Digital Commons Network^™

The Psychological Significance Of Cultural And Religious Values Among The Arab Population, Michel Sherif Mikhail

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Values, which are the guiding principles and beliefs of our lives, have an influence over one’s psychological health. This study aims to investigate how Schwartz’s four higher-order values (conservation, openness to change, self-transcendence, and self-enhancement) and religious values influence psychological health among the Arab population. Methods: A total of 1,023 respondent from nine Arab countries aged 18 to 71 filled an online survey with measures of the following constructs: Schwartz’s four higher-order values (Portrait Value Questionnaire-21), religious values (Sahin’s Index of Islamic Moral Values), and general psychological health (General Health Questionnaire-28). Results: Two models of multiple regression were …

Drug Use And Harm Reduction: Community Readiness As Pathway To Well-Being And Reintegration, Lauretta Ekanem Omale

Dissertations

Drug abuse negatively impacts the life and well-being of those who use drugs; this harm often extends to their loved ones, communities, and society. One presumptive set of psychological explanations for drug abuse is an addictive personality, a psychological susceptibility resulting from challenging family relationships, inadequate reinforcement, the absence of healthy role models, conflicting parental expectations, and a lack of love and respect. Harm reduction is a public health approach that focuses on minimizing the harmful effects of drugs and reducing judgment. It aims to meet people where they are in life and provide judgment-free, empathetic, supportive, and needed medical …

Playing With International Students From Asia: An Exploration Of Cultural Commonalities And Differences In Developmental Transformations (Dvt), Hazuki Okamoto

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Asian international students in the United States face a multitude of challenges such as language barriers, differences in cultural norms and behaviors, and identity confusion while navigating a foreign landscape. Developmental Transformations (DvT), a form of drama therapy, may apply to these challenges by enabling participants to explore different identities and express themselves creatively beyond the language barrier. This community engagement project was designed for Asian international students to be seen and heard by utilizing DvT. Within an in-person workshop, five participants played with their shared stories, and explored international and cultural roles in group DvT. Key takeaways from the …

Culture Matching And Its Impact On The Therapeutic Relationship: A Literature Review, Taylor Marsyla

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

As cultural competency and cultural humility move to the forefront of therapeutic treatment so does a need for understanding the effects of culture on the therapeutic relationship. Often individuals who belong to minority groups are less likely to seek mental health care and more commonly receive subpar treatment. This project attempts to examine the effects of matching patients and therapists based on a shared identity and/or culture as a form of culturally responsive treatment – also known as culture matching. In this literature review, the selected peer reviewed articles considered the perspectives of both therapists and patients. Research was divided …

Talking About Sex: The Relationship Between Cultural Constructs And Sexual Behaviors Among Latina Emerging Adults, Ariana Cervantes-Borges

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Emerging adults account for a significant portion of yearly STI cases with Latinxs living in border regions often being disproportionally affected. Moreover, Latinas may hold much of the responsibility for sexual health when compared to their male counterparts; however, culture may serve as both a protective and risk factor for deleterious sexual behaviors. These disparities highlight the importance of assessing Latina sexual risk and to a further extent, perceptions of sexual and reproductive health services. The present study assessed how cultural constructs were associated with sexual risk and STI testing views among Latinas and how these associations may be moderated …

Effects Of Priming Independent And Interdependent Self-Construals On Personal And Collective Future Thought, Claire Hou

CMC Senior Theses

Personal and collective future thought refer to the way people conceptualize and think about their own personal futures, and the futures of groups they are affiliated with, such as one’s nation or cultural community, respectively. Previous research has indicated that there are key cultural differences in how American and Chinese individuals think about their personal future and the collective future of their nation. The present study investigated the impact of cultural constructs of self-construal, namely individualism/independence and collectivism/interdependence, on personal and collective future thought. We attempted to experimentally manipulate participants’ self-construals with a priming task, and participants were asked to …

