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Psychology

Emotion

2018

Theses and Dissertations

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Autism, Alexithymia, And Anxious Apprehension: A Multimethod Investigation Of Eye Fixation, Kevin G. Stephenson Jul 2018

Autism, Alexithymia, And Anxious Apprehension: A Multimethod Investigation Of Eye Fixation, Kevin G. Stephenson

Theses and Dissertations

Reduced eye fixation and deficits in emotion identification accuracy have been commonly reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (AS), but are not ubiquitous. There is growing evidence that emotion processing deficits may be better accounted for by comorbid alexithymia (i.e., difficulty understanding and describing one's emotional state), rather than AS symptoms per se. Another possible explanation is anxiety, which is often comorbid with AS; emotion processing difficulties, including attentional biases, have also been observed in anxiety disorders, suggesting that anxiety symptoms may also influence emotion processing within AS. The purpose of the current study was to test the …


Experiential Similarity Of Depression And Interpersonal Empathy, Sarah E. Caputo Jun 2018

Experiential Similarity Of Depression And Interpersonal Empathy, Sarah E. Caputo

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to build and maintain supportive, social relationships has been linked to both physical and psychological well-being (e.g., Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Kawachi & Berkman, 2001). Yet, social struggles are a commonly observed symptom among individuals with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), particularly with regards to interpersonal empathy. Perceptions of interpersonal similarity can influence empathic engagement with others (e.g., Batson et al., 1996; Hodges, Kiel, Kramer, Veach, & Villanueva, 2010); often, interpersonal similarity will lead to greater empathic engagement. The present study asked participants to listen to audio clips of a fictitious therapy client discussing either depression or non-depression-related financial …