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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Objectification And Meaning Transference: Does Showing More Skin Mean Less Perceived Agency For Brands?, Zachariah Schlichting Jan 2024

Objectification And Meaning Transference: Does Showing More Skin Mean Less Perceived Agency For Brands?, Zachariah Schlichting

CMC Senior Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of sexual imagery in advertisements on consumers’ perceptions of brand competence and agency. The effect of a brand’s expected agency was also manipulated between two groups, high expected agency (e.g., tech companies) vs low expected agency (e.g., alcohol companies). 167 participants (M=22.48, 54% women) were recruited through Sona Systems and social media to partake in an online survey conducted through Qualtrics. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups and shown seven fictional advertisements; four target advertisements and three deception advertisements. They were then asked to rate their …


Effects Of Priming Independent And Interdependent Self-Construals On Personal And Collective Future Thought, Claire Hou Jan 2024

Effects Of Priming Independent And Interdependent Self-Construals On Personal And Collective Future Thought, Claire Hou

CMC Senior Theses

Personal and collective future thought refer to the way people conceptualize and think about their own personal futures, and the futures of groups they are affiliated with, such as one’s nation or cultural community, respectively. Previous research has indicated that there are key cultural differences in how American and Chinese individuals think about their personal future and the collective future of their nation. The present study investigated the impact of cultural constructs of self-construal, namely individualism/independence and collectivism/interdependence, on personal and collective future thought. We attempted to experimentally manipulate participants’ self-construals with a priming task, and participants were asked to …


Ableism In Education: Professor Perpetuation Of Disability Discrimination Through Accommodation Non-Compliance, Kasey Bumgardner Jan 2023

Ableism In Education: Professor Perpetuation Of Disability Discrimination Through Accommodation Non-Compliance, Kasey Bumgardner

Scripps Senior Theses

This proposed study aims to explore factors that may decrease professor compliance with their disabled students’ documented academic accommodations, including pre-existing ableist beliefs held by professors, race of the disabled student, and visibility of the student’s disability. Participants will consist of undergraduate professors from colleges and universities across the United States, varying in size and geographical location. Participants will complete scales to assess their ableist beliefs, and will be asked to report their likelihood of complying with, or fully meeting, various disabled students’ documented accommodations. It is expected that results will reveal that professors who hold more ableist beliefs tend …


Targeting Negative Urgency And Expectancies In Persuasive Messaging, Emily Ann Warren Jan 2023

Targeting Negative Urgency And Expectancies In Persuasive Messaging, Emily Ann Warren

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Evidence indicates targeting outcome expectancies of risky health behaviors via persuasive communication is an effective approach for deterring risky health behaviors. Targeting specific domains of impulsivity (e.g., sensation seeking) via persuasive messaging has also been associated with reduced substance use. However, trait negative urgency, a unique domain of impulsivity involving rash action during negative affect, has yet to be used as a target for prevention efforts. Although scholars have suggested targeting both negative urgency and outcome expectancies in prevention efforts, this has yet to be assessed in an experimental setting. Two experimental studies assessed the value of targeting negative urgency …


Moral Outrage Moderates The Relationships Between System Perception, System Justification, And Intergroup Helping Behavior: A Multigroup Approach, Michael Edward Knapp Jan 2023

Moral Outrage Moderates The Relationships Between System Perception, System Justification, And Intergroup Helping Behavior: A Multigroup Approach, Michael Edward Knapp

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Helping behavior is proposed to be a universal experience where a wide range of behaviors are used to benefit another person or group (Aknin et al., 2013; Nadler, 2002). Often these behaviors are motivated by positive values or emotions (Dovidio et al., 2012). However, when social status is salient, the members of a group may shift their motivation to help others from recipient benefit to retaining power and status for themselves instead (Nadler & Chernyak-Hai, 2014). The intergroup helping as status relations (IHSR) model proposes that higher status group members are motivated to retain their groups’ higher status through specific …