The Effect Of School Uniforms On High School Students’ Feelings About School And Their Communities, Maggie Vavrik

Masters Theses

What you wear can feel like a defining aspect of who you are as a person. For high schoolers especially, how they look on the outside, can affect other factors such as their sense of belonging and safety both within their school and their community. In this study, I conducted focus groups at a high school which requires uniforms to be worn. Through the focus groups, I was able to learn how wearing a uniform impacted them on a daily basis. During the study I was also able to observe at the school for a day and note the trends …

Self-Reported Multicultural Teaching Knowledge Of K-12 Teachers, Ailish Raftery

Masters Theses

Research continues to show that students who belong to racial and/or ethnic minority groups face a variety of challenges at school, such as disproportionate rates of drop out, behavioral problems, exclusionary discipline practices, absenteeism, placement in special education, and more. These challenges are thought to contribute to the academic achievement gap between White and racial/ethnic minority students throughout the American public school system. Therefore, it is important to assess the multicultural teaching competence of American teachers and investigate barriers to improving culturally responsive teaching practices. Past research has investigated teachers’ multicultural teaching competence, but fewer compared general and special education …

Exploring Core Concepts And Uses Of Makeup In Expressive Arts Therapy And Mental Health: A Critical Review Of The Literature, Rhys Triolo-Rodriguez

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

According to Merriam Webster (2022) the definitions for Makeup are as follows; “Cosmetics (such as lipstick, mascara, and eye shadow) used to color and beautify the face”, “A cosmetic applied to other parts of the body”, and “Materials (such as wigs and cosmetics) used in making up or in special costuming (as for a play).” Many of the articles reviewed also discuss the importance of skin care and the rituals that one goes through when applying or removing facial products. For this research, a combination of all definitions above will be most beneficial. However one may define makeup, within the …

Cultural Considerations For Working With Young Adults Who Have Experienced Childhood Trauma, Yasmine Rodriguez

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Childhood trauma can create effects that show up throughout the lifespan. Young adulthood is the first stage of life after adolescence and involves working through more advanced developmental challenges. This offers an important reason to examine the possible outcomes early life has on young adulthood, especially for those who have experienced trauma. This knowledge can be pivotal in different professional sectors such as the mental health and educational fields. The work presented explores common childhood trauma experiences, signs of childhood trauma within both children and young adults, and cultural considerations. Recommendations such as possible interventions and training for professionals …

Longevity Bias, Ingroup Bias, And Culture: A Study In Modern Japan, Sophia Chier

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Japan has long been cited as the prime example of a collectivistic nation with many instances of ingroup bias, and is also known for its respect for things that are old. This research examined a proposed link between longevity bias, or the belief that things that are older are inherently better, and ingroup bias in a Japanese population by replicating the “art” domain in Eidelman et. al’s (2010) longevity bias study. Participants, undergraduates at a Japanese university, completed questionnaires that evaluated their aesthetic enjoyment of a painting, while also manipulating the participants’ knowledge of the artists’ nationality and the artwork’s …

Culture And Identity In Relation To Mental Wellness For The Haudenosaunee Community, Rammiyaa Devanathan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Since the arrival of European settlers, Indigenous peoples have experienced immeasurable adversities. The intergenerational trauma caused by colonization and legislation aimed at cultural desecration has contributed to mental health concerns. Assimilation policies that made cultural practises illegal pushed knowledge and ceremonies underground and led to cultural and spiritual disconnection. The effects of colonization are as pervasive today as they were in the past. Western models of psychological intervention are antithetical to Indigenous worldviews and ways of knowing. As a result, mainstream mental health services have had limited effectiveness. Existing mental health literature on Indigenous peoples is largely rooted in a …

