Digital Commons Network^™

Divided Attention And Its Effect On Forward Testing, Nicholas H. Garcia

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The testing effect is a well-studied and robust phenomenon. The forward testing effect is a relatively new phenomenon that has been observed in robust settings with a diverse population. The testing effect (also coined the backwards testing effect) and the forward testing effect share similar benefits and are applicable in similar settings. Research on the forward testing effect has demonstrated underlying mechanisms that differ from the backwards testing effect, illuminating the differences between these two phenomena. Dividing attention during study periods has been revealed to negatively affect the backwards testing effect, significantly reducing its efficacy. The forward testing effect, operating …

The Effect Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On How Social Media Use Influences Eating Disorders And Exercise Motivation, Abhilasha Kumar

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted the life of every individual. Stay-at-home orders imposed to control the spread of the virus have only led to an increase in social media use to stay connected with others. College students were particularly affected by the measures put in place to control the spread of COVID-19 due to geographical, social, and economic changes (Aristovnik et al., 2020). The stress caused by these changes can increase eating disorder symptoms (Lacey et al., 1986) and exercise behaviors (Kim & McKenzie, 2014). The aim of the study is to observe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic …

Regulatory Fit As A Predictor For Sexual Consent Attitude Change, Zuleyka Hernandez

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research indicates a gap in the knowledge regarding the situations in which regulatory fit or non-fit is most effective. Prior research has also demonstrated a gap in tools for encouraging the establishment of sexual consent and a generally negative attitude toward consent by college students regardless of its recognized importance in the college population. Regulatory non-fit (Messages that do not match the chronic regulatory focus of the audience) has also been shown to increase initially negative attitudes (Fridman et al., 2016; Avent et al., 2013). Our hypothesis was that a message of regulatory non-fit, designed to encourage direct, verbal …

The Effects Of Personalization On Homelessness Stigma, Kalie Leon

UNF Undergraduate Honors Theses

Previous research has suggested those in stigmatized groups experience status loss, social rejection, and dehumanization. The homeless population, in particular, has also been perceived as the ones to blame for their current situation. Using the homeless population as the stigmatized group, the current study investigated whether personalizing people in stigmatized groups leads to differences in attitudes of them. Participants consisted of 148 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology courses from the University of North Florida. Via Qualtrics, participants were randomly assigned to a vignette that either included general information about a homeless man or one with more personal details such as …

Gender Differences In Academic Self-Concept, Perfectionism, And Math Performance Among First-Year Stem And Non-Stem Students, Jessica Lewis

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary goal of this research was to compare academic self-concepts and adaptive and maladaptive perfectionistic tendencies as they relate to differences in mathematics performance of first-year undergraduate students’ gender and major (STEM or non-STEM). One hundred and ninety-nine first-year undergraduate students completed self-reported questionnaires including the Frost Multidimensions Perfectionism Scale, the academic self-concept scale of the Personal and Academic Self-Concept Scale (PASCI), and a math performance measure consisting of practice SAT questions. This study utilized correlational, multivariate analyses of variances (MANOVA), and multiple regression techniques. MANOVA results revealed a main effect of gender on all variables and a marginally …

Stem Inqueery: How Communion And Feminine Gender Expression Affects Lgbtq Individuals Pursuing Stem, Jasmine Elise Graham

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has examined why some US students, Black, Latinx, and women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, at least 7.1% lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals live in the US, so what about the LGBTQ community pursuing STEM? We know that STEM careers are stereotypically seen as agentic and masculine instead of communal and feminine although LGBTQ individuals desire community within STEM and want to express their femininity. The current study examines how perceived communal opportunities in STEM and feminine gender expression are related to feelings of belonging and motivation to pursue STEM. …

The Disc® Personal Profiles Of Emerging Sign Language Interpreters, Kim B. Kurz, Kierstin S. Muroski, Veronika B. Talbott

