Digital Commons Network^™

How Does Psychopathology Impact The Trajectory From State To Trait Mindfulness?, Veronica O'Brien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has found that higher levels of trait mindfulness protect against psychopathology (e.g., Chiesa & Serretti, 2013; Desrosiers et al., 2013; Sevilla-Llewellyn-Jones et al., 2018); however, the research on state mindfulness and psychopathology is more mixed. These mixed findings suggest that some clients with higher levels of psychopathology may have greater difficulty engaging with mindfulness practice thereby hampering their progression towards trait mindfulness and its associated benefits. The present study sought to explore how psychopathology (i.e., anxiety, trauma, alcohol use, and depression) relates to the growth of state and trait mindfulness. The present study recruited 274 participants from a …

Formalizing The Faustian Bargain Within The Healthcare Domain: An End-Of-Life Approach., Rachel Appel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Faustian Bargain refers to an individual making a “deal with the devil,” exchanging something moral or sacred for an unattainable earthly good. The Faustian Bargain has been used to describe a ubiquitous social dilemma inherent to human civilization: exchanging individual liberty for public goods (e.g., security) provided by societal leaders and governments (Ostrom, 1980). Research on Faustian Bargains often examines tradeoffs between outcome utility (i.e., value derived from the outcomes of a decision) and procedural utility (i.e., value derived from being involved in the decision process (e.g., Frey et al., 2004). Much of the research on Faustian Bargains has …

Where Does The Church Stand In Today’S Mental Health Landscape?, Noah T. Mursu

Honors Capstone Projects

Religious involvement in care for those living with mental illness has been going on for centuries, and perspectives on it have changed throughout the years. This literature review evaluates the place of religious groups, mainly Christian churches, in today's mental health situation by considering past and present involvement. It incorporates sources regarding different eras of mental hospital reform, modern perspectives of mental health clinicians and clergy, and the current gaps in mental health support among a variety of groups, including veterans, African Americans, and people in developing countries. This review then considers potential future involvement, especially considering how these gaps …

Exploring Interfaith Sex Education, Bailey Lewis

Honors College

Sacred Sexuality explores the intersections of religion and sexuality. I worked with Dr. Birthisel, Director of the Wilson Center, and Kate Dawson, co-facilitator of the sex education class, to survey the sex education class participants on how the experience has been for them. I surveyed the sex education class participants after the class to analyze their opinions of the sex education class, interfaith dialogue, and how their spirituality or religious perspectives inform their beliefs around sexuality. Overall, the sex education class was highly recommended and gave an interesting look into how faith and sexuality interact. While the sex education class …

Exploring The Impact Of Religious Upbringings On Sexual And Gender Minority Youth, Jack K. Connors, Carolyn Mcnamara Barry

Modern Psychological Studies

Sexual and Gender Minority Youth (SGMY) growing up in religious households that are not affirming of their sexual identity experience unique stressors pertaining to the strained relationship between organized religion and the LGBTQ+ community. This review aims to define the impacts from those upbringings, examine protective factors, and provide a basis for solutions to a nationwide crisis. Limitations, suggestions for future research, and real-world implications are then discussed, especially pertaining to prevention and intervention programs to support those who identify as SGMY.

Investigating Relations Regarding The Religious Ought, Ideal, And Actual Self Using A Relational Density Theory Approach, Kam Barker

MSU Graduate Theses

Religiosity may produce positive outcomes (e.g., greater life satisfaction, hope, and optimism) or negative outcomes (e.g., psychological distress), especially if the individual’s identity is in conflict (Koenig, 2001). This distress, as explained by self-discrepancy theory, is caused by inconsistency between the self-concept (attributes the individual believes they currently possess) and the self-guides, consisting of the ‘ought’ self (attributes the individual believes they ought to -or should- possess) and the 'ideal' self (attributes the individual desires to possess) (Higgins, 1987). Exploring stimulus relations related to these ‘selves’ using a relational density framework (Belisle & Dixon, 2020) may provide insight regarding relational …

Coping Styles As Potential Mediators In The Relationships Between Morally Injurious Events, Moral Injury, And Meaning-Making, Marjorie A. Perkins

Doctoral Dissertations

Exposure to morally injurious events has consistently been correlated with negative mental health outcomes for military servicemembers and veterans (Bryan et al., 2014; Currier et al., 2015a; Currier et al., 2015b; Currier et al., 2017; Dennis et al., 2017; Jordan et al., 2017; Maguen et al., 2009, 2010; Maguen, Vogt et al., 2011; Nash et al., 2013). However, some servicemembers and veterans may experience a deeper sense of understanding of the event and/or growth after a potentially morally injurious experience through a process called meaning-making (Park, 2013). The present study seeks to examine the relationship between individual coping styles and …