Who’S To Blame For Shame? Interpersonal Influences On Self-Conscious Emotions In Early Adolescence, Elsie Dank Jan 2023

Who’S To Blame For Shame? Interpersonal Influences On Self-Conscious Emotions In Early Adolescence, Elsie Dank

Scripps Senior Theses

Theories of self-conscious emotional experience suggest that shame and guilt arise as a result of negative self-appraisals surrounding one’s conformity to social norms; however, shame focuses on whole-self appraisal while guilt focuses more specifically on the actions one has taken. As a result, shame tends to be associated with more negative aspects of behavior, mental health, and wellbeing. Thus, it is valuable to examine possible aspects of development that influence individuals’ tendencies toward shame or guilt. Some evidence suggests that negative parenting styles are associated with shame, and positive parenting styles with guilt. This study aims to investigate whether the …


The United States’ Stringent Sovereignty: How Foreign Policy Framing Prioritizes Security Over Human Rights, Kathryn Parker Jan 2023

The United States’ Stringent Sovereignty: How Foreign Policy Framing Prioritizes Security Over Human Rights, Kathryn Parker

Scripps Senior Theses

American policymakers utilize valence framing, purposeful descriptions of outcomes as positive or negative, to influence the opinions of voters while maintaining the moral superiority felt by many citizens in the liberal Western hegemon. This study intended to combine the political theories of Constructivism and Realism to form Constructive Realism, a theory that emphasizes the significance of state power and norms as joint influences on constituents. Constructive realism was then applied to four case studies – the UN Security Council, International Criminal Court, Convention on the Rights of the Child, and Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. This study …


Pressing The Verdict: The Social Influence Of Pretrial Publicity On Juror Biases, Kara Cato Jan 2023

Pressing The Verdict: The Social Influence Of Pretrial Publicity On Juror Biases, Kara Cato

CMC Senior Theses

Past psychological research has indicated that pretrial publicity has a significant impact on jury decision-making (Shniderman, 2013). This current review aims to expand on past research by investigating the social influence of pretrial publicity on juror biases. The effects of pretrial publicity on juror biases are examined through three mechanisms of social influence: story model, predecisional distortion, and conformity prejudice. This research inspects the relationship between media and the law by reviewing the pervasiveness of the media's depiction of criminal cases, the changing nature of media, and the biasing effects of media exposure. In addition, it explores the different forms …


Identifying The Main Causes For Support Of Crime Control Theater Forms, And Understanding How To Correct The Public’S Perception, Erisjames M. Elliott Jan 2023

Identifying The Main Causes For Support Of Crime Control Theater Forms, And Understanding How To Correct The Public’S Perception, Erisjames M. Elliott

CMC Senior Theses

Much research has been completed on the forms of crime control theater (CCT), and the impact that the existence of CCT laws have on society. Research on CCT laws has shown that they are definitively unsuccessful in providing the safety they were created to provide. This thesis will utilize completed research to explain the main psychological phenomena holding people back from decreasing their support for CCT laws. It will also describe proven methods of correcting misinformation in order to change the perceptions of people who support crime control theater laws, and provide suggestions for how research should be continued.


The Psychology Behind The Marketing Of Alcohol And Tobacco: How We Convince People To Do Things That Are Bad For Them, Sophie Dvorkin Jan 2023

The Psychology Behind The Marketing Of Alcohol And Tobacco: How We Convince People To Do Things That Are Bad For Them, Sophie Dvorkin

CMC Senior Theses

The marketing tactics of the alcohol and tobacco industry are inextricably linked through the psychological basis upon which these companies target their customers. Through the principles of reciprocity, social proof, scarcity, commitment and consistency, unity, and authority featured in Robert Cialdini’s book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (2021). The principle of reciprocity explains how companies get customers to buy in, social proof explains our dependence on our peers’ validation, and scarcity explains why we want what we can’t have. The principles of commitment and consistency explain how companies garner long-term customers that see themselves as an extension of a brand, …


