Psychology Commons^™

Evaluating The Rates Of Opioid Overdose By County In Middle Tn, Khanh Nguyen, Isha Kapoor, Sarah West

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Opioid misuse presents a well-documented and substantial threat to human health, with potentially life-threatening issues. Improved access to healthcare and increased social support are believed to contribute to better health outcomes for individuals in higher socioeconomic classes (McMaughan et al. , 2020). Conversely, individuals in lower socioeconomic classes may experience poorer health and engage in more hazardous occupations (Ravesteijn et al. , 2013). These disparities are thought to be linked to factors such as limited access to quality healthcare and greater exposure to non-prescription opioid drugs among those in lower socioeconomic classes. Data was obtained from mySidewalk. Specific variables of …

How Attachment Styles Affect Our Perception Of Daily Activities, Hannah Foley, Harry Lackey, Ella Marks, Wyatt Swaim, Maddie Rowe

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Existing research indicates that social functioning (i.e., emotional motives, social interaction, relationships, interpersonal goals) is associated with personal attachment style (Locke, 2008) and avoidance in emerging adults. Furthermore, attachment styles of individuals can predict daily activities and personal motives (Springstein et al., 2023). While evidence has pointed to interpersonal risk (i.e., physiological safety versus threat) and a sense of security, research has yet to explore these variables in the relationship between attachment styles and helping other individuals in social settings in university students. For our research, we wanted to expand on this past research and test the effects of daily …

Does Birth Order Have An Effect On An Individual’S Conscientiousness?, Micah D. Wilson, Ashely Richmond, Emma Sells, Scovs Major, Waldron Collins

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Looking at familial relationships, specifically between sibling dynamics, has been focused on in many different angles in the field of psychology. Psychologists seek to understand the relationships between siblings, and how the relationships affect their bond, personality, and social life. Past studies have shown that siblings do tend to bounce off of each other, such as older sibling control having more of an effect in conflicts rather than in intimacy (Tucker & Updegraff). We hypothesized that the oldest siblings would clean up after themselves or not make a mess, middle children would clean up after themselves, the youngest would make …

Cultural Values And Maintaining The Status Quo, Andrew Clapper, Adam Smiley, Michael Oliver

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Research on status quo bias suggests that all else equal, people prefer to maintain the current state of the world rather than making changes (Samuelson & Zeckhauser, 1988). Relatedly, people tend to value objects more when they possess them than when they do not, in what is known as the “endowment effect” (Kahneman et al., 1991; Morewedge et al., 2015). However, little attention has been paid to reaction times in making decisions in the presence of a status quo or a possessed object. Our study examines the individual differences which affect reaction times in selecting between status quo and novel …

Psychology: Physiological Effects Of Negative International News On, Ingrid Quezada, Husna Nabi, Willa Stauffer, Katie Young

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

News depicting conflict in foreign countries is often perceived differently by those living in America, and these differences may also have implications for gender-related news. Foreign and national news is often categorized as "ours" versus "theirs" when reporting on or perceiving news (Nossek, 2016). This suggests that if a person classifies news as "theirs" versus as "ours", there could be a discrepancy in the emotional response to the news received based on how an individual decides to subconsciously categorize it. A person may have an emotional response upon seeing negative news, resulting in a physiological state change (Soroka, et al, …

Falling In Love With Your Best Friend: Do We Select Friends In The Same Way We Select Romantic Partners?, Audrey Akins, Jada Rolston, Mykayla Spurlin, Farris Turner

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Friends and romantic partners are some of the most important relationships in a person’s life, but sometimes the line between the two becomes unclear. Prior to 1986, opposite-sex friendships were inherently viewed as romantic, so opposite-sex friendships that are truly platonic in nature have become a “historically recent phenomenon” (Reeder, 2000; Bleske-Rechek et al., 2012). Previous research has examined what variables play a role in how people choose romantic partners and “friends of the opposite sex”, or FOS (Bleske-Rechek et al., 2012; Szymkow & Frankowska, 2022). This study proposes a change in term to FAS: “friends of the attracted sex” …

The Relationship Among Gender, Attachment Style And The Perception Of Text Message Valence, Bailey Harvey, Ivy Huesmann, Marie Martan, Gavin Mitchell

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

ATTACHMENT STYLE AND PERCEPTION

Abstract

Text messaging has become a quick and easy way to get in touch with peers whether professionally or informally, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. This form of communication, however, can be detrimental if a message is perceived incorrectly. In order to understand what can cause these miscommunication issues, prior research studied the influence of punctuation, capitalization, and emoticons on the perception of text messages. However, specific traits of the message-recipient might be relevant for the interpretation as well. Butterworth and colleagues (2019) discovered that women are more likely to rate text messages as more affectionate …

The Effects Of Peer Pressure On Social Conformity, Jeniffer Zou, Kayla Colley, Abby Westbrook, Caroline Grace Coey, Meg Combs

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

The urge to be a member of a group, to fit in, and peer pressure can lead to many unexpected and unwanted repercussions. We see evidence of such consequences around us and even within ourselves daily. Social media can easily contribute to this problem by either allowing users to present their lives as something they are not, a deceptive representation of their true wants, or by allowing them to express their opinions in a way that denigrates those of others. To examine the link between peer pressure and social conformity, researchers have been studying whether strength of attraction to a …

Material World: The Effects Of Meditation Content On Materialistic Values, Azalia White, Katie Young, Hannah Wright, Nicole Walheim, Samantha Urban

Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

In the twenty-first century, Western cultures are highly materialistic and defined by consumeristic goals to garner as much “stuff” as possible (Berger, 2015). This constant pursuit has demonstrable adverse effects on personal and social well being (Bahl et al., 2016; Wang, et al., 2017), while overconsumption also has devastating impacts on the global environment. Previous studies found a negative relationship between levels of mindfulness and levels of materialism (Nagpaul & Pang, 2015; Watson, 2019), indicating the potential for mindfulness to combat otherwise materialistic behaviors. Furthermore, previous research demonstrated gratitude interventions led to lower scores on materialism (Chaplin, et al., 2018), …

Social Connectedness In Different Relationship Contexts, Kirsten M. Ask, Carolyn Lowe, Niya Mckinley, Mary C. Minter

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

While an overwhelming majority of teens still spend time with their friends in person at least occasionally, people have become increasingly reliant on technology for communication and maintaining feelings of social connectedness. Social connectedness is a sense of belonging to an individual or group characterized by satisfaction, perceived level of support, and opportunities for self-disclosure within a particular relationship context. There is consistent evidence that online communication does not foster the same degree of closeness as offline interactions, largely due to the lack of indirect forms of communication like non-verbal cues and tone of voice (Scott et al., 2022a). Offline …