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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Equality In Times Of Uncertainty: Economic Downturn And Body Image Messaging Toward Women, Ritsa Giannakas Apr 2024

Equality In Times Of Uncertainty: Economic Downturn And Body Image Messaging Toward Women, Ritsa Giannakas

Honors Theses

A vast body of literature indicates that the economy and the status of women are interlinked, with higher levels of economic well-being tending to correspond with advancements in women’s rights. However, little of this research has investigated the changes in the wellbeing of women as it pertains to their physical and mental health, especially as it pertains to exploring the impacts of economics on eating disorder rates and societal messaging toward women. This thesis investigates a novel theory linking economic uncertainty and downturn to the spread of pro-eating disorder content online, positing that economic uncertainty may coincide with a “conservative …


Strength In A Pinch: Sex Differences In Detection Of And Responses To Threats, Lorena Mesquita Ragonesi Jan 2024

Strength In A Pinch: Sex Differences In Detection Of And Responses To Threats, Lorena Mesquita Ragonesi

Honors Theses

Handgrip strength is a sexually dimorphic marker of muscle activation and force production. Males consistently demonstrate greater baseline maximal handgrip strength than females. Various factors can influence an individual’s handgrip strength; interestingly, threat detection can increase handgrip strength. Recently, Kawakami et al. (2018) reported that mortality salience increases handgrip strength in men, but not in women. To explain this finding, they argued that physical strength is a more salient goal for men than women, whereas women should strive for beauty as a strategy to avoid harm. While they did find this interesting sex difference in their study, we had concerns …