Journal of Interpretation

Language interpretation is a discipline of choices governed by the unique personality and behavioral traits of individuals involved in an interpreted interaction. Interpreters are communication facilitators for people who do not share languages. Every interpreter has distinct personality and behavioral traits that influence their communication choices. There are benefits for interpreters to be keenly aware of personality styles and behaviors. This article reports the findings of the personality and behavioral styles using the DiSC® Personality Profile Instrument of 242 undergraduate American Sign Language-English Interpreting students over a nine-year period. Specifically the study explores the four DiSC® profiles, Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, …

Book Review: What Every Mental Health Professional Needs To Know About Sex, 2nd Ed., By Stephanie Buehler, Laura R. Haddock

Journal of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness: Research, Practice, and Education

The ability to understand and address sexuality issues is a critical skill set for all mental health professionals. This comprehensive review of the second edition of \textit{What Every Mental Health Professional Needs to Know About Sex} includes an overview of the contents with emphasis on the strengths and weaknesses of the text. Written by Stephanie Beuhler, a licensed psychologist and AASECT certified sex therapist and supervisor, the contents are educational, promote increased self-awareness for the reader, and facilitate insight into the lived experiences of clients while also providing practical and useful exercises and resources that are valuable regardless of a …

Book Review: The Psychology Of Human Sexuality, 2nd Ed., Justin J. Lehmiller, Angel Renee Kalafatis-Russell

Journal of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness: Research, Practice, and Education

Sex education is important both to individuals and to overall public health outcomes. In the United States, sex education curriculum is not guided by any federal standards, meaning materials and approaches vary widely. Drawing inspiration and evidence from countries with successful sexuality education standards, we know that comprehensive, evidence-based methods are the most effective for improving health outcomes across myriad domains. Materials that are guided by this standard of empirical basis should be identified and used in conjunction with other tools for providing responsible and effective sex education. This is a review of one such undergraduate textbook: \textit{The Psychology of …

Effects Of Humanization And Party Identification On Political Attitudes Towards The Major U.S. Political Parties, Sawyer Johns, Xylie Miller, Sadana Mukundan

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Political Polarization has been increasing in the US since the 2000s. Voters support positively perceived political parties and see other parties as outgroups. This might result in dehumanization of the political parties they perceive as “other”. We examined whether party affiliation and party dehumanization influences participants’ willingness to talk to and support Democrat and Republican parties in the U.S. Participants (N= 312) indicated their party affiliation and rated their willingness and hesitancy to talk to and support the Democratic and Republican parties. Furthermore, we assessed how these feelings changed when someone viewed a party as less or more evolved by …

Thriving During Covid-19: Predictors Of Psychological Well-Being And Ways Of Coping, Lauren Boyd, C. Dominik Guess, Teresa Tuason

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

COVID-19 has led to global dramatic shifts in daily life. Following the biopsychosocial model of health, the goal of the current study was to predict people’s psychological well-being (PWB) during the initial lockdown phase of the pandemic and to investigate which coping strategies were most common among people with low and high PWB. Participants were 938 volunteers in the United States who responded to an online survey during pre-peak of the lockdown in April 2020. The main findings were that all three groups of variables—biological, psychological, and socio-economic—significantly contributed to PWB, explaining 53% variance. Social loneliness and sense of agency …

Effect Of Imagined Support On Perceptions Of Stress, Emma Thompson, Jordan Zaenglein, Kalie Leon, Madelyn Shaw, Maddox Fillmer, Breana Bryant, Paul Fuglestad

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Social support is known to help buffer the effects of stress (Uchino et al., 1996). However, in many situations social support is unavailable, and imagining social support may help to reduce the impact of stress. Although imagined physical touch has been shown to be an effective stress buffer, little research has compared it to other types of imagined support (Feldman et al., 2010). Additionally, women tend to seek emotional support, whereas men tend to seek tangible support, but it is unknown if imagining those types of support will reduce stress (Reevy & Maslach, 2001). To gain greater insight into these …

Last Straw: The Effect Of Guilt On Pro-Environmental Behavior, M. Ryan Nugent, Heather Barnes Truelove

