of safety and, you know, a bit of a bit of the economy as well. Although, not as not that's not the reason why I would vote for somebody. Speaker 1: What about those issues do you think influence differing views in American politics? Speaker 2: People have different backgrounds. People have different interests, and both parties have their flaws. Especially right now, they're being exposed. Both the Democrats and especially the Republicans do have their flaws. I think people are just trying to take what they can get at this point. Knowing that, what conversations or factors contribute to the differences between Democrats and Republicans? A lot of it is to do with social media nowadays. A lot of it's to do with, you know, people are becoming a lot more open about things, which the Republicans aren't as open on, for example, LGBT, LGBTQ, and the Republicans sort of tend to go against that. And as people collect a voice, people do stand up for the things that they feel need to be stood up for. So especially with recent shootings like school shootings, gun control is a big topic, and Republicans feel very strongly about that. Yeah. Do you consider political party identification when you interpret opinions about them? No. Unless they are on the extremes of the political spectrum. Speaker 1: Did you vote in the school mock elections? Why and why not? Speaker 2: I did because I was in a social studies class where we had to vote in the mock. Speaker 1: What did you observe about the behavior of the voters during the mock elections in school? Speaker 2: Well, it was for the most part, it was pretty non serious because it doesn't have that much effect in the real world. It was kind of just a thought experiment, to be honest, and people I feel they understood that. And likewise, they didn't really, they kinda just went with the crowd, to be honest. It wasn't. Speaker 1: Were you public about your participation and who you voted for? Speaker 2: No. No. I wasn't. Speaker 1: What factors, in your opinion, contribute to the polarization in American politics, now that we've talked about all this? Speaker 2: Yeah. There's that bit of social media where now everybody has a voice and the more the more extreme the voice, the more amplified it is. So, obviously, you're gonna have you're gonna have more people expressing a more extreme viewpoint especially on, like, Twitter and all that, which create echo chambers, which kinda reinforce that belief. And as people spend more time online, people get immersed in those views and then get detached

from the middle, which is kind of where practicality lies. So that bit of polarization is largely due to social media and the amount of the tension that people with extreme values get. Speaker 1: Thank you so much for participating in this study. Just know that if you ever feel uncomfortable, you are more than welcome to withdraw your data and withdraw from this study at any time. Speaker 2: I would not like to withdraw. Thank you.

Appendix F ANES questionnaires

Appendix G Distribution of the form on the highschool bulletin board Hi everyone!

If you're receiving this in the bulletin, it is because you might fall under the demographic and scope that I am studying for my AP Capstone Research project.

I'm assessing the extent of the existence and prevalence of political polarization in American citizens between the ages of 14-18 and am currently in the process of gathering participants.

Political polarization refers to the extent to which people like or dislike their political allies and opponents and highlights the divide among them.

*Reminder that only American citizens or passport holders are eligible to participate in this study.

If you are willing to participate in my study, please fill out the consent form linked here by the end of this week. If you are already 18, you don't need to fill out the section regarding parental consent.

If you are below 18 you MUST fill out the section regarding parental consent.

Remember, you are under no obligation to participate, but it would be a great help if you could!

Let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks,

62 Rose Saboor

Appendix H

Debriefing form American School of Dubai DEBRIEFING FORM Affective polarization among american citizens living in the UAE Thank you for your participation in this research study. What you should know about this study 1. The information you provided us will be used in proving the main claim of my essay. 2. This was necessary to identify the unidentified underlying cause as the problem is still prevalent today and has been on a spike among american adolescents since the 1980s. 3. This was the methodology part of the essay. The next steps are to analyze the trends among the interview and survey responds in order to identify that undefined variable. Right to withdraw data You may choose to withdraw the data you provided prior to debriefing, without penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

Appendix I Qualitative coding

The Effects of School-Sanctioned Breaks on Sustained Attention Word Count: 4950

Abstract: Objective: The dip in sustained attention following a school-sanctioned break has been observed in a non-academic context in elementary-aged students by Marchant (2023), however, no academic research has been conducted to conclude this finding within high school-aged students. This study aims to observe whether school-sanctioned breaks result in worsened sustained attention among high school students following the break.

Method: This was a mixed-method approach consisting of a quantitative attention measuring task, as well as a qualitative survey and interview. 32 students completed the keyboard Stroop Color and Word test on an online website measuring sustained attention, the week before and after winter break. A three-question confounding variables survey was performed during the second Stroop test administration, where participants reported increases or decreases in stress, sleep, and screen time. Of the 32 participants, 15 were interviewed for further questioning.

Results: Changes in the Stroop incongruent minus congruent score were observed and statistically analyzed through a paired, one-tailed t-test, which concluded that school-sanctioned breaks result in worsened sustained attention following the break with a p-value of 0.024. The interviews were analyzed through a table method inspired by repertory grid analysis, where the additional confounding variable of lack of brain exercise surfaced. The confounding variables were observed through descriptive statistics, with two out of four worsening sustained attention, presenting a limitation to the conclusion. Additionally, this was conducted over one break, providing an additional limitation. Implications include schools considering providing further

transition time following a break due to sustained attention's link to academic performance and later well-being (Avirame et al., 2022; Nordlander & Stensöta, 2014).

The Effects of School-Sanctioned Breaks on Sustained Attention Quality attention spans are imperative to improving learning due to links between attention and academic performance, and therefore, well-being (Avirame et al., 2022; Nordlander & Stensöta, 2014). Within this study, attention spans are referred to as sustained attention, which is defined as the ability to maintain alertness for a long period of time by clinical neuroscientist Keren Avirame and colleagues (Avirame et al. 2022). To continue, Marchant (2023) informally observed that students experience dips in their sustained attention following a break, however, the extent has not been explored in an academic context. While school-sanctioned breaks’ effects on cognition, specifically sustained attention, have not been explored, it is evident that school-sanctioned breaks, such as summer break, have significant impacts on the brain. This is seen through the phenomenon of summer learning loss, defined as a loss of knowledge following a school-sanctioned break (Von Hippel, 2019). The concept of summer learning loss suggests that school-sanctioned breaks impact learning, as such breaks have been linked to worsened academic performance (Davies & Aurini, 2013). This decline in academic performance is further correlated with a decline in well-being within students (Nordlander & Stensöta, 2014). Comparatively, the negative effects linked to worsened sustained attention are identical to those of summer learning loss, calling for further research on the potential impact school-sanctioned breaks have on sustained attention. This paper aims to formally explore how school-sanctioned breaks impact sustained attention within high school students at a private international school in the Middle East.

Literature Review Sustained Attention

Various studies such as that by management professor Subramanian (2018), have determined that sustained attention continues to decline over time due to a wide variety of factors. This review explores the potential impacts of sleep, screen time, stress, and school-sanctioned breaks on sustained attention in high school students, and how that may affect their academic achievement in addition to their well-being. The Causes of Worsened Sustained Attention Studies such as that by Hanzal et al. (2024), found that generally, as fatigue increases, sustained attention and performance decrease. This establishes a general link between sleep deprivation and worsened sustained attention and underscores the importance of sleep for attentional improvement. Additionally, a meta-analysis conducted by Bieleninik et al. (2023), found that 'exogenous deficits,' which include poor nutrition, poor sleep, and excessive screen time are all causes of attentional deficits which can be as severe as ADHD. This suggests that sleep deprivation can be viewed as a cause of worsened sustained attention, rather than simply a correlation. To continue, a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study by You et al. (2024), discovered that in college students, inadequate sleep worsens cognitive functions, including attention, which was measured through the Stroop test (an attention-measuring task). This solidifies the link between poor sleep and worsened sustained attention in older teenagers and young adults. To counter this, however, research conducted by Sahu et al. (2024), recorded nursing and medical students’ screen time, sleep quality, and attention spans. While a link was found between high screen time and poor sleep quality, an insignificant link was found between sleep quality

and attention span. The age group observed within the study differs from what is observed in this paper, however, it does provide a limitation to the claim that sleep quality impacts attention span, as it contrasts with much of the available literature. However, research such as that by Alfonsi et al. (2020) has explored how sleep affects sustained attention in the targeted age group: high school students. The study by Alfonsi et al. (2020), evaluated the effects of later school start times on high school students’ attention spans, it was found that the group with later school start times, and thus better sleep, saw improved sustained attention and improved academic performance. The study suggests a correlation between sleep, attentional performance, and positive academic outcomes in high school students, overriding the study by Sahu et al. (2024) as the context is narrowed to that of the group explored in this paper. Furthermore, excessive short video consumption has also been shown to lead to worsened sustained attention. Studies such as that by Asif & Kazi (2024), through the Stroop Test, explore how excessive short video consumption, which includes Tiktoks, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts can negatively impact sustained attention, worsening the academic performance of the students within the study. Furthermore, this study establishes a cause of worsened sustained attention: high short video consumption, as well as an effect: worsened academic performance. Moreover, this is supported by a systematic review that evaluated ten longitudinal studies, by Jourdren et al. (2023). It was found that at early ages, screen time is linked to attentional issues, however, the general age group remains unclear, which provides limitations to the link's applicability to high school students. At this point, high screen time can be ruled as an additional potential cause of worsened sustained attention.

