Psychology Commons^™

Authenticity, Support, And Identity Management In The Workplace For Transgender Employees, Raeven Jones

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Prior research has established the importance of understanding topics such as identity management and authenticity in the workplace for the lesbian, gay, and bisexual communities. However, minimal research has been conducted on the unique experiences of transgender employees. Studying identity management for transgender employees can help researchers understand concealment and disclosure behaviors, which can impact employee work experiences. Efforts can be made to promote authenticity through a supportive environment inside the workplace and by encouraging inclusivity at work. Through interviews with 10 participants, this study identified precursors to authenticity for transgender employees, explored the support factors that influence the work …

The Impact Of Transformational Leadership And Workplace Relationships On Employee Burnout And Their Correlation To Turnover Intention And Organizational Commitment, Teni Davoudian

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Organizations are built through the contributions of their employees, which is why when employees leave, organizations suffer a significant loss. This can be foreseen by an employee’s level of organizational commitment and burnout which contribute to turnover intention. Measures can be taken to reduce burnout through nurturing leadership and the development of healthy workplace relationships. The purpose of this study is to examine the respective relationship between transformational leadership and workplace relationships on turnover intention and organizational commitment with interest in the mediating role of employee burnout. Leadership has a strong influence on individuals and organizations. It largely contributes to …

An Evaluation Of Therapeutically Applied Role-Playing Games For Psychological And Social Functioning Amongst Youth/Young Adults, Adam Thomas Soleski

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) are “a collaborative narrative game where group members role-play a character that they create in order to solve puzzles, uncover treasure, and defeat monsters in a fictional environment that is created together using formal rules and participation structures'’ (Davis & Kilmer, 2020). TTRPGs have begun to increase in popularity and evoke new interest in exploring whether these new treatment modalities result in positive mental health outcomes. Specifically, therapeutically applied role-playing games (TARPGs) are TTRPGs that integrate therapeutic mechanisms in order to promote improved psychological and social functioning. The goal of the present study was to examine …

How Does Having A Pet During The Coronavirus-19 Pandemic Among University Students Affect Anxiety And Depression, Sugey Gonzalez-Escobedo, Jessica Morales Sanchez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study examined whether having a pet among university and college students is associated with anxiety and depression during the Coronavirus-19 pandemic. A modified survey of a non-probability sample was conducted during a 5-month period during the Coronavirus-19 pandemic. A total of 115 students voluntarily participated and completed the survey. In the midst of the pandemic, students were forced to isolate themselves in their homes. This isolation may have caused anxiety and depression in students. However, a furry companion could have alleviated any anxiety/depression symptoms they may have endured during this time. This research contributes to the literature in regard …

The Role Of Organizational Support In The Relationship Between Safety Climate And Organizational Outcomes, Lee Chambers

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Organizations employing individuals in high-risk or safety-sensitive occupations (e.g., construction workers, commercial drivers, pilots, and oil rig workers) face the challenge of ensuring their employees’ safety and well-being amidst various hazards and dangerous situations. To address this, cultivating a positive safety climate has been identified as a crucial factor in reducing workplace accidents or injuries. However, despite its importance, the link between safety climate and non-safety outcomes remains underexplored in the literature. In response, this study proposed a model based on social exchange theory, which highlights the crucial role of organizational support in explaining the relationship between safety climate and …

Overtime Worked And Its Effect On Burnout, Illness, And Health Outcomes, Haoqiu Zhang

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Professional employees at work deal with stressors such as extensive workload and coursework, prolonged work and class schedules, overtime, and performance concerns from their supervisors and managers. The length of time working, the pressure one has in one's work life, and the amount of overtime can be a predictor of burnout (Brown & Pranger, 1992), and employees being burnt out can result in numerous issues in people’s health. Working overtime, as a stressor, is very common in the workplace and has continuously increased among employees (Hetrick, 2000). The primary purpose of this study was to explore the effect of overtime …

Employee Perceptions Of Stressors At Work: An Attachment Perspective, Emma Josephine Naudet

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The current study applied an attachment perspective to elucidate how individuals appraise stressors at work. Attachment theory proposes that individuals’ interactions with a caregiver shape their expectations and beliefs about the world, themselves, and others and predict how individuals behave. Attachment at work is a budding research topic because it informs the social aspect of work relationships, such as the leader-subordinate dyad. However, few studies have explored the potential of attachment security as a job resource. Our findings demonstrated strong support for our predictions about the relationship between transformational leadership, employee perceptions of demands and resources, and the potential explanatory …

Alternative Approaches To Police Interventions When Responding To Mental Health Crises Incidents, Karen Rivera Apolinar

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Purpose: This study explored mental health workers perspectives on alternative approaches in responding to mental health crises.