A Review Examining Biases In Workplace Hiring And Promotion Processes, Claire Chen Jan 2023

A Review Examining Biases In Workplace Hiring And Promotion Processes, Claire Chen

CMC Senior Theses

This review examined three different types of workplace biases: racial, gender, and unconscious biases. First, the review studied how these biases affect the hiring process and found that even though there have been marginal improvements for some minority groups, racial biases still exist in the workplace. Certain minorities, such as African Americans, experienced the same amount of hiring discrimination since the 1990s. Second, the review looked at how these biases influence the promotion process and inhibit marginalized groups from reaching higher paying jobs. Despite Asian Americans experiencing fewer struggles with the hiring process, they are the least likely race to …


At The Intersection Of Identity: An Exploration Of Sense Of Belonging And Depression, Kalah Brown Jan 2023

At The Intersection Of Identity: An Exploration Of Sense Of Belonging And Depression, Kalah Brown

CMC Senior Theses

Belonging is vital to our well-being, health, and identity. At the same time, belongingness is tied so closely to our identity, such that our specific identity may influence the extent to which we feel that we belong, as well as moderating the relationship between belonging and mental health. This present study investigates whether intersectionality, how and if a person is a minority, moderates the relationship between belonging and depression. College students were administered the Beck’s Depression Inventory II and the General Belongingness Scale. They also filled out demographic information to capture their identity and levels of intersectionality. Both belonging and …


#Mentalhealthmatters: Mental Health Awareness Campaigns In Media And Its Effectiveness On Stigma Reduction In Third Culture Kids, Airi Sugihara Jan 2022

#Mentalhealthmatters: Mental Health Awareness Campaigns In Media And Its Effectiveness On Stigma Reduction In Third Culture Kids, Airi Sugihara

Scripps Senior Theses

The recent amplified attention towards mental health and overall wellbeing has been accelerated by awareness campaigns in media, which are culturally and regionally tailored to encourage efficacy and positive attitude changes. Some of these mental health awareness campaigns are disseminated on the social media platform Instagram, which is contradictory to Instagram’s corporate lack of acknowledgement towards its addictiveness and negative impacts on user mental health. The aesthetic and influencer culture surrounding social media empowers its systemic problems, which is exacerbated by modern society’s media dependency. Within its discriminatory and oppressive algorithm, mental health awareness campaigns created by Instagram represent corporate …


The Anatomy Of A Controlling Message And The Impact Of Reactance On Attitude Certainty, Thomas Vincent Staunton Jr. Jan 2022

The Anatomy Of A Controlling Message And The Impact Of Reactance On Attitude Certainty, Thomas Vincent Staunton Jr.

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Psychological reactance theory (Brehm, 1966) has helped guide research on resistance to persuasion for over a half century. The theory holds that individuals value their freedom to make their own decisions, and when presented with a persuasive message, may perceive threat to their autonomy and react adversely to the message. Impersonal or mass disseminated messages, particularly those in pro-social or health related contexts, often must communicate in a manner that is direct and forceful to get a clear point across as efficiently as possible. Such messages can be characterized as high controlling (HC) and are generally constructed by using explicit …


Malcontents In The Middle: Uncertainty-Identity, Extreme Religious Groups And Leader Rhetoric, Jared K. Chapman Jan 2022

Malcontents In The Middle: Uncertainty-Identity, Extreme Religious Groups And Leader Rhetoric, Jared K. Chapman

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Because religious extremism can set people on a path of aggression and violence toward others, sometimes in the form of terrorism (Moghaddam, 2005), identifying factors that increase susceptibility to religious extremism is essential to ending terrorism. One possible factor that acts as a catalyst leading people to religious extremism is uncertainty (Hogg et al., 2010a). To test this possibility, Chapman (2012) conducted an exploratory study assessing the effects of religiosity (defined as group, ritual, extrinsic, or external religiosity), spirituality (defined as individual, spiritual, intrinsic, or internal religiosity), and uncertainty (low, high) on a number of proxies for religious extremism, finding …


