Psychology Commons^™

A Call To Create: Poetry As Healing And One Nurse’S Self-Discovery, Kim Cornett Henry, Kim Cornett Henry

English Theses

Florence Nightingale’s vision for nursing has changed greatly in the past one hundred and fifty years, with nursing’s identity replaced with an emphasis on science over caring. The fast-paced, technologically sophisticated environments, designed to meet the declining health of an American public, have resulted in nurses who are being pulled away from nurse-to-patient caring acts and the reasons they felt called to become nurses. These changes have had detrimental psychological and emotional effects on nurses and are especially evident in Intensive Care nurses. Expressive writing as poetry, autoethnography, and participation in vibrant writing communities offer nurses experiences for healing, voice, …

Young People More Optimistic About Climate Crisis, Syed U. Haq

Capstones

This is story on how the youth today is feeling more ambitious about rectifying the mistakes the previous generation has made regarding climate. It takes the reader through a poll done by Generation Lab, about the optimism in the younger generation to tackle the climate crisis and what factors are in play in making them feel that way. It also provides three brief audio pieces from student activists, Anna Kathawala, from the local Fridays for Future, Mars Vazquez-Plyshevsky, who comes from a family of climate deniers, and Aderinsola Babawale, a local activist with Brownsville Green Justice. And of course, their …

Examining Negative Thinking Styles And Thought Control Strategies Within Borderline Personality Disorder, Courtney K. Mason

Theses and Dissertations

Components of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) include emotion and cognitive dysregulation. The Emotional Cascade Model (Selby & Joiner, 2009; Selby et al., 2009) suggests negative affect and the cognitive process of rumination could be interchangeably increasing over time, leading to maladaptive behaviors. The current study evaluated negative thinking styles (i.e., anger rumination, sadness rumination, worry, catastrophizing) and thought control strategies (i.e., brooding, reflection, thought suppression) in relation to BPD traits using path analyses in a college student sample (N = 204). Results indicated anger rumination, sadness rumination, and worry indirectly predicted BPD traits through thought suppression, brooding, and reflection. However, …

Peer-Led Building Resilience And Enhancing Social-Emotional Skills Program, Danielle K. Enrico

Department of Occupational Therapy Entry-Level Capstone Projects

The purpose of the Capstone experience was to develop and implement a five-week peer-led building resilience and social-emotional skills training program at a public high school. This program addressed high school students' knowledge, skills, and attitudes regarding resources, social-emotional skills, and resilience. A questionnaire was administered pre and post-program to measure effectiveness. The results indicated an increase in scores, demonstrating a clearer understanding in all three areas.

The Impact Of Corporal Punishment For Timorese High School Graduates, Veronica Godinho Pereira

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the impacts of corporal punishment for Timorese high school graduates. Physical punishment is a pervasive method of disciplining students and children used in Timor-Leste because it has been such a tradition (UNICEF 2017). Few researchers have attempted to analyze the negative impacts of corporal punishment and possible gender differences; there is no known research on the impacts of corporal punishment in Timor-Leste. This study uses an in-depth interview method, where data were collected from 26 Timorese high school graduates composed of both men and women from both private and public schools in Timor-Leste. The ages of the …

Improving Stress Management For Female College Students, Kelsey Acosta

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Although many college students report feeling stress, women may have a unique perspective and experience regarding stress. Gilligan's theory states that women consider their relationships when considering decisions. This decision-making process can create an added layer of the already existing academic stressors that women face. Stress management techniques that acknowledge the unique stressors that women face are essential to improve mental health and provide an optimal college experience.

The Influence Of Emotion Regulation And Neural Cognitive Control On Distress Tolerance, Alicia L. Milam

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Tolerance of negative emotions has been associated with transdiagnostic negative mental health outcomes. Theory and research implicate emotion regulation and cognitive control as factors in tolerance of negative emotions. But their unique contributions to tolerance of negative emotions and interdependency have been unclear due to methodological limitations. This study aimed to explicate cognitive and emotional factors affecting distress tolerance in a non-clinical sample of emerging adults. Undergraduate psychology students completed self-report measures of emotion regulation ability and tolerance of negative emotions. The N2 ERP component elicited by a Go-NoGo task was also used as a neurophysiological marker of cognitive control …

Exploring The Role(S) Of Trait Emotional Intelligence & Personality In Help-Seeking Behaviour Among Undergraduate Students, Nikola Cuvalo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Trait emotional intelligence (EI) and the Big Five personality factors represent promising constructs in the individual differences literature that have been investigated in relation to help-seeking behaviour. This quantitative work explores the relationship between individual differences in trait EI, personality, and attitudes toward – as well as future intentions to engage in – help-seeking behaviour among undergraduate students at Western University. Stepwise regression modelling was used to determine which dimensions of personality and trait EI best predicted help-seeking outcomes and whether attitudes toward help-seeking predicted intentions to seek help from university-provided mental health sources. Resultsindicated that several individual facets of …