The study was carried out in Southern California, in collaboration with mental health workers who currently work or previously have worked in mental health crisis. It adopted a post-positivists paradigm and data was gathered through individual interviews with mental health workers who have direct experience with mental health crisis response in the community and with the police. The twenty participants in the study were men and women working in the mental health field, and of various backgrounds, licensures, and ages.

The study found …

You Call Us Treatment Resistant: The Effects Of Biases On Women With Borderline Personality Disorder, Cassidy Acosta

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study explored how negative attitudes toward and discriminatory practices against women with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) affect them and impact their treatment. The study adopted a constructivist paradigm, and data was collected via virtual interviews with research partners (i.e., women with BPD) who use online mental health forums. A final construction was established after the data was interpreted. Ultimately, it was determined that women with BPD face stigma and are described as treatment resistant; however, by providing a supportive treatment environment, women with this diagnosis see positive outcomes. The results of the study are intended to support women with …

The Impact Of Social Media Use On Social Isolation And Mental Health Among Young Adults, Mariana Romo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Social media use has become part of the everyday routines of society. It is very common to see people, especially young adults, be involved in more than one social media platform. It is also known that because of the features of social media less in-person interactions are required, which brings up the question of whether people feel more lonely or socially isolated with the increased use of social media platforms. Due to this increasing attachment to the use of social media and its possible relationship with social isolation and loneliness it is important to understand if there are any implications …

Impacts Of Poverty On Language Development How Low Socio-Economic Status Students Are At An Academic Disadvantage, Farbod Samari

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Socioeconomic status impacts a variety of mental health outcomes, including language development. Delays in language development have consistently been linked to poverty. Decreases in vocabulary and phonological awareness are among developmental delays in school-aged children living in poverty. This research aims to contribute to the field of human services by examining the negative impacts of poverty on language development from a social worker’s perspective. As social workers thrive to serve disadvantaged populations, this research brings awareness to how language development deficiencies occur in school-aged children living in poverty.

To fulfill the purpose of this study, a quantitative, descriptive/explanatory design …

To Prevent Or To Deceive: The Effects Of Organizational Justice On Malingering And Workplace Injury Via Psychological Contract Breach And Safety Climate, Abraham Rico

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

We examined organizational factors (e.g., leadership styles, operating with a bottom-line mentality, and management based on inclusion) and their relationship with workplace injuries and malingering in this thesis. One of the goals for this study was to examine the extent to which these organizational factors influence justice perceptions, which in turn affected the outcomes of interest. It was hypothesized that the relationship between the organizational factors and malingering/injuries occurred through the formation of psychological contract breach or through the development of a safety climate. It was hypothesized that the pathways from Transformational Leadership and management based on inclusion will result …

The Effect Of Numeracy And Math Anxiety On Whole Number Bias, Jasmine Jessica Leanna Bonsel

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Whole number bias (WNB) has been defined as the tendency to apply natural number knowledge to rational numbers. This misapplication can often lead to erroneous responses in mathematical tasks and understanding of rational number properties. Whole number bias can be explored using Dual Processing Theories. According to Dual Processing Theory we have two types of thinking: Type I and Type II. Type I is fast, heuristic based, intuitive, and doesn’t require working memory, while Type II is slow, logic based, analytical, and requires working memory. Some researchers argue that WNB is an intuitive phenomenon and occurs from a failure to …

The Influence Of Motivation, Role Identity, And Perceived Meaningfulness Of Work On The Relationship Between Volunteer Satisfaction And Volunteer Contribution, Tonia Christine Caraveo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Volunteering, the act of donating time and effort to contribute to society is a unique form of helping that includes deliberate non-obligated services given one time or long-term. Utilizing an integrated approach incorporating the functionalist perspective and role identity theory as framework, the present study re-examined factors that influence volunteer contribution. The sample consisted of 161 participants who have donated time volunteering. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the model. Results of the structural equation model indicated the hypothesized model was not a good fit. As such, no significance was found among the expected relationships between volunteer satisfaction, …

The Influence Of Work-Life Balance Directionality On Retirement Decisions, Joshua Craig

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The retirement landscape is ever shifting and has become a dual-decision process more so now than ever before. Employees consider retirement through a family lens and particularly so when there is conflict between life and work domains. Researchers have suggested that work-life directionality does influence work-related decisions (Wiktorowicz, 2018). The impact of work-life directionality, however, on retirement choices has not been substantially examined. Further, socioeconomic status (SES) has been found to influence retirement decisions to some degree (Dushi et al., 2017). Therefore, in the present study, data from a total of 17,146 participants were used from the 2018 wave of …

