Psychology Commons^™

Trends. If You're So Right, Why Are We Sure You're So Wrong? Iraq, Free Riders, And Social Loafing, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses and evaluates public discourse surrounding the acceptability of militarily invading Iraq through a social psychological perspective. In social psychology, the research tradition for constructs such as free-riding and social loafing suggests that, wittingly or unwittingly, many political actors assume that the United States will act to address actual political threats in a certain way, and that they (the other political actors) can adopt contrarian ideological stances because they don’t have to address those same threats.

Training And Performance Self-Efficacy, Affect, And Performance In Wheelchair Road Racers, Jeffrey J. Martin

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

In the current study, social cognitive theory was examined with athletes with disabilities. More specifically, hierarchical and self-regulatory performance self-efficacy, self-regulatory training self-efficacy, outcome confidence, and affect were examined with wheelchair road racers (N = 51). In accordance with social cognitive theory, moderate to strong significant relationships among 3 types of self-efficacy and outcome confidence were found (rs = .41 - .78). All forms of self-efficacy and positive affect (rs = .39 - .56) were also related providing additional support to social cognitive theory and the important relationships among training and performance related efficacy and affect in …

Friendship Quality In Youth Disability Sport: Perceptions Of A Best Friend, Jeffrey J. Martin, Kerry Smith

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine friendship quality with a best friend in youth disability sport with an international sample of moderately experienced athletes with disabilities ages 9 to 18 years. Participants were 85 males and 65 females from four countries who competed in track and field and swimming. Data were collected with the Sport Friendship Quality Scale (Weiss & Smith, 1999). An exploratory factor analyses indicated that participants viewed their friendship quality with a best friend in disability sport as having both positive and negative dimensions. The latter focused exclusively on conflict experiences. Females reported stronger …

Recruitment Of Engaged Couples For Premarital Counseling: An Empirical Examination Of The Importance Of Program Characteristics And Topics To Potential Participants, Kieran T. Sullivan, Carmen Anderson

Psychology

The recent emphasis on prevention in helping couples to avoid marital distress may be limited by lack of participation in prevention programs by engaged couples. The purpose of this study is to understand what potential participants perceive are attractive characteristics in premarital prevention approaches. Eighty-six engaged couples completed questionnaires assessing demographics, personality and the relative importance of premarital program characteristics. The results indicate that leader characteristics, content, and topics such as communication, finances, and problem-solving are the most important elements of premarital counseling to couples. Differences based on gender and risk level are reported. Suggestions are made for more effective …

An Empirical Analysis Of The Effect Of The Need For Closure On Materiality Thresholds Of Auditors, Cynthia M. Daily

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify the strengths of a specific motivator for judgment and decision-making, referred to as “need for closure” and determine how the strength of that motivator affects materiality judgments of auditors.

The extent to which auditors seek and process information prior to forming a judgment can have important consequences in the conduct of an audit. In this regard, psychology researchers have identified a personality characteristic—a motive for judgment and decision making—that influences the decision making process. This motive, referred to as the need for closure, pertains to the desire of individuals to clear …

Trends. Self-Esteem And Terrorism, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses the role self-esteem plays in terrorist behavior. Analysis includes the application of Jennifer Crocker and Connie T. Wolfe’s views as presented in their 2001 Psychological Review article “Contingencies of self-worth” (Vol 108 (3), pp. 593-623).

Vestiges Of Communism And Personnel Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article illustrates several interpretive difficulties in employing personnel security criteria in the context of national security.

Threat And Threatening Language: Public Discourse On Iraq, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article explores the relationship of language, the construction of threat, and the constructor’s response to that which is constructed.

Trends. A Room With A Cue: Validating An Age-Old Intelligence Tool?, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the psychological implications of the choices regarding physical features of a given individual’s environment (e.g., a person’s office).

Individualism/Collectivism, Psychological Processes, And Styles Of Conflict Resolution, Gangaw Zaw

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Conflict resolution styles in relation to Individualist (IND) and Collectivist (COL) value orientations were examined in the present study. Past research (Ting-Toomey et al., 1991, Pearson et al., 1998) has focused on cultural groups in order to explain conflict resolution styles. The current study analyzed conflict resolution styles (using the ROCIII) in relation to antecedent variables of culture, measured by the Collectivism and Individualism scale (Thandis et. al. 1993) as well as attribution processes and related emotions. Psychological factors such as causal attributions (the belief to which other's actions are attributed) and interpersonal emotions such as anger and empathic feelings …

The Necessities And Luxuries Of Mate Preferences: Testing The Tradeoffs, Norman P. Li, J. Michael Bailey, Douglas T. Kenrick, Joan A. W. Linsenmeier