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Honorable Mention Winner

Although many environmental campaigns have pushed to eliminate plastic straws from daily consumption, concerns have surfaced that an increase in the simple behavior of refusing plastic straws will generate less action toward more effective pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). This study implemented a guilt manipulation to urge participants to reduce their straw use and tested spillover effects to various household and travel PEBs. 234 Mturk participants (34% women) indicated their current PEBs at Time 1 and were randomly assigned to the guilt condition or a control condition. One week later (Time 2), participants completed a survey of the same …

Gender Differences In Pro-Environmental Behavior Intentions, Katherine Pride, Sarah Cline, Cassandra Branham, Lauren Toledo, Heather B. Truelove

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Previous research has found gender differences in pro-environmental behavior (PEB) performance. Women typically score higher on environmental concern and show stronger inclination to engage in private or domestic PEBs (Tindall et al., 2003) and Allen et al. (2015) found that women are more likely to engage in efficiency upgrade PEBs. However, men show higher prevalence towards performing public PEB (Hunter et al., 2004). The present study recruited 313 Mturk participants. They were randomly assigned to one of six different norm levels. After exposure to a norm level, the experimental groups were provided the opportunity to perform the PEB. Participants then …

Opposite-Sex Friendship Initiation: Some Dispositional Differences In Self-Monitoring, Abigail Masterson

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Project of Merit Winner

Compared to low self-monitors, high self-monitors have an unrestricted orientation to sexual liaisons and view friendships as activity-based (see Fuglestad & Snyder, 2010, for a literature review). These two tendencies suggest high self-monitors are more likely than low self-monitors to initiate opposite sex friendships for sexual purposes. To evaluate this prediction, 133 male and 135 female heterosexuals completed the 25 item Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder, 1974) and the Reasons for Friendship Initiation Scale (Bleske-Rechek & Buss, 2001). Using participants’ self-monitoring and sex as predictors in multiple regression analyses, high self-monitors more often than low self-monitors cited the …

Different Assessments Of Reactions To Child Sexual Abuse, Dawson Jubin, Louanne Hawkins, Mary Geary

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

The minimization effect occurs when reactions to child sexual abuse are the least negative for adult females and male victims (Cromer & Goldsmith, 2010; Denov, 2003). This effect may be a function of sex stereotypes about men (mean) and women (nurturant) as well as boys (sexually adventurous) and girls (vulnerable) (Leone et al. 2018). We systematically assessed the roles of stereotypes in the minimization effect using multiple measures: self-reported (attitudes) and salivary cortisol (psychophysiological stress). The former is subject to socially describe responding whereas the latter is not. Participants provided an initial saliva sample and were randomly assigned to read …

Psychological Well-Being & Covid-19 In First Year College Students, Hollie Minichiello, Madisen Reasonover

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Psychological well-being and COVID-19 in first-year college students. Hollie Minichiello, Madisen Reasonover, Paul Fuglestad, Ph.D., Zhiping Yu Ph.D. ABSTRACT: The current study investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the well-being of first-semester undergraduate students. Psychological well-being, sleep quality, physical activity, and eating disturbances were compared between two different freshman cohorts: fall of 2019 and fall of 2020. A total of 96 freshman students 18 years and older from a southeastern university completed a set of questionnaires related to health and well-being, including the variables mentioned above (2019 cohort n = 32, 2020 cohort n = 64). Analysis of between-cohort …

Stem Inqueery: How Communion And Femininity Affects Lgbtq Individuals’ Belonging In Stem That Affects Their Motivation To Pursue Stem, Jasmine Elise Graham, Elizabeth R. Brown

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Despite the growth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in the United States, only 60% of STEM majors complete their degrees. Although STEM is stereotyped as a cis (same gender as birth), straight male, agentic (self-focused), and not communal (other-oriented) field, the inclusion of communion in STEM boosts STEM motivation. Since LGBTQ students highly value communion and LGB(T)Q students are less likely than non-LGB(T)Q students to stay in STEM, we explored whether LGBTQ individuals’ desire for communal opportunities or feminine gender expression shapes their belonging or expectations for success in STEM which in turn affects their (future) motivation …

Diversity In Higher Education Administration: The Need For Student Perspectives, Drew Albritton, Aaron Leedy