A third potential cause of worsened sustained attention is high stress. In a study by Vedhara et al. (2000), it was concluded that in postgraduate students, cortisol levels from exam stress can affect cognitive functions, as high cortisol can improve memory but hurt attention. Limitations to this include that it is specific to post-graduate students, which have a significant age gap when compared to high school-aged students, however, if it is put generally, it supports the conclusion that stress is a cause of worsened sustained attention. In contrast, in an examination by Banks et al. (2014), it was concluded that stressors do not significantly affect mind wandering or sustained attention. Limitations of the source include that the types of stressors are not entirely clear, and the age group could not be fully applicable to high school-aged students. In a more recent source, however, by Gunsilius et al. (2024), it was found that mindfulness training was able to improve the attention, academic performance, and interpersonal skills of medical students – connecting mindfulness training to reduced stress, and improved attention. Despite the ongoing debate regarding correlation versus causation for this factor, it is regarded as a variable that influences sustained attention within this study. The Gap A fourth cause however is what is aimed to be explored. A blog post by Marchant (2023), stated that “at the beginning of the year, students have always had shorter attention spans” within the context of elementary school students, suggesting that school-sanctioned breaks could be a potential cause. Limitations of this source are that although it is observed behavior, it is not academic, and is not specific to high school students, leading to a gap in the research. Furthermore, school-sanctioned breaks have effects on students, such as that of summer learning loss (Von Hippel, 2019). In a study by Von Hippel (2019), it was found that school-sanctioned

breaks, specifically summer break, result in a loss of knowledge as students return to school. This is further supported by a review of summer learning loss, centering Ontario students, by Davies & Aurini (2013), where summer learning loss is seen to result in decreased academic performance. The study concludes that long-term school-sanctioned breaks can have a significant impact on students' brains, calling for further research. Despite this, no research has been conducted to observe how cognitive functions such as attention span are affected by these school-sanctioned breaks. Thus, there is a lack of research regarding whether school-sanctioned breaks impact high schoolers' sustained attention which needs to be further understood. This leads to the research question: How do school-sanctioned breaks, specifically winter break, affect high school aged students' performance on the Stroop Color and Word test, measuring sustained attention? The proposed null hypothesis states that the effect school-sanctioned breaks have on Stroop test performance, measuring sustained attention is not significant, and the alternative hypothesis states that the effect school-sanctioned breaks have on Stroop test performance, measuring. sustained attention is significant. Research by Alfonsi et al. (2020) correlates sustained attention to academic achievement, and this study specifically focuses on high school students, keeping the age group relevant. This is further supported by Gallen et al. (2023), who explored the effects of sustained attention on academic achievement in young adolescents. Based on the available research, it can be concluded that worsened sustained attention can result in worsened academic performance. Furthermore, a limited study conducted by researchers in the sociology, and political science department at the University of Gothenburg, Nordlander & Stensöta (2014) found that worsened academic performance is linked to a decline in well-being. The age group consisted of adolescents aged 12 to 16, keeping the age group relevant to this study. It's unclear whether the

improved well-being is a cause for the higher grades, or vice versa, or if it is a simply observed correlation (Nordlander & Stensöta, 2014). Furthermore, research such as the empirical longitudinal study by Tape et al. (2021) found that improved well-being resulted in increased academic performance, further supporting this connection. To conclude, the effects of worsened sustained attention can result in decreased academic performance which has the potential to reduce well-being in high school students, calling for attention to the issue. Conclusion Targeting the causes of the root issue, worsened sustained attention, could reduce these negative effects. Therefore, researching an unexplored potential cause regarding how the school-sanctioned breaks affect sustained attention could mitigate the issue and ensure that high school-aged students have a smooth transition back to school if school-sanctioned breaks result in worsened sustained attention. Long-term school-sanctioned breaks have already been seen to have negative effects on students learning with summer learning loss, so it is possible that it can also greatly affect cognitive functions. Implications of this research could call for an alternate school schedule that implements shorter, more frequent breaks. In the context of summer learning loss, as stated by Davies & Aurini (2013), if education is viewed as a “year-round commitment,” suggesting shorter, more frequent school-sanctioned breaks, it could reduce the extreme effects of summer learning loss. If the same perspective were to be applied in the context of decreased attention span following a school-sanctioned break, there is potential for this solution to be effective.

Methodology

To examine the potential effects that school-sanctioned breaks have on sustained attention in high school students, the following method was initiated. Students at a private international school in the Middle East volunteered to participate. All students who expressed interest via a participation Google form were sent informed consent forms (see appendix item A), in addition to a parental consent form (see appendix item B) if the student was below the age of 18 at the time of the experiment. Participants were welcome to drop out for any reason, as well as withdraw all provided data. Participants were instructed to complete the keyboard version of the Stroop Color and Word test before and after winter break during their lunch period, as well as completing a survey regarding their sleep, screen time, and stress habits (the identified confounding variables), and if they consented to an extra step and were selected, a brief interview. The alignment between the method approach and the research question, are split into three sections. To begin, the choice to incorporate the Stroop Color and Word test was due to its wide recognition in the field as stated by Jensen (1965), as an attention-measuring tool. Additionally, it can be easily administered with ease and does not require special permission or unordinary tools besides a laptop and website, making it feasible for the target population to complete. The test instructs participants to select the computer key that matches the color of the word, under both congruent and incongruent conditions. The Psytoolkit Stroop test that was administered was free of charge, offered multiple attempts, and provided users with simple instructions, creating a clear experiment environment. Despite the test's efficacy, it came with limitations. The full length version of the Stroop Color and Word test was inaccessible due to a paywall, and further ethical considerations pointed out by members of the Institutional Review Board. The version administered allowed for each participant to complete the test online, without having to download an additional software, limiting ethical considerations and potential

participant fatigue. The choice to implement this test before and after the break allowed for the collection of baseline and comparison data, used to observe perceived changes in sustained attention following the break. The test consists of congruent conditions (the word on the screen matches the color of the word), and incongruent conditions (the word on the screen differs from the color of the word). This creates cognitive interference and measures the Stroop Effect, which is the delay caused by the cognitive interference and accounts for speed and precision (Naber et al., 2016; Scarpina & Tagini, 2017). The Stroop test has been widely used in studies to measure sustained attention such as that by You et al. (2024) and Asif & Kazi (2024). Additionally, the keyboard version is a simpler version of the test available online (Toth et al., 2019). On the Wednesday before winter break (Wednesday, December 11th, 2024), 32 high school students completed the keyboard version of Stroop color and word test via Psytoolkits free demo during their lunch period. The students were then instructed to screenshot and email their results so that their baseline attention could be examined. On the Tuesday following Winter Break (Tuesday, January 7th, 2025), the same 32 students repeated the test and reported their results in the same manner. The dates were selected upon classroom availability closest to the break, ensuring the isolation of the variable of school-sanctioned breaks. Following the test's completion, the participants filled out a survey accounting for three identified confounding variables. Due to a variety of factors’ potential to impact sustained attention, such as sleep, stress, and screen time, the form reporting any of these possible changes over the break was administered. Within the survey administered to participants (see appendix item C), they reported whether each of the three identified confounding variables increased, decreased, or stayed the same when compared to when they took the test prior to Winter break. This would ensure the confounding variables were accounted for appropriately, ensuring a sound conclusion.

The confounding variables were put in place in order to counter, or further the conclusions drawn from Stroop test data. Additionally, a further layer was added to the method in order to account for unidentified confounding variables. 15 participants, of the 23 who consented, were selected and interviewed throughout the month of January, ensuring that the individual was capable of recalling the break clearly. This was implemented by asking participants at the end of the survey whether they consented to further interviewing. During the interviews, participants qualitatively reported whether they felt as though the break improved or worsened their sustained attention, as well as elaborated on their survey responses, and reported additional aspects that they felt impacted their performance on the Stroop test (see appendix item D for the interview questions). This third section of the method provided further data that examined the participants' feelings, gaining an alternate perspective and a qualitative measurement of changes in sustained attention. In studies such as that by Asif & Kazi (2024), a qualitative approach is employed to observe changes in attention following a changed condition, further supporting the choice to add the third section of this methodology. Additionally, it further ensured the isolation of school-sanctioned breaks as a cause, by accounting for other potential behind-the-scenes, or personal factors, such as grief, that affect attentional performance. The complete methodology was selected as it provided data from multiple perspectives, both quantitatively and qualitatively, utilized a widely recognized test, and ensured that school-sanctioned breaks could be isolated as a cause for potential changes in sustained attention. The Stroop test improved the reliability of the conclusion due to its wide recognition in the related field. The survey ensured that the variable of school-sanctioned breaks was to be isolated, advancing the accuracy of the experiment. Additionally, the interview provided a qualitative

layer to the method which accounted for any other potential variables that the participant was willing to disclose. To conclude the method, a debriefing form (see appendix item E) was sent via email, asking participants if they wished to withdraw their information, as well as explicitly revealing information about the purpose of the experiment.

Analysis Quantitative Following the data collection, procedures were implemented to observe how school-sanctioned breaks impact sustained attention. The quantitative data analysis compared students' pre-winter break, and post-winter break Stroop test scores. The pre- and post-break means were calculated, as well as the observed average change in Stroop performance. To draw official conclusions, a paired one-tailed t-test was employed to compare the pre- and post-break scores. Qualitative Furthermore, the qualitative section aimed to account for the confounding variables and effectively isolate school-sanctioned breaks as a variable impacting sustained attention. Survey response modes were used to state whether the confounding variable supported or countered the quantitative findings for the majority of participants. For example, had the majority of participants reported an increase in a confounding variable that typically worsens sustained attention, such as screen time, and the observed quantitative conclusion reported worsened sustained attention, the confounding variable would be viewed as a limitation to the conclusion as it would also work alongside the school-sanctioned break variable to result in that observed change in attention. Limitations did occur analytically because although survey modes account

for the majority, it is possible for the variable to still have significantly impacted the performance of some participants, impacting the overall, generalized, conclusion. The interview responses were analyzed through inductive coding as the aim was to explore unidentified confounding variables. Explanations for changes in sustained attention were regarded as themes, and eventually additional confounding variables if the theme received over five mentions, accounting for a third of interviewed participants. The presence of a theme in each interview was recorded in a table, inspired by repertory grid analysis. 1's were used to indicate that the individual noted that the confounding variable impacted their sustained attention, and 0's were used to indicate otherwise, or a lack of mention. +’s and -’s were also employed in order to keep the data structured and clear to the reader. A ‘+’ indicated that the effect of the confounding variable reported would work to improve sustained attention, and a ‘-’ indicated that it would worsen sustained attention. The 0's and 1's were tallied up to observe the occurrence of each theme, providing an explanation for changes in sustained attention. The thematic analysis was conducted in order to identify additional confounding variables, or explanations that were not identified during the preliminary portion of the research. Themes that had a higher tally, indicating that a large percentage of participants mentioned the theme in their interviews, were regarded as a more significant confounding variable, and their effect on the conclusion was more heavily weighted and reported.