Social Comparison And Shifting In Quantitative Performance, Ashlee Pardo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Research has produced conflicting results in terms of whether positive stereotypes enhance or impair the performance of individuals who have both positively- and negatively-stereotyped identities. Shih, Pittinsky, and Ambady (1999) found that relative to a no identity control group, Asian women performed better on a mathematics test when their positively-stereotyped identity was salient (i.e., ethnicity) but worse when their negatively-stereotyped identity was salient (i.e., gender). In contrast, Cheryan and Bodenhausen (2000) found that both positive and negative identity salience in Asian women led to reduced performance relative to a no identity control group. In the current study, I aimed to …

The Relationship Between Covid-19 Stress, Psychological Inflexibility, And Psycholoical Well-Being, Alyx Duckering

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the literature on the mental and physical health consequences of COVID-19 has expanded exponentially. Much of the published research has focused on the physical health and economic consequences of COVID-19. Research on the mental health effects of COVID-19 has primarily addressed the increase in anxiety and depression and related avoidance/safety behaviors surrounding COVID-19 (Taylor et al., 2020). Although there is an emerging literature on the COVID-19 mental health consequences, there is a paucity of research examining the processes of how people respond to COVID-19 stress and psychological well-being. Specifically, data examining potential psychological …

Predictors Of Depression In Different Subgroups Of Parkinson's Disease: A Neuroimaging Study, Yenny Gabriela Valenzuela

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most debilitating neurodegenerative diseases in the world. PD is typically characterized by its motor symptoms which commonly include tremors, rigidity, postural instability, and repetitive or involuntary muscle movements. Some of the most common non-motor symptoms include cognitive impairment, personality changes, depression, and anxiety. Depression has shown to be a prominent symptom in individuals with PD which affects them at any point during disease progression. However, it has been suggested that depression is more common among individuals with early-onset PD compared to individuals with later onsets. Our first aim investigated depression rates among individuals …

The Role Of Trauma Coping Self-Efficacy And Shame In The Relationship Between Variants Of Self-Blame And Psychological Outcomes, Melody Robinson

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Exposure to sexual violence is associated with deleterious mental health consequences (Campbell et al., 2009). Survivors’ perceptions of self-blame can exacerbate these difficulties (Miller at al., 2007). Characterological self-blame has been associated with negative outcomes (e.g., PTSD, depression, & anxiety; Hassija & Gray, 2013; Janoff-Bulman, 1979). On the other hand, behavioral self-blame may be more adaptive, especially when the victim believes they have control over their future behavior (Hassija & Gray, 2013). However, the underlying mechanisms that account for both variants of self-blame’s impacts warrant further investigation. We predicted that posttraumatic shame, conceptualized as negative attributions and criticisms towards the …

Observing Gender Role Salience And Gender Role Flexibility As Potential Buffers Between Levels Of Household Responsibilities And Experiences With Work-Family Conflict And Role Overload, Roberta Alexis Salgado

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Despite the known link between the level of household responsibilities and negative experiences/outcomes (e.g. work-family conflict, role overload), few studies have observed how gender-role beliefs may impact these relationships. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between level of household responsibilities and experiences with work-family conflict and role overload. Further, we considered potential buffers of these relationships by examining the moderating effects of gender role flexibility and gender role saliency. Data for the study were collected from a sample of employed parents, 18 years old or older, residing in the United States, who were currently married or …

The Impact Of Implicit Bias On The Overdiagnosis Of Schizophrenia, Ace Ogbebor

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

According to the American Psychiatric Association (2017), Black Americans are more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia and less likely to be diagnosed with a mood disorder in compassion to their White counterparts presenting with the same symptoms. To address mechanisms of implicit bias and the implications for mental health practice, it is imperative to investigate the diagnostic process of students who will enter the field of mental health.

According to the Council on Social Work Education, 80% of MSW graduates work in positions providing micro-level direct service to individuals, families, and groups (CSWE, 2019). Moreover, 80% of MSW graduates …

The Cuban Missile Crisis: Civilian Response And Expectations, Celeste Nunez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

On October 14, 1962, an American U-2 spy plane flying over the island of Cuba discovered Soviet missiles being constructed. This discovery led President John F. Kennedy, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, and Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro into a thirteen-day negotiation period to remove the nuclear missiles from Cuba. During this time, the world was the closest it had ever been to nuclear destruction, causing stress and anxiety to many worldwide, especially the American populace, who believed they were invincible in a home front attack. Throughout this thesis, I aim to examine the Cuban Missile Crisis and nuclear fallout through the …

A Study Of Social Engineering Concepts Within A Deceptive Defense, Jacob Glenn Oedekerk