Recognize And Accept Me: Consequences Of The Drive For Social Identity Validation, Eunice U. Choi Jan 2022

Recognize And Accept Me: Consequences Of The Drive For Social Identity Validation, Eunice U. Choi

CGU Theses & Dissertations

According to uncertainty-identity theory (Hogg, 2021a) one of the benefits of group identification is uncertainty-reduction. To reap this benefit fully, it is posited that people also are motivated to have their identities validated, especially if the identity is one that is important to a person’s sense of self. However, people receive various feedback about their identities, and feedback about one’s identity does not come solely from one’s ingroup. While past research has demonstrated that feedback and source of feedback are important factors in social identity validation processes (see Choi & Hogg, 2020b), the current research proposes that uncertainty also may …


“All Men Are Created Equal?”: Insights And Implications Of Intersectional Precarious Manhood, Cleopatre M. Thelus Jan 2022

“All Men Are Created Equal?”: Insights And Implications Of Intersectional Precarious Manhood, Cleopatre M. Thelus

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Manhood that is characterized in terms of dominant culture in the United States includes strength, power, status, affluence, and occupational success (Vandello et al., 2008). However, men who are not members of dominant culture, such as Black men in the United States, often are excluded from access to characteristics of masculinity framed by dominant culture due to potential negative consequences that can result when they perform behaviors that symbolize strength and power (Bush & Bush, 2018; Katz, 1995; Staples, 1982). Precarious Manhood Theory (PMT) is a social psychological theory that explores the social category of gender (men/manhood/masculinity) as relates to …


Reactions To Others With Depression: An Investigation Of Responsibility And Deservingness Judgments, Tara Parnitvithikul Jan 2022

Reactions To Others With Depression: An Investigation Of Responsibility And Deservingness Judgments, Tara Parnitvithikul

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Judgments of responsibility and deservingness are two cognitive appraisals that independently predict other-directed moral emotions and helping judgments. The current research integrated theories of responsibility and deservingness to investigate a novel approach for increasing support to individuals with depression. Study 1 used a correlational design to identify patterns of relationships among the variables of interest. Responsibility and deservingness were positively correlated, and both appraisals were positively associated with anger and negatively associated with sympathy and willingness to help. When responsibility and deservingness were considered as simultaneous antecedents of emotional responses in the same model; however, only responsibility predicted lower levels …


Social Support, Self-Esteem, And Levels Of Stress, Depression, And Anxiety During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Candace Ying Tsai Jan 2022

Social Support, Self-Esteem, And Levels Of Stress, Depression, And Anxiety During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Candace Ying Tsai

Scripps Senior Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in unprecedented disruptions to daily routines and social connections, which negatively impacted the mental health and well-being of many. Unsurprisingly, the most utilized coping strategy during the pandemic involved social support. However, those low in self-esteem seem to question others’ positive regard and continued acceptance, and overall perceive others’ behavior more negatively than those with high self-esteem (Murray, Holmes, et al., 1998). The proposed correlational study will examine the effects of social support and self-esteem on stress, anxiety, and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as investigate whether one’s self-esteem affects the influence that social …


Attitudes Toward Immigrants As A Function Of National Identity Distinctiveness Threat And Imagined Contact, Alicia S. Davis Jan 2022

Attitudes Toward Immigrants As A Function Of National Identity Distinctiveness Threat And Imagined Contact, Alicia S. Davis

CGU Theses & Dissertations

As immigration rises, frequent and positive intergroup interactions with immigrants are increasingly necessary to ensure smooth and harmonious societal and community functioning. However, immigrants are often perceived to threaten the host population’s distinctive national group identity, motivating negative reactions including dehumanization, ethnocentrism, and a shift toward extremism, reducing opportunities for positive intergroup interaction. Researchers have shown that intergroup contact has been effective in improving outgroup attitudes by reducing intergroup anxiety. However, with increasing polarization, more recent research has indicated that contact interventions may not be effective in all cases. Given research identifying social identity-based distinctiveness threat as a driver of …