Results The quantitative findings regarding the Stroop Color and Word test conclude that the research rejects the null hypothesis that the effect school-sanctioned breaks have on Stroop test performance, measuring sustained attention, is not significant, and accepts the alternative

hypothesis states that the effect school-sanctioned breaks have on Stroop test performance, measuring. sustained attention is significant. Through descriptive statistics, it was identified that the mean Stroop incongruent minus congruent score, used to measure sustained attention, increased by 36.9687 milliseconds when compared to the scores before winter break, suggesting worsened attentional performance following the school-sanctioned break. The mean break scores include 136.5625 milliseconds as a pre-break score, and 169.53125 milliseconds as a post break score (see appendix Item F for raw data). This trend of worsened sustained attention following the break is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Pre- Break and Post-Break Stroop Performance Trends

Note. This scatterplot illustrates high school students' performance on the Stroop Color and Word test before and after winter break.

Furthermore, through inferential statistics (further represented in appendix item G), the value determined by a paired t-test comparing the pre-break and post-break scores, 0.024, is less than the standard p-value of 0.05, demonstrating statistical significance. The qualitative section ensured the appropriate limitations were applied to these findings. Limitations of these findings include the previously identified confounding variables of stress, sleep, and screen time. Based on survey responses, shown in Table 1, 68.75% (22/32) of participants reported an increase in sleep over the break, and 65.625% (21/32) of participants reported a decrease in stress which are linked to improved sustained attention, further supporting the conclusion that school-sanctioned breaks result in worsened sustained attention, as that was not observed. However, 71.875% (23/32) of participants reported an increase in screen time over winter break, which is associated with worsened sustained attention, providing a limitation to the stated conclusion, as this confounding variable could have worked to worsen sustained attention in addition to school-sanctioned breaks, limiting the significance of the conclusion. Furthermore, it is possible that a cause-effect chain relationship is in effect, such that school-sanctioned breaks affect these confounding variables which directly impacts sustained attention.

Table 1 Analyzed Survey Responses

Note. Survey responses with modes and percentages reported.

Through interviews analyzed through inductive coding, illustrated in Figure 2 (see Appendix item H for the remaining transcripts), and a table method inspired by repertory grid analysis (illustrated in appendix item I), a potential fourth variable was identified: a lack of cognitive engagement, or brain exercise, over the break. A condensed version of the table method was created for clarity (see Appendix item J), containing themes mentioned at least five times.

Figure 2 Coded Interview Transcript Example

Unprompted, six out of fifteen interviewees stated that a lack of brain exercise over the break, highlighted in yellow, could be the cause of the observed decrease in their sustained attention. With that, this insight provides a potential explanation for the decrease in attentional performance observed through this experiment. Uniquely, this trend appeared unprompted, whereas prompted, through the interview questions, there were ten mentions of stress and sleep, as well as eight mentions of screen time, highlighting the significance of the commonality that over a third of interviewees mentioned this variable. This significance of each confounding variable based on a tally of interview responses is demonstrated in Table 2.

Table 2 Interview Tally Count

Note. This table illustrates the number of times interviewees mentioned confounding variables's effect on their sustained attention over winter break.

To summarize, quantitatively it was observed that school-sanctioned breaks result in worsened sustained attention, however, two confounding variables identified in the qualitative portion, pose as limitations of the conclusion. The mode increase in stress, as well as the reported lack of brain exercise both work to worsen sustained attention in addition to the

school-sanctioned break. Additionally, nine out of fifteen interviewees qualitatively reported worsened sustained attention following the break, further supporting these findings.

Discussion Limitations A primary limitation of the research conducted includes the timeline. Initially, the focus of the study was tailored towards how summer break impacts sustained attention in high school students. When providing a cause for the research, it was focused on a potential connection to the previously researched concept of summer learning loss. However, due to the timeline, the study focused on winter break, which is significantly shorter. Although a paired t-test found that the difference in Stroop test performance before and after the break was statistically significant (p = 0.024 < 0.05), this is prior to taking the confounding variables into account. Additionally, it is possible that the difference in means before and after summer break could be more significant. An additional limitation of the research included access to the keyboard Stroop Color and Word test. The test used in the experiment was a demo provided by an educational tool, namely, Psytoolkit.org. Although it is not the full-length test, which could only be accessed through a paid software that required individual download, causing potential ethical considerations, it provided the necessary data. Originally, the paid software was considered due to the possibility of temporary free access through a trial period, however, advisors suggested an alternative tool, as gaining experiment approval could have been increasingly challenging due to potential risks associated with downloading an online software onto personal computers. The version of the Stroop test opted for, provides the incongruent, congruent, and incongruent minus congruent score, which is what was observed within the study. Although the full-length test could have

resulted in increasingly detailed and more official data, receiving approval prior to winter break while ensuring enough allocated time for participant recruitment posed challenges. Furthermore, due to the lengthy download and sign in process of the software, participants could have been less willing to complete the experiment. Alternative solutions such as one on one sessions with students on one laptop, or conducting a non-keyboard version of the Stroop test were considered. However, these solutions would have complicated the administration of the test, and it is unlikely that it would have been completed by all participants in the same lunch period, resulting in potentially unequal time gaps between pre- and post-break Stroop tests across participants, creating additional limitations. While access to a more official Stroop test is ideal, overcoming the associated challenges was not feasible within the timeline and ethics at the school. A further limitation, regards how the results should be interpreted, particularly with the confounding variables of stress, screen time, and sleep, which were accounted for in the survey portion of the method. Although the paired t-test conducted between raw pre- and post-break test scores found statistical significance, this does not account for the confounding variables. A ‘standard’ method for quantitatively adjusting for these factors, such as subtracting a set number, or percentage from each score based on survey and interview responses regarding the variables was not implemented. This leads to the conclusion that although school-sanctioned breaks are shown to affect sustained attention, there are other factors present that could not be quantitatively accounted for within this study. Despite this, the confounding variables survey accounts for these variables through descriptive statistics. The mode of responses regarding how reported sleep, screen time, or stress changed when compared to the first time participants took the keyboard Stroop Color and Word test were appropriately reviewed within the results, and were acknowledged as limitations to the conclusions. While these confounding variables could affect

the statistical significance of the findings, within the context of the study design, there was no standard method that could have completely isolated the variable of school-sanctioned breaks, as the control of each participant's actions over the break was not plausible. Future research Future researchers should consider conducting this study before and after summer break. If a sufficient number of participants were gathered, they could be split into two groups: individuals who vacationed or rested over the summer, and another with participants who worked. This method would account for further confounding variables such as lack of cognitive engagement, over the break, which was identified through the interviews conducted. Additionally, administering the Stroop test immediately before and after the break to isolate the break as a variable to a greater extent, as well as on the same weekday, allows participants to have the same schedule on that day. If the assumption that school-sanctioned breaks worsen sustained attention applies to all breaks, conducting this test before and after summer break allows for potentially more significant findings, as well as information about the role of the duration of a break on sustained attention. It could inform later changes such as the aforementioned year-round academic schedule, which includes shortened, but more frequent breaks. Furthermore, seeking access to a full-length test and providing pre configured laptops on test days with the software downloaded would overcome the ethical considerations and allow for further data collection that is increasingly reliable. The fidelity of the data collected could not be disputed, and could further the conclusions of the research. These modifications, if paired with a larger sample size that does not use convenience sampling, could result in more significant conclusions, which could further the body of knowledge regarding the topic of sustained attention and school-sanctioned breaks.

Implications The findings of this research identify the issue that school-sanctioned breaks result in worsened sustained attention, which calls for future avenues of research to explore a solution to this problem, as an implication. If similar findings were concluded across various school-sanctioned breaks in a larger sample size, and duration was accounted for, a potential solution includes the previously mentioned switch to year-round schooling. This has already been implemented to combat a similar issue: summer learning loss (Davies & Aurini, 2013). Additionally, schools, such as the private international school the research was conducted in, could consider allowing for increased transition time amongst students upon their return to school, allowing for the potentially increased opportunity for students’ attention spans to readjust, therefore improving academics due to the correlation between academic performance and sustained attention stated by Alfonsi et al. (2020). Beyond that, there is a correlation between academic performance and wellbeing in students, explored in a study by Nordlander & Stensöta (2014), further establishing the importance of a solution.

Conclusion Through a mixed method study, the conclusion that school-sanctioned breaks result in worsened sustained attention, as seen through Stroop test performance changes, within high school aged students was reached. The null hypothesis was rejected, and the alternative hypothesis was accepted. Furthermore, although there are limitations to the conclusion, such as the confounding variable of screen time, and a lack of cognitive engagement over the break, the confounding variables of sleep, and stress worked to further support the conclusion. This finding is imperative, as worsened sustained attention has been reported to worsen academic

performance, and therefore wellbeing (Avirame et al. 2022; Nordlander & Stensöta, 2014). Moving forward, research should be conducted to discover a solution to the problem identified in this study.