Narrative Communication: How Sending And Receiving Impact Statements On Past Ingroup Suffering Influences Conflict Attitudes, Brooke Burrows

Masters Theses

In the aftermath of mass violence or harm perpetrated against one group by another, commemoration or memorialization processes held by the victim group are often a space in which narratives of impact and suffering are expressed and shared. While there may be no formal or direct calls for justice or policy during these commemoration processes, prior research indicates that such public forums, ranging from truth commissions to museum exhibits, may have diverse impacts on individual emotions as well as attitudes towards the broader conflict implicated (Humphrey, 2000; Reeves & Heath-Kelly, 2020). The current work proposes a closer examination of such …

The Roles Of Growth Mindset And Rational Beliefs As Personal Resources On Employees’ Job Performance And Work Engagement : Applying The Job Demands-Resources Model In The Greater Bay Area, Nuoxun Lin

Lingnan Theses and Dissertations (MPhil & PhD)

The purpose of the thesis is to investigate certain kinds of personal resources, especially growth mindset and rational beliefs, that could equip employees who work and live in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) to enhance their job performance to face a competitive and everchanging workplace.

The current research consists of three studies: Study 1 (N = 801, 61.5% female) was a cross-sectional survey which examined the structural validity and relationships between growth mindset, rational beliefs, work engagement, and job performance in the motivational path of the JD-R model. We collected data from Hong Kong and mainland China. Study 2 (N …

Control, Alter, And Delete: Investigating The Manipulation Of Memory And Memorial Beliefs By Suspected Psychopaths In Interpersonal Relationships, Kendra Nespoli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Psychopaths are known to wreak havoc in the lives, careers, and relationships of people with whom they come into contact, triggering impacts that can extend for many years. To date, few studies have investigated the psychological tactics used by psychopaths to manipulate and control others in relationships. Previous research in the area of autobiographical memory has demonstrated that the decisions people make regarding belief in their memory for life events are influenced by feedback received from others. Social feedback has been shown to be a powerful influence in persuading others to revise beliefs about past events, particularly in the context …

The Art Of Breaking Up: Ending Romantic Relationships, Emma Salzwedel

Honors Thesis

This thesis reviews research on the most difficult aspect of dating: the breakup. The process of ending a romantic relationship follows a particular pattern which begins when problems begin to arise in the partnership and ends when both individuals have accepted the breakup and received closure. Using various peer-reviewed studies, the literature review deliberates the common predictors of a breakup, common methods of breaking up (and how each is perceived by the other person), common reactions to the breakup based on gender, and finally, the aftermath of the breakup. It is determined that personal and individual relationship factors ultimately decide …

Differentiating Risk Pathways To Violence: A Comparison Of The Incremental Contributions Of Masculine Gender Discrepancy Stress And Trait Agreeableness, John M. Shepherd

Theses and Dissertations

The existing literature on risk profiles leading to the perpetration of violent acts has suggested personality and gender role socializations to be relevant predictors. Research has consistently found personality factors, particularly trait agreeableness, to predict several types of violence (e.g., sexual violence, violence against intimate partners, aggressive behaviors across relationships). Recent research suggests that although both adherence to masculine social norms and individual differences in experiences of stress while enacting these norms have been shown to be reliably associated with violence, masculine gender discrepancy stress (i.e., stress experienced by men when perceiving themselves to be inadequately masculine) may be uniquely …

Gender Differences In The Clinical Presentation Of Borderline Personality Disorder: A Review, Kimberly Glover

Dissertations

Borderline personality disorder is diagnosed in women three times more than men and represents a significant gender disparity amid considerable stigmatization compared to other psychological disorders. Empirical studies have investigated the gender prevalence for borderline personality disorder and further determined that findings may be due to differences in how borderline personality disorder clinically manifests in men and women. Common areas of investigation have included developmental features, diagnostic symptomology, psychiatric comorbidities, and the level of functional impairment for individuals with borderline personality disorder. An analysis of existing data was indicative of shortcomings in methods that include small samples of men, a …

An Integration Of Attachment And The Investment Model: Joint Predictors Of Accommodation In Romantic And Friendship Dyads, Samuel Y. Chung

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present two-wave research examines two frameworks for predicting relationship maintenance: adult attachment theory and the investment model of commitment. Expanding upon past work, I test models that integrate the two theories such that relationship satisfaction, alternatives, and investment size mediate the relationship between avoidance and commitment, and attachment anxiety moderates the investment model factors’ relationships with accommodation in romantic relationships and friendships. In romantic relationships, increasing partner anxiety reduced the relationship between actor relationship satisfaction and commitment whereas in friendships, increasing actor anxiety increased the relationship between actor relationship satisfaction and commitment. Further, increasing actor anxiety increased the relationship …