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Social exchange and evolutionary models of mate selection incorporate economic assumptions but have not considered a key distinction between necessities and luxuries. This distinction can clarify an apparent paradox: Status and attractiveness, though emphasized by many researchers, are not typically rated highly by research participants. Three studies supported the hypothesis that women and men first ensure sufficient levels of necessities in potential mates before considering many other characteristics rated as more important in prior surveys. In Studies 1 and 2, participants designed ideal long-term mates, purchasing various characteristics with 3 different budgets. Study 3 used a mate-screening paradigm and showed …

Trends. Fetishism, Secrecy, And Security, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the Federation of American Scientists’ Secrecy News and how it characterized the Bush Administration’s stance towards the President’s Daily Brief as “fetishism.”

The Nature And Nurture Of Economic Outcomes, Bruce Sacerdote

Dartmouth Scholarship

The relative importance of biology and envi- ronment is one of the oldest and most prominent areas of scientific inquiry and has been exam- ined by researchers as diverse as David Hume (1748), Charles Darwin (1859), and Sigmund Freud (1930). Social scientists are particularly interested in the degree to which family and neighborhood environmental factors influence a child’s educational attainment and earnings. The stakes in this debate are quite high and far-reaching. As Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray (1994) point out, the effectiveness of anti- poverty and pro-education policies is largely de- pendent on the degree to which environment matters. …

Magical Thinking But No Magic: Implications For Sacred Terrorism, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes lay and scientific psychological constructs of magic with implications for terrorism perpetrated through religious motivation.

Trends. Zero-Sum Games And Terrorism: Israeli And Palestinian Contestants, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The construct of the zero-sum game has several denotations in the political psychological literature on conflict.

Selected Factors That Influenced A State's Collapse: A Historical Analysis Of The Case Of Sierra Leone, I. Betty Williams Conteh

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Throughout the 1990s the United Nations Human Development Index, an annual report that measures human development, depicted Sierra Leone as one of, if not the poorest nation on the planet. In 2001, the same report depicted 162 countries in terms of human development and Sierra Leone ranked 162. This Sub-Saharan nation experienced a total collapse of its state and society beginning in 1990. The United Nations and the rest of the international community are only now beginning to work towards putting Sierra Leone together again.

This study investigate factors that led to the collapse of Sierra Leone--factors such as …

Hurricane Preparedness: Improving Television Hurricane Watch And Warning Graphics, David N. Sattler, Amanda L. Marshall

Psychology Faculty and Staff Publications

This paper examines the effectiveness of hurricane watch and warning graphics currently used by television stations during a hurricane threat and new, enhanced graphics developed by the first author. The participants were 378 persons (91men, 287 women) in Charleston, South Carolina - an area that has had recent and repeated experience with hurricane threats. The hypothesis that participants viewing the enhanced graphics would have a better understanding of the time-frame associated with hurricane watch and warning advisories and of the actions to take, and would perceive the situation more seriously compared to those viewing the currently used graphics was supported. …

Eurcentrism And The Role Of The Human Sciences In The Dialogue Among Civilization, Syed Farid Alatas

farid alatas

In public discourse and formal education, human sciences need to facilitate the dialogue among civilizations to inculcate an attitude founded on appreciation, understanding, interest, and compassion for the cultures and worldviews of the other. All belief sys- tems are corruptible and can be perverted, and there are specific social and historical conditions that result in these perversions. Human sciences must go beyond merely correcting the fallacies and distortions of public discourse. They must attack the root of the problem, which is the problem of Eurocentrism in social science education that ulti- mately informs public discourse. The problem has to be …

Theorizing The Connections Among Systems Of Subordination, Nancy Levit

Nancy Levit

Theorizing the Connections Among Systems of Subordination introduces a symposium that addresses issues on the leading edge of identity theory, race theory, and critical social theory. It explains the concepts of anti-essentialism, intersectionality, multiple consciousness, multi-dimensionality, and post-intersectionality. It investigates the ways specific types of oppression - such as racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia - support and feed off of one another. It explores the dynamics of subordination that make different forms of subordination connected to each other - the mechanisms by which subordinating systems buttress each other. Where one sees sexism, one frequently can find racism; where classism exists, …

Athletes' Use Of Imagery In The Off-Season, Jennifer Cumming, Craig Hall

Jennifer Cumming

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of competitive level on an athletes’ use of imagery in the off-season, and to examine whether their use of imagery was related to their physical and technical preparation. Three hundred and twenty-four regional, provincial, and national level athletes were recruited to participate in this study from 10 different sports. Participants were asked to complete a modified version of the Sport Imagery Questionnaire (SIQ; Hall, Mack, Paivio, & Hausenblas, 1998) that was designed to reflect an athletes’ use of imagery in the off-season. MANOVAs indicated that competitive level differences existed in …