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Honorable Mention Winner

Diversity within higher education benefits students and institutions alike, creating a more relatable experience for students as well as a more beneficial work environment for faculty. While university student bodies are slowly beginning to represent the diversity in the communities which they serve, university faculty and staff have yet to catch up. This is especially the case with the administration at an institution’s highest levels. Eighty-three percent of college and university presidents are white (American Council on Education, 2017), and seventy-seven percent are male (Tarbutton, 2019). With an administration misaligned with its student body, students are at …

Forensically Relevant False Memories In The Drm Paradigm, Allison Gendreau, Yammil Ruiz Garcia, Michael Toglia, Nichole Juszczak, Donald Lawler

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Forensic interviews and eyewitness testimony clearly rely on memory. Because in 85% of criminal prosecutions there is no medical nor trace evidence, the burden is on what witnesses report hearing/seeing; thus memory is the evidence! However, cognitive frailties, including forgetting and retrieval failures, combined with misinformation threaten the accuracy and credibility of witnesses’ recollections. Overall, these factors foment illusory memories with serious consequences when forensic events are at issue. This observation tracks with false memory findings in a simple laboratory task, the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) Paradigm. Herein participants study word lists each containing thematically-related items converging upon a critical, non-presented, word. …

Obesity And Self-Esteem In African American Youth, Carly Wagner, Abhilasha Kumar, Dawn Witherspoon

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Honorable Mention Winner

African Americans (AA) have the highest rates of obesity among all other ethnic groups (CDC, 2020). Male and female AA’s are disproportionately impacted by obesity and have an increased risk for health disparities (Abraham et al., 2013). Obesity is characterized as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater (Chooi et al., 2019). Self-esteem (SE) is an individual’s subjective evaluation of the self (Abdel-Khalek, 2016). Obese youth have lower levels of SE than youth at a healthy weight (Gow et al., 2020). The association between low SE and high BMI is more pronounced in AA females …

Are The Perpetrators Of Aggression Also Its Victims?, Katelyne Griffin, Deshawna Bryant, Dawn Witherspoon

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Project of Merit Winner

In lower income areas it has been found that there is a relationship between the annual household income and types of anxiety found in adolescence. This relationship is theorized in part to exist because of the stressors the adolescents are exposed to in lower income neighborhoods i.e. trauma such as violent crimes (Vine et al., 2013). As a result of traumatic experiences from school violence children may become aggressive or exhibit bully behaviors (Blaustein & Kinniburgh, 2010). It is theorized that people who have been traumatized themselves may become aggressors or perpetuators of others’ trauma possibly …

Intersectional Invisibility Hypothesis And Reverse Correlation, John Francis Sperry Iv

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Honorable Mention Winner

Consistent with the intersectional invisibility hypothesis that predicts members of multiple subordinate groups are metaphorically ‘invisible’ (Purdie-Vaughns & Eibach, 2008), only stereotyping of Black men is related to prejudice against Black people (Phills et al., 2017). However, previous research consisted of listing tasks and other introspective questionnaires that do not visualize people’s biases of different social groups. Internal mental representations visualize biases in social perception (Brinkman et al., 2017), as past research with ingroups and outgroups has shown (Dotsch et al., 2008). The current study investigates whether internal mental representations of Black people are more similar to …

The Influence Of Cyber-Sexual Assault On The Mental Health Outcomes Of Survivors, Kelley R. Holladay, W. Bryce Hagedorn, David Boote

Journal of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness: Research, Practice, and Education

Researchers examined data collected from the only national sample of cyber-sexual assault (CBSA) survivors (N = 97; 3.75\% response rate to the online survey) using three valid instruments that measure symptomology of sexual assault. We found that participants scored high across each of the inventories, indicating CBSA survivors respond in ways that are similar to sexual assault survivors concerning emotional dysregulation, depression, and post-traumatic stress symptomology, particularly if they had a history of sexual assault. Implications for counselors are reviewed, and clinical recommendations are offered.

