Psychology Commons^™

Covid-19 Vaccine Related Anxiety Partially Mediates The Association Between Covid-19 Related Anxiety And Student Adjustment To College During The Pandemic, Hanh Nguyen

Dissertations and Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic caused severe disruptions to the education of millions of college students, who were forced to adapt to sudden changes in living and learning environments. In this study, we sought to investigate two different dimensions of anxiety that were specific to the pandemic – COVID-19 related anxiety and COVID-19 vaccine anxiety – hoping to pinpoint the relationship between these two variables and students’ ability to adapt to college. Specifically, using cross sectional survey data during three semester waves (Spring 2021, Fall 2021, and Spring 2022) we hypothesized (1) a decreasing trend across time in both COVID-19 related anxiety …

"Sociocultural Predictors Of Risky Sexual Behaviors: 1 The Role Of Nativity Status, Race, Ethnic Identity And Self-Construal", Elvine B. Andjembe

Dissertations and Theses

Recent national health reports have shown that despite a considerable increase in sexual health knowledge, risky sexual behaviors’ rates among the youth are on the rise. Minorities are disproportionately affected, which translates into strong racial disparities in health outcomes such as STI/STDs, and HIV prevalence. The literature examining ethnic differences in health behaviors has studied ethnic identity (self-identification with and commitment to the values of one’s ethnic group) as a protective factor against an array of maladaptive behaviors. In addition, self-construal, which refers to the extent to which one is individualistic or collectivistic has also been established as a positive …

The Influence Of Running Extreme Obstacle Courses On Positive Affect, Character Strengths, And Well-Being, Ewa Opala

Dissertations and Theses

A large body of research demonstrates the positive benefits of numerous types of physical activity. However, the outcomes of running extreme obstacle courses (EOCs) remain unexamined. The aim of the present study was to explore the influence of running EOCs on positive affect, character strengths and well-being. The study utilized a pre-existing sample of 21 participants who filled out an online survey at two time points (pre-and-post race). The findings showed that participating in an EOC was related to increased positive affect (PA) and psychological well-being. Running an EOC with a team was associated with increased post-race teamwork and the …

"Language Preference And Cognitive Availability Of Sexual Identity In Gay Japanese Bilinguals: An Analysis Of Habitual Use Of Linguistic Categories", Sebastian Cordoba

Dissertations and Theses

Sexuality is a very private matter in Japan. Japan’s cultural mores and concepts of family unity have led to very conservative attitudes toward homosexuality. For instance, gay people generally fear disgracing their families, and this fear might prevent them from revealing their sexual identity to others, and so keeping it secret. Thus, homosexuality in Japan is a highly controversial topic. Being gay in Japan is not as tolerated as it is in some Western cultures (McLelland, 2000). Homosexuality is an issue that is not acknowledged by mainstream Japanese society – it is taboo and not spoken about publicly. The present …

Hedonia And Eudaimonia: Associations With Academic Success, Wellbeing, And Neuropsychological Functioning, Maria Kryza-Lacombe

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the relations between happiness and academic success and wellbeing in a diverse, urban college sample by viewing happiness through the lens of hedonia (seeking pleasure and relaxation) and eudaimonia (seeking meaning), and their neuropsychological correlates. Undergraduate students (n=76; 68.4% female; mean age [SD]=21.17 [3.12]) completed self-report measures of hedonia and eudaimonia, and depression, anxiety, and stress. They also completed objective measures of “cool” executive functioning (WAIS-IV Digit Span, Stroop Color-Word test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, and a Stop Signal task) and “hot” executive functioning (Iowa Gambling Task, Temporal Discounting Task). Semester GPA was collected from school records. …

Workplace Aggression: A Multi-Study Examination Of Work And Nonwork Consequences, Caitlin Ann Demsky

Dissertations and Theses

Workplace aggression has been associated with a number of detrimental employee and organizational outcomes, both at work and away from work. This dissertation includes three studies that expand our knowledge of the implications of workplace aggression in the work and nonwork domains. Further, this research illuminates the processes through which this relationship occurs by utilizing various sources of data from employees in a variety of contexts including universities, long term health care, and the USDA Forest Service. In Study 1, which was published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, multi-source data are utilized to identify the indirect effects of …

Dynamic Job Satisfaction Shifts: Implications For Manager Behavior And Crossover To Employees, David Ellis Caughlin

Dissertations and Theses

In this dissertation, I investigated job satisfaction from a dynamic perspective. Specifically, I integrated the momentum model of job satisfaction with the affective shift model and crossover theory in an effort to move beyond traditional, static conceptions of job satisfaction and other constructs. Recent research and theoretical development has focused on the meaning of job satisfaction change for workers and how such change impacts their decisions to leave an organization. To extend this line of inquiry, I posited hypotheses pertaining to: (a) job satisfaction change with respect to positive work behavior (i.e., organizational citizenship behavior, family-supportive supervisor behavior); (b) the …

Attachment And Adolescent Offending: An Examination Of The Links Between Sexually Abusive Behavior And The Level Of Attachment To Parents And Peers, Lee Anna Knox