Positive And Negative Symptoms Of Schizotypy And The Five-Factor Model: A Domain And Facet Level Analysis, Scott R. Ross, Catherine J. Lutz, Steven E. Bailley

Psychology Faculty Publications

In this study, we investigated the Five-factor model in the concurrent prediction of positive symptomschizotypy as measured by the Magical Ideation (Eckblad & Chapman, 1983) and Perceptual Aberration (Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1978) scales and negative symptom schizotypy as measured by the Physical Anhedonia (Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1976) and Revised Social Anhedonia (Eckblad, Chapman, Chapman, & Mishlove, 1982; Mishlove & Chapman, 1985) scales. Previous studies suggest that these measures reflect the core symptoms found in schizotypal and schizoid personality disorder (Bailey, West, Widiger, & Freiman, 1993). Negative symptoms were significantly predicted by Neuroticism (+), Extraversion (-), Openness (-), and …

Road Rage: Where Is It Coming From?, Steven Leigh Pennington

Theses Digitization Project

This project will address the increasing problem of violence on our nations roadways. This form of violence, termed road rage, is also occurring worldwide.

Implicit Theories Of Personality And Cognitive, Affective, And Behavioral Responses To Interpersonal Transgressions, Matthew Charles Dohn

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Risk In Intimacy: Couple Communication And Relationship Satisfaction, Amy Beth Brunell

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Adult Adoptees And The Psychological Processes Involved In The Decision To Search For Origins, Anne Ranee Farrar

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Trading French And Postcolonial Feminisms, Zubeda Jalalzai

Faculty Publications

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, in articulating feminist and postcolonial politics, raises issues of importance for both first world and third world feminists as well as enacting some of the very dangers which accompany those tenuous relationships. Spivak's essays, "French Feminism in an International Frame" (1981) and "French Feminism Revisited: Ethics and Politics" (1992), provide a rich arena in which she presents powerful cautions regarding international solidarities and explores the complicated dynamics of ethical relationships on multiple levels, including that between mother and daughter, bourgeois postcolonial feminist and the woman of the "ground," as well as between metropolitan and postcolonial feminists.

'Skippers Of The Shore Crew': Women And A Fish Plant Closure (Labrador), Sheila M. Keefe

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The closure of the east coast cod fishery in 1992 resulted in the largest industry lay-off in the country, stripping 35,000 Newfoundlanders and Labradorians of their source of livelihood--l2,000 of whom were women, employed predominately in the processing sector. While the impacts upon Newfoundland women have been the subject of considerable research (e.g., CMHA, 1994), little to no information has been gathered about Labrador women displaced by the closure of fishery. This is a serious gap in the literature--one which the present study attempts to address. The present study examined how senior women fish plant workers in the Labrador Métis …

The Planning Fallacy And Group Predictions: Are Groups More Or Less Biased Than Individuals?, Deanna L. Messervey

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Research on the “planning fallacy" shows that people tend to make overly optimistic predictions about the time it will take to complete a task,despite knowing that similar tasks in the past have exceeded predicted completion times. Although the planning fallacy has been well documented in individuals, few researchers have examined how groups make predictions interactively. The main purposes of this thesis are to examine whether people make overly optimistic predictions for group projects and whether group discussion exacerbates this optimistic bias. In three studies, participants were asked to make predictions for an upcoming collaborative task alter engaging in group discussion …

The Impact Of Television Reports Of Prison Escapes On Anxiety : A Comparison Of Two Age Cohorts, Sofia Fisher

Theses : Honours

Television has been identified as being a major contributor to anxiety and fear of crime. The major aim of this study was to compare the level of state anxiety experienced individuals after viewing one of three versions of a television report related to prison escapes. The second aim was to determine if there were any differences in levels of anxiety between two age cohorts: middle-aged (35-45 years) and older-aged (65-75 years). A total of 120 participants were recruited using a snowball technique and randomly assigned to one of three groups using a lottery method. Participants completed demographic and attitudinal questionnaires, …

Peer Social Networks After The Transition To Secondary School : Adolescents' Perspectives, Angela E. Rowland

Theses : Honours

The transition from primary to secondary school has a considerable impact upon the social and academic lives of adolescents. An adolescent's sense of belonging (SoB) is important for determining school satisfaction and success during this transition. As SoB is partly developed through an individual's peer social network, this study explored the peer social networks for adolescents who have a SoB. Using the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale (Goodenow, 1993a), five females and three males with a high SoB completed sociological maps and participated in interviews in order to determine the structure and function of their peer social networks. …