Clear Adjustment: Status Self-Concept Clarity And Emotion Regulation, Isidro Landa

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One factor associated with a person’s adjustment during important life transitions is self-concept clarity (SCC)—“the extent to which the contents of an individual's self-concept (e.g., perceived personal attributes) are clearly and confidently defined…”. However, it is not fully understood why and for whom SCC predicts adjustment. Recent work suggests that SCC may function as a resource for regulatory functions, allowing one to focus on long-term self-relevant goals rather than narrowly focusing on regulating immediate discomfort associated with uncertainty. It is possible that having high SCC facilitates emotion regulation in such a way that it allows one to engage and further …

Borderline Personality Disorder: A Review And Analysis Through The Lens Of The Unified Theory, Paulihna S. Cechak

Dissertations, 2020-current

Abstract

In the field of psychology, there are many different ways to understand or make sense of a phenomenon. Researchers, theorists, or practitioners can approach topics via many different paradigms or schools of thought that guide their general understanding, programs of research or approach to therapeutic practice. Although this diversity of analysis affords some strength in terms of allowing many perspectives, it also brings with it a serious problem of fragmentation. With the countless theories and paradigms, we lack a shared language and meta-theoretical framework that assimilates and integrates the various bodies of knowledge and perspectives into a coherent frame …

The Effect Of Feedback On State Narcissism, Ian C. Kloss

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

Objective: Prior research suggests that grandiose and vulnerable narcissists differ from one another in their responses to various threats—among these results is a finding suggesting individuals displaying grandiose narcissism are more likely to report negative mood states following an imaginal achievement failure, while individuals displaying vulnerable narcissism report more negative mood following an imagined romantic rejection. Further, a body of literature within the field of narcissism examines whether grandiose and vulnerable narcissism are better conceived as stable traits or as states that may fluctuate within an individual. This study sought to determine whether state grandiose and vulnerable narcissism might differ …

Person-Centered Profile Consistency: A Test Of Longitudinal Personality Consistency, Amanda Wright

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Test-retest correlations are a common way to quantify stability in personality. However, these single estimates obscure patterns of consistency as well as individual differences in consistency. Importantly, examining patterns of consistency provides insights into the underlying processes driving personality development. The current study used Bayesian multilevel asymptotic models to examine trends of person-centered consistency using item-level profile correlations across four to nine waves with four datasets (N = 21,616). Results indicated that there were, on average, very high levels of profile consistency across time, highlighting one aspect of the stable nature of personality. There were notable individual differences in …

Individual Differences And Social-Comparative Feedback, Kabir N. Daljeet

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of the overall program of research was to investigate whether there are individual differences that facilitate the acceptance of, or preferences for, social-comparative performance feedback. In doing so, we aimed to establish how individual differences could be leveraged to mitigate the negative reactions that some individuals experience in response to social-comparative feedback (Feeney, Goffin, & Schneider, 2016; Roch et al., 2007). Likewise, we sought to determine whether individual differences were associated with a preference for social-comparative feedback. The results of the first study (N = 255) advanced a novel experimental design and found that, with limited exception, …

Impact Of Personality Traits And Team Criteria On Construction Team Performance, Arlys Silva Payne

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigated how personality traits and team criteria influence team performance in real construction projects. Though personality influence on team performance has been significantly investigated in other business sectors, the literature revealed that the construction industry lacks investigations regarding personality influencing team performance. The existing literature revealed that the Big Five Factors (BFF) was the most popular assessment tool for personality. Thus, this dissertation adopted the 50-Item Personality questionnaire developed by Goldberg, which consited of extraversion, aggreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. The literature also revealed several common team criteria to evaluate team performance: team member satisfaction, shared …

Attachment, Trait Mindfulness, And Expectations In Married Women: A Moderated Mediation Model, Elizabeth Larson

Clinical Psychology Dissertations

Historically, the term marital satisfaction has been used to describe the subjective quality of marriage; however, some researchers have proposed that marital satisfaction as a construct overlooks fundamental relational components that could elucidate a more precise portrayal of marital functioning. Utilizing archival data, I examined individual differences in attachment orientation and trait mindfulness predicting marital expectations, a process that informs marital satisfaction. Using a moderated mediation model, I hypothesized that (a) attachment avoidance would negatively predict marital expectations, (b) trait mindfulness would mediate the relationship between attachment avoidance and marital expectations, (c) attachment anxiety would moderate the relationship between attachment …

The Nature Of Resilience: A Person-Centered Approach Using Latent Profile Analysis, Yuejia Teng