Perspectives Of Choice And Control In Daily Life For People Following Brain Injury: A Qualitative Systematic Review And Meta-Synthesis, Carolyn M. Murray, Scott Weeks, Gisela Van Kessel, Michelle Guerin, Emma Watkins, Shylie Mackintosh, Caroline Fryer, Susan Hillier, Mandy Stanley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background and Objective: Acquired brain injury (ABI) can result in considerable life changes. Having choice and control over daily life is valued by people following ABI. This meta-synthesis will analyse and integrate international research exploring perspectives of choice and control in daily life following ABI. Methods: Databases were searched from 1980 to 13 January 2022 for eligible qualitative studies. After duplicates were removed, 22,768 studies were screened by title and abstract, and 241 studies received full-text assessment with 56 studies included after pearling. Study characteristics and findings were extracted that related to personal perspectives on choice and control by people …

What’S Religion Got To Do With It?: Differing Religiosity Domains’ Association With College Students’ Sexual Consent During First-Time Intercourse, Kaylee Richmond

Dissertations

Within the U.S., 36% of women and 17% of men report experiencing sexual assault (Smith et al., 2017). The absence of sexual consent is often regarded as a defining component of sexual assault (Beres, 2014); thus, a potential area to examine to decrease rates of perpetration and victimization. To date, there has been a lack of research on contextual factors that are likely related to sexual consent, with a general focus on external consent (i.e., verbal/behavioral indicators; Muehlenhard et al., 2016). The present study examined the role of a contextual factor, religiosity, on sexual consent processes during the context of …

Faking Is As Faking Does: A Rejoinder To Marcus (2021), Robert P. Tett, Daniel Simonet, Neil D. Christiansen

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

Applicant faking poses serious threats to achieving personality-based fit, negatively affecting both the worker and the organization. In articulating this “faking-is-bad” (FIB) position, Tett and Simonet (2021) identify Marcus’ (2009) self-presentation theory (SPT) as representative of the contrarian “faking-is-good” camp by its advancement of self-presentation as beneficial in hiring contexts. In this rejoinder, we address 20 of Marcus’ (2021) claims in highlighting his reliance on an outdated empiricist rendering of validity, loosely justified rejection of the negative and moralistic “faking” label, disregard for the many challenges posed by blatant forms of faking, inattention to faking research supporting the FIB position, …

Measuring Morality In The 2020 Us Presidential Election, Scott Edward Atkins

Dissertations and Theses

This study explores the moral content evident in speeches by 2020 US Presidential Candidates Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Drawing on Moral Foundations Theory (Haidt, 2013), I test the hypotheses that each candidate's moral content, as measured by the use of certain morally salient keywords, will fall along patterns based on their political affiliation. In testing these hypotheses, I also present a comparison of keyword analysis methods. The first uses a simple word count procedure alongside the Moral Foundations Dictionary 2.0, developed by Frimer et al. (2017), which scores a document based on the presence of words from each of …

Mortality Salience In Therapists: Sudden Death Of A Patient - An Exploratory Study, Amanda Oliva

Selected Full Text Dissertations, 2011-

The purpose of this qualitative research study is to explore therapists’ experiences of the sudden passing of their patient. In particular, the researcher aims to explore the internal and external experiences of the therapist’s grief, as well as implications for training and professional life. Seventeen psychotherapists, ranging in professional training, aged 30 to 80, who lived in several states across the country, participated in individual interviews with the principal investigator via online video conferencing. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed, according to the qualitative research method of Auerbach and Silverstein (2003), to extrapolate themes and theoretical constructs from their anecdotal …

Influence Of Spirituality On University Students’ Emotional Intelligence, Perceived Stress, And Life Quality, Janette Cooke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractFirst-year university students are at risk for mental and physical health ailments due to maladaptive stress coping mechanisms. A gap in research remains as to whether there are health benefits for minority religious groups or students who have a spiritual (nonreligious) belief system. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between student spirituality and the level of emotional intelligence (EI), perceived stress (PS), and life quality (LQ), as moderated by different campus types (secular or religious). The theory of spirituality and the theory of individual psychology were used as frameworks to explain the psychological, emotional, and physical …

Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, And Mood Disorder Symptoms: The Moderating Role Of Parent-Child Religious Congruence, Jasmine Swann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to understand the factors related to increased symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression among Sexual and Gender Minority (SGM) individuals. It is common for religious beliefs and Sexual and Gender minority ideals to clash. In the case of parent-child relationships, it is important to determine how the congruence of beliefs between parent and child may moderate mood disorder symptoms. A convenience sample of 271 individuals (46.5% identifying as a Gender and/or Sexual minority) completed an online survey. Participants provided information about their religious congruence with their closest parental or guardian figure and completed measures of current depression, …

Frederick Wiseman's Essene (1972): The Duality Of Mary And Martha, Nilita Vachani