Parent-Prompted Dysregulation: Do Parents Serve As Cues For Dysregulation In Some Children?, Daniel Lee Jan 2022

Parent-Prompted Dysregulation: Do Parents Serve As Cues For Dysregulation In Some Children?, Daniel Lee

Pitzer Senior Theses

Children occasionally encounter dysregulation when interacting with their parents in relatively neutral or positive scenarios. Given that the cause of dysregulation is usually relational, meaning it is often cued by someone who is seen to have power or control over the person, children could be particularly susceptible to dysregulation in the presence of their parents. However, when examining the existing literature, there appeared to be a lack of research and knowledge concerning this topic, with much of the literature focusing on the effect of child stressors on parental dysregulation. As a result, the term parent-prompted dysregulation was developed to refer …


Source Credibility And Persuasive Communication: Effects On Social Media Influencers, Influencer Marketing, And Consumer Attitude Change, Isabelle Jia Jan 2022

Source Credibility And Persuasive Communication: Effects On Social Media Influencers, Influencer Marketing, And Consumer Attitude Change, Isabelle Jia

CMC Senior Theses

Social psychology has long been researching how source credibility influences persuasive communication. With the world transitioning into a society interested in digital consumption, communication, and connection, this paper serves as a literature review of how different characteristics of source credibility can aid influencer credibility through various modes of social media messaging. The examination of three source credibility characteristics: 1) expertise, 2) trustworthiness, and 3) likability showcase how social media influencers can establish credibility with their consumers and build further connections with them. The results underline the importance of source credibility in influencing consumer attitude change and behavior over continued exposure …


The Internet-Extended Mind: The Psychological Ramifications And Philosophical Implications Of Cognitive Offloading, Gloria Choi Jan 2021

The Internet-Extended Mind: The Psychological Ramifications And Philosophical Implications Of Cognitive Offloading, Gloria Choi

Scripps Senior Theses

In this thesis, I explore the internet-extended mind through both philosophical and psychological lenses in order to investigate the questions “To what extent is the mind extended onto the internet and, more generally, outside our bodies?” and “How will an increasingly internet-extended brain change the ways in which humans communicate, remember, and behave?”. First, I introduce the idea of a mind that extends out into the world, instead of lying solely in the brain. Then, I outline existing research that introduces the challenges and implications of an internet-extended mind in an ever-changing internet landscape. Next, I discuss how the internet …


How To Increase Elaboration Levels: An Adapted Elaboration Likelihood Model, Alex Mcdonald Jan 2021

How To Increase Elaboration Levels: An Adapted Elaboration Likelihood Model, Alex Mcdonald

CMC Senior Theses

Persuasion is a topic that has been debated for centuries, yet scientific literature surrounding the topic has been almost non-existent until 50 years ago. A popular persuasion model thus far, the Elaboration Likelihood Model, provides a framework for studying persuasion but lacks ease of application. I suggest an improvement to the model by including self-referencing and interaction to clarify how to apply the research and provide a real-world application with this adapted model.


Seeing Through Woke-Washing: Effects Of Projected Diversity Values And Leader Racial Diversity On Equity In Workplace Outcomes, Adrienne M. Kafka Jan 2021

Seeing Through Woke-Washing: Effects Of Projected Diversity Values And Leader Racial Diversity On Equity In Workplace Outcomes, Adrienne M. Kafka

CMC Senior Theses

The presence of multicultural values, emphasizing the appreciation of distinct cultural identities in companies’ promotional materials, versus colorblind values, which minimize cultural distinctions, may affect Black/Hispanic/Latinx (BHL) vs White individuals’ cognitive ability employment selection test scores and likelihood of applying to an organization differently depending on the company’s demonstrated leader racial diversity (LRD). Participants (N = 419), recruited via Amazon MTurk, read a hypothetical job application call and mission statement with a specific diversity ideology emphasized (multiculturalism, colorblind, control, Black Lives Matter (BLM)) and viewed headshots of the company C-suite either with low LRD (mostly White) or high LRD before …


