Digital Commons Network^™

Applying Psychological Theories Of Personality, Identity, And Intergroup Conflict To Radical Violence: A Case Study Of Extremist Behavior, Sydney Flynn

CMC Senior Theses

This paper aims to address possible psychoanalytical explanations for the heinous acts in which terrorists, particularly ISIS, engage. It focuses on Harold D. Lasswell’s principles of the id, ego, and superego as well as Tajfel and Turner’s social identity theory. Within the framework of these two theories, relevant psychological and social psychological theories are discussed in order to explore a possible connection between the psyche of violent perpetrators and their actions. By exploring these connections, I find that there may be more nuanced psychological explanations for these violent acts, which could lead to new methods of weakening perceived biases, intergroup …

Mindfulness Matters: The Effects Of Mindfulness On Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Rowan Mulligan

CMC Senior Theses

Both mindfulness and authentic leadership base themselves on self-awareness. Authentic leadership has positively predicted organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and mindfulness has been positively correlated to work engagement, which has shared positive relationships with OCB. Job demands (JD) have been shown to compromise work engagement. Using a sample of 134 MBA and undergraduate students, a longitudinal design evaluated the meditational role of authentic functioning (AF) between mindfulness and OCB and the moderating role of JD. Over the course of three months, three questionnaires were administered to measure mindfulness, AF, OCB, and JD. Despite the positive predictive relationship between mindfulness and AF, …

Perceived Social Support And Suicide-Related Depression Symptom Clusters Among Queer College Students, John Kellerman, Daniel Krauss

CMC Senior Theses

LGBTQ+ individuals report disproportionately high rates of depression and suicidal behaviors compared to the general populations, particularly among queer youth. Certain depressive symptoms and symptom clusters, namely hopelessness and self-blame, are predictive of suicidal behavior and outcomes. In contrast, perceived social support may act as a buffer against suicide ideation. The disparity in the rate of queer suicidality may be predicted by higher rates of hopelessness and self-blame, as well as lower rates of perceived social support among depressed queer youth in comparison to depressed non-queer youth. The current study will test this hypothesis using a sample of depressed queer …

Into The Wild: Factors Mediating The Positive Outcomes Of Wilderness Based Therapy, Layla Moehring

Scripps Senior Theses

Wildnerness therapy is becoming increasingly popular as a treatment for adolescents. It has been established as an efficacious treatment in previous literature, but the mechanisms as to why have thus far remained a mystery. This research is looking at the connection between wilderness therapy and DBT, another evidence-based treatment. This study will examine 156 adolescents, comparing the efficacy of wilderness therapy to traditional inpatient and intensive outpatient. Pre-treatment assessments of suicidal ideation, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance will be taken. It is expected that there will be main effects for each of the treatments, but that wilderness therapy will be …

Gas Lamps, Laura Wilde

CGU MFA Theses

My work investigates the role and dynamic of society, culture, and familial influence on the masculinity and femininity within our individuality. It specifically deals with my on going discovery of the masculine side of my personality, and how the feminine roll is influenced, or not influenced, by this. I have been applying Jungian psychology and the theory of individuation, archetypes, and so forth, to my process. I have made several bodies of work in a quest to understand the fundamental roles that femininity and masculinity have affected my choices and individual understanding. Documenting old and new relationships, I make puppets, …

American Mom, Maria Weiss

Scripps Senior Theses

A reflection of my short film American Mom

The Influence Of Books, Television, And Computers On Empathy And Altruistic Behavior In Young Children, Alicia Breyer

Scripps Senior Theses

The rising prevalence of media use and the decreasing use of books create a need for research on the positive learning effects these platforms may have on children. This study will explore how learning platforms (specifically books, television, and computers) in early childhood affect development of social awareness – in particular, empathy and altruistic behavior. The researcher will recruit approximately 192 participants, ages 3 to 5, and randomly assign them to one of three groups: book readers, television viewers, and computer gamers. The subject of the platform will be kept consistent through the use of the children’s television program Daniel …

Self-Esteem And Social Anxiety In Children With Communication Impairments, Rebekah I. Novom

Scripps Senior Theses

The proposed study will investigate how having a speech and/or language impairment, as well as age, affect children’s self-esteem and levels of social anxiety compared to children who have typical language development (TLD). This cross-sectional correlational study will examine approximately 160 participants between the ages of 5 to 10 who fall into one of four communication type groups: speech impairments (speech sound disorders and/or stuttering), language impairments (specific language impairment), speech and language impairments, or TLD. The participants’ self-esteem, levels of social anxiety, and attitudes about their communication ability will be measured via established scales. Participants will also be asked …

