Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Effect Of Female Superhero Body Types On Parasocial Relationships, Perceived Homophily And Self-Esteem Of College Women, Ashe C. Cleveland, Michael John Farzinpour, Alyssa Aroz Vega

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This study examines how exposure to female superheroes’ body images increases the strength of parasocial relationships, perceived homophily, and level of self-esteem that female college students experience. Three images of female superheroes were manipulated into round, muscular, and hyper-thin body types. Eighty-one students at a west coast university were randomly assigned to view one of three images of the female superhero. After viewing the images, the participants were asked to answer three Likert scales to determine the strength of parasocial relationships to the superheroine (bonds with the character), perceived homophily (perceived similarity), and self-esteem. The results of the study indicate …

Effects Of Restrained Eating On Episodic Memory And Implications For Homeostatic Appetite Regulation, Morgan Kindel

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Recent studies in the fields of Psychology and Neuroscience suggest a relationship between episodic memory and appetite regulation. A majority of these studies have used BMI as an important variable in this relationship and have found mild episodic memory deficits to be more likely in individuals with higher BMI’s. The goal of this research was to determine whether restrained disordered eating, regardless of BMI, influenced episodic memory and appetite regulation. Initially, we predicted that individuals showing dietary restraint would show signs of a stronger episodic memory, and therefore would have weaker hunger cues and stronger satiety cues, and that in …

School Librarians: Their Role As Global Educators In The 21st Century, Darliene Zepeda-Field

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Purpose: This article presents information that examine how school librarians have the skills and knowledge to produce globally educated students in a K-8 environment during a time when administrators and school districts are eliminating the position of school librarian.

Methodology/Approach: This includes an overview of the job duties for a school librarian in the 21st century from the California School Library Association (CSLA). Drawing from the qualitative analysis on 3 school librarians in 3 different school districts, along with ethnographic observations on class visits to their library will provide a discussion on the challenges and current dilemma of changes in …

The Impact Of Celebrity Endorsement Of A Conspiracy Theory On The Media Consumers, Lindsay Stern, Kendal Munyon, Hunter Davis

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Celebrity endorsement has a strong influence on the general population. However, this effect was typically studied in the context of celebrities’ support for non- controversial topics. We wanted to see if celebrities would have the same effect when they supported controversial topics. It is hypothesized that those who are exposed to a liked celebrity endorsing a conspiracy theory will be more inclined to accept the theory.

Additionally, celebrity endorsement for a controversial topic has the potential to cause the celebrity to be less liked. If an individual learns that a celebrity supports a controversial topic like a conspiracy theory, an …

The Artistic And Anthropological Influence Of Lighting Design On Guests At The Disneyland Resort, Jennifer Pershon

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Lighting design, while popularized by theatre, has emerged beyond the stage into real world environments and settings. Its advancement has led to an evolution of light, allowing for light to appear as a work of art independent from objects and productions despite lacking a tangible existence. As themed entertainment has grown into an entire industry of spectacle and performance, the concept of theme parks developed from one man’s dream to bring his animated films to life in a constructed environment for the promotion of imagination. Lighting design within the Disneyland Resort facilitates the ideologies of Walt Disney, utilizing its foundation …

An Ethnographic Exploration Of Pokémon Go, Ketzia Abramson

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The mobile app game, “Pokémon GO” became a worldwide phenomenon immediately following its initial release in the summer of 2016. Now, more than a year later, despite its fall from social domination and decline in popularity, POGO is still at the forefront for better understanding the future of communication and socialization in today’s ever growing digital age. This ethnographic study, aided by field research, observations, and literature review of both the app itself as well as the ‘Poké-verse,’ provides an in-depth analysis of how and why a mobile gaming app that utilizes no new forms of technology (augmented reality combined …

Man V Nature: American Fears Of The Environment, Hannah Brower

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This paper will explore how fearful Americans are about the state of the environment and how concerned they are with a plethora of environmental issues, including air pollution, water pollution, and global warming. Relying on the Chapman Survey of American Fears data on the environment, I will examine how fearful about an environmental issue an individual is and how their age, income, education level, preferred news channel, and political party affiliation correlate with their level of fear. I expect to find strong correlations between younger people, Democrats, those who prefer liberal news providers, people with higher incomes, and people with …

The Man Behind The Curtain: Who Is Really Pulling The Strings?, Josie Chan

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Did a member of Senate filibuster a bill because of an influential billionaire behind the scenes? As politics continue to play a huge part in everyone’s daily lives, whether we realize it or not, the general public’s fears of the government continue to grow stronger. Whether it is trepidation that the government is filled with corrupt, yet highly influential officials, or that regular civilians lack privacy due to drone usage by governmental agencies; the general public has genuinely started to fear the government.