A Par Reflection: The Power Of Teacher Voice, Anna Marie Warren

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher voice is missing in systemic change. This PAR study explored some of the barriers in education today that prevent teachers from using their voices and the leadership skills needed to empower teachers to use their voices in change processes. The study was implemented on two secondary school campuses with two teams of PAR researchers. Data were collected using a triangulation of PAR forms, journal reflections, and Likert surveys. While identifying barriers hindering teachers from using their voice, the qualitative study also aimed to provide a platform where teachers could express and use their voice to cause change in their …

Change Is The Only Constant: How Dialectical Behavior Therapy (Dbt) Can Be Made More Culturally Responsive Across Treatment Settings, Angela Susan Van Berkel

Psychology Doctoral Specialization Projects

This program design demonstrates how Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a well-regarded, existing evidence-based practice (EBP) used to treat many transdiagnostic and complex mental health disorders around the world, can be made more culturally responsive across treatment settings. An overview of the literature regarding global access to mental health treatment reveals that much effort has been made to close the mental health treatment gap by promoting EBPs. However, most EBP research is conducted in Western countries using majority white populations, which calls into question the generalizability and effectiveness of EBPs among U.S. cultural and racial minority and international populations. Despite the …

Indigenous Women In Active Drug Abuse Recovery: An Analysis Of Native And Non-Native Programs, Raquel J. Muñoz

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

In general, much has been written on the experiences of prototypical women in drug recovery programs, however there is only a scarcity of research on the experiences of rural women of color in drug recovery programs. Very few Northern American cultures had experience with alcohol before the first wave of European settlers. Responses to intergenerational trauma faced by Native women include substance abuse, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, suicidal thinking, and more. Due to socioeconomic disadvantages drug and alcohol abuse tends to be a coping mechanism for many Native American women. Drawing on the narratives of ten Indigenous women who are …

Examining How The Cultural Differences Between Countries Influence Individual’S Perceptions Of A Successful Leader, Karen Almachi

CMC Senior Theses

This literature review examines the influence of culture on an individual’s perception of a leader. Research on cultural influences and perceptions is taken to establish an interconnection between the two. The research is analyzed through the lens of two theoretical frameworks: the implicit leadership theory and the cultural dimensions theory. The frameworks are used to operationalize cultural differences and perceptions. The research establishes six dimensions that describe cultural differences between countries. To put into perspective, two culturally different countries are examined for their perception of leadership: the United States and Ecuador. The United States has a low power distance, individualistic, …

Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia And Depressive Symptoms: Considering The Role Of Cultural Orientation And Fit, Akriti Poudel

CMC Senior Theses

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between cultural orientation, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and depression. Horizontal collectivism (HC) has been shown to be predictive of positive psychological adjustment (Oh, 2022; Schermer et al., 2023), but the extent to which the individual’s level of HC matches with the group is not well understood. RSA has traditionally been conceptualized as a measure of adaptive functioning; (Graziano & Derefinko, 2013; Qu & Leerkes, 2018, Hinnant et al., 2011) however, more recent research has proposed that RSA is better conceptualized as a marker of susceptibility to environmental influences (Sturge-Apple et …

How Do Cultural Norms Shape Healthy Eating In African Americans? The Role Of Cultural Congruence And Mindsets Of Health In Healthy Eating Intentions Among African American College Students, Danyel Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Targeting dietary behaviors is a predominant strategy to reduce rates of obesity among African Americans, across the lifespan. Notably, dietary behaviors are shaped by social, cultural and environmental affordances. This study integrated Theory of planned behavior (TPB), identity-based motivation, and mindset theory to unearth cultural mechanisms that inform motivations to eat healthy among African American college students. This project employed a cross-sectional (Study 1) and experimental design (Study 2) to contextualize the antecedents of intentions to eat healthy among African American college students. Recruitment occurred via university-wide digital channels. Eligible participants: were 18+ years; Black/African American; were undergraduate students; and …

Culture And Classification: Investigating Analytic Vs. Holistic Thinking Styles, Neha Khemani