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Nordlander, E., & Stensöta, H. O. (2014). Grades – for better or worse? The interplay of school performance and subjective well-being among boys and girls. Child Indicators Research, 7(4), 861-879. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-014-9233-y Sahu, D. P., Taywade, M., Poojitha Sushma, M., Singh, P. K., Pratima, J., Singh, P., Sharma, P., Mukta, D., U M Ravi Bharathi, & Krati, G. (2024). Screen time among medical and nursing students and its correlation with sleep quality and attention span: A cross-sectional study. Cureus, 16(4). https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.58323 Scarpina, F., & Tagini, S. (2017). The stroop color and word test. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00557 Subramanian, K. R. (2018). Myth and Mystery of Shrinking Attention Span. 5. Tape, N., Branson, V., Dry, M., & Turnbull, D. (2021). The impact of psychological well-being and ill-being on academic performance: A longitudinal and cross-sectional study. Educational and Developmental Psychologist, 38(2), 206-214. https://doi.org/10.1080/20590776.2021.1986356 Toth, A. J., Kowal, M., & Campbell, M. J. (2019). The color-word stroop task does not differentiate cognitive inhibition ability among esports gamers of varying expertise. Frontiers in Psychology, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02852 Vedhara, K., Hyde, J., Gilchrist, I., Tytherleigh, M., & Plummer, S. (2000). Acute stress, memory, attention and cortisol. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 25(6), 535-549. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0306-4530(00)00008-1 Von Hippel, P. T. (2019). Is summer learning loss real? Education Next, 19(4). You, Y., Liu, J., Li, X., Wang, P., Liu, R., & Ma, X. (2024). Relationship between accelerometer-measured sleep duration and stroop performance: A functional

near-infrared spectroscopy study among young adults. PeerJ. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.17057

Appendix Appendix A Informed Consent Form The Relationship Between School-Sanctioned Breaks and Attention Span in High School-Aged Students

The following consent form will provide the study details, allowing you to form your conclusion regarding your participation in the study. Your participation is voluntary, and so is the use of your information. Withdrawal from the study at any point will not result in any penalties. If at any time you have questions or concerns about the study, feel free to contact me via email @selsaadany.25@asdubai.org, or in person. Purpose of The Study: This study is designed to conclude the relationship between long-term school-sanctioned breaks, such as winter break, and attention span in high school students. In addition, the study will account for confounding variables such as sleep, screen time, and stress over the break. Procedure: If the participant chooses to participate in this study, they will be asked to complete a short cognitive task, the Stroop Color and World Test, measuring attention span prior to winter break during their lunchtime to collect base data. Furthermore, the week after the break, the participant will be asked to repeat the same task, followed by a three-question quiz regarding whether their screen time, sleep levels, and stress increased, decreased, or stayed the same when compared to

the last time they completed the task. In the survey, as the final question, they can indicate whether they consent to interviewing. If they do consent, they may be subject to a short structured interview. If the participant feels uncomfortable he, or she are able to withdraw at any time. The total duration of the procedure is two set lunch times, one the week before winter break, and one the week after. This will be held in a classroom (room is TBD) during the two lunchtimes and no further participation is required. Pizza and donuts will be provided to all those who participate. Potential Risks and Discomforts: This study requires attendance before and after winter break which can be challenging for many to attend. Additionally, the cognitive task could be exhausting or uncomfortable for students, so please withdraw if and when necessary. Potential Benefits of the Study: Students will be incentivized to participate with a catered lunch - pizza and donuts. Furthermore, participating in this research could allow for improved programs regarding students' transition back to school after school-sanctioned breaks. Participant Privacy: Participation is completely voluntary. The participant's information will remain confidential, but not anonymous. It won’t be shared with anyone besides myself so as to simply compare the baseline data of each participant to the results after the break.

Further Information: If at any point the potential participant has questions or concerns about the study, they can contact me @selsaadany.25@asdubai.org. They are also free to withdraw from the experiment, including all of their data at any point during, and after the experiment.

Do you consent? a) Yes, I consent to being a participant in this study b) No I do not consent to being a participant in this study

Please enter your parents email address if you are a minor (under 18) so I can send them a consent form. If you are not a minor, type in 'N/A': -----------------------------

Appendix B Parental Consent Form The Relationship Between School-Sanctioned Breaks and Attention Span in High School-Aged Students * Please read this in the context of your child's participation. The following consent form will provide the study details, allowing you to form your conclusion regarding your participation in the study. Your participation is voluntary, and so is the use of your information. Withdrawal from the study at any point will not result in any penalties. If at any time you have questions or concerns about the study, feel free to contact me via email @selsaadany.25@asdubai.org, or in person. Purpose of The Study: This study is designed to conclude the relationship between long-term school-sanctioned breaks, such as winter break, and attention span in high school students. In addition, the study will account for confounding variables such as sleep, screen time, and stress over the break. Procedure: If the participant chooses to participate in this study, they will be asked to complete a short cognitive task, the Stroop Color and World Test, measuring attention span prior to winter break during their lunchtime to collect base data. Furthermore, the week after the break, the participant will be asked to repeat the same task, followed by a three-question quiz regarding whether their screen time, sleep levels, and stress increased, decreased, or stayed the same when compared to the last time they completed the task. In the survey, as the final question, they can indicate

whether they consent to interviewing. If they do consent, they may be subject to a short structured interview. If the participant feels uncomfortable he, or she are able to withdraw at any time. The total duration of the procedure is two set lunch times, one the week before winter break, and one the week after. This will be held in a classroom (room is TBD) during the two lunchtimes and no further participation is required. Pizza and donuts will be provided to all those who participate. Potential Risks and Discomforts: This study requires attendance before and after winter break which can be challenging for many to attend. Additionally, the cognitive task could be exhausting or uncomfortable for students, so please withdraw if and when necessary. Potential Benefits of the Study: Students will be incentivized to participate with a catered lunch - pizza and donuts. Furthermore, participating in this research could allow for improved programs regarding students' transition back to school after school-sanctioned breaks. Participant Privacy: Participation is completely voluntary. The participant's information will remain confidential, but not anonymous. It won’t be shared with anyone besides myself so as to simply compare the baseline data of each participant to the results after the break. Further Information:

If at any point the potential participant has questions or concerns about the study, they can contact me @selsaadany.25@asdubai.org. They are also free to withdraw from the experiment, including all of their data at any point during, and after the experiment.

Do you consent to your child being a participant in this study? a) Yes b) No

Appendix C Confounding Variables Survey

How was your sleep affected over the break (since the last time you completed the Stroop task)? a) Increase b) Decrease c) Stayed the same How was your screen time affected over the break (since the last time you completed the Stroop task)? a) Increase b) Decrease c) Stayed the same How was your stress affected over the break (since the last time you completed the Stroop task)? a) Increase b) Decrease c) Stayed the same Would you be okay with being contacted for an interview? a) Yes b) No

Appendix D Interview Questions 1. Did you feel as though your attention span improved/ worsened when compared to before the break? 2. Why did you answer the survey the way you did, did you notice any significant changes in any of these three variables, or was it insignificant?

Appendix E Debriefing Form

Thank you for your participation in this study, it was greatly appreciated. To maintain the accuracy of my study, it was necessary that I withheld information to account for bias. Now that the study has been completed, it will all be disclosed.

What you should know about this study: For this study, it was necessary that I withheld my hypothesis: School-sanctioned breaks worsen sustained attention in high school-aged students, to avoid potential bias influence. The conclusions I found supported/ countered my hypothesis (TBD). I found that …(TBD). The only aspect withheld was my hypothesis, however, the rest of the information was fully disclosed in the consent form.

Withdrawal: As a participant, you still have the right to withdraw any data from this study, so please contact me if that is your intention via email @selsaadany.25@asdubai.org.

Questions and Concerns: If you have any questions or concerns regarding the experiment, please contact me via email @selsaadany.25@asdubai.org, or in person. Thank you for your time.

Appendix F Raw Stroop Data

Pre-Break

Post-Break

Score (ms)

135

131

122

146

127

131

113

271

198

221

313

136

187

295

216

107

250

227

369

101

138

123

130

126

210

199

169

141

279

168

360

225

102

176

281

277

191

197

234

236

163

M = 132.5625 M = 169.53125

Appendix G T-test Data t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

Pre-Break Score (ms)

Post-Break Score (ms)

Mean

132.56

169.53

Variance

8461.67

7140.06

Observations Pearson Correlation

0.34 Moderate Positive Correlation

Hypothesized Mean Difference

t Stat

-2.05

P(T<=t) one-tail

0.02 < 0.05 --> Statistical Significance

Appendix H Interview Transcripts Interview Coding Key: Themes:

Yellow = Lack of Brain Exercise Green = Stress Pink = Screen Time Orange = Sleep Blue = Experience With The Test (less confusion post break) Purple = Exhaustion Pre-Break Grey = Laziness Beige = Family Time Affecting Screen Time Proportions (not necessarily hours) Potentially Quotable = Bolded

Qualitative - Attention improved/ worsened Qualitative Worsened Count: 9 Qualitative Improved Count: 5 Unsure: 1

Interview 1:

Speaker 1: Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Okay. Did you feel as though your attention span improved/worsed when compared to before the break??

Speaker 2: It got worse for sure because I feel like when I was in school, I was actually working and my brain was working. And so over the break, my brain calmed down, and I didn't get enough workouts for my brain. So basically, I lost that attention span.

Speaker 1: Okay, why did you answer the survey the way you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of these variables or was it insignificant? The way that you answered the survey was You said that your sleep stayed the same, your screen time decreased, and your stress increased.

Speaker 2: Yeah, my sleep was mainly the same. What was my stress? My stress increased because I guess I wasn't that distracted as before. So that could have also messed with the attention span. And my screen time, I was not on my phone as much. But again, my brain wasn't working as much.

Speaker 1: Thank you.

