Psychology Commons^™

Empathic Stories To Address Intergroup Discrimination Towards Undocumented Latinx Immigrants: Stories When We Cannot Live Experiences, Ricardo Mendoza Lepe

CGU Theses & Dissertations

A growing body of research in social psychology focuses on ameliorating intergroup discrimination. A substantial amount of this work originates from the contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954). However, many indirect contact studies utilize stories as interventions or cite other studies that use stories. The work in narrative psychology shows that stories provide consumers the opportunity to rehearse intergroup interactions (Oatley, 1999), induce empathy that allows for understanding and feeling the experiences of others (Van Laer et al., 2014), and provide mental experiences felt as if truly occurring (i.e., transportation; Green & Brock, 2000, 2002). Two focal questions of the current research …

Identity Invalidation Among Multiracial Individuals: Do The Identities Of The Source And Target Of Invalidation Matter?, Lauren Calogero

CMC Senior Theses

Previous research has indicated that racial identity invalidation has negative effects on multiracial individuals. Using a 2x2 mixed factorial design, this study investigates the effects of who does the invalidating (between subjects: Ingroup A vs. Unspecified Outgroup) and which of a multiracial individual’s strongest two racial identities is being invalidated (within subjects: Racial Identity A vs. Racial Identity B). Participants were 65 multiracial individuals recruited via social media to complete an online Qualtrics survey. Participants’ levels of psychological distress and identification with their strongest racial group were measured after they read each of two racial identity invalidation scenarios. We found …

The Influence Of The "Emotionally Disturbed" Classroom Label On General Education Teachers' Sense Of Efficacy, Giovanna Perricone

Scripps Senior Theses

Students identified as “emotionally disturbed” face resistance to inclusion in classrooms with typically-developing peers on the part of the general education teachers. This study aims to address whether the classroom label of “emotionally disturbed” affects teacher efficacy and whether this relationship is moderated by the amount of applied inclusion training a teacher has received. General education teachers will read identical case studies of a student who either spends some of his school day in an “Emotionally Disturbed Class” or a “Self-Regulation Skills Class.” They will complete a measure of student-specific teacher efficacy and then report how many hours of inclusion …

The Ethical And Emotional Benefits Of Reducing Self-Focus Through Mindfulness, Emma Loftus

Scripps Senior Theses

This proposed study was inspired by the concept in Aristotle’s virtue ethics theory that a good life is necessarily an ethical one. The following work intends to expand previous literature on this topic by exploring an accessible potential method through which ethicality (and thus, well-being) can be increased, and also a possible explanation of how this process might occur. Past research has indicated that mindfulness training can increase both prosociality and well-being, and additionally that higher ethicality is connected to higher well-being. Reduced self-focus has been found to mediate these relationships. The proposed 30 day study makes use of a …

Finding Balance Between The Needs For Conformity And Individuality: An Exploration Of Identity, C.C. Schwab

CMC Senior Theses

Just as society has changed a lot within the past 100 years, the concept of identity has also evolved significantly. A big factor in the evolution of identity has been the realization that social and group phenomena influence all conceptualizations of identity. In this review, I explore identity through the lens of Optimal Distinctiveness theory (ODT), which proposes that humans have two opposing social motives (distinctiveness and inclusiveness) that position them amidst an internal battle over identity.

I start by defining identity and the self, including the distinction between the two. Next, I explore identity formation and different types of …

Why Empirical Studies Of The Groupthink Model Have Failed, Nolan Rajakumar

CMC Senior Theses

The theory of groupthink has been highly beneficial in the study of how groups make decisions. It has permeated almost every field containing decision making groups. Despite its popularity, there has been a surprising lack of empirical support for the model. It is the aim of this paper to suggest a possible explanation for the current state of groupthink research. First the groupthink model is described briefly, followed by a look at several selected empirical and case studies of groupthink. A potential reason for the dearth of empirical is then proposed along with a suggestion for future groupthink research.

Examining The Influence Of Source-Message Incongruence On Source Trustworthiness And Attitudes Regarding Hazardous Waste Cleanup Decisions, Lori Garner Manes

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Research has shown that when a source proffers a message that is incongruent with its expected position on a topic, it can have an effect on the perceived trustworthiness of the communicator, the persuasiveness of the message, and the extent to which the receiver elaborates the message. However, research in this area has not been consistent. Questions remain as to whether sourcemessage incongruence enhances source trustworthiness, attitude change, or both, relative to source-message congruence. Focusing on an environmental risk management context involving the cleanup of a hazardous waste site, this research investigated how source-message incongruence influenced perceptions of source trustworthiness, …

An Extension Of The Savoring Approach To Increasing Help-Seeking For Depression: Reducing Self-Focus Through A Writing Task And Savoring Psa, Tasha Straszewski

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Past depression mass media campaigns have been utilized to increase mental health literacy, decrease stigma, or a combination of the two. However, among these campaigns, some have not been effective, and some have resulted in iatrogenic effects (see Gulliver, Griffiths, & Christensen, 2010, for examples of both). In hopes of improving the effectiveness of depression campaigns, laboratory studies have utilized persuasion approaches to increase help-seeking among individuals with heightened depressive symptomatology. More recently, Siegel and Thomson (2016) turned to the utility of infusing individuals with positive emotion to increase help-seeking intentions (i.e., positive emotion infusions; PEIs) and found initial success …

Depersonalization And Projection In Groups: Two Paths To Uncertainty Reduction, Jiin Jung

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation develops and tests a new integrative model, the depersonalization-projection model, which proposes that uncertainty reduction is a key motivation underlying depersonalization and projection processes in groups. The proposed model describes the conditions under which people in group contexts define themselves in terms of group attributes (depersonalization) and/or define the group in terms of attributes of themselves (projection). The locus of uncertainty (about the group, about self, about self-prototypicality/self-group fit) determines the directional flow of definitional information, as well as (a) effectiveness of uncertainty reduction, (b) strength of inference, (c) strength of identification, (d) information processing time, and (e) …

Sustained Social Movement Participation: Integration Of Social Identity And Attribution Theories, Deryn Maia Dudley

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Social movements can be an effective strategy through which to influence social change. However, setbacks and failures are often a part of the social movement process. Why then, in the face of failure do social movements persist? This pair of studies tested a proposed framework that drew from social identity and attribution literature in exploring the joint effects of group identification and attribution making in predicting social movement persistence. Study 1 was an experimental design conducted with a sample of 198 students that tested the first half of the framework to assess strength of identification as a moderator on the …