According to Chapman’s Survey of American Fears, about 60.5% of those who participated in the survey, were …

Democracy At Stake: Which Media Outlets Are Harming Voter Turnout?, Ryan Shiri

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The consensus of research literature dealing with the usage of new forms of news outlets and their effects on voter turnout rates has shifted overtime from having no clear correlation into having a differing correlation depending on which media outlets. Originally, the research about media usage and voter turnout was unclear and showed no evident correlations. In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, most research assured the fact that new media outlets, like the Internet, had become a huge source of news content for many citizens, however there was no evidence of a strong correlation between those new news outlets and …

Breeding Stage And Parentage Affect Tameness In Common Loons, Mina Ibrahim

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Tameness is a measure of tolerance towards human disturbance. As human disturbance and recreational activity are increasing, it is becoming more and more important to understand responses of species to this disturbance. Tameness has been shown to be influenced by an individuals characteristics and life history. Two possible determinants of tameness are breeding stage and parentage. We studied tameness in common loons (Gavia immer) specifically looking at the effects of breeding stage and parentage. Tameness was measured by flight initiation distance (FID), the distance at which a loon dove from an approaching human observer in a canoe. Loons …

Abortion In The Court: The Impact Of Abortion Views On Public Opinion Of The Supreme Court, Robert Heins

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Abortion has long been considered one of the most controversial topics the United States Supreme Court has ruled on. My research examines how one’s opinion on abortion impacts their view of the United States Supreme Court. This analysis will show how much of an impact one policy stance has on the public’s overall view of a much larger institution. To analyze my question, I will utilize American National Election Studies Time Series data from the years 1976, 1988, and 2016. These years will allow me to study the role abortion plays in crafting opinion of the court before the politicization …

Who’S Afraid Of The Big Bad Bot? The American Fear Of Technology In The 21st Century, Callan Keeter

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The growth and integration of new technology into lifestyles worldwide have many Americans asking questions about privacy and security. Although there are high rewards at stake for governments, corporations, and individuals who embrace technological changes, the risks of these developments are also at the forefront of people’s thoughts. Using the recent data of the Chapman University National Survey of Fears, I examine correlations and means to determine the specific populations in America that fear technology. I go on to detail possible causes of this fear using the available research on the subject. As we move forward further into the 21st …

Partisanship And Fear Of Terrorism, Jake Bishop

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Terrorist groups carry out horrific attacks that harm and kill innocent citizens almost every week worldwide. These attacks incite fear no matter how powerful a person may be, because terrorism affects everyone. Citizens, interest groups, and politicians all have different responses to terrorist organizations and how to handle their fears. Attitudes change, policies are affected, and political parties shift their ideologies to please their electorate. Using data from Chapman University’s Survey on American Fears, I looked at the correlation between political ideology and fear of terrorism. The survey finds that there is a strong correlation between the two and that …

The Effects Of System Justification And Social Dominance Orientation On The Temporal Discounting Of Climate Change, Gage Peterson

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Within the current political landscape, environmental issues such as global climate change are not without their controversies. Though novel relative to other physical sciences, climate and environmental sciences demonstrate opportunities within and beyond their formal disciplines to shape our ecological legacy. The fields of social psychology as well as environmental psychology, with its various subdisciplines including conservation psychology, ecopsychology and human ecology among others, promise relevance to political and social decision-making regarding our environmental health. This thesis isolates and examines factors affecting an individual’s perceptions of climate change and its associated risks. Specifically this project examines the implications that social …

Environmental Health, Tessa Oliaro

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

There is a very important intersection between the environment, public health, and socioeconomic factors (Braveman, 2014). These include waste disposal, water use and quality, road safety, ecosystem services, and many more. Environmental health stresses, “the health impacts of physical, chemical, and biological agents in the environment and workplace, and learns to develop strategies to measure and control major environmental health problems both locally…and in settings around the globe” (UC Berkeley School of Public Health, 2017). This overarching umbrella can have emphases in environmental epidemiology, exposure science, climate change, ergonomics, home and industrial hygiene, and molecular epidemiology. Exploring each of these …

A Shot In The Dark: Public Opinion On Gun Control In The United States, Mollie Cameron

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Gun violence is a leading cause of death in the United States. The present study uses data from the Chapman Survey of American Fears where people were asked about how afraid they are of the government regulating firearms. It will be compared to data regarding gender, age, political party, race, education, and location. This will help to provide an in-depth exploration of who is in favor of gun control and why. In the United States right now there is an overwhelming support for moderate gun control, even by current gun-owning citizens. It is important to focus on the public opinion …

The Secret Users Guide For Liberals, Independents, And Conservatives To Win The White House: Demographics And Political Ideologies, Cassandra Medina

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

I consider that understanding political ideology is of most importance but we must consciously understand the demographics behind it. I will be approaching this issue by looking at the set of demographics that range from gender, income, education, ethnicity, religion, and age. While observing if these demographics influence party identity, ideology, and strength of partisanship in these cases. The key issues that I am focusing on, how do certain demographics influence the party ideology that a person chooses? Utilizing cross-national level data from the 2012 ANES election study I will be analyzing multivariable, and frequencies to be able to assets …