Interview 2: Speaker 1: Hi, Ava. Hello. Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Okay. So you understand that you're being recorded, and I can use direct quotes from this.

Speaker 2: Okay.

Speaker 1: Thank you. Did you feel as though your attention span improved or worsened compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: I think worsened.

Speaker 1: Do you wanna add anything? Feel free to say as much as you want.

Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, the whole break, like, my sleep schedule is completely, like, different. I used my phone a lot more. And I also, like obviously, I wasn't, like I didn't have, like, as much of a schedule, so I, like, didn't need to be, like, studying at a certain time or, like so I guess I just kind of, like, relaxed a lot more. Okay. So, yeah, it just made me not, like, as focused on stuff.

Speaker 1: Why did you answer the survey the way you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of the the three variables or was it insignificant? And the three variables are sleep, stress, and, screen time.

Speaker 2: I mean, yeah. Like I said, I said my screen time went up, and then my sleep, I guess, just got worse because I was, like, sleeping in more.Like I said, I was just more relaxed and, like, unfocused. And then my stress probably, like, stayed the same because, obviously, I still have to think about, like, college and everything. So, yeah, there was still, like, stress in my life.

Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you, Ava.

Interview 3: Speaker 1: Hi. Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yeah. I do.

Speaker 1: Okay.Did you feel as though your attention span improved slash worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: I feel that my attention span worsened after the break, and I feel like I was much more attentive before the break.

Speaker 1: Okay. Why did you answer the survey the way that you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of these variables, or was it insignificant? And the way that you answered the survey was sorry. Let me just. Oh, yeah. You said that your sleep decreased, your screen time increased, and your stress decreased over the break.

Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. I think my sleep decreased because, obviously, over the winter break, people have more plans, and you don't sleep as early because you don't have to wake up. My screen time, I think, increased as well because there were some times where I wasn't doing any work and I wasn't, you know, hanging out with people. So kind of I resorted to just using my screens.

Speaker 1: Okay.

Speaker 2: And what was the third thing again? Stress. Decreased. Stress. My stress decreased as well, I think, because of the lack of school work and the lack of, like, exams to study for. I think that all these variables kind of added up to me being less attentive and less, like, focused while doing the test, and that's why it led to a worse attention span.

Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you.

Interview 4: Speaker 1: Hi. Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Okay. Did you feel as though your attention span improved slash worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: I think it got a little better after the break. Okay. I'm not sure. Because I mean, I had, like, time with, like, my family and stuff, so I spent less time, like, on my phone or on my laptop compared to what I do during school.

Speaker 1: Okay. Why did you answer the survey the way you did? Do you notice any significant changes in any of the 3 variables, or was it insignificant? And the way that you answered the survey was Okay. So you said that your sleep increased, your screen time increased, and your stress stayed the same. Yeah.

Speaker 2: So I would say that, I mean, I got more sleep over the break compared to how do I do in school. Okay. Obviously, I did spend a little bit more time on my phone, but I feel like overall, I felt like less time because of, like, how school works and how, like, I will spend basically all afternoon using my phone. So I would say, like, yeah. Okay.

Speaker 1: Thank you.

Interview 5:

Speaker 1: Okay. Hi. Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker 1: Okay. Do you feel as though your attention span in print loss worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: I think it worsened.

Speaker 1: Why did you answer the survey the way that you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of these 3 variables or was it insignificant in the way that you answered the survey? That you said your sleep increased, your screen time increased, and your stress decreased.

Speaker 2: I think because my screen time increased, my attention span decreased.

Speaker 1: Okay. So you feel like that had the greatest effect?

Speaker 2: Oh, and the break.Like, I was away from school for a while, so I got, like, time to myself. So I was, like, locked out. But yeah. Okay.

Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you.

Interview 6: Speaker 1: Do you consent to this interview?

Speaker 2: Yeah. Of course.

Speaker 1: Did you feel so your attention span improved slash worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: So I wasn't really focusing on it because I didn't have a lot to focus on in the break. But I feel like I was a bit more focused on specific things. Like, when my mom asked me to do things, I would actually remember instead of just forgetting 2 minutes later.

Speaker 1: Okay.Thank you. And then why did you answer the survey the way you did? Did you notice any significant changes, any of these three variables, or was it insignificant? And the way that you answered the survey sorry. Was that you said that your sleep decreased, your screen time increased, and your stress stayed about the same, like, before and after the break.

Speaker 2: I think that the whole sleep and screen time was just because it was breaks. So, like, you know, during break, I sleep later, and, I have more chances to use my phone compared to when I'm studying at school. So I think that that was, like, the main factor that drove those answers. And for the stress, I don't know. My stress is just always the same. It's like it doesn't the the test didn't really change anything. My stress is just always the same.

Speaker 1: Sorry, like, did you feel like like, with the first time you took the test, did you feel like like did you feel like the break in any way affected your ability to perform on the test? Or, like like, did you feel like that, like, affected your attention span?

Speaker 2: Not even just on this test, but, like, at school. I don't fall asleep in math class anymore. See, that's I I think that counts. And, the second time I did the test, I was more focused on actually getting the keys right. Because last time, I got some wrong because I clicked, like, yellow instead of red.Not because I didn't know it, but because the keys. Yeah. Like, I was focused on the keys.

Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Interview 7: Speaker 1: Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Okay. Did you feel that your attention span improved last worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: Improved.

Speaker 1: Okay. Why did you answer the survey the way you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of these three variables or was it insignificant? And the way that you, the way that you answered the survey was that you said your sleep decreased sorry, your sleep increased, your screen time increased, and your stress decreased.

Speaker 2: I think my decrease in stress and my increase in sleep helped me improve my score.

Speaker 1: Okay. Alright. Thank you.

Interview 8: Speaker 1: Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: I do.

Speaker 1: So my first question is sorry. Did you feel as though your attention span improved slash worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: I think it worsened.

Speaker 1: Why did you answer the survey the way that you did? Do you notice any significant changes in any of these three variables or was it insignificant? And the way that you answered the survey was that you said, you said that your sleep increased, your screen time increased, and your stress decreased.

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: So did you feel so that, like, made a difference in your attention span?

Speaker 2: Yeah. I got more lazy. I yeah.

Speaker 1: Thank you.

Speaker 2: You're welcome.

Interview 9: Speaker 1: Hi. Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker 1: Okay. Did you feel as though your attention span improved slash worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: It worsened.

Speaker 1: Okay. Why did you answer the survey the way you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of these three variables, or was it insignificant? And the way that you answered the survey, just as a reminder, was that you said that your, your sleep decreased, your screen time increased, and your stress increased. Did you feel so, like, the played a role in your attention?

Speaker 2: I think so. Just because I was so stressed, exhausted and, like, unfocused that I wasn't able to like, I like I got no amount.

Speaker 1: Thank you.

Interview 10:

Speaker 1: Hi. Do you consent to this interview?

Speaker 2: Hello. I do.

Speaker 1: Okay. Did you feel as though your attention span improved slash worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: I don't really remember. But after so during the second test, I definitely had more experience. So I feel like that helped. Not I'm not sure if my attention like, I'm not sure if my score improved a 3 piece.

Speaker 1: Did you, like, feel, like, it was easier to test or?

Speaker 2: No. No.

Speaker 1: Okay. Why did you answer the survey the way that you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of these three variables, or was it insignificant? And, like, the way that you answered the survey is that you said that your sleep increased, your screen time decreased, and your stress decreased from the first time and last time that you took the test?

Speaker 2: So the first time, definitely, that was during a week of when I had more exams, so I was tired. And and during the break, I had more sleep, so and less homework. So my sleep increased and my stress decreased.

Speaker 1: And yeah. So do you feel like that, like, affected your attention span anyway?

Speaker 2: I'm definitely more energized and, like, my brain is less foggy, which I think helps with my reaction time. Okay. Definitely. Okay.

Speaker 1: Perfect. Thank you so much.

Interview 11: Speaker 1: Hi. Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker 1: Okay. Did you feel as though your attention span improved slash worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: It improved.

Speaker 1: Okay. Why did you answer the survey questions the way that you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of these 3 variables or was it insignificant? And the way that you answered was that you said that your sleep increased, your, screen time increased, and your stress decreased. Do you feel like they're, like, affected, like, your attention span anyway?

Speaker 2: No. I don't think so.

Speaker 1: So do you feel like the brain, like sorry. The break, like, had, like, played a role?

Speaker 2: It played a role in, like, decreasing my stress, but I don't think it played any roles in my, like, attention span in the long run. Okay.

Speaker 1: You don't think it, like, really made a difference?

Speaker 2: Yeah.

Speaker 1: Thank you.

Interview 12: Speaker 1: Hi. Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker 1: Okay. You can withdraw this at any time, by the way.

Speaker 2: Okay.

Speaker 1: So my first question is, did you feel as though your attention span improved slash worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: I think it, it worsened slightly. I think I was getting maybe less sleep and that's maybe why. Like, and I had I haven't been doing as much work or maybe not the more work in general.

Speaker 1: Okay. Why did you answer the survey the way you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of these variables, or was it insignificant? And the way that you answered the survey was that you said that your sleep decreased, your, screen time stayed the same, and your stress decreased.

Speaker 2: So I was in a different country for vacation, and we had, like, events and stuff that we were going to that ran later into the night. So I think that's the reason my sleep decreased. But I think, my stress also decreased because I wasn't doing as much homework or studying or stuff like that during the break. Like there wasn't much brain exercise.

Speaker 1: Okay. Do you think any other confounding variables could have played a role?

Speaker 2: I think so. Yeah.

Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. Do you wanna share anything else?

Speaker 2: I'm okay.

Speaker 1: Thank you.

Interview 13: Speaker 1: Hi. Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yes. I consent.

Speaker 1: Okay. Did you feel as though your attention might improve slash worsened when compared to before the break? Before, like, the winter break?