From Yosemite To A Global Market: How Patagonia, Inc. Has Created An Environmentally Sustainable And Socially Equitable Model Of Supply-Chain Management, Mary-Clare Bosco

Pomona Senior Theses

There is an urgent pressure of the time (2016) to re-evaluate our patterns of consumption to adapt to changing climates and reduce waste and pollution. Because an immediate restructuring of global production strategies is not likely any time soon, industrial innovators are finding new ways of redesigning supply-chain management in efforts to move towards environmentally sustainable business in which all manufacturing practices are transparent. Patagonia, Inc. is a testament to the often-debated question of economic value in green business practices, and this thesis acts as an outline as to how they arrived at such an impressive presence in the business …

Healing From Racism With Compassion Meditation: Effects Of Coping On Mental Health, Courtney Chan

CMC Senior Theses

This study examines whether Compassion Meditation (CM) can help ethnic minority college students heal from race-related stress. The present study hypothesized that through participation in a CM intervention, the augmentation of adaptive coping strategies (i.e., self-compassion) and the reduction of maladaptive coping strategies (i.e., internalization, defined as self-blame, and detachment, defined as social isolation) would reduce depression and PTSD. Participants (N = 9) participated in an 8-session weekly CM intervention and completed three questionnaires at the beginning, middle, and end of the intervention. Results demonstrated that increasing self-compassion predicted decreases in depression, and that reducing coping via detachment predicted …

The Giving Tree Academy, David A. Hurdle

CMC Senior Theses

A proposal for a new preschool based in Pomona, California, targeted towards children from low-income backgrounds. Includes extensive research on preschool nationwide, the state of California, and in Pomona. Within the paper a new preschool curriculum and specific teacher practices are discussed. Intended as a model for a new school. or to be adapted for use in educational policy.

Virtual Reality: The Game Changer For Residential Real Estate Staging Through Increased Presence, Alexander Julian Brenner

CMC Senior Theses

This study proposes a series of 3 experiments to explore how different types of staging, pictures versus virtual reality, impacts potential buyers’ likelihood of wanting to visit a home. Moreover, this study seeks to address how the type of market, hot versus cold, and type of home, luxury versus non-luxury, connects with staging and its impact on wanting to visit a home. In Experiment 1, participants will view 10 total homes, 5 randomly selected with staged pictures first followed by the remaining 5 with virtual reality, either within the hot or cold market. If VR increases presence, then people should …

Negotiating Human Rights Abuses Through The Moral Foundations Theory: An Attempt To Understand The Moral Motivations Behind The Male Guardianship System In Saudi Arabia, Female Genital Modification, And Child Marriage., Anoush Baghdassarian

CMC Senior Theses

The idea that there are universal human rights that can, and should, be enforced has been an increasingly wide-spread and popular belief, as well as a controversial one. Concerns of cultural relativism contrasted with stances of universalism spark an impassioned debate that permeates the dialogue of human rights today in all spheres: social, academic, and even those professional spheres that are tasked with creating and enforcing the laws regarding these issues. What does psychology have to say about this? After all, if it is a universal phenomenon, it must span across time, culture, and difference, and there must be trends …

The Effects Of A Text Message Intervention On Conversational Speech Between Dyads Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Julia Blanco

CMC Senior Theses

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) per DSM-5 criteria are characteristically limited in their ability to interact socially due to conversational speech delays. Typically, children with ASD experience a more constrained number of appropriate initiations and responses in conversations with peers. Previous research has shown the benefits of using scripted language to increase verbalizations in these children. However, limited research has been conducted on the use of technology to increase social interactions between children with ASD. This study will be based on hypotheses and results from the dissertation, “Teaching Conversational Speech to Children with Autism Using a Text Message …

Nudging Towards Social Change: The Application Of Psychology And Behavioral Economics In Promoting Responsible Consumption, Larissa Chern

CMC Senior Theses

With workplace disasters in developing countries increasingly in the news, a major question is how to encourage consumers to use corporate social responsibility as a criterion in purchasing. Distinct from environmental concerns, social responsibility is defined here with respect to the humanitarian aspects of corporate practice, including fair wages and working conditions, equitable treatment of the disadvantaged, and restriction of child labor. Although the idea of socially responsible consumption (SRC) was first identified over forty years ago, most recent research on changing consumption habits focuses specifically on environmentally responsible consumption (ERC). Combining the psychological concept of social norms with economic …

Civic Dignity And Meaningful Political Participation, Melissa Mahoney Smith

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation looks at how enhanced political participation opportunities can increase individual liberty and improve public-sector reform efforts. It blends political theory with contemporary concerns for individual well-being and government accountability. To do this, several research methodologies are used, including normative, qualitative process-tracing, and quantitative analysis.