Journal of Religion & Film

America’s legendary documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman shot Essene 50 years ago at the height of the commune movement in the United States. Unlike his previous institutional films which showcase an insane asylum, a public high school, an inner city police force, a hospital, and a military training school, Essene's canvas is the far less turbulent terrain of a serene and austere Benedictine monastery devoted to the love and service of God and the divine spirit. This paper undertakes a close textual and hermeneutic analysis of Essene alongside an appraisal of Wiseman’s working methodology, his cinematic portrayals of character and dramaturgy, …

Applicant Faking On Personality Tests: Good Or Bad And Why Should We Care?, Robert P. Tett, Daniel V. Simonet

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

The unitarian understanding of construct validity holds that deliberate response distortion in completing self-report personality tests (i.e., faking) threatens trait-based inferences drawn from test scores. This “faking-is-bad” (FIB) perspective is being challenged by an emerging “faking-is-good” (FIG) position that condones or favors faking and its underlying attributes (e.g., social skill, ATIC) to the degree they contribute to predictor–criterion correlations and are job relevant. Based on the unitarian model of validity and relevant empirical evidence, we argue the FIG perspective is psychometrically flawed and counterproductive to personality-based selection targeting trait-based fit. Carrying forward both positions leads to variously dark futures for …

The Effect Of Sex Education Programs On Rape Culture, Logan J. Griffin

MSU Graduate Theses

Although schools in the United States primarily present abstinence only or comprehensive sex education programs, neither of these programs discuss the topic of sexual consent. In addition, these programs reinforce negative ideologies regarding rape-myths and victim blaming. The purpose of the current study is to determine if the prior type of sex education effects participants’ beliefs in rape-myth acceptance, sexism, willingness to help, and importance of consent, and if the sex education priming effects the participants’ likelihood to victim blame, express victim empathy, and their bystander behavior. The data reflected that those participants who received abstinence only sexual education did …

The Origins Of Religious Disbelief: A Dual Inheritance Approach, Will M. Gervais, Maxine B. Najle, Nava Caluori

Psychology Graduate Research

Widespread religious disbelief represents a key testing ground for theories of religion. We evaluated the predictions of three prominent theoretical approaches—secularization, cognitive byproduct, and dual inheritance—in a nationally representative (United States, N = 1,417) data set with preregistered analyses and found considerable support for the dual inheritance perspective. Of key predictors of religious disbelief, witnessing fewer credible cultural cues of religious commitment was the most potent, β = .28, followed distantly by reflective cognitive style, β = .13, and less advanced mentalizing, β = .05. Low cultural exposure predicted about 90% higher odds of atheism than did peak cognitive reflection, …

"Now Thinking About It, It's Freedom": Conceptualizing Sexual Pleasure For Fat, Queer Women, Carolyn Elizabeth Meiller

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

Research considering the positive aspects of sexuality, such as pleasure, within a cultural context is especially important for groups of people that are often seen as separate from the experience of sexuality, such as fat, queer women. Due to perceptions of their bodies and how their sexuality goes against traditional heteronormativity, fat, queer women's experiences with sex and pleasure are under represented. Using a critical sexuality framework, the present study sought to explore the definitions and experiences of sexual pleasure for fat, queer women.

In the present study, constructivist grounded theory methods (Charmaz, 2014) were used to analyze the definitions …

An Assessment Of Therapist Attitudes Toward Polyamorous People, Chelsea V. Randall

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Polyamorous people can encounter unique negative experiences in psychotherapy. Western culture perpetuates the ideal of romantic and sexual exclusivity between two people through monogamy as the dominant social norm, to the extent that nonmonogamous relationships are considered abnormal or othered. Polyamorous people have reported experiencing such biases from therapists, resulting in being pathologized, inaccurately labeled as infidelitous, and spending excessive treatment time providing education on polyamory. Research on the therapist’s contribution to polyamorous clients’ negative experiences is lacking, which limits suggestions for affirmative practices and the rationale from which to implement them. The current study sought to directly survey therapists’ …

Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Adults’ Experiences With Supportive Religious Groups, Rachel Grossman

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative research study was designed to explore lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) young adults’ views about how being a member of supportive and affirming religious places of worship and social groups influenced their self-acceptance, as well as their ability to integrate their religious and sexual minority identities. In this study, six in-person interviews were completed with participants who (a) were 18-24 years old; (b) identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual; (c) were members of supportive Jewish and Christian religious groups; and (d) identified as cisgender. The data from the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis to tell cohesive stories …