Speaker 2: Yeah. I feel like it, like, worsened. I feel like it's because of, like, the break and I was, like, on my phone a lot.

Speaker 1: Why did you answer the survey the way that you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of these three variables or was it insignificant? And the way that you answered the survey was that you said that, your sleep increased, your screen time increased, and your stress decreased.

Speaker 2: Yeah. I feel like, when I'm on my phone a lot, my stress, like, decreases because I just, like, forget about other things. And my sleep also increased because I had a lot of time to sleep.

Speaker 1: Okay, so thank you.

Interview 14: Speaker 1: Hi. Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yes.

Speaker 1: Okay. Did you feel as though your attention span improved slash worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: Wait. Can I look up the Google form? I forgot what

Speaker 1: I I'll tell you that for the second question. I tell you. Did you feel as though your attention span improved slash worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: Like Oh, my attention span, improved. Yeah.

Speaker 1: Okay. Why did you answer the survey the way that you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of those three variables or was it insignificant? And the way you answer the survey that you said your sleep increased, your screen time decreased, and your stress decreased.

Speaker 2: What was the question?

Speaker 1: The question was the question was why did you answer the survey that way that you did? Like, was, like, the were the changes significant? Yeah.

Speaker 2: Over winter break, kinda I got a break from, like, all my work. So I can tell my sleep improved. I was sleeping, got a lot more hours in. So my attention span was better because I got the sleep and I got the rest. I was less stressed because I had less work to do. So overall, less more sleep, less stress, and more focus.

Speaker 1: Okay. So you didn't feel like the like the break played any role, like, specifically?

Speaker 2: It did. It it played a big role in improving my sleep because I didn't have to like, yeah, focus on settling my work.

Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you.

Interview 15: Speaker 1: Okay. Hi. Do you consent to being interviewed?

Speaker 2: Yes. I do.

Speaker 1: Did you feel as though your attention span improved slash worsened when compared to before the break?

Speaker 2: Before the break, I think it was probably better. I think because after the break, I, you know, I played too much video games, and I wasn't, like, really studying during, like, the the winter break. So I think my attention span was probably worse when I came back.

Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. Why did you answer the survey the way that you did? Did you notice any significant changes in any of those three variables, or was it insignificant? And the way that you answered the survey was that you said your sleep increased, your scream sorry. Your screen time increased as well, and your stress decreased.

Speaker 2: So I think I definitely slept more because I wasn't waking up on, like, 7 in the morning, for school because I didn't have school. Screen time increased definitely because, you know, more video games and more, more, chatting with my friends and stuff. And what else did I say? Your stress decreased. My stress definitely decreased because, you know, I don't have, like, schoolwork, and I think schoolwork is, it correlates with, with stress. So more schoolwork, more stress. I didn't have any, so there was, like, very low stress.

Speaker 1: Okay. And that, like, affected your attention span?

Speaker 2: It definitely did. Yeah.

Speaker 1: Yeah. Okay. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2: No problem.

Appendix I Full Interview Analysis Table

Key: 0

No mention

Mentioned

"+"

Effect: Improved Attention

"-"

Effect: Worsened Attention

Appendix J Condensed Interview Analysis Table

Key: 0

No mention

Mentioned

"+"

Effect: Improved Attention

"-"

Effect: Worsened Attention

Themes Lack of Brain

Stress

Sleep

Screen Time

Interviewee #

Grade :

Exercise

Influence

1 (+)

1 (-)

1 (+)

1 (-)

1 (+)

1 (+) 1

1 (+)

(indeterminate)

1 (+)

1 (-)

1 (+)

1 (-)

1 (+)

1 (-)

1(-)

1 (-)

1(-)

1 (+)

1 (-)

1 (+)

1 (-)

1 (+)

Empowering Change: The Impact of Environmental Influencers on Sustainable Consumer Behavior Among High School Students Word Count: 4955

April 29, 2025

ABSTRACT In recent years, social media has evolved into a powerful platform, reshaping how individuals communicate and how civic engagement unfolds. Among the key drivers of this transformation are social media influencers- individuals with a substantial online following who leverage their platforms to promote messages, ideologies, and behaviors (Sijabat et al., 2022). Given the rise of influencer marketing in recent years that has influenced consumption patterns among their young followers (Rokhadi, 2023), this piques curiosity about these influencers’ ability to address societal ills, namely, climate change, which 37% of Americans agree should be the nation’s top priority (Kennedy, 2023). Moreover, it raises the question: “To what extent is engaging with environmental influencers on social media associated with high school students’ reported sustainable consumer behavior? ”. Conducting a stratified random sample where 80 students were selected from a private international school in Dubai (20 from each high school grade level), participants were assigned a questionnaire and a digital behavior validation phase. The questionnaire measured their self-reported engagement with environmental influencers and their consumption habits, and the digital behavior validation phase corroborated their data by recording their actual engagement by analyzing their social media feeds, moreover, the number of environmental influencers identified on each of their top 3 most used social media platforms during a 1-minute scrolling period. After analyzing the data of participants (32 ended up responding), a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test and a Chi-Square test were conducted, which revealed a correlation between self-reported engagement with environmental influencers and actual engagement, and that following environmental influencers was associated with exhibiting sustainable consumer behavior, respectively. Together, these findings imply that environmental

influencers have a positive, tangible impact on the sustainable behaviors of adolescents, paving the way for content curation to be used as a means to fight our dire climate crisis.

LITERATURE REVIEW The rise of social media advertising The past decade has seen a tremendous growth in the use of social media platforms, bridging physical barriers through the provision of real-time communication to its users through direct messaging features as well as the option to exchange media with one another (Jamil et al., 2022). By providing a two-way communication channel between companies and their customers, social media has created an efficient manner for said companies to connect directly with their customers and improve customer retention (Yadav & Rahman, 2018). Consequently, these corporations have begun to consider social media as a vital tool for reeling in capital regardless of location. Brand marketing on social media has been an immensely successful tactic for maximizing customer impressions, a phenomenon corroborated by the fact that the digital marketing budget for China’s top 40 luxury brands has almost doubled since 2015 (Lannes, 2019). By launching these campaigns, these corporations create online communities wherein a sense of continuity is engendered despite not physically interacting with one another (Ismail et al., 2024). Within these social groups, customers inquire about goods and services, in turn fostering strong relationships with other consumers and professionals and impacting market behavior to a great extent. A study conducted by Laradi et al. uses a survey-based approach to collect data from 326 firms in Algeria, and it was revealed through structural equation modeling that Social Media

Marketing (SMM) contributes to improved firm performance and that it enhances firm outcomes (Laradi et al., 2024). However, the study also demonstrated that SMM has an insignificant impact on brand equity, which comprises consumers’ perceptions of a brand, subsequently influencing their consumer behavior (Allen, 2024). However, investigating how social media can be used to drive consumer purchasing patterns is important for these corporations who are looking to maximize their revenues, a phenomenon that has been addressed through the advent of social media influencers.

Influencers and their impact on consumption behavior The rise of digital platforms has caused everyday users to gain the ability to become powerful voices, giving way to influencers who now shape public opinion online (Albadri, 2023). This shift can be traced to the two-step flow communication model, which explains how people are more inclined to form opinions based on messages that are shared through trusted individuals as opposed to the mass media (Hudders et al., 2021). In this framework, it can be seen that influencers act as intermediaries who take media messages and reinterpret them in ways to resonate with their audiences. Early social platforms like MySpace paved the way for Facebook, Instagram, and now TikTok, platforms enabling influencers to interact with followers in a direct and public manner (Albadri, 2023). The personal nature of this relationship is unprecedented and has therefore raised questions by corporations about the effectiveness of this framework in driving consumption patterns exhibited by those who follow said influencers. Namely, Tram Nguyen conducted a study examining the extent of influencers’ impact on consumer behavior, specifically, how influencer marketing on TikTok affects the purchasing patterns exhibited by

their adolescent followers (Nguyen, 2022). By administering a self-reported questionnaire consisting of 16 focal questions and presented in 3 sections: the first part asking categorical questions to filter valid respondents, the second examining how influencers impact consumer behavior, and the final part exploring engagement with influencers at each stage of the consumer decision-making process, Nguyen concluded that consumers will acquire, use, or dispose of a product based on the recommendations of influencers that they follow (Nguyen, 2022). Accordingly, it can be seen how influencers are especially impactful among young people through creating content that feels personal, relatable, and emotionally engaging. Looking beyond consumption patterns, we can see how influencers also spark engagement with civic topics. Unlike traditional education which can feel disconnected or abstract, influencers connect with the youth by making serious social issues part of their everyday conversations through creative content (Sijabat et al., 2022). These influencers introduce civic action in ways that align with the identity and values of their followers, encouraging youth to sign petitions, join online campaigns, or raise awareness by sharing posts (Chen, 2022). This finding is significant as there is a declining trust of experts in our society, and individuals need new leaders to turn to concerning the fulfillment of their civic duties (Kennedy et al., 2022). This phenomenon is especially important within the context of climate change, as a rise in disinformation campaigns around the internet (Lewandowsky, 2021) has resulted in a state of deadlock where no actions are agreed upon to resolve this pressing issue. The impact of environmental influencers Despite the science community coming to an agreement on the facts surrounding climate change, it is a point of contention on social media that is stalling the commencement of any environmental mitigation efforts. Thus, environmental influencers, who are deemed as separate

