Psychology Commons^™

Sleep Attitudes As An Indirect Predictor Of Risk For Metabolic Syndrome In First Year College Students, Sophie Hirsch, Hannah Peach, Trudy L. Moore-Harrison, Philip Zendels, Aria Ruggiero, Jane F. Gaultney

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Background: Habit formation can be a challenge for first-year students. Research has suggested that regardless of sleep knowledge, favorable sleep attitudes predict better sleep.

Aim: Our aim was to investigate whether sleep attitudes directly or indirectly predicted risk for metabolic syndrome via sleep.

Method: Students completed self-report and physiological measures. Participants wore wristwatches to collect sleep data. Path analyses investigated the direct or indirect effect of sleep attitude on risk for metabolic syndrome via subjective sleep (sleep quality, duration, risk for apnea) and objective sleep (sleep efficiency, duration, subjective risk for apnea).

Results: In our subjective analysis that sleep attitudes …

Houseplants As Mental Health Supports For Dorm Occupants During The Lockdown Period At Portland State University, Brittani Wallsten

Anthós

In this study, students who lived in dorms around the lockdown period of Portland State University, March 2020—September 2021, were interviewed about their experience and how their houseplants affected their mental health. This was done via in-person interviews and an online focus group. Houseplants were found to support students’ mental health by encouraging a regular routine, providing opportunities for responsibility, adding aesthetic value, and serving as a general indicator of mental health. All of the participants recommended houseplants as a mental health support to their fellow students.

Promoting Educational Equity: Embedding Transformative Social And Emotional Learning In Experiential Learning, Christine P. Li-Grining, Amanda Roy, Marbella Uriostegui, Maria Radulescu, Zahra Naqi, Amanda Boyer

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

Although college enrollment rates among Black and Latinx students have risen, inequities in graduation rates across racial and ethnic groups persist. Guided by the integration of strength-based frameworks, the proposed manuscript will discuss how experiential learning and teaching may serve a dual purpose: helping students enact social change while simultaneously reaching their education goals. The proposed manuscript will integrate the culturally engaging campus environments model with the transformative social-emotional learning (T-SEL) framework. Also, drawing from the existing literature, the proposed manuscript will describe a range of experiential learning activities and how they may involve T-SEL. We then conclude with implications …

Gender Differences In Community College Psychology Students’ Cooperative Learning Experiences: A Qualitative Analysis, Christopher Arra

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The goal of the study was to assess the effects of gender on college students’ perceptions of the cooperative learning process. Ninety-five college students completed 5 open-ended questions that asked students about their preferences for cooperative learning activities. Fifty-one female and 44 male students participated in the study. A qualitative research design was used. Qualitative analyses compared–across gender–the 5 open-ended questions. The principal investigator qualitatively analyzed for themes, frequency of response, percentage of response, and emergent categories across gender. Some tentative qualitative findings were that male and female students prefer the same type of group work, …

Severity Of Coercive Sexual Harassment In Professor–Student Interaction And Peer Bystander Responses, Donna M. L. Heretick, Inna Learn

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The risk for female students in academia of sexual harassment by male faculty and staff remains a national crisis. This study examined effects of severity of coercive sexual harassment (CSH) by a male professor of a female student on peer bystander intervention responses. A total of 180 undergraduate and graduate college students who volunteered for an online survey were randomly assigned to one of three vignette conditions that varied severity of CSH. Following Bowes-Sperry’s ethical model of bystander behaviors, it was predicted that severity of CSH would affect cognitive appraisals and emotional reactions, which would further predict intentions for intervention …

Forever In Debt: The Effects Of Debt-Funded Education On Racial Disparities, Talon J. Barlow

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

No abstract provided.

Exploring Cognitive Dissonance Between College Students' Religious And Spiritual Beliefs And Their Higher Education, Shawn Gaulden

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

With perceptions of conflict between religion and science often appearing in popular discussions and academic writings, cognitive dissonance may result if college students find their epistemological beliefs challenged during their undergraduate education. The purpose of this study is to explore whether students experience cognitive dissonance between their religious and spiritual identity and their college education and experiences, as well as whether certain factors in college life lead to cognitive dissonance. College students (N = 272) from the Central Florida area were surveyed with measures exploring the dimensions of college life that affect the likelihood of students experiencing tension between their …

To Test Or Not To Test: Barriers And Solutions To Testing African American College Students For Hiv At A Historically Black College/University, Naomi M. Hall-Byers, Jennifer Peterson, Malynnda Johnson

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Young African Americans are disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. The purpose was to identify reasons that African American college students at a historically Black college/university (HBCU) identified as barriers to HIV testing, and how these barriers can be removed. Fifty-seven heterosexual-identified undergraduate students (ages 18-25) attending an HBCU in the southeastern US participated in the study. Latent content analytic techniques were used to code the transcripts for themes and categories, and representative quotations were used in the findings. Qualitative data indicates three main themes used to avoid testing and three themes to encourage testing. Students were forthcoming …

From College Student To Change Agent: A Triadic Model Of Self-Efficacy, Attribution, And Appraisal, Joshua M. Garrin

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

Beyond their newfound emancipation and opportunities for self-discovery, college students in the young adult stage of development are expected to achieve balance between their autonomous new world and the impending pressures of postgraduation life. The college student must not only reconcile issues related to identity formation, goal pursuits, and career exploration, but is expected to begin the process of identifying and developing the skills required to address salient social themes. How students establish competency beliefs, negotiate controllability over future outcomes, and appraise challenges have deep implications in their capacity to discover their social change “voice.” The following discussion proposes a …

I Changed My Mind, Jodi Curtis, Adam Saito

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

Some might say that college is a time for people to find out what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Students select fields based on their interest, to study and further turn into a career. Some students become unsatisfied with their choice, or even find interest in another field. This leads to students making the decision to change their major and pursue another major. In this paper, it is hypothesized that due to exposure to different, required, general education classes of different fields, students change their majors. Data was collected from students enrolled in capstone classes, …

Effects Of Anti- And Pro-Smoking Campaigns On The Prevalence Of Smoking In College Students, Jennifer Campbell, Pamela Newcombe, Angela Radford

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

This study sought to show relationships between anti- and pro-smoking advertisement campaigns and the prevalence of smoking among college students. A total of 102 undergraduate students from Lindenwood University participated in the survey, which contained questions regarding family, friends, personal non-smoking and smoking habits, and the number and type of anti- and pro-smoking ads viewed. The researchers obtained informed consent, distributed the survey, and debriefed each participant after completion of the survey. The statistical analysis of the data did not show any relationships between exposure to ads and the prevalence of smoking. However, exposure to pro-smoking advertisements did affect brand …

The Stroop Task: Gender Differences Between College Students, Josephine Mwangi

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

There were six male and six female students from Lindenwood University that participated and they were recruited through the human subject pool office. The hypothesis tested was that females are faster at completing the Stroop test than the males. The students were presented with a color key that had the numbers that matched the colors they were required to correspond with onto the computer monitor. There was a practice session at the beginning and then condition one that contained four color-words, red, blue, green and yellow that were printed in any one of the other colors stated above, totaling to …