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This paper sought to explore cultural preferences for analytic and holistic thinking in classification. Experiment 1 paired the Shepard, Hovland, and Jenkins (SHJ) tasks with the Analysis-Holism scale (AHS) and a demographics questionnaire. Effects of culture on learning rates, alongside the feasibility of online data collection, were assessed. Learning difficulty differences among the six SHJ category sets were observed. Further, as predicted, higher holistic thinking correlated positively with the family resemblance task. Experiment 2 replicated the Norenzayan et al. (2002) task. Unlike in the original study, the effect of instructional condition was not significant across our full sample. Nevertheless, the …

Understanding Help-Seeking In Rural Counties: A Serial Mediation Model Of Self-Reliance, Stigma, And Attitudes Toward Psychologists, Emily M. Keller

Doctoral Dissertations

Rural areas in the Southern United States are characterized by certain cultural values, including self-reliance. Prior research has shown that cultural values can affect stigmatizing beliefs about mental health needs and service utilization. The present study examined a four-stage chain of serial mediation where higher levels of general self-reliance would be related to increased levels of public stigma, which would, in turn, be related to greater levels of self-stigma, followed by higher self-reliance about managing mental health problems, and finally, more negative attitudes toward seeking out help from psychologists. Community members who lived in rural counties in the Southern United …

Measurement Invariance Of Relationship Intimacy And Attachment Across Hispanic And Non-Hispanic White College Women, Kristen N. Vitek

Psychology ETDs

The study of relationship intimacy and attachment has gained increasingly greater attention within the field. As such, researchers have developed numerous self-report measures of relationship intimacy and attachment. However, a majority of such measures have been developed and validated with White, Western populations, which calls into question the validity of such measures when used with minority populations. One way to establish validity of measures is to test for measurement invariance; namely, that the measures assess the same constructs across groups. The focus of this study was to test the measurement invariance of two commonly used measures of relationship intimacy, the …

The Hidden Power Of Images: An Allegory Of Chaos And Performance In The Digital Age, Livia Xandersmith

MFA in Visual Art

Within this text, I explore the hidden power of images in American visual culture through painting-based installations. I investigate images of the past and present juxtaposed in a surrealist landscape. Through the use of images in the news, entertainment, advertising, and images within the home, I depict how the problems of the past bleed into our perceptions of the present. I find that this cycle of problem inheritance connects us as humans regardless of time, generation, and place. In my work, I explore the complexity of image culture and its shifting presence within the digital age. Using surrealist collage, I …

Resilience, Spirituality And Cultural Connectiveness Within The Native American/American Indian Indigenous Population, Lindsay Price

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Native Americans, also known as the American Indian or Indigenous population, were colonized over four centuries ago by Europeans who brought many diseases which decimated this population. This immense trauma continued for generations as the settlers continued to violate Native American life and identity on every level. Hundreds of indigenous tribes endured massacre, annihilation of traditional culture, forced religious assimilation, stolen land, broken treaties, betrayal of rights, removal of identity, neglect, and constant abuse without any recompense. These violations still widely occur, yet the strength and flourishing of Native Americans remain ever-present. Their deep-rooted protective factors within resilience, like cultural …

Peoples’ Perception Of Race-Based Microaggressions As A Function Of Their Background And Beliefs, Emily Huesman

Honors Theses

This current study’s aim was to further address microaggressions and how people perceive these “micro” aggressions based on Political identification, support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and their beliefs surrounding White privilege. Recent literature has shown that racial discrimination in any form can be incredibly detrimental to mental health, however, this study addresses the every-day microaggressions and subtle forms of racism that Black people experience every day and delves further into why these “smaller” forms of racism might not be addressed. This study used a Qualtrics survey to obtain both qualitative and quantitative data on peoples’ beliefs surrounding the …

Race, Racial Matching, And Cultural Understanding As Predictors Of Treatment Engagement In Youth Mental Health Services, Wendy Chu