from authority figures and whom consumers trust (Kim & Kim, 2021), are relied upon to address this matter. Environmental influencers are creators striving to lead and educate others on adopting a sustainable lifestyle through the promotion of environmentally friendly products (Yildirim, 2021). Due to their ability to reach broad audiences, green influencers are often described as “sustainability heroes” (Solitaire, 2022), guiding their adolescent followers to adopt conscious consumption patterns by preaching a zero-waste lifestyle. Through evoking warmth in their messaging, green influencers reduce the social-psychological distance between them and their audience, ultimately leading to higher levels of engagement with pro-environmental causes (Gerrath et al., 2024). Studies have shown that by posting about green consumption, green influencers have increased participants' green usage intentions, moreover, they have caused consumers to think more about their behaviors’ environmental repercussions (Gerrath et al., 2024). While this suggests that environmental influencers are relevant stakeholders in combating climate change, there continues to be a paucity of research on the tangible impacts of green influencers on consumer behavior. Presented gap Applying Nguyen’s framework provides the best manner in which the impact of influencers on their adolescent followers’ consumption patterns can be understood. The reality is, though, that an abundance of research has been conducted on the lucrative capabilities of influencers, moreover, how they foster trusting relationships with their audiences (Gerrath et al., 2024), which translates to consumers purchasing more of the marketed products (Rokhadi, 2023). Additionally, there has been research conducted on the unique utility of environmental

influencers, who influence environmental intention within their audiences, making them more prone to have an environmental mindset (König & Maier, 2024). However, the gap in the literature lies in the tangible impact of environmental influencers on consumption patterns exhibited by their audiences. This is called sustainable consumer behavior, and it refers to purchasing, using, and disposing of products in ways that minimize environmental and societal harm (Rowe et al., 2019). This research must be conducted since adolescents are the future generation, and considering we can find a link between environmental content curation and exhibited sustainable consumer behavior among this population, it implies that current and future generations will have the burden of the environmental crisis alleviated. Therefore, noticing this gap in the body of literature as well as the implications of these findings on the climatic state of our society, has led the researcher to the question: To what extent is engaging with environmental influencers on social media associated with reported sustainable consumer behavior among high school students?

METHOD To answer the research question, the method employed was a quantitative approach, combining aspects of self-reported and observed data collection to understand how effective content curation has been in fostering a more environmentally conscious youth. Moreover, this method included a preliminary survey that gathered data on the frequency and behaviors related to environmental influencers and sustainable decision making, in addition to data on participants’ motivations and perceptions. Ensuing the survey, the self-reported data was cross-referenced through the review of participants’ phone and social media data.

This design was most appropriate for the gaps and goals that needed to be addressed. Firstly, given the fact that the extent to which environmental influencers inspire sustainable consumer behavior among high school students involves both subjective attitudes and observable behaviors, an objective cross-sectional survey was deemed not inappropriate. However, following Tram Nguyen’s framework for analysis allowed data collection to follow a much more streamlined approach, at least in part. By asking participants close-ended questions providing measurable insights into the prevalence of sustainable behaviors, the degree of engagement with environmental influencers, and patterns in attitudes and behaviors, this research could collect quantitative, empirical data that represents a large sample, generalizes important information, and directly addresses the gap in the field. On the other hand, the contextualization of these numbers is just as necessary, thus, participants’ deeper motivations, perceptions, and subjective experiences were incorporated into the survey to provide a nuanced understanding of how and why environmental influencers inspire sustainable consumer behavior. Still, self-reported data needed to be verified, which necessitated the second phase of the study, where participants were tasked with the identification of their most used social media platforms and subsequently spending 1 minute scrolling through each of the selected applications, noting how many environmental influencers they came across during the allotted time frame. Sampling Procedures A representative sample of 80 high school students was taken from the institution. This particular institution was chosen to make up the sample for data collection due to convenience purposes (since the researcher is a student, this institution has comparatively easier access to the subjects and resources necessary for the study), which introduces potential selection bias. Despite the fact that it is an international institution with students from an array of cultural and

regional backgrounds, meaning that findings can be generalized on a wider scale, the assumption of generalizability is limited by the specific cultural and institutional context of the school, which may not fully reflect other high school populations. The implications of choosing this sample were noted as a clear delimitation of the study. Sampling occurred following the practice of stratified random sampling, acquiring a roster of students from the High School Office and dividing them into groups based on grade level. Subsequently, the names of the high school students were placed on one of four wheel generators according to their grade level, and the wheel was spun until 20 subjects from each wheel were selected. The fact that the sample is greater than 10% of the population (716 high school total students) ensured that it was large enough for statistical significance. All selected students were sent an email (see Appendix A) containing an introduction to the research and two digital consent forms (one for their completion and one for their parents’). Also included in the email was the fact that food would be provided for those who complete the survey, thereby incentivizing their participation. If students opted out of the study or failed to respond to any of the preliminary emails, the respective wheel (based on their grade level) was spun again, and a new subject was selected. This process was repeated until a passable number of subjects submitted their and their parents’ consent forms. Self-Reported Quantitative Phase: Survey The first phase entailed a 10-minute survey sent to participants via Google Forms for their completion in the allotted meeting room. Reliability was supported through consistent administration protocols and ensuring that participants understood instructions clearly (see Appendix B for the script that was read out). The survey included the collection of quantitative data through a combination of categorical questions (to established participants’ demographics

and validating their engagement with social media and environmental influencers) and multiple response questions (providing a detailed understanding of participants’ preferences and engagement patterns) to address the extent of environmental influencers’ impact on sustainable consumer behavior. Additionally, the survey gauged the subjective attitudes of participants through the inclusion of Likert scale questions (quantifying the degree of influence and behavioral impact through measuring participants’ opinions and behaviors). This provided a convenient manner to understand the behavioral impact of influencers on adolescents without having to administer a complicated qualitative phase that would require thematic coding to identify recurring themes within participants’ responses, a time-consuming process. This type of question helped address the “why” aspect of the research that can be applied as a framework with which content curation can be leveraged as a means to foster a more environmentally engaged youth. Questions (see Appendix C) were constructed by the researcher using Nguyen’s established framework for question design to ensure validity. The survey was split into three sections: the first part gathering basic information on participants, the second examining factors through which environmental influencers affect sustainable consumption among adolescents, and the final part exploring how environmental influencers affect sustainable decision-making at each step of the consumer decision-making process. This dataset then underwent detailed statistical analysis to uncover insights into the influence of environmental influencers on sustainable consumer behavior. Specifically, a Chi-square test was conducted, where the independent variable would be question 3a “Do you follow any influencers on social media?” and the dependent variable would be 4a “Have you ever engaged in sustainable consumer behavior after viewing content from environmental influencers?”. These findings would then be placed into a contingency table (see Table 5) based

on their responses to the aforementioned questions, and the totals would be calculated. Data from the contingency table would be pasted into Jupyter Lab, a computational notebook to run statistical tests, and a p-value would be calculated, with a p-value greater than 0.05 indicating no association, and one less than 0.05 implying an association between the following environmental influencers and engagement in sustainable consumer behavior. Quantitative Phase: Digital behavior validation The next phase of the study was a 5-7 minute digital behavior validation process. Participants were instructed to look at their screen time data and identify their top three most-used social media platforms. Subsequently, they were instructed to scroll for the duration of one minute on each of the identified platforms, noting (on the page included at the end of the Google form) the number of times they saw a post by an environmental influencer(see Appendix D). Throughout this time, the researcher was present in the room to address any questions that the participants had. This approach was followed in order to best provide for the verification of the quantitative data in the survey and to provide a more insightful and profound overview of the topics being addressed through Nguyen’s framework for analysis. Data was coded and statistically analyzed by conducting a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test, which would compare the total number of environmental influencers identified across all social media platforms by each participant (during the digital behavior validation stage) to self-reported data (from the survey) to see if there were any discrepancies. This is because survey data would be leveraged in the primary investigation to see whether following influencers (a variable that is self-reported) is associated with engagement in sustainable consumer behavior. Before the conduct of this test, it had to be ensured that self-reported data was representative of adolescents’ true social media behaviors, which would give the researcher the confidence that the subsequent

findings are accurate (whether or not an association between following influencers and engagement in sustainable consumer behavior is found). Thus, question 7a, “How often do you make sustainable decisions based on recommendations from environmental influencers?” and 8a, “After adopting a sustainable behavior or purchasing a green product recommended by environmental influencers, how often do you seek further information to evaluate your decision?” would be considered the independent variable. This is because a participant who made their purchasing decisions based on recommendations from environmental influencers or who searched for further information on a product purchased based on an environmental influencer’s recommendation is inclined to see more of these influencers on their feed due to algorithmic personalization (Berkovsky & Freyne, 2015). For each section on the Likert scale, it would be converted to a numerical variable to facilitate the quantitative analysis in an easier manner (see Table 1 depicting this conversion). Logically, the dependent variable would be the observed data recorded in the digital behavior validation stage, where the total number of influencers across each identified social media platform would be calculated for each participant. For this test to be conducted, each range on the number of posts by an environmental influencer identified would be converted into a numerical value, which is the mean of the lower and upper bound of the range (see Table 2 depicting this conversion). This data would be tabularized and subsequently placed into Jupyter Lab and a p-value would be calculated. Considering a correlation is found, this would indicate that self-reported data from the survey is an accurate gauge of adolescents’ social media behaviors, and thus, the primary Chi-Square test would commence. Table 1

Table 2

Ethical Considerations This proposed method complied with ethical research practices by following all recommendations and guidelines set forth by the Institutional Review Board and being clear with respondents that their responses would be confidential and that they could drop out of the research at any time without any justification. Participants were made aware of the purpose of the study as well as the specific procedure that was followed, and counseling services were made available. Participants were also sent an informed consent form/debrief form, including one for their parent/guardian’s completion if the selected participant was under 18 years old (Appendix E for participant’s informed consent form, Appendix F for parent/guardian’s informed consent form, Appendix G for participant’s debrief form, and Appendix H for parent/guardian’s debrief form).