“No One Can Make That Choice For You”: Exploring Power In The Sexual Narratives Of Black Collegians, Candice Hargons, Della Mosley, Carolyn Meiller, Jardin Dogan, Jennifer Stuck, Chesmore Montique, Natalie Malone, Carrie Bohmer, Queen-Ayanna Sullivan, Anyoliny Sanchez, Joseph Oluokun, Danelle Stevens-Watkins

Journal of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness: Research, Practice, and Education

Power is enacted to oppress others, pursue wellness, or resist oppression. For Black people, societal and relational oppression influences racialized and gendered expressions of power within sexual encounters. The current study analyzed power dynamics within Black university students’ first and most recent sexual encounters. Using narrative inquiry within a critical paradigm, five narrative strategies were identified within participants’ interviews: 1) Offering a Peek into Powerlessness, 2) Detailing Disempowerment, 3) Privileging Stereotypical Power, 4) Reclaiming Power, and 5) Emphasizing Empowered Sex. Racialized, gendered sexual socialization among Black students is discussed. Counseling considerations to increase sexual wellness for Black people are explored.

Inside The Zoo: Captive Giraffes’ Changes In Social Ties Throughout Membership Variations, Morgan Paige Howard

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many animals live in gregarious, fission-fusion societies where group size and composition are continually changing. Despite this, many studies have suggested that captive animals are capable of maintaining long term social bonds with others. In captive giraffes, effects on their social bonds during membership transitions have not been studied thoroughly, however, prior research does show that social bonds are a defining factor in non-captive animals. Captive giraffe social network patterns were investigated at the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens using all occurrence behavioral data. Based on previous research, I hypothesized that when one of the individuals in the group was …

How To Improve Dynamic Decision Making: Evaluation Of A Brief Training Program On Human Error, Yoannis Hermida

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current work environments require leaders to make effective and sound decisions in unpredictable situations. How can leaders improve their dynamic decision-making (DDM) skills? The current studies explored the effects of a training program on improving DDM in two computer-simulated tasks with different task characteristics. This study was comprised of two experiments. The first experiment included 83 undergraduate students who independently managed a computer simulated chocolate factory (ChocoFine). The second experiment included 111 students who played the role of a fire rescue chief overseeing a forest fire (WinFire). Half of the participants in each simulation group received a brief training on …

The Influence Of Autism Spectrum Disorder Disclosure On Peer Social Distancing In Higher Education, Hope Marie Sparks

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder are almost twenty percent less likely than their non-autistic peers to graduate college (White et al., 2017). The diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, can be a significant facet of personal identity for many individuals on the spectrum. Due to this, disclosure of diagnoses can be a deeply personal decision and can be situational. Because college-age students on the spectrum are forming an identity concerning their diagnosis (Bent et al, 2016; Cox et al., 2017), peer social distancing behaviors are an important factor in student confidence and academic success. Researchers completed this study …

Do You Copy? Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Auditory Processing, And Heart Rate Variability, Lyndsey Johnson

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self -report measures used in PTSD research have the potential to limit the degree of symptom severity in military veterans, especially as there is often underreporting in this population (Kline, Falca-Dodson, Susner et al., 2010). Polyvagal Theory provides a framework assessing if physiological measures can tap into PTSD Symptomology (Porges, 1995). It is therefore hypothesized that lower scores on auditory processing tests will be positively correlated with higher scores on Stress and PTSD measures. Additionally, it is thought that lower scores on auditory processing tedts as well as higher scores on PTSD and Stress Measures will be positively correlated with …

Opposite Sex Friendship Initiation: Dispositional Differences In Self-Monitoring, Abigail P. Masterson

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Based on the self-monitoring and friendship literature (Fuglestad & Snyder, 2010) it was predicted that compared to low self-monitors, high self-monitors have an unrestricted orientation to sexual liaisons and view friendships as activity-based. These two tendencies suggest high self-monitors are more likely than low self-monitors to initiate opposite sex friendships for sexual purposes whereas low self-monitors are more likely than high self-monitors to initiate opposite sex friendships for companionship purposes. To evaluate this prediction, 133 male and 135 female heterosexuals completed the 25 item Self-Monitoring Scale (Snyder, 1974), the Reasons for Friendship Initiation Scale (Bleske-Rechek & Buss, 2001), and the …