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The Bard’S Precursors To Psychology: Exposing Dark Sides Of Human Nature, Rebecca Parsons '23

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

The Emotions Behind The Screen, Eli Gray Nations '23

Honor Scholar Theses

This thesis revolves around the narrative form of Dungeons and Dragons, that the players have true free will, which allows for the highest level of storytelling. By reaching this level, the players are able to freely tackle issues in their life and surrounding them, like testing out negative parts of their personality and finding community during events like the COVID pandemic. This, combined with the recent scandal from DnD’s publisher Wizards of the Coast poses this question: what exactly is DnD, therapy, art, community, or just a game? This thesis hopes to lead the reader to answer this question in …

Resilience In Girlhood: An Analysis Of The Social Determinants Of Anxiety Disorders For Adolescent Girls, Maggie Sullivan '23

Honor Scholar Theses

Anxiety disorders affect twice as many women as men and often begin in adolescence or young adulthood, which is a unique period of accelerated development and identity formation. Evidence points to social determinants of health (SDH) such as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), socioeconomic status (SES), education, social media, and resilience that lead to this discrepancy. Girlhood is a distinct adolescence because girls face the effects of more ACEs, self-objectification, internalization of academic stress, and predisposition to low SES. This thesis summarizes research on the social determinants of anxiety for adolescent girls, utilizing a socio-ecological model and feminist research methods to …

Power, Pleasure, And Privilege: Defining Depauw’S Hookup Culture And Its Mental Health Implications, Reanna Stiehler '23

Honor Scholar Theses

Hookup culture is not primarily about sex, pleasure, connection, or freedom. Hookup culture is about power—how power is used, distributed, and desired. Previous work in hookup culture discusses a discourse of desire; however, the root and nature of this desire are unclear. I posit that hookup culture, as it currently exists, is strongly related to rape culture. In this thesis, I will explicate my anecdotal, qualitative, and quantitative evidence supporting this hypothesis.

Synthetic Or Not: Implications Of Hormonal Birth Control On Women’S Hormones And The Cortisol Stress Response, Maddie Perry '23

Honor Scholar Theses

Women’s bodies are the subject of decision-making and control, yet women’s lives are dismally ignored. The field of women’s health is highly understudied, and the demand for that adequate research must be granted to the women’s health field. This interdisciplinary research study investigated stress response differences between hormonal birth control users and non-users. Hormonal birth control (HBC) is one of the greatest technologies afforded to women and further research is necessary to ensure women are guaranteed bodily autonomy and women’s health education. Due to altered hormonal signaling, HBC has been linked to behavioral and decision making differences in women. Building …

A Child’S Mental Health Journey: Using An Activity Book As A Guide For Mental Health Literacy And Emotional, Social And Behavioral Development, Sage Sherfick '22

Honor Scholar Theses

Like adults, children experience mental health symptoms that can have negative effects on their life and development. According to the CDC (2018), 1 in 6 children has a mental health disorder are 2-8 years old. The prevalence of many mental health disorders increases as children age, and those 6 to 11 years old are more likely to have behavioral problems. There are many theories of why this may be, including the increase in the number of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) a child may have. Those who are exposed to trauma during childhood are at greater risk for lifelong health problems. …

Coffee, Music, And Taste: Why We Like What We Like, And Why That Matters, Thomas Curdt '22

Honor Scholar Theses

Research Questions

In both my research and performance, I will investigate three aspects of taste:

How do we Taste?

• What are the mechanical and physiological mechanisms through which we taste food and hear music?

How do we communicate Taste?

• How do we translate physical senses and taste into language?
• What is the role of metaphor in communicating taste?

How does our worldview affect our Taste?

• How do our emotions affect our taste?
• How does our identities affect our taste?
• How does technology affect our taste?
• How can we be more intentional about our taste?

A Closer Look Into American Humanitarian Intervention: How Understanding Humanity Tells Who And When We Help, Katie Noble 21

Honor Scholar Theses

I will focus on the United States and their motivation to aid humanitarian crises through three case studies. To realize how the United States is motivated to help, humanity’s predispositions must be well-defined, alongside their established geopolitical interests. It is easy to feel empathy for loved ones or family members, but how does empathy translate with someone in a foreign country? At our core, humans seek interaction and cooperation among others. Who and how they decide to cooperate with defines the intervention strategies. If we can understand how the individual selects their in-group, these tendencies will reflect at the state …

The Era Of Commercialized Genetics: Examining The Intersection Of Dna, Identity, And Personal Origin, Joanna Hutchins 20

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

A Revisionist History Of Disagreeableness, Jasmeet Kaur 20

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

The Politics Of Sports, Sydney Kopp 20

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

The Dehumanization Of The American Healthcare Professional: The Impact Of Technology On The Ever-Evolving World Of Medicine, Carli Maddock 19

Honor Scholar Theses

With the evolution of technology well underway, many of the consequences of its changes to our social interactions between doctor and patient have gone unnoted. With a computer in the room, healthcare professionals may be less likely to listen, touch, or communicate in the same way that they have in the past. This change appears to alter the relationship building process between a doctor and their patient. If trust and faith in the professional are tampered with, this could directly correlate to patient follow-through and outcome. In order to better understand the psychological response to the means of communication, touch, …