RESULTS Quantitative Data (Summary Statistics and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test) Of the 80 high school students to whom the survey was sent, 32 participants responded. Table 3 compares the descriptive statistics of the survey responses (self-reported engagement with environmental influencers) and observed engagement (derived from the digital behavior validation phase).

Table 3

Based on the table, it was observed that the descriptive statistics were consistently higher for the observed engagement with environmental influencers. This piques curiosity on whether this is occurring due to chance alone or whether there is a statistically significant relationship at play. Thus, it necessitated the conduct of the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test to see whether a correlation between the two variables was present.

Table 4 compiles the responses of each participant, noting their response on the likert scale, the average reported engagement (calculated by taking the mean of question 7a and 8a), the total observed number of influencers (calculated by adding the number of environmental influencers identified on each social media platform), the difference between the reported and the observed number of influencers (with a positive value indicating an overestimation and a negative value indicating an underestimation), and an absolute differences column to gauge the magnitude of this difference (how far off the self-reported is from the observed).

Table 4

To test the hypotheses regarding an association between self-reported and observed data using the numerical data from the survey and the digital behavior validation phase, a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test was conducted at the 0.05 significance level with the goal of making statistically significant inferences about the population of interest. All the conditions for the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test (dependent samples, independence within pairs, ordinal and continuous variables) were met. Data from the table was pasted into Jupyter Lab as indicated in Figure 1.1 and prompted the results that are shown in Table 4 and Figure 2.1.

Figure 1.1: Python command pasted into Jupyter Lab to conduct the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test

Table 4

Figure 2.1: Stacked bar chart showing the relationship between reported and observed engagement with environmental influencers in each grade level

The table indicates a p-value of 0.02, which is less than 0.05, indicating that the null hypothesis must be rejected. Moreover, this means that there is a correlation between self-reported and observed data. The stacked bar chart reaffirms this, as, despite the grade 12 data having a disproportionate ratio of total observed engagement with environmental influencers (the total number of influencers recorded in the digital behavior validation phase) to average reported engagement (participants’ responses when asked about whether they engaged in sustainable consumer behavior), the remainder of the data set depicts that there is a roughly equivalent relationship between total observed and average reported engagement. This indicates that self-reported data is an accurate measure of actual engagement with environmental influencers and can be leveraged in the subsequent chi-squared test to see whether there is a correlation between following environmental influencers and engagement in sustainable

consumer behavior. Before this, a paired t-test was run to identify any discrepancies between observed and self-reported data that would indicate over-/underestimations of actual engagement, the aforementioned being graphically depicted in Figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1: Paired difference test showing the difference between self-reported and observed engagement

According to Figure 3.1, one can observe that a plethora of points are below the zero line, indicating that self-reported engagement with environmental influencers tends to be less than actual engagement (there is an underestimation). While this does not invalidate the correlation, this finding simply implies that adolescents are more engaged with environmental influencers

than anticipated. This must be kept in mind when drawing conclusions from the Chi-Square test because self-reported data is lower than actual engagement, meaning more adolescents are following environmental influencers and are unaware/are failing to report said engagement with influencers, which corresponds to more sustainable consumer behavior assuming an association between the former and the latter is found. Quantitative Data (Chi-Square Test) Now than an association between self-reported and observed engagement with environmental influencers has been found, it means that self-reported data can be leveraged in the Chi-Square test where following environmental influencers (self-reported data from the survey) is the independent variable, and engagement with environmental influencers (also self-reported data from the survey) is the dependent variable. Participants’ data were sorted into a A contingency table that tallies their following and engagement habits as depicted in Table 5.

Table 5

Data from the contingency table was then pasted into Jupyter Lab, this time using a Python command pertaining to the Chi-Square test, and a p-value was calculated. The calculations are indicated by Figure 4.1, the results of the test by Table 6, and the graphical representation of this relationship by Figure 5.1.

Figure 4.1: Python command pasted into Jupyter Lab to conduct the Chi-Square test

Table 6

Figure 5.1: Stacked bar chart showing the relationship between the following environmental influencers and displaying sustainable consumer behavior

After conducting the Chi-Square test, a p-value of 0.01 was found, which is less than 0.05, indicating that we must reject the null hypothesis. In other words, there was an association found between following environmental influencers and engagement in sustainable consumer behavior. The aforementioned is further supported by the stacked bar chart, as there is a large chunk of adolescents who fall under the “Engaged(yes)” and “Following(yes)” category, compared to the remaining few who are scattered across the remaining 3 categories. Since the paired t-test revealed that engagement tended to be an underestimation of adolescents’ true social media habits, we can infer that this relationship is actually stronger than depicted, and that sustainable consumer behavior is higher than depicted by the chart and derived statistics. CONCLUSIONS Discussion

This research successfully bridged the gaps identified in the scholarly literature. Two hypotheses were made to bring out the tangible impact of influencers on their adolescent followers. The first alternative hypothesis was that self-reported data was correlated with observed data, a test that needed to be conducted to ensure that survey data was an accurate gauge of engagement with environmental influencers, which could then be leveraged in the subsequent Chi-Square test. After conducting the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, a correlation was found, allowing the researcher to proceed to test the primary hypothesis. The second alternative hypothesis was based on key findings from prior academic work, which established that influencers have an impact on consumer behavior, and that environmental influencers impact environmental perceptions. This hypothesis aimed to bridge the divide between the environmental and economic lenses by positing that following environmental influencers was associated with sustainable consumer behavior. After conducting a chi-squared test, it was found that an association was present and that engagement in the former resulted in the latter. Implications The first major implication is that this is the first piece of academic literature that establishes the tangible impact of environmental influencers on consumer behavior. All the previous studies focused on environmental influencers and concluded that they had an impact on the environmental perception of adolescents (König & Maier, 2024), but none went so far as to establish a relationship between the former and observed behavioral impact. By doing such, it introduces a framework where content curation can be leveraged as a means to combat our pressing environmental crisis that affects 99% of our world (Elton, 2023). Adolescents are our future generation, and considering they are influenced by these environmental content curators

and begin consuming in sustainable manners, this will ensure a more environmentally promising future. This also has implications for stakeholders. Firstly, it will cause the incorporation of environmental influencers into policymakers’ efforts to catalyze global environmental movements. One of the major setbacks to the implementation of environmental mitigation policies has been a polarized public opinion (Basseches et al., 2022), meaning that varying public attitudes regarding what efforts should be taken to address the climate crisis have led to the perpetuation of dire environmental conditions. Thu,s influencers, who act as opinion leaders (Chen, 2022), will be employed by policymakers to unite members of society under one front and inspire collectivized sustainable consumer behavior. Additionally, this will lead to educators incorporating media literacy programs into the school curriculum. As environmental content curation is adopted as a method to combat sustainability issues in our society, major corporations will undeniably try and capitalize on adolescents’ reliance on environmental influencers to get information pertaining to the environment and actions they need to take to minimize their footprint. Moreover, the aforementioned corporations will exploit influencers’ uniquely personal connection with their followers (Gerrath et al., 2024) to market products that are deceptively beneficial to the environment. Thus, media literacy programs’ implementation in school curriculum is integral to ensure that adolescents are informed about the risks of misinformation while seeking advice on how they should regulate their consumption patterns from online environmental figures. Limitations and Future Avenues of Research This study extracts data from one private high school located in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Thus, this is an evident sampling constraint which is not representative of

a broader population since it is specific to the specific situation of one high school, one specific cultural situation (since the UAE has a culture distinct from those around the world), and one specific socioeconomic situation. Additionally, the primary hypothesis of the study is conducted using data from a survey which is self-reported. Although a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test was conducted and an association was found between self-reported and actual engagement with environmental influencers, the t-test revealed that this was an underestimation. The fact that self-reported data was collected and utilized introduces response bias as individuals can respond in ways diverging from the truth due to reasons such as wanting to adhere to what they think the researcher is looking for, forgetting their true social media habits, etc. Even for the observed portion of the study, participants can respond in ways that diverge from the truth and simply enter random values regarding the observed number of influencers on each platform to hasten the data collection process. Finally, the fact that this was an observational study rather than an experiment implies that causation between following environmental influencers and engagement in sustainable consumer behavior cannot be established. Considering that an experiment would be conducted, it would indicate that around the world, efforts to create environmental content in order to inspire our youth to behave in environmentally conscious manners would commence, providing hope for our dire climate crisis. Future researchers should use this study’s shortcomings as starting points to maximize the outcome and applicability of the study. Firstly, future researchers should extract data from an array of highschools in a region that isn’t culturally isolated (the UAE has a unique cultural situation influenced by Islam as the regional religion), and that is socioeconomically representative of most regions around the world. Extracting data from an array of countries

would ensure an even more representative sample (considering the population of interest is high school students around the world), but that depends on the resources available to the researcher. Additionally, researchers should collaborate with social media platforms to extract analytics such as likes, follows, and shares (in relation to adolescents’ engagement with environmental influencers), rather than relying on self-reported data. This eliminates response bias and broadens the definition of “engagement with environmental influencers” to something that encompasses more than just following these influencers. Following an environmental influencer isn’t the only determinant of whether or not their content will cause an alteration in one’s consumption patterns, thus, extracting this data and having a full picture will ensure accuracy of the results and the relationship drawn from these results. Finally, researchers should be sure to conduct an experiment where a treatment (exposure to environmental influencers) is imposed on a subset of the population while the remaining group of participants remain unexposed/continue their normal media consumption patterns. This study should be longitudinal to see how exposure to this content impacts sustainable consumer behavior over time, and considering causation is established between engagement with environmental influencers and sustainable consumer behavior, environmental content curation will be used globally as a means to correct this environmental issue that is plaguing our world, providing a cleaner planet for current and future generations.

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APPENDIX Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix C

Appendix D

Appendix E

Appendix F

Appendix G

Appendix H

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