Theses and Dissertations

Racially marginalized youth experience barriers that impact their ability to maximally benefit from mental health services; thus, efforts to identify strategies that support youth treatment engagement may address mental health and treatment disparities. This study examined the role of youth race, youth-therapist racial matching, and youthreported therapist cultural understanding on youth’s early treatment engagement in mental health services. The youth sample (n = 1159; M_age = 13.8 years, SD = 2.9; 52.1% female) comprised of 778 (67.1%) Latinx, 221 (19.1%) African American, 139 (12.0%) White, and 21 (1.8%) Asian American clients. The therapist sample (n = 126; Mage …

Culture And Language Influence How Hispanics/Latinos In The U.S. Think About Themselves Through Time, Alicia Camuy

Senior Theses and Projects

Culture has been implicated in episodic memory, but this has not been explored in episodic future thought. Episodic information helps to form an identity. Thus, this is an exploratory study to identify unique ways in which Spanish-English Hispanic/Latino populations remember and project to the future, perceive themselves over time, and perceive the passage of time. Participants (n = 50) were healthy bilingual Hispanics/Latinos living in the U.S. tested over Zoom. Materials included background information, an acculturation scale, Temporal Focus Scale (TFS), and Thinking About Life Experiences (TALE) Scale. A time estimation measure and Pre- and Re- experiencing Mental Events (PRIME) …

Clinical Adaptations Of Cognitive Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, And Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy As A Result Of Culture And Language, Rebecca Wade

Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive Behavioral Therapies are frequently used and highly effective; however, most of the research is conducted on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) populations who are relatively homogeneous. The present study evaluated the use and adaptations of Cognitive Therapy (CT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) based upon WEIRD status, language, and cultural values as measured by Hofstede's country comparison (2021). In a survey, therapists worldwide (n=121) reported their use and adaptation of the techniques within their therapeutic orientation. Although no significant differences were found between WEIRD or language groupings specific to CT, CBT, or …

Self-Monitoring In Military Consumer Research, Alan Oliver Wright

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Underutilized military products exist among soldiers and can reduce safety, performance, and morale. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which self-monitoring constructs (Self-Monitoring, Acting, Extraversion, and Other-Directedness), gender, leadership, length of service, deployments, and combat experience predict military consumer attitudes. Self-monitoring theory describes differences in expressive control and self-presentation to predict consumer attitudes and behavior. High self-monitors alter their consumer behavior to gain social favor and low self-monitors base their consumer decisions on product quality, functionality, and internally held views of self. An archival dataset was used with 220 active-duty soldiers who provided liking ratings …

“Don’T Feel Like You Have To Do This All On Your Own”: Exploring Perceived Partner Support Of Breastfeeding Among Black Women In Kentucky, Jardin Dogan

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Background: Partner support improves breastfeeding initiation and continuation among mothers. However, few studies have explored partner support for breastfeeding among Black women living in the southeastern U.S., who report the lowest rates nationally of breastfeeding compared to women of other racial groups. Ways to increase support of Black women’s breastfeeding may be best understood from an Afrocentric perspective.

Research Aim: This qualitative study aimed to explore perceptions of partner support among Black mothers to abductively develop a culturally relevant framework of partner support to improve their rates of breastfeeding. Our research question was, “What partner support behaviors do Black …

Cross-Cultural Examination Of Vacation Policy On Employee Satisfaction And Happiness, Ketan D. Parekh

CMC Senior Theses

With the advent of technological advancement, entrepreneurship, and a higher emphasis on meritocracy, societies across the globe have experienced intense competition to outdo one another. This has pushed companies to place increased importance on worker productivity; large and small companies want to see their employees work harder, longer, and faster. With this increased demand for work, companies today are making sure they have suitable reward systems to ensure worker satisfaction and quality work production. However, what these reward systems look like and how they function contrast significantly across cultures, especially as it pertains to corporate leave policies. This thesis examines …