First, the dissertation draws insights from ancient and modern political philosophy and the political thought and example of Jane Addams in 19th Century Chicago. It begins with Josiah Ober’s work on civic dignity, which he defines as “equal high standing” among citizens, marked by “non-infantilization and non-humiliation.” This definition is a useful starting point …

Understanding The Effects Of Disgust And Political Ideology On Moral Judgment Through Photography, Xijia Yuan

Scripps Senior Theses

Feelings of disgust may have effects on one’s moral judgment; specifically that experience of disgust has linked to increased severity of moral judgments. Additionally, one’s political beliefs may also affect one’s moral judgment, such as conservatives tend to make harsher judgment toward moral situations and behaviors. A 2 x 2 x 2 factorial quasi-experiment has been proposed to study 420 participants, legal adults from both conservative and liberal neighborhoods, randomly assigned to one of two conditions, disgust-eliciting versus neutral. Participants will view either four disgust-eliciting photographs or four neutral photographs, and then complete survey questions on disgust rating, moral judgment, …

Effect Of Framings Of Racism On White Students' Resistance To Confronting Whiteness, Maile Blume

Scripps Senior Theses

The proposed experimental study seeks to explore under what conditions white participants might demonstrate less behavioral resistance to engaging in conversations about racism. In this study, approximately 128 white-identifying students at Scripps College will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions: a non-racist framing condition (in which racism is primarily conceptualized on an individual level) or an anti-racist framing condition (in which racism is primarily conceptualized on an institutional level). After completing the framing task, participants will be asked to imagine that they are going to meet with a group of Students of Color to discuss the issue of …

Female Superiority In Social Cognition: Can Pretend Play Help The Boys Catch Up?, Maria Weiss

Scripps Senior Theses

The effect of pretend play on 150 (~ 75 girls; 75 boys; M=3 yro) preschool children’s social cognition will be assessed through a semester long intervention study. Research has reported a trend of female superiority in empathy and ToM and a likelihood of young girls to engage in pretend play more frequently and to a higher degree than young boys. Previous research has also found a relationship between play and social cognition, as through the act of imagination, one is able to thoroughly take on the perspectives of someone other than the self. This study attempts to show a …

#Comparison: An Examination Of Social Comparison Orientation On Instagram As It Relates To Self-Esteem And State Anxiety, Alice C. Mullin

Scripps Senior Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine social comparison orientation on Instagram as it relates to self-esteem and state anxiety. One hundred and ninety-six young adults (ages 18-30) who use Instagram at least once a week completed scales measuring social comparison orientation, self-esteem, and state anxiety before being randomly assigned to one of two Instagram feed conditions—one that displayed non-celebrity photos and the other that displayed celebrity photos. Participants were then post-tested using the same self-esteem and state anxiety scales. Information about Instagram use, information about participants’ feelings toward the feeds, and demographic characteristics were also collected. It was …

Are You Feeling Me?: The Role Of Attention In Physiological Empathetic Responses, Gabriela Paganini

Scripps Senior Theses

This study examined the role of attention and trait empathy within the production of neural facial mimicry responses that have been previously found to be associated with the experience of empathy. More specifically, do people who have high trait empathy levels require less attention to emotional information in order to still exhibit these physiological responses than people who have lower trait empathy levels? It has previously been demonstrated that responses in the zygomaticus and corrugator muscles have been associated with the experience of empathy. College aged participants were shown series of happy, angry, and neutral faces with the amount of …

The Differentiating Personal And Tactical Dimensions Of Head Coaches In The Nfl: Why Is Bill Belichick Successful When Others Are Not?, Patrick Dixon

CMC Senior Theses

Throughout the history of the NFL, several head coaches have found significantly more success than their peers. The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of what personal and tactical dimensions have set these coaches apart. This paper will study the most successful coaches of the past, as well as today’s most successful coach, Bill Belichick. Through case studies, this paper identifies possible explanation for Belichick’s current run of success in an NFL that grows more competitive each season. Specifically, this paper looks at the relationship between players and coaches, and how Leader- Member exchange plays a …

Extraversion, Empathy, And Humor Style: An Investigation Of The Introverted Sense Of Humor, Phillip Jauregui

CMC Senior Theses

The present study assesses the effects of extraversion, empathy, and humor style on humor score, while specifically focusing on the introverted sense of humor. 129 participants recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk took a survey consisting of the extraversion subscale of the Ten Item Short Version of the Big Five Inventory, the Humor Styles Questionnaire, and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The study supported previous findings in which extraversion positively relates to humor such that extraverts reported a greater usage of humor than did introverts. More specifically, both extraverts and introverts use adaptive humor styles (i.e. affiliative and self-enhancing humor) more than …