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Organizations fall victim to costly attacks every year. This has created a need for more successful layers of defense. To aid in this need for additional defense, this study researches a way to bolster an underused defense style called deceptive defense. Researchers agree that deceptive defense could be the future of cybersecurity, and they call for more research in the deceptive category. The unresolved question from these researchers is what attack style could be used with a deception-based defense against an attacker. From this unresolved question, it was also determined that social engineering should be used in this culminating experience …

Inter-Agency Collaborations Among Mental Health And Law Enforcement Professionals In San Bernardino County During Covid-19: A Qualitative Study, Sonya Mcisaac

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

As first responders, law enforcement officers and mental health professionals are constantly sought after regarding the delivery of critical services to people in need. However, the COVID-19 pandemic brought almost everything to a halt. It is therefore important to understand how social services were delivered during the crisis. It has been assumed in the literature that interprofessional collaboration is an important service delivery framework. However, because COVID-19 is a relatively recent public health phenomenon, relevant studies on interprofessional collaboration between law enforcement officers and mental health professionals are scant, if not non-existent. This qualitative study addresses this gap by exploring …

Barriers To The Use Of Palliative And Hospice Care Among The Latino Population, Diana Ramirez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Patients suffering from irreversible and terminal illnesses may benefit from the services provided by Palliative and Hospice Care to control any symptom burden and assist in navigating complex medical decisions. Many patients may express hesitation in accepting and enrolling to this service due to misconceptions. Language barriers may add an additional layer of complexity. This study explored the challenges Palliative Care providers encounter when introducing concept of hospice to Spanish-speaking patients their families for the first time. This study implemented qualitative research methods by using semi-structured one-on-one interviews. Ten members of an In-patient Palliative Care Team at a University Hospital …

Which Generation Is Having Safe Sex? Millennial Or Gen-Z, Rachel Silver

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This research study aims to examine the sex practices of Millennials vs. Gen Z's. There are many concerns and questions about the long-term effects of hook-up culture for modern youth. In the last few years, there has been a rise in STDs and a decrease in teenage pregnancy. This quantitative research intends to find out where are education gaps are and the most significant motivators for young people to use protection and contraceptives through a list of questions in a survey. The goal is to understand better the similarities and differences between Millenials and Gen-Z's safe sex education and …

Social Work Students' Understanding Of Childhood Psycho-Emotional Maltreatment By Caregivers, Todd M. Rubin

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Child psychological, emotional maltreatment (CPEM) presents to the social work profession as one of the most challenging to detect, prevent and intervene. The consequences of CPEM have been equally devastating to a child’s development compared to all other forms of childhood maltreatment. The purpose of this study is to assess graduate social work students’ knowledge of CPEM as a determinant of their clinical preparedness to work with families in practice. The rationale for this study is to explore how the lack of focus on CPEM in university education, field experience, and field supervision impacts a social worker’s ability to prioritize …

Lgb Employment And Civil Rights Protections: Emphasizing Existing And Potential Policy For Improving The Lgb Hiring, Alexa Nicole Massiquet

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Much of the LGB employment research addressing discrimination suggests culture and policy changes for attracting more and retaining their current LGB employees. Some research suggests a cyclical nature between the acceptance of progressive policy and inclusive culture. While many researchers discuss the need for policies protecting LGB employees, little has been written about exactly how to do that. One method is to emphasize LGB non-discrimination policy and already existing gender non-discrimination policy during the hiring process. I built upon the work of other researchers, who emphasized LGB nondiscrimination during the hiring process by additionally emphasizing protections for employees based on …

Household Responsibilities And Experiences Of Work-Family Conflict And Well-Being Among Fathers: The Role Of Identity And Gender Role Beliefs, Rita Garcia

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Dual earner families are on a rise and there has been an increase of men participating in household responsibilities. Gender roles ideologies and identity salience influence how the division of labor is distributed within a household and may relate to work-family conflict in fathers when participating more in household responsibilities. The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of household responsibilities on working fathers’ experiences of work-family conflict and well-being, and to consider potential moderating effects of gender role ideology and identity salience. Results supported a positive relationship between household responsibilities and perceived stress in working fathers. …

Spirituality, Inclusivity, Workplace Well-Being, And Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Rebecca Williams

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to better understand how workplace well-being (WWB) and inclusivity may impact the relationship between employee spirituality and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Given the valuable contribution of a diverse workforce, and the importance of fostering spirituality and OCBs in the workplace, this research focused on examining whether WWB would help explain the relationship between spirituality and OCB intentions and the influence of an inclusive climate on spirituality and WWB. Theoretical framework was provided to help explain linkages in the model, which included the broaden and build theory (BBT) and the integrative transcendent models of …