Digital Commons Network^™

Forgiveness And Rumination: Their Relationship And Effects On Psychological And Physical Health, Kimberly A. Edmondson

Doctoral Dissertations

Forgiveness has recently become a popular focus of research in psychology. In addition to philosophical and theological explorations, psychologists have extended the study of forgiveness into physical and psychological health. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between forgiveness and rumination, as well as the associations among these two factors, health and acute physiological responses. Sixty females participated in a betrayal narrative as well as a rumination period. Two measures of state forgiveness, one measure of trait forgiveness, and two measures of trait rumination were used. Blood pressure and cortisol reactivity were assessed. State forgiveness was associated …

Gender Differences In Adolescents With Disruptive Behavior Disorders: A Look At Self-Report, Projective, And Treatment Outcome Measures, Ashley Campbell

Doctoral Dissertations

The vast majority of research on disruptive behavior disorders has focused on all male or predominantly male samples. However, researchers have noticed a primary difference in the way boys and girls present symptoms of disruptive behavior disorders. This study examined gender differences in the description of and the psychological mechanisms underlying adolescent disruptive behavior disorders. Differences were assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist, MMPI-A and Rorschach with a group of adolescents (N=61; 34 males and 27 females) in residential treatment who had a diagnosis including a disruptive behavior disorder. Measures were given upon admission and discharge from treatment.

The results …

Criterion-Related Validity Of Big Five Adolescent Personality Traits, Amy Susannah Friday

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examined the correlation of academic performance of adolescents and the Big Five personality traits, as well as gender and age differences one and two years later. An archival sample of 542 6^th graders, 446 9^th graders and 341 12^th graders from the southeastern United States were used. All five of the Big Five personality traits were found to significantly correlate with GPA at all three grade levels except for Extraversion with 12^th graders. Correlations between personality and GPA were not statistically different for 6^th, 9^th, and 12^th grade males …

Keeping Quiet: Self-Silencing And Its Association With Relational And Individual Functioning Among Adolescent Romantic Couples, Melinda Schuessler Harper

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between self-silencing and aspects of relational and individual functioning among adolescent couple members involved in romantic relationships. Two hundred and eleven adolescent couples dating for a minimum of four weeks completed questionnaires assessing relationship satisfaction, self-silencing behaviors, sexual behaviors, global communication, and experiences of depressive symptomatology. Adolescent couples also participated in a videotaped conflictual interaction and rated perceptions of themselves and their partner on dimensions of frustration, conceding, sarcasm, and discomfort.

Data analyses addressed the effect of self-silencing on aspects of relational and individual functioning for both actor (the person …

The Dynamics Of Identity Development: Exploring The Relevance Of Separation-Individuation, Jennifer N. Engler

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study attempted to illuminate the patterns of relations between the processes of separation-individuation and identity development in a late adolescent, university sample. A total of 281 undergraduate volunteers participated in the study, each completing the Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence (SITA), the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ), and a brief demographic survey. Results indicate that there are significant relations between these two processes and that those combinations of separation-individuation variables that are associated with more process in identity development may differ by the identity test under investigation. Utilizing a stepwise multiple regression, degree of identity exploration was found to …

A Validation Study On The Teamwork Receptiveness Inventory, Matthew E. Fearrington

Doctoral Dissertations

As the use of work teams has increased in American corporations during the last 30 years, much of the empirical research has focused upon the relationship between individual personality traits and job performance rather than on individual attitudes about working on team settings. This study attempted to establish the construct (convergence of indicators and discriminant validity) and criterion-related validity of an instrument designed to measure individual receptiveness to working in teams. Four hundred seventy-four undergraduate, first-year engineering students (over 80% were male) were asked to complete the Teamwork Receptiveness Inventory (TRI; Fearrington, 2001), the NEO-FFI (Costa and McCrae, 1992a), the …

Relationship Of College Students' Response Styles On The Strong Interest Inventory To Scores On The Beck Depression Inventory And The Career Thoughts Inventory, Martha C. Dagenhart

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among college students’ response styles on the Occupations section of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII), as indicated by the “Like,” “Dislike,” and “Indifferent” percent indexes, and their scores on the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI) and the Beck Depression Inventory – Second Edition (BDI-II). The SII is a career interest inventory that measures a person’s level of interest across a wide range of areas including occupations and leisure activities. When presented with an item on the SII, an individual indicates whether he or she likes, dislikes, or is indifferent to that …

In Theirown Voices: Attitudes About Mental Health Utilization By African American Females At A Predominantly White Institution, Dionne Maria Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the attitudes of mental health utilization by African American female students at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI). Because African American females have been found to underutilize mental health services, particularly those provided by the university, the study’s goals were to explore participants’ beliefs related to (a) treatment efficacy, (b) barriers to seeking mental health services, and (c) counselor preferences. The data from this study were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach to identify participant attitudes regarding the utilization of mental health services. The findings resulted in the development of a theory of mental health utilization. In …

Still Always The Dad’: The Meaning Of Fatherhood For Midlife Fathers Of Adult Children, Truett Paul Mcanear

Doctoral Dissertations

This study describes the subjective experience of being an involved midlife father with adult children. While previous fatherhood research has focused primarily on the impact of father involvement on child outcomes, researchers have only recently begun to explore the impact of father involvement on the fathers themselves. Within this literature minimal research is evident regarding the impact of fatherhood on men at midlife. This study addresses this gap in the literature with a phenomenological investigation of the experience of father involvement for midlife fathers of adult children. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with 9 midlife fathers regarding their experience of …

The Effects Of Optimism And The Five-Factor Model Of Personality On Stress And Performance In The Work Place, Fung Ming Chan

Doctoral Dissertations

Occupational stress is an ever-increasing public health hazard and occupational risk factor. There are growing concerns around the world; people work harder and longer while injury and illness rates associated with occupational stress continues to grow. This field study explores the relationship among optimism, the Five-Factor Model (FFM) of personality (conscientiousness, openness, emotional stability, agreeableness, and extraversion), stress (perceived stress), and job performance variables (dedication, teamwork, self-responsibility, winning attitude, fit, quality of operations, guest promises/service) in employees of the service industry. It is hypothesized that the variable of optimism will be a better predictor than the FFM personality constructs for …

An Empirical Examination Of Reactive And Proactive Aggression Subtypes Among Juvenile Delinquents, Rosine Lawanda Christmas

Doctoral Dissertations

This study is an archival examination of psychological differences among court-referred delinquent youth. There were 80 participants, with 56 males and 24 females between 13 and 17 years old. By using Ward’s hierarchical cluster analysis, juvenile offenders were grouped into four predetermined clusters of reactive and proactive aggression based on high and low scores obtained on scales measuring Internalization and Externalization dimensions from the Child Behavior Checklist Youth Self-Report (CBCL-YSR) and the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI).

Scales from the YSR and MACI, which were not used in forming the four clusters, along with the Stress Index for Parents of …