Collective Memory And History: An Examination Of Perceptions Of Accuracy And Preference For Biased “History” Passages, Stephanie Doi

CMC Senior Theses

Collective memory is a socially shared representation of the past. History, contrastingly, strives to be an unbiased, objective, and critical account of the past. Many researchers have argued that the so-called “history” found in school textbooks and curriculums align more with collective memory; however, many individuals do not know of the pervasiveness of collective memory in supposed “history” texts. To examine perceptions of accuracy and preference of American “history” textbook passages, individuals from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (n= 404) participated in an online study where they were randomly assigned to read one passage that was either negatively biased, neutral, or positively …

"Supermom" And "Super-Maman": The Transition To New Motherhood In American And French Mothers, Abigail F. Daum

Scripps Senior Theses

The aim of the proposed study is to examine the effects of the transition into new motherhood and the differences in these effects among American and French primiparous mothers. The study establishes the societal pressures and cultural expectations placed on the motherhood role, historically and to the present day, and presents possible sources for maternal guilt, role strain, and a sense of loss of individuated self in the transition to new motherhood. This mixed methods study uses semi-structured interviews, vignettes, the Job-Family Role Strain Scale, and the Motherhood Salience Scale to determine the effects of the transition into the new …

Coping With Acculturative Stress: Mdma Usage Among Asian American Young Adults In The Electronic Dance Music Scene, Michelle Stephanie Chan

Pomona Senior Theses

The intersection of Asian American identity and illicit substance use is greatly understudied in psychological literature, especially with matters of mental health and drug use being stigmatized by Asian cultural norms. However, with an increasingly alarming number of fatal drug overdoses by Asian Americans at electronic dance music (EDM) events, attention must be drawn to the needs of this unique population. The present study characterizes this community by drawing from data of 1,290 Asian American young adults who participate in the EDM scene. This study also hypothesizes the impact of acculturative stress and feelings of social belonging on MDMA usage …

Cooking With Roots: How Older Adults Strengthen Connection With Younger Generations Through Recipe Sharing, Laurel R. Kitada

Scripps Senior Theses

This research investigates how older adults experience sharing recipes with younger generations, and examines conditions that contribute to the expression of generativity within the context of intergenerational recipe sharing. In Study 1, semi-structured interviews centered on experiences with intergenerational recipe sharing will be conducted with 30 older adults (age 65+). Participants will complete a survey of generative concern before and after engaging in a basic recipe sharing task. In line with previous research on generative art activities, responses will highlight feelings of autonomy as well as desires to teach others and leave a legacy. It is also hypothesized that generative …

Persuasion In The Health Field: Framing The Message For Attitude Change, Kelley Ogami

Scripps Senior Theses

The process of persuasion, the changing of a person’s attitudes, has often been applied to health communications designed to promote healthy behavior. Manipulation of aspects of the persuasive message can influence persuasion and the likelihood of attitude change. For a long time, the existing persuasion research had yet to examine how different types of message framing and intervention targets directly and in interaction with one another act as predictors of health attitude change. Therefore, this thesis addressed this lapse using an online survey to assess participants’ attitude towards the health issue of hypertension after reading a health message. This health …

Mothers' Cognitive Empathy Towards Their Biracial Children, Atika M. Gupta

Scripps Senior Theses

Limited research has been conducted on biracial people. Of the current research that examines mother’s cognitive empathy towards her child, there is little focus on how the differences in perceived racialization of the child (child is perceived as racially similar, dissimilar, or mixed in comparison to his or her mother) may influence mother’s cognitive empathy towards her child. The current study will question whether perceived phenotypic racialization of the child, race of the mother, gender of the child, and diversity of the neighborhood that the mother and child live in influence mothers’ cognitive empathy towards their children. The participants will …

Dark Humor And Suicide: Exploring Viewer Suicidality In "The Long Way", Sarah M. Rosen

Scripps Senior Theses

Death, dying, and the actual loss of life are some of the broadest sweeping concepts that typically evoke a wide array of emotions from sadness and anger to fear and despondence. It is unlikely that the first words associated with death are comedy, humor, or laughter. However, that is precisely what creators and comedians of dark, death, and gallows humor seek to achieve. For my senior capstone project, I have created a short fictional narrative film encompassing the traits of a dark comedy. However, noticing that few dark comedies delve into topics surrounding suicide, I wondered if it was possible …