Dissertations and Theses

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is recognized as a public health problem with consequences affecting all levels of the ecological model. In recent years it has been recognized that up to 40% of reported sexual offenses occur at the hands of adolescent offenders (Burton, 2000), who are defined as children aged 12-18 years. In recent years, research has suggested that attachment deficits contribute to sexual offending behavior in adolescence. The current study augments the sparse research with adolescent offenders and by exploring of the participant's perceived attachment to important others (mother/mother figures, father/father figures, and peers/friends). Participants included 101 Juvenile sex …

Predictors Of Task And Contextual Performance: Frame-Of-Reference Effects And Applicant Reaction Effects On Selection System Validity, John Hunthausen

Dissertations and Theses

An employment process suprasystem contains human resource-related systems such as training, recruitment, performance appraisal, and personnel selection. Similarly, a personnel selection system consists of interdependent subsystems that work together to manifest its properties (e.g., the acquisition of qualified and high-potential individuals). Finally, each of these complex subsystems (e.g., applicant reactions to selection methods) have interdependent elements (e.g., procedural and distributive justice) that work together to manifest the properties of the subsystem (e.g., applicant fairness perceptions).

This dissertation takes such a systems approach to understanding the complexities of a personnel selection system to explore the interactions among three of its subsystems: …

The Effects Of School-Mandated Community Service On Subsequent Intrinsic Motivation To Volunteer, Carol Berubee

Dissertations and Theses

Many American high schools and universities require students to perform community service. Although social psychological research shows that intrinsic motivation for an activity decreases when that activity is rewarded or when the actor perceives little self-determination in performing the activity, no research has examined the effect of intrinsic motivation on volunteerism subsequent to mandated community service.

The purpose of the present study was to determine if students who had been required to perform community service would be less likely to volunteer in the community at a later date than would those students who had not been required to serve. In …

Math Anxiety, Coping Behavior, And Gender, Sandra Joy Grossmann

Dissertations and Theses

Non-math majors enrolled in lower-division math courses at an urban university were surveyed on their math attitudes, coping behaviors, and math anxiety (MATHANX). The Revised Ways of Coping Checklist (RWCC), Revised Math Anxiety Rating Scale, and other questions were presented to 30 men and 32 women. Hierarchical regressions showed that after controlling for attitudinal covariates, emotion-focused coping behaviors (EMOTFOC) were strongly associated with MATHANX (F(5,54)=18.66, 12 < .0001), but problem-focused coping behaviors (PROBFOC) were not. The RWCC subscale most highly correlated with MATHANX was Wishful Thinking (r = .70, p < .0001). Ss were then dichotomized on PROBFOC and EMOTFOC, providing four behavioral groups. An ANCOVA controlling for attitudinal covariates showed behavioral group membership significant with respect to MATHANX (F(3,58)=6.07, p < .001), and an ANOVA revealed that students who reported high EMOTFOC coupled with low PROBFOC experienced the greatest MATHANX (,E(3,58) = 12.66, p < .0001).

Males and females reported virtually identical MATHANX (M=36.30 for males, 36.44 for females), and the only significant gender difference was for avoidance coping, which was used more by males (F(1,60) = 5.43, p < .03]. Results from this study suggest that fewer gender differences may exist in MATHANX and coping than have been found in the past. Additionally, this study identifies the need for future research to determine whether EMOTFOC is the behavioral component, or one of the determinants, of math anxiety.

Level Of Aspiration And The Type A Coronary-Prone Pattern In Children, Wendy L. Kliewer

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine aspects of assessment of the Type A behavior pattern, goal-setting behaviors displayed by Type A and B children, and parents' goal-setting behaviors toward their offspring.

A Comparison Between A Clinical Sample Of Parents And Non-Parents, As Reflected By Their Scores On The Mmpi, Thomas Kearney, Casey Wegner

Dissertations and Theses

The area of childlessness, particularly voluntary childlessness, has been virtually ignored by most researchers. Pohlman claims to have been unable to find research which supports the popular idea that intentionally childless husbands and wives tend to be emotionally disturbed. However, he does note that he was able to find numerous statements from medical and social science publications which in various ways imply that the deliberately childless are usually maladjusted.

Invasions Of Personal Space : A Field Experiment, Lisa Demian

Dissertations and Theses

The present study examined the relationship between invasions of personal space and measures of glancing, blocking, leaning, head-shoulder orientation, movement away from the invader, and flight latency. These behaviors have been described in previous studies as occurring in response to spatial invasions, and the equilibrium model proposed to account for their occurrence. Hypotheses consistent with this model were tested in a 2 x 2 x 3 design which varied sex of invader, sex of subject and distance of subject from invader (1 foot, 2 feet, or 5 feet). None of the predicted relationships obtained, although females blocked more frequently than …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Overt Behavior And: I) Tat Fantasy Aggression And The Stimulus Properties Of Selected Tat Cards, Ii) Self-Report Measures Of Aggression And Guilt, Iii) Tat Fantasy Aggression, Self-Report Measures And Personal Data, Christine Ruth Bauman, David James Leitner

Dissertations and Theses

Past research has shown that there are many factors that influence projective test responses. This is especially true of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). Certain variables that have been found to influence the TAT response were studied in this experiment. These variables included the subjects’ scores on purported measures of the personality trait of aggression, and various parameters of the TAT cards themselves.