Evolutionary And Social Manifestations Of Misled Fear: How Fear Motivates And Manipulates, Meghan Sink 19

Honor Scholar Theses

This thesis emphasizes the negative outcomes associated with misled fear. It begins by examining the evolutionary basis of human and animal fear, and then applies the fear learning process as well as evolutionarily innate fears to maladaptive cognitive and behavioral outcomes that manifest today. One example of such a maladaptive manifestation is a behavior based in racial prejudice, occurring from an act based in the evolutionary fear of an out-group. Finally, this paper presents how human fear is further misled and manipulated by the media--intentionally and unintentionally. Overall, the present argument is that humans must increase their conscious awareness of …

Using Persuasive Technology To Curb Alcohol Consumption On College Campuses, Jacob Bertucci 18

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

What Happens After Treatment: Improving Quality Of Life In Adolescents And Young Adults, Nichole Smith 18

Honor Scholar Theses

More children and adolescents are surviving a cancer diagnosis now than ever before, but with these encouraging survival rates come the need for improved survivorship care. As a result of treatment, AYA are suffering from physical setbacks such as issues with weight management and fertility (Nightingale, 2011), and psychosocial setbacks such as PTSS, anxiety, and depression (Butler, Rizzi, Hardwerger, 1999). These factors may contributed to the fact that adolescents and young adults (AYA) often report lower QOL than their healthy counterparts (Russell, Hudson, Long, Phipps, 2006), which highlights the need for interventions that address the unmet needs and QOL of …

The Dark Triad Of Personality: A Discussion Of The Moral And Evolutionary Implications, Evelyn C. Brosius 17

Honor Scholar Theses

Individuals who exhibit the Dark Triad traits of personality are considered to be among the most troublesome members of society. This review seeks to investigate how the dark traits displayed by these persons adversely impact their moral behavior as a product of evolutionary development and adaptation, and as mediated by the BFAS aspect of Compassion. Participants in the present study completed an extensive questionnaire that included measures of general personality traits, psychopathy, the Dark Triad of personality, assignment of moral weight, sociosexuality, infidelity, and myriad additional demographic features. Predictions for the correlations between the Dark Triad traits, moral assignment, Compassion, …

In The Light Of Evolution: Human Nature, Political Behavior, And Making Sense Of Our Social Identity, Corby F. Burger 16

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Keeping Up Appearances: Perfectionism And Perfectionistic Self-Presentation On Social Media, Emily Hellmann 16

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Collective Action And Decision Making: An Analysis Of Economic Modeling And Environmental Free-Riding, Thomas Miller 16

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Musical Stairs: Encouraging Physical Activity Through Persuasive Technology, Meagan Combs 15

Honor Scholar Theses

This study examined persuasive technology and its effect on participants’ motivation to engage in physical activity. A set of musical stairs was built using infrared proximity sensors, designed to make the experience of climbing the stairs more “fun”. The software was written in such a way that each step a participant took on the stairs provided a musical response. The experiment tested three conditions: the control condition (without sounds), a condition with piano note sounds, and a condition with guitar chord sounds. The results suggest that more participants interacted with the stairs during the conditions with sound compared to the …

The Empathetic Human: The Story Of How Story Increases Cognitive And Social Ability, Olivia C. Flores 14

Honor Scholar Theses

This thesis all started from my reflections on being an English Literature major. I mention this not because it is rare or unique, but rather because realizing my interest in literature and considering the cognitive effect it has on humans initiated my current academic endeavor: writing a very, very long paper. Even though the skills English majors exercise seem like the mundane activities of introverted bookworms, these experiences with language are spectacular phenomenons that prove to be, in fact, universal. Many argue that literature has an adaptive function that not only demonstrates why we gravitate toward story and how we …

Perception And Communication Of Nonverbal Emotion: In Close Relationships, Christine F. Norris 14

Honor Scholar Theses

This paper addresses the perception and communication of nonverbal emotion in close relationships. It reviews research in the area as well as includes case studies that demonstrate different aspects of the research. Specifically it examines emotional recognition and perception, empathic accuracy, accuracy and bias in the perception of emotion, the influence of personality and emotional intelligence, as well as communication of emotion in close relationships. Depending on the situation all of these aspects affect communication differently and the paper explores the ways and situations in which these differences occur. Subsequently it addresses the influence of blindness, deafness, and modern day …

Life As An Only Child: Modern Psychology’S Take On The Stereotypical Only And My Firsthand Perspectives, Samuel Johnson 14

Honor Scholar Theses

None

From Passive Receptacles To Active Contenders: Ovulation And Intrasexual Competition In Human Females, Andres E. Munoz 14

Honor Scholar Theses

Recent evidence has suggested that ovulation in humans might be accompanied by subtle cues. Furthermore, several studies have suggested that women engage in intrasexual competition, or competition with members of the same sex, with the aim of obtaining high quality mates. This competition involves the use of complex strategies including self-promotion and rival derogation. The link between ovulation and intrasexual competition remains largely underexplored, although a few studies have suggested that intrasexual competition might become intensified during ovulation. This paper explores the relationship between ovulatory cue detection and intrasexual competition and outlines two research proposals for future analysis of this …