Arts and culture function as indispensable parts of humans’ lives. Numerous studies have examined the impact and value of arts and culture, from individual quality of life to overall community health. However, research has been less focused on identifying the influence of crucial dimensions of arts and culture on overall community well-being, and contributing to understanding the intertwining connection between these elements and community well-being. To explore the dimensions of arts and cultural resources and community well-being, and in turn, to present the relationship between them in a community, this dissertation was based on three subsequent studies. A total of 518 counties were included in the analysis. Specifically, this study is unique in that it sought evidence based on county-level data drawn on the Local Arts Index (LAI) from Americans for the Arts (AFA) and County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHRR) variables to provide an arts-community measurement system suggesting critical and meaningful variables among a wide range of existing data. The results revealed the positive impacts of arts and cultural resources on community well-being. Each arts and cultural domain also has critical relationships with community individual, social, and economic well-being. Specifically, the ‘arts business’ domain was considerably associated with community individual well-being and comprehensive community well-being. The ‘arts consumption’ domain showed synthetically significant associations with community’s individual and economic well-being, and by extension, influenced comprehensive community well-being. Lastly, the ‘arts nonprofits’ domain was related to all the components of community well-being. In conclusion, residents’ arts consumption and the existence of arts and cultural/creative industries, including arts nonprofits, are constantly suggested as key to improving county-level community well-being. This study centers on presenting a more realistic vision of how arts and cultural resources are associated with community well-being components. Recognizing the power of arts and cultural resources in society and bolstering them to promote community well-being is a global issue of the utmost pertinence. Thus, research utilizing a longitudinal data-driven approach is likely to continue measuring the impact of arts and culture, and examining how they are related to and can strengthen community well-being.

This mixed-method study of a community association discusses the potential for a comeback in associationalism. This comeback is posited to first occur within associations before it can occur across associations. This study discusses research on associations and critiques its failure to not go far enough to understand how to spur this comeback. In particular, this study suggests that future research needs to focus more on the psychological components of social capital and pay more attention to the more informal forms of association behavior.

The findings of this community case study provide a preliminary model of psychological social capital development and transference. The findings suggest that Herzberg's (1959) factors, attitudes, and effects complex still holds merit after considering psychological social capital effects, specifically cognitions and behaviors. Evidence from looking at associational and community involvement is presented that suggests that psychological social capital can be transferred between associations and their respective communities. A framework for intentionally stimulating psychological social capital transference is presented based on an association's leadership program. Thus, psychological social capital transference as a theory is presented for consideration in future research and application.

Cross-sector interactions are regularly seen in healthcare, education, defense, public safety, and other social service contexts where the public interest and the private individual intersect. While interest in cross-sector relationships is neither new nor novel, the organizational dynamics and contexts continue to change and challenge our understanding of what is meant by partnership, alliance, collaboration, or cooperation between independent organizations from different sectors. One type of cooperative arrangement between nonprofits and government are affiliated foundations, which are part of the landscape of emerging organizational hybrids and expanding government-nonprofit relationships. Affiliated foundations are nonprofits designed to support a specific entity by generating charitable resources. This dissertation looks at one specific context for affiliated foundation/ "parent" relationships through a multi-case study of local educations in Florida. Specifically, this research examines how local education foundations carry out a partnering relationship with the school district. Through a combination of three instrumental case studies of local education foundations, and fifteen other purposely selected foundations, this dissertation presents the results of a cross-case analysis of the partnership between local education foundations and school districts. Partnership is conceptualized across four dimensions: 1) attention, 2) successive engagement, 3) resource infusion, and 4) positional identity. This research reveals that through the four dimensions of partnership, we can account for the variation across embedded, interdependent, or independent local education foundations in relation to the school district, or their "parent" organization. As a result, local education foundations reflect different relationships with school districts, which ultimately impacts their ability to carry out their work as charitable organizations, derived from the community in which they operate, and designed to generate resources and support for public education. By looking at this specific context, we can consider the complexities of an affiliated relationship between two structurally separate but linked organizations assumed to act as partners, but working to achieve a partnership. Where cooperation, collaboration, and innovation are intended outcomes of affiliated foundation/government relationships, this research considers the role of affiliated foundations among more traditional cross-sector relationships where services and contracts tend to dominate.

Playing tennis professionally is a stressful profession. However, it has the potential to be even more stressful for players who must move from their home country in order to train. If not dealt with, these stresses have the potential of causing many negative outcomes, including increasing levels of distress, in these professional tennis players. It is known that resources play a role in reducing or buffering levels of stress and distress among individuals, but there are competing theories as to how this occurs. Using Ensel and Lin's models of stress processes, this is an exploratory study that identifies the stresses and distresses professional Taiwanese tennis players face and the resources they use to cope. Participants included in this study are professional Taiwanese tennis players (2 males and 2 females) who continuously attend national and international tennis competitions and have both domestic and world ranks. Results from the semi-structured interviews revealed that challenges, frustration, resources, and toughness were four general themes to describe stresses and distresses professional Taiwanese tennis players face and the resources they use to cope. Future research for professional tennis players is also discussed.