This experiment included three studies which investigated the relationship between test measures of aggression and aggressive behavior. The three studies were conducted concurrently using the same subject population: forty-two male inmates at the Oregon State Penitentiary. They …

An Investigation Of Possible Relationships Between Sex-Role Orientation, The Motive To Avoid Success And The Inhibition Of Aggression In Women, Joan Dayger Behn, Barbara Mcduffee Mecca

Dissertations and Theses

In this study, it was proposed that the extent to which an individual accepts the collection of attitudes, mannerisms, and abilities the culture endorses as being feminine or masculine (which we are referring to as sex-role orientation) is related to the appearance of inhibiting fears of social rejection and uneasiness about one’s femininity (which we refer to as the need or motive to avoid success). We further hypothesized that women interested in achievement, being less strongly sex-typed, would feel deviant and exposed as women and would be likely to place a premium on the maintenance of other feminine attributes.

Ever …

The Effectiveness Of Environmental Control In Modifying Problem Behaviors In Mother-Child Interaction, Thomas Whalen Hamilton

Dissertations and Theses

An experiment was designed to test the effectiveness of using standard laboratory environments in producing a broad class of problem behaviors which defined Mother-Child (M-C) interaction difficulties. The effects of four environments, free-time (X), child's game and rules (B), mother's game and rules (C), and clean-up (Z), on the frequency of eight criteria behaviors were tested on 12 M-C pairs over three days of baseline data collection. It was predicted that the frequency of problem behaviors would decrease as a function of environment (X) and increase as a function of environments (B), (C), and (Z). A two factor …

Behavioral Changes Due To Overpopulation In Mice, James Robert Hammock

Dissertations and Theses

Previous research has found that if a population were allowed to exceed a comfortable density level, then many catastrophic events occurred such as increased mortality among the young, cannibalism, homosexuality, and lack of maternal functions. The most influential researcher in this area is Calhoun (1962), after whose experimental design a pilot study was fashioned to replicate his results. The results of this pilot study inspired a more detailed research project of which this thesis is an account.

Forty-eight albino mice of the Swiss Webster strain were divided into three groups of sixteen each. Each group consisted of ten females and …

Schedule Interactions And Stimulus Control, Andrew Louis Homer

Dissertations and Theses

Four types of schedule interactions have been defined: positive contrast, negative contrast, positive induction, and negative induction. Most work has centered on the necessary conditions for positive contrast. One position states that a reduction in reinforcement frequency is necessary; the other view states that a reduction in response rate is necessary. Neither view can account for the occurrence of induction. The present experiment tests the hypothesis that stimulus control effects the occurrence of either contrast or induction. Three pigeons were trained to respond for primary reinforcement (strong stimulus control condition), and three pigeons were trained to respond for conditioned reinforcement …

An Interactional Approach To Weight Reduction, Carole T. Gygi

Dissertations and Theses

A treatment program was designed to enable subjects to lose weight through the use of self-confrontation as described in Saslow (1969), and the use of the General Relationship Improvement of the Human Development Institute (HDI), Berlin and Wyckoff (1964). Self-confrontation is a programmed rehearsal of a specific problem by one person alone, for a five-minute period. The rehearsal, or self-confrontation is to be as vivid as possible, intellectually, emotionally, visually and physically. The General Relationship Improvement Program is a 10-week text, worked in pairs, which is aimed at better intrapsychic and interpersonal communication and understanding. Four matched groups were used …

Action-Oriented Group Therapy For Lower-Socio-Economic-Status Clients, Joan C. Peters

Dissertations and Theses

An attempt is made to present a model of group therapy for Lower-Socio-Economic-Status (LSES) clients. The theoretical issues include a definition of traditional group therapy along with a brief description of the more recent sensitivity training approaches. A rationale for combining these two different group approaches is presented to form the model for action-oriented group therapy (ACT groups) which utilizes both the traditional approach and action techniques of the sensitivity group. It is proposed that this hybrid, the AOT group, is more appropriate for treating the LSES client. The needs and expectations of the LSES client are discussed. The goals …

The Effect Of Perceptual-Motor Training On Maladaptive Behaviors Of Emotionally Disturbed Children, Julia Frances Hall

Dissertations and Theses

Twenty emotionally disturbed children between the ages of six and twelve from three agencies providing special treatment for behavioral or emotional problems were the subjects for this study. The subjects were divided into two major diagnostic categories, withdrawn and acing out, and then matched in pairs by age and diagnosis. One half of each pair was randomly assigned to the experimental condition and the remaining halves were assigned to the control condition. Both the experimental and control groups contained five withdrawn and five acting out subjects. Four experimenters were used, and each experimenter worked with two or four experimental children …