Information Prioritization: A Comparison Between Utility Maximizers And Probability Matchers, Yusuf Ismaeel Jan 2021

Information Prioritization: A Comparison Between Utility Maximizers And Probability Matchers, Yusuf Ismaeel

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis examines the differences between probability matchers and utility maximizers in their preferences for information sources in a lab environment. In this paper, we consider the best source of information to be the most connected one. We conducted several linear probability model type regressions along with logit regressions. Furthermore, we also attempted to control and fix any potential misclassifications in classifying the cognitive strategy by using instrumental variables. The results show that utility maximizers will almost always choose the most informed node. Probability matchers, on the other hand, do not exhibit such a behavior as the probability matching strategy …


Who Should Lead? Effective Influence As A Product Of Group Context And Group Purpose, Nicolas Barreto Jan 2020

Who Should Lead? Effective Influence As A Product Of Group Context And Group Purpose, Nicolas Barreto

CGU Theses & Dissertations

One of the most important features of any group is who is most influential, who leads. Expectation states theory (EST) and the social identity theory of leadership (SITL) both make predictions about which group member will have the most influence. EST argues that group members follow whomever they believe will lead the group to success. SITL states that the individual who best embodies the group’s defining attributes has the most influence. This dissertation proposed that influence and leadership in a group are dependent on group features, and it tested two such features: (a) a group’s social context and (b) a …


Making Us Look Bad Vs. Making Us Uncertain: Examining The Motivations Underlying Derogation Of Ingroup Deviants, Mark Jeffrey Rinella Jan 2020

Making Us Look Bad Vs. Making Us Uncertain: Examining The Motivations Underlying Derogation Of Ingroup Deviants, Mark Jeffrey Rinella

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Subjective group dynamics theory posits that groups favorably evaluate normative members and derogate deviant members to restore or maintain the subjective validity of their group’s norms. Research supports this explanation; however, the pattern of evaluations differs depending on how deviants are defined. Some research has defined deviants as group members who violate generic, socially valued prescriptions (generic norm deviants), while other research has defined deviants as members who diverge from specific group defining norms (oppositional norm deviants). This dissertation proposes that two different social identity motives—self-esteem and uncertainty reduction—underlie the derogation of these different types of group deviants. Specifically, it …


The Potential Benefits Of Japanese Mmorpgs For Japanese Learning Motivation, Shuting Xu Jan 2020

The Potential Benefits Of Japanese Mmorpgs For Japanese Learning Motivation, Shuting Xu

Scripps Senior Theses

Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has been found to have a negative impact on the motivation to learn foreign languages in many previous research studies. However, recent studies have found that massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) in particular provided an environment that positively impacted English as a second language (ESL) acquisition. However, there is a lack of study on the Japanese language and Japanese MMORPGs. Therefore, the current study aims to look at Japanese FLA and integrative motivation in a Japanese MMORPG learning environment as compared to a Japanese classroom learning environment with a sample of 132 English native speakers …


I’M Sexy And I Know It: The Impact Of Sexual Self-Esteem And Body Satisfaction On Disordered Eating Behavior, Marissa Parks Jan 2020

I’M Sexy And I Know It: The Impact Of Sexual Self-Esteem And Body Satisfaction On Disordered Eating Behavior, Marissa Parks

Scripps Senior Theses

Rates of dieting, disordered eating, and eating disorders are continuing to rise in the United States. Many factors influence decisions to engage in problematic eating, including body satisfaction and self-esteem. This paper outlines two studies that examined these relationships and proposed an intervention to reduce disordered eating. In the first study participants were primed to think about a time when they had negative thoughts about their intelligence, their body, or their sexual self-esteem and then measured body image avoidance, self-esteem, sexual self-esteem, disordered eating behaviors, well-being, and depressive symptoms. Consistent with previous research, it was found that having participants recall …