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Resilience research has become increasingly popular in organizational sciences in recent years. Different factor structures of resilience have been proposed and yet no consensus has been reached regarding its underlying dimensions. Such a variable-centered perspective of studying resilience may be well complemented by a typological approach, which may shed fresh light on the nature of resilience. The current study took a person-centered approach with the advantage of using latent profile analysis to explore a set of latent profiles of resilience. Two studies were conducted. In Study 1 (N = 479), archival undergraduate data were used to explore resilience profiles and …

Negative Urgency's Influence On State-Level, Emotion-Based Changes In Alcohol-Related Cognitions, Noah Wolkowicz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project expanded on the Acquired Preparedness Model of Risk (APMR) by examining how Negative Urgency (NU), the tendency to act rashly in negative emotional states, affects emotion-based changes in alcohol cognitions to produce risk for alcohol use. The APMR prioritizes the role of outcome expectancies as the means through which traits such as NU, convey alcohol use risk. However, this model treats these cognitions as static and often fails to assess their valence; further, alcohol-cognitions fluctuate in response to negative emotions and may become more salient during these states. Therefore, this study examined: 1) how NU impacts negative emotion-based, …

Measuring State Empathy: Exploring The Efficacy Of A Film Clip Task And Examining Individual Differences In Empathic Responding, Stephanie R. Hruza

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study of trait empathy and the experience of empathy has implications for psychopathologies, the enactment of prosocial behaviors, and inhibition of aggression. For the most part, studies on empathy have been limited to the examination of trait empathy and/or empathy-related prosocial behaviors. However, to better understand how trait empathy may translate into empathy-related behaviors, it is important to find the best ways to elicit and measure state empathy, as well as characterize the relationship between trait and state empathy. Additionally, research into the relationship between normal-range personality traits and empathy on both a trait and state level has largely …

The Role Of Cognitive Load And Individual Differences When Interpreting Human-Resource Data Visualizations, Zachary Hesson

University Honors Theses

Data visualizations (e.g., bar graph, dashboard) can be used as decision-support and storytelling tools that aid users’ interpretation of sometimes complex information, including within the human resource management (HRM) context. As HRM evolves towards implementing more data-informed decisions, it is important to understand how users interpret data visualizations. The aims of this thesis are to (a) identify whether cognitive load affects the amount of time users spend arriving forming and interpretation and the accuracy of their interpretations, and (b) to evaluate whether cognitive load moderates the association between individual-difference variables and interpretation time and accuracy. The individual differences that are …

The Prevalence Of Mental Health Disorders And Deficits In Individuals With And Without Siblings, Samantha Villanueva

University Honors Theses

The goal of this thesis is to understand how having siblings could affect mental well-being in individuals. Within the framework of a literature review, I examined multiple aspects of mental well-being with regard to siblings: 1) if having siblings could be a precursor for behavioral or developmental patterns in children 2) how trauma affects only children and individuals with siblings differently 3) long-term effects of sibling count once children reached adulthood 4) biases from clinical perspectives and prevention programs to combat these. Upon conclusion, only children were often noticed to struggle with mental health and certain socialization, although researchers noted …

Influence Of Drd4 Receptor Gene Polymorphism On Aspirational Quality And Approach Motivation, Harry Henry-Ojo

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

The present study investigates the presence of a molecular genetic basis of the quality of aspiration and motivation for behavior described by Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory and Gray’s biopsychological theory of personality respectively. In this study, investigation was carried out to determine the impact of DRD4 receptor gene polymorphism on intrinsic and extrinsic aspiration as well as approach motivation using the Aspiration Index scales and Behavioral Inhibition and Activation (BIS/BAS) scales as our psychometric instrument of evaluation. In a pilot study consisting of 9 healthy subjects, the 7R allele of DRD4 receptor gene was associated with higher mean score …

Colombian Women’S Experiences Of Cosmetic Surgery And Its Relationship To Body Image, Austin Gonzalez-Randolph

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand women’s experiences of cosmetic surgery and its effects on body image on women from the Colombian cities of Bogotá and Pereira. The participants of this study were women of Colombian descent, who reside in Colombia. This was done with the hopes of better understanding how culture impacts views on cosmetic surgery. Colombia appears to have a culture that is very enmeshed with cosmetic surgery. This study provides an initial exploratory and qualitative investigation into the perception of body image as it relates to cosmetic surgery among six young women living in Colombia; …

Social Production Of Intellectual Disability And The Mechanics Of Moral Exclusion: Past, Present, And Future, Emese Ilyes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The institutionalized dehumanization in the United States continues to allow for people who are categorized as intellectually disabled to be legally warehoused and paid as little as pennies per hour to complete rote, repetitive work within segregated environments. An entire court case was conducted about whether a man labeled as intellectually disabled was able to engage in a consensual relationship or whether he was the victim of sexual assault without ever allowing him to express his desires and lived experiences. This project is an attempt to explore a theoretical, historical explanation for how humanity is denied in some bodies, how …