Experiences Of Divine Grace Among Christian Friends, Kyle T. Webster

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Though topics of prayer, forgiveness, and gratitude have received attention in the psychology of religion, there is sparse literature regarding the concept of grace. This study explored how Christians who identify as Friends (Quakers) experience grace from God. Thirty interviews were conducted with Friends in the Pacific Northwest, using a standardized semistructured interview developed for a larger study of how Christians from various denominations experience grace. Four organizing themes were derived from the interview questions and then grounded theory was used to uncover associated sub-themes within each organizing theme. The organizing themes include the nature of God, the nature of …

Introduction To The Dignity Memorial Issue On Kate Millett, Donna M. Hughes

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Fitting Fractals Into Our Toolbox For Studying The Human Mind, Herb Klitzner

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

N/A

Religion, Spirituality, And The Workplace: A Meta-Analytic Study On Outcomes Of Job Satisfaction, Job Performance, And Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, Juan Balcazar

Theses & Dissertations

Research indicates behavioral and attitudinal manifestations of religion and spirituality exert cross-domain impact across cognitive, intrapersonal, biological, industrial-organizational, and behavioral domains (Calman, 2008; Ngunjiri & Miller, 2004). The present study conducted a meta-analysis of both religious and spirituality (RS) as predictors on outcomes of job satisfaction, job performance, and organizational citizenship behavior. The present study seeks to delineate and distinguish religious faiths from spirituality by comparing the pooled effect size of religion studies with spirituality studies. A random effects model was analyzed for two subgroups on each dependent variable. Next, a subgroup fixed effects (plural) model was utilized to detect …

Situational Judgment Tests: An Overview Of Development Practices And Psychometric Characteristics, Deborah L. Whetzel, Taylor S. Sullivan, Rodney A. Mccloy

Personnel Assessment and Decisions

Situational judgment tests (SJTs) are popular assessment methods often used for personnel selection and promotion. SJTs present problem scenarios to examinees, who then evaluate each response option for addressing the issue described in the scenario. As guidance for practitioners and researchers alike, this paper provides experience- and evidence-based best practices for developing SJTs: writing scenarios and response options, creating response instructions, and selecting a response format. This review describes scoring options, including key stretching and within-person standardization. The authors also describe research on psychometric issues that affect SJTs, including reliability, validity, group differences, presentation modes, faking, and coaching.

The Religious And Philosophical Characteristics In A Consensually Nonmonogamous Sample, Akhila E. A. Kolesar, Seth T. Pardo

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Consensual nonmonogamy refers to the variety of ways people partner romantically and/or sexually with multiple others. This study examined the spiritual identities of people who self-identify as consensually and openly partnered with more than one person, as well as if and how these identities changed since childhood. Moreover, to deepen previous transpersonal research that investigated how nonmonogamous paradigms of loving contribute to spiritual development, the study also examined between group differences of whether nonmonogamous sexual behavior and spirituality are emotionally linked. Data were gathered from 484 participants; they were mostly college-educated, Caucasian, bisexual women in their 30s, who were raised …

Medical Aid In Dying: Knowledge, Attitudes, And Beliefs Of Licensed Psychologists, Christine Caroline Merz

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Medical aid in dying (MAID) is a process by which individuals with terminal illness can voluntarily ingest a lethal dose of medication provided to them by their physician to intentionally end their life. MAID is currently legal in eight U.S. states and several other countries. Licensed psychologists and other mental health professionals are implicated in MAID laws in the form of psychological evaluation that is required for select patients. Little is known about the knowledge and attitudes of psychologists regarding MAID, including views on legal and ethical acceptability, and professional competence to conduct psychological evaluations for patients requesting MAID. The …

Moral Foundations Of U.S. Political News Sources, William Edward Padfield

MSU Graduate Theses

The media ecosystem has grown, and political opinions have diverged such that there are competing conceptions of objective truth. Commentators often point to political biases in news coverage as a catalyst for this political divide. The Moral Foundations Dictionary (MFD) facilitates identification of ideological leanings in text through frequency of the occurrence of certain words. Through web scraping, the researcher extracted articles from popular news sources’ websites, calculated MFD word frequencies, and identified words’ respective valences. This process attempts to uncover news outlets’ positive or negative endorsements of certain moral dimensions concomitant with a particular ideology. In Experiment 1, the …

Engaging Sacred Space And Experiencing God In The Mountains: A Study Of The Non-Traditional Worship Environment Of Mountain Cathedrals, An Ecumenical Meetup Group Based In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Brendan Isaiah Nixon

Geography ETDs

This paper focuses on the non-traditional Christian worship site of Mountain Cathedrals in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I argue that affectual and emotional responses are elicited from the congregants of Mountain Cathedrals through the process of sacralization. It is shown that Christian worship in a non-traditional outdoor setting affects the ways in which the congregants engage with, participate in, and create sacred space. I survey current literatures of sacred space, the contemporary Christian church, and non-traditional worships spaces. Using the literature as a backdrop, I utilize Mountain Cathedrals as a case study for understanding the ways in which sacred space is …